POV: Victor
Victor stood over the broken body, fists dripping red. His chest heaved, lungs burning, adrenaline still roaring through him like a storm that wouldn't quit.
Around him, the silence was absolute—no whispers, no shuffle of feet. Just the heavy, electric hush of fear.
Good.
He didn't say a word. He didn't have to.
Turning, he walked away, and the others flinched like he'd just cracked a whip. His body ached with every step. Knuckles raw. Head pounding.
He was so damn tired.
The hallway stretched ahead, dim and narrow.
Then—chime.
A sound inside his skull.
A screen blinked into view, faintly translucent and glowing with soft blue light:
---
NAME: Victor
LEVEL: 2
HP: 11/12
STAMINA: 13/16
ATTRIBUTES
Strength: 13/ 15
Speed: 10 / 11
Agility: 11 /12
Endurance: 14
Intelligence: 11
Magic 5
Mana: 20
STAT POINTS AVAILABLE: 4
ABILITIES
Blood Thirst (Passive): Absorb 5% of a slain enemy's core stats permanently.
Earth Spire: Mastery 0
Get stronger through continuous use.
Erupt a sharpened stone spike beneath a target.
Elemental Affinity: Earth
---
Victor exhaled, chest rattling.
[SYSTEM ONLINE. WELCOME, VICTOR.]
A slow, cruel smile crept across his face.
Finally.
---
POV: Rick
Rick calmly made his way on the of the stairs.
Rick wiped his clammy palms on his coat. His heartbeat still pounded in his throat from the scene below. From Victor.
He needed air. Space. Something that didn't stink of blood.
The stairwell groaned under his boots, half-buried in rubble and ash. Each step up was a gamble—the next one could give way.
At the top, a hole gaped in the wall where a door used to be. Snow drifted inside, soft and silent, carried on a wind sharp enough to cut.
The roof of the base above ground was destroyed only leaving rubble on the ground.
Then he saw them.
Bones.
Dozens of them, half-buried in snow. Ribcages collapsed. Skulls cracked. Some still gripped rusted weapons. Others looked chewed on.
Rick's stomach twisted.
What the hell happened here?
A wet, crunching sound pulled him back.
He turned.
A small, green creature crouched in the snow, hunched over a half-eaten wolf. Its ears flicked. Its long nose twitched. Sharp teeth tore flesh from bone.
Rick froze.
Monster, his brain whispered. Real. Right here.
The goblin looked up.
Beady eyes locked onto him.
Then it shrieked—a horrible, raw sound—and lunged, blade raised.
Rick didn't think. He moved.
A kick, square to the face. The goblin yelped, its dagger flying. Rick dove for it, snatched it up, and drove it into the goblin's eye.
The thing spasmed. Then stilled.
Blood sprayed warm across Rick's face. He stumbled back, retching.
He dropped to his knees and vomited into the snow.
KRZZT!
A new screen snapped into view, harsher than Victor's—jagged, red-tinged, glitching slightly:
---
NAME: Rick
LEVEL: 2
HP: 14/14
Intelegence: 13
ATTRIBUTES
STAMINA: 16/17
Strength: 10
Speed 10/ 11
Agility: 11/ 12
Endurance: 9
Magic 7
Mana: 18
AFFINITY: Ice
SKILL GAINED:
Body tempering : mastery 0
To level up mastery, Must meditate while circling your seishin all round your body.
---
Rick wiped his mouth, still shaking.
Footsteps thundered up behind him—other survivors. They burst onto the roof and stopped cold.
One looked at the goblin corpse. Another gagged.
The air turned heavy. No one spoke.
They didn't see what he was seeing meaning he alone was able to see it.
Before it disappeared tge system said to activate just think about it and say the words system activated.
Rick didn't look at them. He just stared at the dagger in his hand.
The world changed today.
And something told him—this was just the start.