«**YOU WANT A GAME? FINE. LET'S PLAY.**»
The horizon erupted.
A thousand ice dragons crystallized over mountain ranges, wings shimmering like shattered glass. Flame serpents uncoiled from volcanic fissures, melting entire rivers into steam. Undead legions clawed from graveyards three continents away. Berserk monkeys scaled skyscraper-sized trees, howling in jungles Noah's group couldn't even see. Phoenixes of fire, ice, and lightning spiraled into hurricanes above oceans that didn't exist yesterday.
All of it—*distant*.
ReZero's monsters raged at the edges of the world, penned by invisible barriers. A show of force. A warning.
"He's toying with us," Jae-Hyun muttered, watching storms flicker on the horizon like a corrupted film reel.
The six survivors with earth-affinity Skills didn't wait. They knelt, palms pressed to the unnervingly soft soil, their Status screens flickering:
**[Earthen Foundation LV1.]**
**[Clay Reinforcement LV1.]**
Huts rose from the ground—crude, half-collapsed, but shelter. Walls of compacted dirt, roofs thatched with magically fused grass. No doors. No windows. Just four walls and the stench of wet soil.
Noah's legs gave out.
The Ghoul King Heart pulsed in his chest, a second heartbeat syncing with the distant roars of phoenixes. His veins writhed like worms under his skin.
"Noah—!" Jae-Hyun lunged for him, but he was already seizing.
**[Blood Affinity Mutation: Stage 1.]**
**[System Override Detected.]**
He vomited black sludge, his body curling into a fetal position as the heart's power rewrote him. His friends watched, helpless, as his skin grayed and his fingernails sharpened into claws.
Then he vanished.
ReZero's scream fractured the sky.
«**YOU WANT A GAME? FINE. LET'S PLAY.**»
The horizon erupted.
A thousand ice dragons crystallized over mountain ranges, wings shimmering like shattered glass. Flame serpents uncoiled from volcanic fissures, melting entire rivers into steam. Undead legions clawed from graveyards three continents away. Berserk monkeys scaled skyscraper-sized trees, howling in jungles Noah's group couldn't even see. Phoenixes of fire, ice, and lightning spiraled into hurricanes above oceans that didn't exist yesterday.
All of it—*distant*.
ReZero's monsters raged at the edges of the world, penned by invisible barriers. A show of force. A warning.
"He's toying with us," Jae-Hyun muttered, watching storms flicker on the horizon like a corrupted film reel.
The six survivors with earth-affinity Skills didn't wait. They knelt, palms pressed to the unnervingly soft soil, their Status screens flickering:
**[Earthen Foundation LV1.]**
**[Clay Reinforcement LV1.]**
Huts rose from the ground—crude, half-collapsed, but shelter. Walls of compacted dirt, roofs thatched with magically fused grass. No doors. No windows. Just four walls and the stench of wet soil.
Noah's legs gave out.
The Ghoul King Heart pulsed in his chest, a second heartbeat syncing with the distant roars of phoenixes. His veins writhed like worms under his skin.
"Noah—!" Jae-Hyun lunged for him, but he was already seizing.
**[Blood Affinity Mutation: Stage 1.]**
**[System Override Detected.]**
He vomited black sludge, his body curling into a fetal position as the heart's power rewrote him. His friends watched, helpless, as his skin grayed and his fingernails sharpened into claws.
Then he vanished.
Noah's eyes snapped open.
The world was sharper. *Too* sharp. He could smell the iron in distant blood, hear the rasp of undead tendons fraying miles away. His body thrummed with power—muscles coiled like springs, veins humming with something darker than adrenaline.
**[Status Update]**
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 34
Agility: 29
Magic: 45
Health (HP): 40/ 40
Mana (MP): 30/ 30
Stamina: 30/ 30
**[Skill Acquired: Blood Slash Lv. 1.]**
*"Channel bloodlust into a ranged attack. Cost: 3 HP."*
He stood, joints popping, and froze.
His reflection glimmered in a nearby puddle— blood red hair, crimson irises. *Monster.* The word should've terrified him. Instead, his new instincts purred: *Survivor.*
A scream tore through the twilight.
Five hundred meters north, a group of humans—survivors from their group—were being herded into a canyon by shambling undead. Rot-blackened hands clawed at limbs, jaws snapping with broken teeth. Noah moved before he could think.
His sprint was a blur. Grass flattened underfoot, wind screaming in his ears. He'd crossed half the distance when a streak of fire split the sky.
Kael stood atop a boulder, arm outstretched.
**[Skill: Ember Lance Lv. 3.]**
A spear of condensed flame pierced three undead in a straight line, combusting their skulls mid-snarl. Iteration #2 hybrids fanned out below him, methodical as a firing squad:
- Lira's shadows tripped fleeing undead into kill zones.
- Vex dosed corpses with neurotoxins, melting them into sludge.
Noah skidded to a halt. A lone undead, unnoticed by Kael's squad, lurched toward a wounded woman.
**[Blood Slash.]**
Noah's arm swung on instinct. A crescent of crimson energy tore through the creature's torso, bisecting it at the ribs. The woman stared at him, trembling—not in gratitude, but primal fear.
He smelled it before he saw it.
His Blood Slash hadn't just killed the undead. It had *drained* it. The corpse's veins were withered husks, every drop of moisture extracted.
**[Undead Eliminated. XP +25.]**
**[HP +0.3]**
Kael's boots crunched gravel behind him.
"Designation: Noah," he said, voice devoid of curiosity. "Your evolution is… inefficient."
Noah turned. Kael's Ember Lance still smoldered in his palm, but his gaze flickered to the desiccated undead.
"Meat's meat," Noah growled. The ghoul heart in his chest pulsed hungrily.
**[ReZero (Admin):]**
«*Oho? Dogfight!*»
The ground between them cracked, forcing them apart. Kael's hybrids retreated on some silent command, while Noah's new senses prickled—*danger, danger, danger*.
"Directive: Survive," Kael said, Ember Lance dissolving. "You remain an obstacle. For now."
He walked away, leaving Noah standing in the blood-soaked dirt.
The woman he'd saved was already gone.