[Serum: The main target has been lured out, keep him entertained, John, I need some time.]

Serum left a message in the voice channel then disappeared.

"What are you looking at, buddy?"

The boy hitting the punching bag flashes in front of John, eyes wide, almost pressing against John's face.

"Shit!"

John was startled and took two steps back.

He didn't see how the other crossed the scene.

The boy named [Kenichi Sora] raised his hands, with a triumphant smile on his face.

His hands wrapped in boxing tape, with obvious Asian features, wearing a tank top, sweat on his forehead, all his skin clean and neat, no sign of cooling vents or prosthetic body implants.

"Wow~ Bro, your code is a bit weird, I've never seen this kind of cheating method before, headband modification perhaps? How did you hack through the hardware detection phase?"

Sora squatted on the tatami mat.

He tilted his head, frowned in thought, his eyes flashing a clear bright yellow.

John felt the back of his head start to heat up, the virtual headband undergoing a dual AI data scan, causing an overload.

He spoke to interrupt the other.

"I admit I cheated, but you're a scoundrel too, look at the match stats and win rate, doesn't seem like any good stuff!"

"Oh, quite honest, and talking back too!"

Kenichi Sora laughed out loud, licking his teeth, gesturing at John.

"I never cheat when gaming, come on, use those trash motion chips of yours and spar a bit, I'll show you something, don't be too upset when I kick you out of the server."

Sora jumped in place, delivering a neat spin kick.

[Imbalance judgment, force judgment, crucial damage, obstacle collision...]

Seven or eight impact messages popped up in front of John, causing him to stumble back and crash into a wall, barely stopping.

But when he looked at his health bar...

It barely decreased.

Sora didn't modify the values, even reducing his own damage, not performing any upgrades despite the rules allowing the addition of some prosthetics, opting for the toughest physical development route in the game.

"Come on, let's have some fun, haven't caught a rat in a while!"

Sora jumped softly in place, looking excited.

John charged at him, yet the figure vanished again, followed by a feeling of a heavy weight clamping around his neck, trying to maintain balance, joints suffering impacts.

Crack, bang.

John's view flipped, joints hitting the floor at a dangerous angle— neck, spine, ankle all showing injury warnings.

"Fuck, damn... You're definitely cheating!"

"Whoa, watch your mouth, buddy, this is action breakdown and prediction, pure talent, you can try again, use any moves you have."

Sora stepped back giving John space.

[Mission objectives updated]

[Delay until Serum is ready. (Not achieved)]

[Inflict damage on Sora. (Optional)]

[Defeat Kenichi Sora. (Optional)]

"Fuck, go to hell."

John saw the mission prompt, cursed under his breath.

He even remembered the first time he went to Harbor Company, fighting with Eden's slice projection in the combat simulator.

The pressure from skill and experience, and the gap in on-the-spot reactions were overwhelming.

John now feels similar when brawling with thugs at the bar.

It's a battle where you can win without prosthetics, in the kill-or-be-killed domain they are levels apart, with totally different perspectives.

"Alright, looks like I really need to cheat now."

John activated the Black Light.

The entire arena distorted for a moment, the tatami floor turning into complex data grids, [Kenichi Sora] opposite started flickering, from a boy to an enormous, indescribable data black hole.

In the next second.

The whole scene snapped back.

Sora squinted his eyes.

"Hm~ Bro, why do I detect a familiar scent on you? What on earth are you..."

John didn't respond, but launched an attack first.

His Igdrasir broke through the game's limitations, combat programs merging every chip's movement under Black Light's enhancement.

Sora saw through the sneak attack, raised his hand to block, yet was hit in the ribs by a sudden change in move.

"Whoa!?"

But it didn't retreat, countering with its own move.

"Your chip movements have changed, it's no longer purely pre-programmed, is it some kind of move fusion program? How did you bring it into the game, hey, bro, can I pay for your algorithm?"

"Weren't you sneering at cheaters!"

"I'd use this algorithm to upgrade the in-game NPCs, increase challenges for the players, shake up the leaderboard a bit, I'm serious, how much for the source code?"

They exchanged blows back and forth five or six rounds by now.

Both sides are high-level accounts.

Virtual sweat added exaggerated shock effects in the air.

Speed of move outcomes became faster, reaction speeds pushing headband to its limit, even 0.5ms latency wasn't enough.

Sora let John off once more.

Both retreated to the edge to catch their breath.

His eyes glowed, not the flicker of artificial eyes, but a genuine reflection from human excitement in his natural irises.

John was even stunned.

Sora exhibited more "humanity" than most people John has seen in Eden City.

He suppressed his stray thoughts, enduring intense side effects from his body— being able to spar back and forth with Sora was all thanks to Black Light enhancement, activating spine algorithm, scrambling headband's multitude of chips for fusion achieved it.

These chips weren't his own, plus Sora applied tight pressure, computational load nearly unbearable.

"I need to disconnect for a bit, Serum, you need to help sever the deep dive or I'll die!"

John called out in the communication channel.

[Serum: Now? Just a bit longer, if Sora realizes it's a trap, you're toast.]

"If not disconnected, I'm gonna die in the deep dive chair, just a few seconds!"

[Serum: I warned you, preparing to disconnect, only a fifteen second window, I'll surely be exposed, if Sora runs depends on your luck.]

[Reconnection attempt in progress...]

Before losing consciousness, a flash of inspiration struck John's mind, shouting at the boy with a complex expression in front, before the scene shattered.

"Kid, you wait! I'll be back to deal with you!"

[Connection error, attempting to reconnect…]

[Countdown: 15s (Cancel)]

Buzz buzz buzz—

Error messages ripped through the screen like lightning.

John felt consciousness surfacing from deep sea, back of the head along with eye sockets ached intolerably.

He disregarded all that, grabbing the long-prepared [Special Inhibitor] before the burning sensation surged through his body.

"Ugh, ah, damn—"

John tilted his neck, no relief felt, rather a pain akin to being pulled from boiling water into ice water for forced cooling.

Negative states cleared.

Burnt chips tossed into decomposition pool, white smoke rising with chemical corrosion.

John could return to "Cyber Era" now, but suddenly a new mission prompt popped out.

[Connect headband with Special Inhibitor. (Optional)]

Bring chips into the game?

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