The next morning, Ashgrave's storm-light stained the skyline a dull violet.
Jin stood near the edge of the tram platform, watching the sun struggle through the Riftclouds. He had cleaned and rearmed himself: fresh synth-armor panels, spare charge cells, and his new gloves—each laced with lines of silver script from the Barterstrike imprint.
The Cindershade guild arrived in staggered steps.
Revik, their hard-eyed leader, carried a custom-forged breaker blade. His right arm whirred softly as he adjusted the synthetic muscles.
Tallis, the woman with the sensor-bow, wore her hair braided with data-chains. Her retinas flickered with scanning runes.
Mox, the drone operator, lugged a levitating sphere the size of a boar, coded with pulse-beacons and flame-retardant plating.
"Ready?" Revik asked, his voice gruff.
Jin nodded. "Born for this."
They stepped onto the freight tram, which descended toward the Lower Ashgrave Rift Sector—a half-forgotten slum turned dead zone after the B-09 collapse.
🚇 Descent into the Rift
The deeper the tram went, the more the world changed.
Buildings looked like bones. Lights flickered like old memories. Even the wind carried a hum—a wrongness that whispered in syllables no human tongue could form.
🔒 [System Alert: Unregulated Gate Signature Detected]Gate Designation: Forgotten GateEstimated Tier: UnknownAffiliation: Fragment of B-09 Rift NetworkCurrent Status: Active
The Forgotten Gate came into view: a broken cathedral fused into a crater wall, its once-grand arches tangled in Riftstone vines.
Its doorway pulsed. Not light. Not shadow. Something else entirely—like a tear in reality offering both promise and punishment.
"We breach in pairs," Revik said. "Jin, you're with me. Tallis covers. Mox scouts."
Jin's interface shimmered.
🌀 [Gate Signature Recognized]
🗝 Access Granted – Trader Class Detected
⚠ Warning: This Gate contains Contraband Elements.Effect: Standard dungeon logic disrupted. Expect unpredictable trades.
He glanced at the others. "What does that mean?"
Revik grimaced. "Means some idiot built a market inside a dungeon."
🕳 Entry — The First Layer
The Gate swallowed them whole.
Jin's vision warped. His heartbeat doubled.
When he could breathe again, they were in a wide circular chamber—the floor tiled with gilded trade seals, many cracked or rusted. Pillars rose like twisted receipts, tall and haunting. Faint glowing coins floated in the air.
And monsters waited.
🧿 Entity Detected: Riftborn – Credit-HoundsRank: F+Traits: Pack hunters, contract-linked, unstable biteWeakness: Trade-sealed armor or echo-purged talismans
A pack of four emerged from behind the broken pillars—skeletal, doglike beasts, with bodies made of torn accounting ledgers and clawed IOU slips. Their mouths dripped digital saliva.
"Riftborn," Jin whispered. "These things are tied to... broken trades?"
"They're created when deals are made and violently revoked," Tallis said. "Stay sharp."
The hounds charged.
Jin ducked under the first swipe. Barterstrike activated on instinct.
✴ Barterstrike: Engaged
Target: Riftborn-Credit Hound
Trade Offered: 18% kinetic energy + pain stimulus
Trade Received: Shredded buff → "Pack Buff: Synced Initiative" STOLEN.
He twisted mid-slide and countered—slamming his fist into the beast's jaw. It yelped, then vanished in smoke.
The others turned to Jin instantly.
"Guess I just upset their economy," he muttered.
⚔ Team Combat
Mox's drone flared, launching an EMP pulse that stunned two hounds. Revik moved in like a boulder with a vendetta—his breaker blade crushing ledger-legs and tearing through contracts made flesh.
Tallis moved like a ghost. Her arrows didn't just pierce. They pinned policies, disabling the hounds' inherent system bindings.
The last beast leapt toward Jin, eyes glowing with ancient debtor rage.
He waited.
Just before it landed—
Barterstrike: Reactivate [Cooldown Cleared via Overclock]
Jin shifted stance. "Let's make a better deal."
His blow connected, and the beast exploded into a flurry of expired trade slips.
🗃 Discovery – The Trade Bazaar
After the beasts fell, the chamber shifted. The floor cracked open, revealing a spiral stairway of gold and rot.
The next level was... surreal.
They entered a long corridor resembling a derelict shopping arcade. Vending machines lined the walls—some full of glowing relics, others displaying offers in ancient Rift script.
One machine spoke.
"WELCOME, TRADER.""YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR MARKET PHASE ONE.""TODAY'S DISCOUNT: MEMORY FOR FLESH."
Jin blinked. "That's not... comforting."
"Don't interact," Tallis warned. "This layer was built by an artifact broker. He converted Rift-energy into literal commerce. If you trade, the system might bind you."
Jin felt his system tug toward one machine.
Offer: +10% Movement SpeedCost: "The sound of your mother's voice."
He recoiled.
"Nope."
Mox muttered, "Yeah, this place messes with your sense of value. Stay clear."
Revik pointed forward. "There's the heart."
At the corridor's end, a vault door shimmered.
🌀 Gate Core LockRequires: Trader-Linked Signature + Memory Fragment Key
Jin approached—and his Core Memory flared.
🔓 Fragment Detected: Gate B-09 Echo→ Unlocking vault access...
The door began to creak open.
Suddenly, the Riftstorm outside screamed—and the ceiling burst inward.
Something dropped.
Something massive.
🛑 Boss Encounter — Riftborn "Broker Titan"
The creature that landed looked like a malformed banker god—half-suit, half-beast, with ten golden arms holding ledgers, scrolls, and scales.
🧿 Riftborn Class: Broker TitanTier: D+Subtype: Market GuardianPassive: Price of Lies – Amplifies damage from false tradesActive: Binder's Chain – Locks abilities based on contract flaws
"Back!" Revik shouted. "That's not supposed to be here yet!"
The Titan raised a scroll.
Chains lashed out.
One wrapped around Revik's arm. Another tried to bind Tallis—but her arrows deflected it mid-air.
Jin's interface flashed.
⚠ You are being offered a trade.
Broker Titan proposes:– "One skill slot for party survival."
➤ Accept or Reject?
Jin grit his teeth. "I don't make deals I don't understand."
He reached for his gloves.
Barterstrike lit up again—but this time, it glowed with something more. The memory fragment was pulsing. Feeding energy. His strike would carry not just force—but a recorded refusal.
He charged.
One punch.
Barterstrike Critical!
Status: Trade forcibly reversedDamage Type: System DisruptionBonus: Extracted memory fragment: "Broker's Binding Clause"
The Titan reeled, roaring in rage as part of its form collapsed into silver dust.
Mox's drone fired a beam through the gap.
Tallis followed with a double arrow shot.
Revik finished it.
The Broker Titan exploded in a cyclone of unpaid debt.
📜 Aftermath — A New Deal
The vault beyond the battle opened, revealing a glowing stone tablet etched in both system language and old trader script.
You have unlocked:Rift Archive: Gate B-09 Precursor Deal
"This Gate rejected a universal trade offer because the cost was too low.The system refused the undervaluation of life.It marked the first rebellion of a dungeon core."
Memory synced. New authority node: Trader Override – 1 use unlocked.
Jin's body trembled.
He wasn't just a trader.
He was becoming something more—a negotiator of systems themselves.
📌 Author's Note:
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— [RealmVendor]