Kevin and Mallow hauled ass, dead set on firing up the generator quick. Noon on day three hit, and walkers were due to juice up again by night. They’d already wormed into the prison, inside and out, so Kevin and Mallow had to sweep it clean before dark, or they were screwed.

  Two hours later, the wiped-out pair got a ping from Omnispace:

  “Worldhopper 4444, you and Worldhopper 4445 have nailed the generator fix and cleared the hidden mission—Prison’s Hidden Danger.

  The juiced-up generator’s bringing power back, beefing up the prison’s defenses. By patching it, the NPC team sniffed out the prison’s weak spot early, making it a tougher nut for enemies to crack. This flipped the script on key NPC fates.

  All this bags you a 3.6% Plot Deviation Rate boost. Your total’s now 5.6%, and Rikk, Lorrah, and Cahl are tight with you now!”

  “Based on your performance, with a 50% bonus for the trial environment and another 50% bonus for Worldhopper difficulty, select one of these five rewards:

  A. Increase one of the six basic attributes by +2 (was +1).

  B. Increase one of the six hidden attributes by +2 (was +1).

  C. 100 team points.

  D. One bottle of Hyper Serum (restores 100% health).

  E. One piece of dark green gear (randomly selected).

  After completing Prison’s Hidden Danger, this task won’t be issued again.”

  “We fuckin’ struck gold, boss!” Mallow’s face lit up like a kid’s. “Fixing a generator for a secret mission? Didn’t call that. These rewards are nuts, and we get to pick from five? Too many options!”

  Kevin frowned, muttering low, “That’s a drag.”

  “What? Why the sour look?” Mallow asked, thrown off.

  “We’re probably not the first Worldhopper crew to pull this, you know? If we were, the haul could’ve been fatter—like picking two of the five.”

  “How’d you figure that?” Mallow’s eyes popped wide. “Wait, did you…?”

  “Yeah,” Kevin said, shrugging it off. “I’ve pulled this kinda hustle before.”

  Mallow locked up, then spazzed out, “Dude, you’re a freaking genius! Why didn’t I tag with you sooner? I’m kicking myself here!” He started yanking at his thin hair.

  Kevin didn’t give a shit. The trick was clear as fuck—Some Worldhoppers had pulled the same stunt before. That nursing home gig was just too brutal, so nobody dared touch it.

  Luck’s the real kicker, and you can’t bank on that.

  Good thing Marissa, Razor Hawk, and Sally didn’t clock it, so Kevin and Mallow wrapped it up smooth.

  Kevin rubbed his chin, sizing up the five picks slow and steady.

  Basic stat boosts were rare as hell, like spotting a four-leaf clover, and Mallow said Sally’s crew never got lucky enough to nab one.

  Them 100 team points? Straight cash.

  That Hyper Serum? A lifeline.

  But the dark green gear? Total wild card. The right piece could juice his game hard—or flip his whole fighting style.

  In the end, Kevin sucked it up and rolled with option B, taking the gamble.

  Last time he soloed that brutal hidden mission, no hidden stat bonus ever popped up. Since it’s hidden, triggering it’s a pain in the ass, making this pick damn scarce.

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  Omnispace laid it out—6 hidden attributes:

  Willpower: Mental grit. When sluggishness, paralysis, or stone crap hits, this stat tweaks the odds. Boost it, and you’re shrugging off status junk like it’s nothing.

  Reflex: Dodge like you’re in a flick. Arrows, bullets—bring it! This cranks your duck-and-weave odds. Matrix vibes, anybody?

  Perception: Danger radar’s live. It sharpens your senses, so illusions and head games slide right off. Jedi tricks? Not on this watch.

  Toughness: When you eat a hit—sword, fireball, or some poison chomp—this stat messes with the damage. Plus or minus, it’s all numbers.

  Luck: No explaining needed.

  Affinity: Magic hour. This stat juices your spell-slinging—faster casts, harder smacks, bigger bangs. Abracadabra, man!

  The other picks had fallbacks, but hidden stat boosts? Rarer than a unicorn’s ass. So Kevin rolled the dice on option B. All five looked solid, unless he got screwed and landed Affinity.

  And guess what? His Luck stat jumped +2.

  Sure, it wasn’t the hidden juice he’d been gunning for, like Willpower or Toughness, but who’s gonna bitch about getting luckier? Still a sweet deal.

  Mallow didn’t blink and nabbed the Hyper Serum. When Kevin asked why, Mallow stared like he’d grown horns, “Dude, what’s bigger than not dying in this shithole?”

  Kevin didn’t have words, but Mallow’s pick was dead-on. If Mallow hadn’t gone all-in for that Energy Toast to pull Kevin’s ass out of the fire, he’d be toast himself by now.

  Kevin had already grilled Mallow on it. When he soloed that brutal hidden mission, Mallow didn’t get squat from Omnispace—no ping, nada. Omnispace dropped the goods and kept it hush-hush, no big broadcast to stir up trouble. They hashed it out and agreed to keep their haul on the down-low.

  Mallow also dropped a nugget he’d picked up about the reward’s Plot Deviation Rate. Word was, he’s now got a 1% bump. Kevin wasn’t 100% on what that Plot Deviation Rate jazz was, but extra juice never hurt, right?

  With the power humming, they could finally crank the loudspeaker, but they still needed to hit a switch in the control room to get it rolling. No sweat for Kevin and Mallow. The control room was right next door to the generator room, so they rolled over, smoked two tuner walkers on the way, and took the joint over.

  “Alright, boss,” Mallow said, his voice shaking a bit, “how the hell we gonna play this joint to our edge? All them walkers are rolling in soon, and I ain’t feeling hot about our shot.”

  Kevin flashed a badass smirk. “Chill, man,” he said, he said, killing Mallow’s panic. “I’ve got a move. You remember that diesel fuel we nabbed in the generator room? Time to light it up.”

  ***

  Meanwhile, Marissa hauled her crew toward the generator room. A big dude ran point while she blasted walkers with her auto, stacking bodies. Deep down, she was kinda juiced about the whole damn mess.

  “Why didn’t I clock using the generator to pull walkers sooner? Even without that loudspeaker, Rikk spilled the whole prison layout, and the control room’s right by the generator room. Gotta be a broadcast rig there. I could drag in the walkers and stack points for myself, no sweat,” Marissa thought, smirking hard. “Who gives a crap about that dumb loudspeaker outside? Long as I’m on top, who cares if a few suckers get chewed up? Less competition, more me, right?”

  Just as she was patting herself on the back, a loud-ass alarm ripped through the air. Her crew swapped dumb looks, but Marissa’s gut twisted—her nails clawing into her skin, blood trickling.

  “Who? Who the hell flipped that switch?!” she snarled, face twisted up in a rage. “Move your ass!” she screeched, rifle blazing, dropping walkers like pins at a alley.

  On the flip side of the prison, Razor Hawk was tearing through a kill streak when the alarm hit. Some might’ve blinked, but he just laughed it off, figuring it was some walker tripping the switch like a dumbass. He kept slashing away.

  Kevin flipped the alarm for a quick blast, just long enough to see walkers stumbling their way, hunger kicking their asses into gear.

  The control room and generator room were the prison’s core, built tough as nails. With one choke point—a corridor funneling straight to ‘em—Kevin and Mallow took the high ground and dumped diesel fuel all over the path.

  As the walkers closed in, Mallow sparked the fuel. They watched those suckers charge right into the fire.

  Walkers usually dodged flames like the plague, but with the alarm screaming, would they still rush? Hell yeah—the noise flipped their switches. They locked eyes on the humans, let out some gnarly growls, and went full-on bloodthirsty, barreling ahead.

  Mallow whooped, “Son of a bitch, come to papa!” Then muttered, “Wait, did I just roast myself?”

  The walkers plowed through the blaze, turning into flaming freaks—creepy as shit but badass to watch. Halfway in, they groaned, dropped, and burned to ash.

  “Whoa, only 1 survival point per walker?” Mallow bitched under his breath.

  “Hey, 1 point ain’t trash,” Kevin laughed. “We’re playing smart, not blasting, so Omnispace cuts the haul. Team points from kills are the real deal. Plus, diesel’s free, man.”

  Mallow cracked a grin. “Fair call, boss.”

  No shame in sight, they slammed the alarm again, reeling in another walker swarm.

  Battle time!