Lyrasia knew she had only bought herself time.
Her deal with Lord Aelius Varian had spared her from becoming his pawn, but it had not solved her real problem—the village of Ormere still had no food.
Varian’s funding was a long-term advantage, but the people back home couldn’t eat potential. They needed grain, and they needed it now.
And in the capital, when legal trade failed...
There was always an alternative.
The Underground Market.
A place where laws held no weight and trade followed its own rules. A world hidden beneath the city’s shining wealth, where gold was second to information, and fortunes were built on secrets, debts, and deception.
But entry wasn’t so simple.
The Underground Market wasn’t for common thieves or desperate peasants—it was a sanctuary for those who could play the game. To even step foot inside, one had to prove they belonged.
And so, Lyrasia found herself standing in front of a dimly lit alley, staring at a steel door with no handle.
She raised a fist to knock.
Before her knuckles touched metal, a voice drifted from the shadows.
"What do you bring to trade, little merchant?"
Lyrasia turned.
A man leaned against the stone wall, barely visible in the low light. His coat was long and tattered, his hair unkempt, but his eyes were sharp—calculating.
She had heard of the Underground’s entry trials—three gatekeepers, each a specialist in a different type of trade. Deception. Loopholes. Cutthroat deals.
Only those who could pass all three were granted access.
Lyrasia straightened her posture. "I seek passage into the Underground Market."
The man smirked. "Then you’ll need to barter your way in."
She had expected this.
The gatekeeper reached into his coat and pulled out two coins, holding them up between his fingers.
"One of these is real, the other is a fake. If you can tell which is which... you may pass."
Lyrasia’s mind raced. It’s a trick.
There was no way he’d make it this easy. If she simply guessed, she’d lose.
Instead, she played his own game.
"You wouldn’t carry a worthless coin," she said. "Which means both must have value."
The man’s smirk widened.
"Very well," he said, flipping one coin toward her. She caught it. "You pass."
She exhaled quietly. One down.
The second gatekeeper appeared moments later, stepping out from the shadows—a woman with a face so ordinary, it was almost forgettable.
She held up a contract, the parchment covered in fine, looping script.
"Sign this," she said, "and you may enter."
Lyrasia’s stomach tightened. Never sign something you don’t understand.
She scanned the text. The wording was deliberately vague, designed to bind her into something unseen.
Instead of signing, she flipped the contract over—and sure enough, written on the back in tiny letters was an escape clause.
"If I must sign, then I demand my contractual rights," Lyrasia said, tapping the fine print.
The gatekeeper laughed.
"Clever girl," she murmured. "You pass."
Two down.
But the third...
The final gatekeeper was unlike the others.
He sat at a round table at the far end of the alley, surrounded by stacks of ledgers and scattered documents. A man who never lost a deal.
Because he didn’t trade in goods.
He traded in debts.
Lyrasia swallowed hard.
He gestured for her to sit.
"You seek entry," he said, voice smooth as silk. "Then make me an offer."
Lyrasia hesitated.
Unlike the others, there was no puzzle here. No trick to unravel. This was a pure negotiation.
And she had nothing to trade.
No gold. No favors. No leverage.
Nothing except...
Herself.
The merchant’s lips curled into a knowing smile.
"You realize now, don’t you?" he murmured. "The only thing you have of value is your freedom."
A cold shiver ran down her spine.
"And I will gladly buy it," he continued. "A simple contract—one that ensures, in the future, when I call upon you... you will not refuse."
Her hands trembled beneath the table. No.
She couldn’t trade herself away so easily.
There had to be another way.
And then—
A flicker.
A glitch in the air.
Suddenly, her vision was filled with a red notification—
________________
[SYSTEM OVERRIDE DETECTED.]
[WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED INTERFERENCE WITH EXTERNAL TRADE PROTOCOLS.]
________________
The system was reacting to something. But why?
Before she could react, new words flashed before her eyes—
________________
[NEW MISSION: DEFY THE MERCHANT OF CHAINS]
[Objective: Escape the final deal without losing your freedom.]
[Reward: ???]
[Time Limit: 2 Minutes]
________________
Two minutes.
The merchant watched her closely, tapping his fingers against the wooden table.
"What will it be, little merchant?" he murmured. "Your choice... or your chains?"
Lyrasia’s mind raced.
She had nothing physical to bargain with.
But that didn’t mean she had nothing at all.
A merchant who traded in debts valued only one thing—leverage.
And Lyrasia had just realized something.
"You claim my freedom is valuable," she said slowly, "because you assume I will be valuable in the future."
The merchant nodded, eyes glinting.
"But that means my value is unknown." She leaned forward. "And no true merchant deals in uncertain investments."
For the first time, the man hesitated.
She pressed on.
"So instead of selling my freedom, why don’t we strike a better bargain?" She smirked. "I’ll owe you one favor—but only if I ever make a deal worth more than five thousand gold pieces."
A long pause.
Then, the merchant laughed.
Lyrasia held her breath.
"Now that is a proper bargain," he said. "Very well. You pass."
The steel door behind him unlocked.
Ding!
________________
[MISSION COMPLETE!]
[Reward Unlocked: ???]
________________
Lyrasia exhaled.
She had won.
But as she stepped through the door, the system’s words still flickered in her mind—
[SYSTEM OVERRIDE DETECTED.]
What had just happened?
And more importantly...
Who else was watching her?
As Lyrasia stepped inside, the air shifted. Whispers curled around her like smoke, eyes gleaming from the shadows. This was no ordinary market. This was a den of predators, and she had just declared herself a player in their game.