This isn't a long guide, and the method to find this secret/easter egg is very simple, all you'll need to access this is the Cursed Torch (or the Hope Eradicated status in general). Lets begin!

Clarification: You don't NEED the cursed torch, but it's one of the simpler methods to achieve HOPE ERADICATED- which is the key status to accessing the secret room in Pure Optics and the CSHQ annex.

Minor Update: A number of comments suggest that this may have something to do with the most recent content update, I'll try to test some of these and update with my findings. Already a bunch of great leads, I'm proud of all you braindead corporate mechs and degenerate homicidal meatbags!

Major Update!: DEATH allows access to a secret area within Cruelty Squad HQ and has synergy with the Bolt ACR, the former leading to a new implant and the latter being EXTREMELY overpowered. -thanks to SMASHzone and medikana (and everyone else!)

Double Secret Update: There is a strange new enemy found deep inside Cruelty Squad HQ, behind the Cursed Torch door and the "Death fog" area behind it. This enemy has extremely high HP and is armed with a bizarre new weapon- but there is a way to win easily. Deploy with the Tranquilizer and the Bolt ACR, find the enemy and tranquilize him. Once he is down, drown his sleeping corpus in Bolt ACR fire and he will be shredded in seconds. Enjoy the weapon and whatever the hell it is that opens behind him when he dies.

Make sure you have the Cursed Torch equipped, if you do not have it you'll have to hunt it down in the game. It is well hidden, though if you've given up on finding it yourself check out any of the other guides in the C. Hub. I won't tell!




Now, begin the Pharmakokinetiks mission, since it's the first actual mission you won't have to worry about unlocking this, obviously.





From the beginning, make a left-






Here, even through the crimson haze of the Cursed Torch you'll see a small storefront for a shop called Pure Optics, approach and enter, taking care not to go too much further past the shop as the Cursed Torch has caused a "Special" spawn to have occurred in the next alley over. (If you'd like, kack him and take his gun after you're finished here.)








Now that you're inside, inspect the rear wall- now that you have the Torch the special wall here will no longer block your path and will instead turn into... human torsos?? Proceed.





At the end of this ominous hallway is a room. Within this room are three things of interest: A Couch, a Weird Piston, and a TV Wall with a cursed face on it. If you dare touch this face you will undergo an ultimate apotheosis and exchange the power of Life for the cold embrace of Death.







Currently, this seems to be an exclusively cosmetic change, but considering how many other secrets in this game work there may be other effects, or synergies with certain items.

Update: As mentioned/discovered by WalterREQUiEM, the DEATH status allows you to use the Bolt ACR without suffering the effects of it's radioactive cloud. Bad news for the environment, but good news for you!

If you happen to discover anything, don't hesitate to bring it up down below in them comments.

(FYI Your "Life" meter returns if you restart the client, this process can be repeated if desired.) Update: Turns out this is not the case, however, at least once I've managed to somehow revert my HP back to "Life" without restarting progress- research is ongoing.


Now go, and gather an ~/Abundance of Death\~