Chapter 3

My eyes locked onto Seren.

She stood alone by the glowing extraction portal. Her dark hair was plastered to her forehead. Her combat jacket was ripped at the shoulder.

She looked exactly like my friend.

But right now, looking like my friend meant nothing.

"Seren," I called out.

My voice cut through the stagnant air like a blade.

She blinked, tilting her head. "What?"

"My Loot Sense is giving me nothing but static," I lied, keeping my tone perfectly flat. "But Rhea's shoulder is still bleeding black sludge. And Nyx is limping."

I took a single, deliberate step toward her.

"You're our Healer. Fix them up before we keep digging."

I gripped the hilt of my dagger so hard my knuckles popped.

This was it.

The Boss was a monstrous Skinwalker. It had taken a brutal beating from us for six straight hours. It was clinging to life.

It could steal memories. It could wear a face.

But a supernatural perk? Healing magic fueled by pure life force?

A dying monster couldn't fake that.

If she hesitated. If the magic fizzled.

I would cut her throat.

Seren stared at me. Her dark eyes darted to the three girls standing behind me like silent sentinels.

"Fine," she whispered.

She walked slowly toward us.

I held my breath. I shifted my weight, ready to lunge.

Seren raised her hands.

Golden-green light erupted from her palms.

It wasn't a trick of the light. It wasn't a hallucination.

Luminous threads of pure energy spilled from her fingertips. They wrapped around the deep, cursed gash on Rhea's shoulder. They sank into the bruised, battered flesh of Nyx's leg.

The black sludge hissed and evaporated. Fresh pink skin knit together in seconds.

It was real magic.

But the cost was immediate. And horrifying.

Seren gasped, her knees buckling.

The golden-green light flared brighter, draining the life straight out of her.

I watched in absolute silence as the deep, rich brown ends of Seren’s hair drained of color.

One strand turned bone-white. Then another. Then a whole thick lock.

This was her sacrifice. She was burning her own lifespan to heal us.

A monster trying to survive wouldn't do that. A monster couldn't do that.

Seren wasn't the Boss.

The light vanished.

Seren collapsed, hitting the hard stone floor with a heavy thud.

"Seren!" Petra gasped, stepping forward, but keeping her distance.

Seren didn't try to get up. She stayed on her hands and knees, panting violently. Sweat dripped from her chin, hitting the blood-stained floor.

She slowly raised her head.

Her eyes met mine.

There was no confusion in her gaze. Only sharp, piercing clarity.

"I used everything I had left on them," Seren rasped, her voice trembling with exhaustion.

She forced a weak, bitter smile.

"I hope your Loot Sense is working, Maren… because I can't help anymore."

My blood ran instantly cold.

I stared down at her.

I used everything I had left.

I hope your Loot Sense is working.

She wasn't talking about the healing.

She was talking about the lie.

Seren knew. She knew my HUD only tracked the Boss. She knew the "Loot Sense" was a desperate fabrication.

She had burned her own life force just to prove she was real. To prove she was on my side.

She was clearing her name.

I let out a slow, shaking exhale.

Relief washed over me for exactly one second.

Then, pure, unadulterated terror slammed into my chest like a freight train.

Rhea broke the padlock with Overdrive. Check.

Petra brought down the lantern with Phantom Grip. Check.

Nyx sank into the floor with Phase Shift. Check.

Seren healed them with her life force. Check.

All four of them had used their perks.

All four of them were real.

But the glowing text floating in the upper corner of my vision hadn't changed.

BOSS STATUS: ALIVE.

DISGUISED.

My stomach plummeted into an endless abyss.

It didn't make sense. It was impossible.

Unless...

I looked at Rhea's glowing arms. At Petra's trembling hands. At Nyx's shifting shadow. At Seren's white hair.

A terrifying, impossible truth clawed its way into my brain.

The Boss hadn't just copied a face.

It hadn't just downloaded their memories.

It had copied their supernatural perk.

The Boss could use our powers against us.

It wasn't weakened by the disguise. It was armed by it.

It was standing right here, seamlessly blending into my squad, watching me scramble like a rat in a maze.

"Maren?" Rhea's voice broke the silence. It was tight. Edgy.

I snapped my eyes up.

All four of them were looking at me now.

Four identical expressions of fear and anticipation.

One of them was a perfect mirror. A flawless fake.

And it was staring right back at me, waiting for my next move.

"Did you find the loot yet?" Nyx asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

My throat seized.

I had tested them all. And I had completely failed.

I was completely out of ideas.

I glanced at the timer in my HUD.

00:38:14.

Thirty-eight minutes left before the Lodge collapsed. Thirty-eight minutes before we failed the game and became permanent NPCs to this purgatory.

"No," I whispered.

My voice sounded completely hollow.

"I haven't found it yet."

I backed away, putting distance between myself and all four of them.

Who was it?