SSS-Class Profession: The Path to Mastery
Chapter 251: Uniform Concealment

Chapter 251: Uniform Concealment

The monitor blinked.

Again, the hallway door opened with no one in frame—no blur, no silhouette, not even a shift in pixel alignment. The light above the entry flickered, responding to a presence that shouldn’t exist. And yet... something was there.

"Are they actually invisible to cameras?" I asked again, quieter this time.

Alexis didn’t answer. She was frozen, eyes locked to the screen. Sienna adjusted Camille’s limp form on the bench, her gaze darting between us.

"That shouldn’t be possible," Alexis muttered finally. "Even skill-based cloaking has a trace. Heat signatures, light refraction. You can’t erase that unless—"

The door on the feed hissed again.

It was getting closer.

"Unless what?" I asked, already scanning the console for overrides or motion history.

Alexis hesitated. "Unless it’s not them doing the cloaking."

My breath caught.

I looked back at Camille.

Still unconscious.

Still shivering.

Still dressed in that half-torn, blood-smeared outfit from Observation Hall C.

But I remembered something now—something faint. One of her old creations back in the city. A fashion show. An outfit that shimmered, made people disappear from spotlight angles. It wasn’t magic. It wasn’t tech. It was design.

My stomach dropped.

"Camouflage Weave," I said aloud.

Alexis blinked. "What?"

"That’s one of her skills. And Identity Concealment. Both are low level—four, five at most—but if someone stole her materials, or if the guards were outfitted using her—"

A sharp, clattering beep interrupted me.

A new camera feed came online.

It showed our hallway.

And at the very edge of the frame... the door to our room started opening.

But still—no figure. No shadow.

But that still didn’t explain it. How could something be completely invisible?

Alexis stumbled back. "They’re here."

My fingers went cold.

Sienna stood protectively in front of Camille, who stirred faintly at the rising tension. I backed up to the cabinet near the wall, heart hammering.

"Do we fight?" Alexis asked.

"We wouldn’t win," I said. "Even if we see them."

And then Camille gasped.

She sat upright.

Sharp. Sudden. Like something had ripped her out of unconsciousness.

Eyes unfocused. Skin pale. But moving.

She turned her head toward the cabinet. Didn’t speak. Didn’t explain. Just moved. Slow at first, then faster, dragging herself toward it on legs that clearly hadn’t recovered.

"Camille—" Sienna tried to stop her, but I raised a hand.

"Let her go."

The locker cabinet clicked open.

Inside—bolts of fabric.

Black. Grey. Maroon. Threads that shimmered even in dull light. Things I didn’t remember seeing earlier. Things that shouldn’t have been there.

Camille reached in.

Her hands moved with a speed that betrayed her condition. Fingers like machinery. No hesitation. No tremble. Fabric spun, folded, threaded through loops without tools or scissors. Just raw movement. Just instinct.

I stepped closer—and that’s when I felt it.

A pulse.

Not in the room.

In the System.

Scan activated before I even realized I was triggering it. No request. No denial screen. No error. No override block from Subject 3829.

Just raw data.

Name: Camille Voss

Job Title: Fashion Designer (A-Rank)

All Skills: TEMPORARY LEVEL 10

All of them. Every single one. Maxed.

My breath caught.

Not just "good."

Perfect.

Fabric glowed faintly in her hands as she stitched, not with needle or thread, but with her skill itself. Material fused, darkened, shimmered. Identity Concealment—ten. Camouflage Weave—ten. Psychological Flair—ten.

Clothing turned to armor.

Aesthetic into deception.

By the time she finished, her arms trembled. Her head drooped.

But the outfits were done.

She handed them to us one by one. A jacket, a layered shawl, something resembling a patchworked uniform. No explanation. No words. Just the offer.

Then she collapsed.

Sienna caught her before she hit the floor and eased her down again.

I held the garment in my hands. It felt... wrong. Not heavy. Not strange. But charged. Like static. Like something unfinished. Or unstable.

And then—

The door creaked.

A shadow passed.

Not on the camera.

In the room.

I turned.

There he was.

A guard—fully armored, visor down. I couldn’t tell what he saw, but he looked straight at me.

And paused.

I stepped forward.

The words left me without thought.

"Why are you still here? The targets moved to sublevel three. If you want to explain to your superiors why you’re five minutes late to secure the breach, be my guest."

[Skill Activated: Intimidation Through Status (Lv. 8)]

My voice deepened slightly. Not just pitch, but tone. It echoed with something old. Something authoritative. Something certain.

The guard didn’t move.

But I saw it.

A twitch in the hand. A shift in stance.

He hesitated.

He doubted.

Then Camille’s creation did the rest.

[Psychological Flair (Lv. 10)]—still active.

Her design did what my voice couldn’t alone.

His breath caught. His posture straightened. He looked at me like I was someone above him.

A superior.

"Y-Yes, sir," he said.

Then he turned.

And ran.

Gone before I even breathed again.

Silence returned.

I looked down at Camille.

Her lips barely moved.

"...told you... fashion... saves lives," she murmured weakly.

I laughed. Quiet. Bitter.

Then I crouched beside her. "Camille... do you have a job title?"

Her eyes didn’t open.

But she nodded.

Barely.

Sienna exhaled. "She’s been experimented on."

Alexis clenched her jaw. "That explains the energy drain. Activating all skills at once, max level? That’s not something a normal person survives. Or recovers from quickly."

That made three.

Three people I cared about.

Sienna. Alexis. Now Camille.

All with titles.

All with the same root.

All touched by the same system that gave me mine. Without consent. Without context. Without care.

My fists clenched around the fabric of the disguise.

"I’m gonna kill them," I said.

"Rey?" Alexis questioned.

I ignored her as we moved forward.

Camille rested on Sienna’s back again, sleeping soundly. We left the bodies in the security room. We took the maps from the console. We took the disguises. And we went down.

To Sublevel Three.

To find Anthony and Evelyn.

To get answers.

To burn this place to the ground if we had to.

But with every step, something deeper twisted in me.

This was the third time.

And there was still one more.

One more person I hadn’t seen in a while. One more bond they hadn’t broken.

Yet.

If they took her too...

My thoughts curled dark.

Darker than before.

It wasn’t just anger anymore.

It was pure, unfiltered, rage.

And I knew it was only going to grow.

One more.

Then the dam would break.