The elevator creaked.
Lin Xuan stepped in.
He could hear it now—
A dissonant hum, like a choir warming up… except each voice was broken, distorted, overlapping.
[Boss Room: Choir of Silence – Entry Confirmed]
[You are now locked in until completion]
Ding.
The elevator shuddered to a halt.
The doors slid open.
It was pitch black.
Only the red emergency light flickered above the door.
Then—
Singing.
A soft, female voice. Dozens of them.
No words. Just harmony. Maddening, bone-deep harmony.
Lin Xuan stepped forward. His new Whisper Boots made him truly silent.
The room opened up into a corrupted auditorium. Rows of broken mall seats. A collapsed theater stage. Hanging from the ceiling—
Dozens of headless mannequins swayed.
And in the center… seated on a rusted throne…
A figure in a white dress. No face. No arms.
Just a long, vertical mouth that opened across the neck—singing.
[Boss Identified: Silence Queen – Rift-Class Elite]
HP: 8,000
Phase I Ability: Sonic Hypnosis
Phase II Ability: Sound Clone
Phase III Ability: ???
Weakness: Sound Reflection
"A sound-based boss…" Lin Xuan muttered. "Let's make some noise."
[Boss Fight Initiated – Phase I]
The Queen rose.
Her mouth widened—then screamed.
The air warped.
[WARNING: Sonic Pressure – Mental Check Required]
Lin Xuan felt the pressure slam into his brain.
His ears rang. Vision blurred for a split second. But he bit his tongue—forcing clarity.
[Fear Resistance LVL 2 – Successful Check]
He activated Shadow Split.
A clone blurred out, distracting her as he dashed along the left aisle.
The Queen swiveled unnaturally fast—launching a sonic blade from her scream.
The clone shattered.
"Now you see me—"
He leapt up, rebounded off a seat, and slashed across her chest mid-air.
Sparks flew.
Her dress split. No blood—just echoes pouring out like mist.
-323 HP
She staggered, then twisted. Her mouth opened again—
[Skill Activated: Echo Loop]
Three sound rings exploded outward.
Lin Xuan dived, tucked, rolled—
The third ring clipped his shoulder.
-112 HP
[Debuff: Auditory Distortion – Accuracy -10%]
He grinned through the pain.
"That all you got, miss autotune?"
Phase II triggered.
The Queen shattered like glass—into four clones.
Each began singing a different melody. Discordant. Designed to break the mind.
[Phase II: Sound Clone Protocol – Only One is Real]
Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes.
He pulled out a random Vendor Keycard he picked up earlier.
"Time to gamble."
He slashed at the nearest vending machine. It cracked open—glass shards spilled.
He grabbed a mirror panel and held it toward the clones.
The real Queen's image flickered in the reflection.
"Found you."
He sprinted—activating Precision Rush again.The clones all screamed, sending sonic darts his way.
Lin Xuan ducked, then threw the mirror at the real Queen—blinding her briefly—then flipped behind her and slashed three times in a flash.
[Critical Hit! x3 – Combo Multiplier Reached]
-878 HP! – Stunning Blow Applied!
The Queen shrieked—this time in pain.
The remaining clones dissolved.
Phase III Triggered
The ground shook.
The Queen collapsed—then began floating, twisting upside down like a marionette.
[Phase III: Forbidden Chorus Initiated]
[WARNING: Area-Wide Sonic Collapse Inbound – Escape is no longer possible]
The mannequins hanging above began to sing too.
A choir of death.
"Too late to run… good."
Lin Xuan smirked—and reached into his coat. Pulled out a small black chip.
[Reality Gear Detected – Device: Echo Reflector LVL 1 (IRL Integration)]
[Status: Activated – Reflects one audio-based skill]
"Thank you, shady black market NPC."
The Queen shrieked—
A massive sound wave tore through the air, shredding stone and steel.
It hit him—
And bounced back.
[Reflect Successful – Boss Staggered x2]
Lin Xuan dashed through the aftermath—dust and rubble flying.
He flipped forward—grabbed a sharp pipe from the ground—
And drove it into the Queen's open throat.
Silence.
Then—
[Boss Defeated: Silence Queen]
[Loot Acquired: Siren's Embrace (Armor), Vocal Shard x3, Rift Essence x1]
[Level Up! LVL 5 → LVL 6]
The entire Rift collapsed into light.
Outside the Rift – 2:38 AM
The man he saved earlier was being loaded into an ambulance.
The media didn't know what happened—only that a Rift breach was closed.
In a nearby alley, a man in a black coat whispered into a comm.
"Confirmed. He cleared the hidden Rift alone."
"Extract the data. Upload him to Tier-S Watchlist."
"And find out who gave him that Reflector. No one outside Blacklight should have one."
At Lin Xuan's Apartment
He dropped the loot onto his floor.
The Siren's Embrace armor morphed into a sleek, black trench coat in reality—lightweight but warm, with a silver wave pattern running through it.
[Passive: Immune to Sound-Based Stun Effects]
[Style Rating: 10/10]
He sat down, opened a cold soda, and stared at his reflection in the glass window.
"I just solo-cleared a Rift that should've killed a squad."
He smirked.
"This world is finally giving me a challenge."