His eyes dashed across the floor, searching for a guard card before crawling out of the prison. That's when he saw it: a small, rectangular object lying on the floor. Kitsune sneaked over, the balls of his feet silent against the cold concrete. He plucked the card up between two fingers, eyeing the holographic surface that shimmered with a sleep-inducing glow.
"Guard card," he read aloud, and slid it through his metal collar to unbuckle it.
"You're not out of the woods yet." Or rather, out of the prison. He scanned the horizon, a mix of dark forests and distant mountains outlining the realm that awaited him.
Kitsune shuffled back from the edge, muscles protesting with soreness, evidence of his exertions. As he took a deep, steadying breath, his senses stretched out like a fox on the prowl.
"Let's see... No annoying teammate, no fucking guards, no fucking Chavo coming to kill me. I'd say we're golden for now," he mused, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. But caution was a gambler's ally and Kitsune never played a hand without weighing the odds.
"Okay, so the easy part is done," he continued, half-joking as if the sheer vertical climb could be considered such. "Time to plan my grand, not-so-triumphant exit."
With careful movements, he rose to his feet, standing atop the wall as though it were his victory. He dusted off his hands against his pants, a habit carried over from the real world. Then, squinting into the distance, he laughed.
"Remember this: next time you end up in a high-security virtual prison, try to escape during daylight," he quipped, though the thrill of the night's cover added to the allure. "But hey, darkness is just another flavor of Jailbreak, right?"
Balancing humor with the unspoken tension of the unknown, Kitsune readied himself for whatever lay ahead. This was his element, after all—the unpredictable, the risky, the utterly exhilarating. It was what made life beyond the screen seem so dreadfully dull by comparison.
"Adventure, treasure, and probably some sort of impending doom," he said with a grin, reveling in the prospect. "Just how I like it."
With that, he pivoted, ready to descend the opposite side of the wall, his heart still racing—not from fear, but from the sheer joy of the game.
**Swissh**
The scenery around Kitsune changed.
[Congratulations, Kitsune Zenko!]
[You have successfully cleared the mission: Prison Escape Extravaganza]
"Extravaganza? Who writes this stuff?" Kitsune stated, rolling his eyes. It was straight out of a B-list action flick, but who was he to complain about a little theatrics?
[10,000 dollars has been deposited.]