The mansion loomed in eerie silence, its grandeur swallowed by tension and unease. Jasmine's team stood at the entrance, eyes scanning the quiet corridors.
"He's not here," Amelia muttered, stepping through shattered glass and overturned furniture.
Sol clenched his fists. "Again, Ryker vanished."
Renji leaned against the doorframe, a half-sarcastic chuckle escaping his lips. "Hah. That's just like him."
Shin remained silent. He tapped on his phone, the screen flickering with Ryker's last transmitted location.
"…Backside," he said suddenly, eyes narrowing.
Without another word, they rushed out the main doors, boots pounding against the stone floor.
"Renji, come!" Sol called.
But Renji stood frozen, watching them from the steps. His heart pounded—something didn't feel right.
Outside, the team circled to the mansion's rear, moving fast through the shadowed courtyard.
And then they saw it.
A massive garage.
Three cars parked in a perfect triangle.
Sol's eyes widened. "No way…"
Shin stepped closer, analyzing the ground. "The tires… they've been moved recently."
Amelia followed his gaze. "Ryker was here."
"We missed this place," Sol said, frustration tightening his voice.
Shin stared at the triangular formation. His mind raced. "Wait… triangle… is this some kind of puzzle?"
The air around them buzzed with rising tension.
Amelia placed her hand on one of the cars. "Did he go underground…?"
"I think he did," Shin whispered.
They looked at each other.
And then, Shin stepped into the center of the triangle.
Ryker stood alone in the cold, dimly lit hallway of the underground mansion—route one. The air was still, thick with dust and the hum of hidden machinery. As he stepped into a small steel room, the door clanged shut behind him.
Suddenly, a voice echoed from a speaker hidden in the ceiling.
"So, you have only five minutes, kid."
The voice was calm, calculated—Manager Taro.
Ryker narrowed his eyes. "So it really is you…"
He looked around. Four blank walls, a faint buzzing light above, and rusted chains on the ground.
"I knew it… Four routes, and still nothing." Ryker clenched his fists. "But I'm done playing fair."
He inhaled deeply, lightning crackling around his arms. "Tch… I'll break your little game."
With a shout, lightning surged through his body and struck the far wall.
Boom!
The wall cracked open violently, revealing a hidden corridor—dark, narrow, and laced with the scent of rusted metal.
Ryker stepped through the gap, eyes sharp.
"I underestimated you, Manager Taro," he muttered.
He walked forward, deeper into the dark—where only the bold could survive.
The steel doors groaned as Jasmine's team stepped into the underground lair. The hallway was long and damp, lit only by flickering red emergency lights. Dust lingered in the air. At the end of the corridor, they stopped—faced with four separate paths stretching into darkness.
Sol stared at the scene, shaking his head.
"What the hell is this... a damn dungeon? Here we go."
Jasmine stepped forward, calm but focused. Her voice echoed with authority.
"Izumi, Tasuya, Amelia—take the first route. Check everything. No hesitation."
"Roger that," Izumi replied, cracking his knuckles.
Tasuya and Amelia nodded silently, their faces tense.
Jasmine turned to the next trio.
"Hiroshi, Arisu, Mio—you take the second route."
"Let's move. Stay close," Hiroshi said, adjusting the blade strapped to his back.
Jasmine then looked at the third group.
"Shin, Sol, Saki—third route is yours."
Shin pulled out his phone and tapped the screen.
"Everyone keep your phones on. If anything moves—anything—we call."
"Copy that," Sol said, already heading toward the path with a grim expression.
Finally, Jasmine looked to the last route.
"King, you're with me. Fourth one's ours."
King grinned slightly.
"Let's make it quick."
Everyone exchanged glances, silent but determined. Each group stepped into their path, phones ready, hearts heavy.
The hunt had begun.
In a dimly lit security room, walls were lined with monitors showing every angle of the vast underground labyrinth. Cameras tracked the heroes—Shin, Sol, Jasmine, King—and even the chained girls in the hidden chamber.
Manager Taro stood in the center, arms crossed, a cold expression on his face as he observed every screen.
"They're all here now," he muttered, watching as the heroes split into their routes. His eyes narrowed at one specific monitor—Ryker.
"So you made it through route one… interesting."
A guard behind him spoke cautiously.
"Sir, what do we do now?"
Taro's hand clenched into a fist.
"I'll go now. Keep watching. If anything changes, notify me immediately."
He turned, coat swaying as he left the room.
Meanwhile – Girls' Room
The room was cold and quiet—only the sound of shallow breathing and the soft clinking of chains. Aisa, Yumi, Celica, Akira, Saori, and Huzur sat against the walls, exhausted and tense.
They had tried everything—pulling the chains, searching for weak links—but escape was impossible.
Suddenly, the silence broke.
Footsteps.
Slow, heavy, deliberate. Coming closer.
Yumi's breath caught in her throat.
"Someone's coming…" she whispered.
The rusted door creaked as it slowly opened.
A tall figure stepped inside—the Masked Man. His face was hidden behind a metal mask, black and expressionless. He carried a tray of food and placed it down without a word.
The girls tensed, ready to fight or flee—but the man simply stood there, unmoving.
Aisa stared at him with narrowed eyes.
"Why are you doing this?!"
But the Masked Man said nothing. He turned and left, the door locking behind him with a final metallic click.
At the same time
Ryker stood before the large steel door, the handle cold in his grasp. With a deep breath, he twisted it open.
The heavy door creaked slowly, revealing a dark room bathed in the flickering light of shattered monitors. The faint hum of broken electronics filled the silence.
"What the hell…" Ryker muttered.
He stepped inside cautiously. The room was clearly a surveillance hub, but every monitor was cracked, burned, or smashed—some screens still fizzing with static. Broken glass crunched under his boots as he moved.
He walked to the central console, brushing off the ash and dust. The equipment was beyond repair.
"Someone destroyed all this…" he said under his breath, eyes narrowing.
Suddenly, a faint glimmer caught his attention—a blinking blue light buried beneath debris.
Ryker quickly knelt and pulled away the pieces. It was a damaged backup drive, still flickering. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small portable decryptor device, and plugged it in.
"One minute of footage," he read from the interface.
"Let's see what they didn't want me to."
The screen buzzed to life for a brief second.
A grainy black-and-white clip flickered—the girls, chained in the room, the masked man standing before them. Then static again. A timestamp: Just minutes ago.
His fist clenched.
"So they're nearby… and still alive."
He looked up at the blasted monitors with a smirk.
"You tried to blind me, Taro… but I only need one second to win."
With new determination, Ryker stepped out of the surveillance room and into the shadows, heading deeper into the underground.