The three colonists who had eaten the hound meat collapsed like puppets with their strings cut. Rivas hit the ground first, his back arching violently before his spine snapped with an audible *crack*. Keller followed, his limbs thrashing as black veins pulsed beneath his skin—then, just as suddenly, he went still, his eyes wide and unblinking.
Alex lasted only a second longer. His body convulsed, muscles locking as foam bubbled between his clenched teeth. Then, with a final shudder, he collapsed face-first onto the cold metal floor.
Silence.
The survivors stood frozen, staring at the three motionless bodies. The air reeked of burnt ozone and something sour—like spoiled meat left to rot in the sun.
Priya was the first to move, pressing two fingers to Rivas's throat. "Dead," she muttered. She checked Keller next, then hesitated over Alex. "This one's still breathing. Barely."
Maya clutched her pendant, her lips moving in a silent prayer. The others exchanged uneasy glances. No one dared touch the bodies.
### **Two Hours Later**
Nothing had changed.
The survivors had dragged the three into a corner, weapons trained on them as if expecting them to reanimate as something worse. But they remained still—Rivas and Keller cold and stiff, Alex barely clinging to life.
Then—
**[Your body has now been adapted.]**
A translucent blue screen flickered into existence in front of every survivor. Gasps filled the room as people staggered back, swatting at the air.
Mark's vision sharpened unnaturally. His veins burned, his muscles thrumming with energy he hadn't possessed before his eye changed from blue to ember red. Across the room, Alex gasped, his body jerking upright as if electrocuted. His pupils dilated, his fingers twitching like claws.
"What the hell—?" Jake began.
Then the horn sounded.
A deep, guttural *blare* shook the walls. The colonists spun toward the far corridor just as the first wave of creatures poured in.
**Goblins.**
Dozens—no, *hundreds*—of them. Four-foot-tall, wiry-limbed, their green skin slick with grime. Yellowed tusks jutted from their lower jaws, their beady eyes gleaming with malice. They wielded jagged scrap-metal blades, rusted pistols, and spears tipped with broken glass.
"OPEN FIRE!" Priya roared.
Chaos erupted.
### **The Bloodbath**
The first shots tore through the front line, pulse rounds exploding goblin skulls in bursts of blackish blood. But the creatures didn't stop. They *surged*, clambering over their own dead, screeching as they lunged for the survivors.
Mark reacted before he could think. His fist lashed out, caving in a goblin's skull with a single blow.
**[You have killed Unclassified Level 2 Goblin. +15 EXP.]**
The notification seared across his vision. He had no time to process it—another goblin was already leaping at him, a rusted knife aimed for his throat. He sidestepped, as he felt a strange energy inside his body, he extended his hand only to see a streak of blood lashed out decapitating a Goblin instantly.
**[You have killed Unclassified Level 2 Goblin. +15 EXP.]**
**[You have reach level 2]**
[Strenght + 2]
You have gain 3 Status points to allocate freely]
Across the room, Alex moved like a predator unleashed. His body was a blur—faster, stronger than before. A goblin lunged at him with a sparking cattle prod; Alex dodged, his fist connecting with the creature's temple.
The goblin froze, drool hanging from its open maw. Alex didn't hesitate—he drove his knife through its eye.
**[+15 EXP.]**
Then his body *shuddered*. His pupils dilated further, his lips peeling back in a feral snarl.
**[Double Personality Activated.]**
Alex's movements became erratic, brutal. He didn't fight—he *tore*. A goblin's arm was ripped from its socket. Another's throat was torn out with bare hands. He moved like a wild beast, his laughter a guttural, inhuman sound.
Mark fought his way through the horde with a goblin knife he took up, his body humming with unnatural energy. Every kill fed something inside him, sharpening his reflexes, heightening his senses.
**[+15 EXP.]**
**[+15 EXP.]**
**[You have reach level 3]**
[Health + 2]
You have gain 3 Status points to allocate freely]
But not everyone was so lucky.
Colonists fell by the dozen. Harris was dragged down, three goblins sinking their teeth into his limbs. Elise took a rusted spear through the gut, her scream cut short as a second goblin slit her throat. The deck became slick with blood—human and goblin alike.
By the time the last creature fell, over thirty colonists lay dead.
Mark stood panting, his hands dripping with green-black blood. Alex's *Double Personality* had faded, leaving him swaying on his feet, his knuckles split and bleeding.
Silence.
Then—
A new sound.
A deep, resonant *thud*, like a massive drumbeat.
The few remaining goblins froze. Then, as one, they scrambled back—not in retreat, but to make way.
From the darkness of the corridor, something *bigger* emerged.
Eight feet tall. Tusks like daggers. A maul fashioned from a ship's support beam clutched in one massive hand.
The giant Goblin voice was a guttural growl:
**"Meat...for the Maw."**