📍 4:16 PM | District 13 | Sector Junkyard
POV: Jax
The voice wouldn't stop.
> SYSTEM:
"Welcome, Jax Lee.
Cruel Origin Protocol — Phase 1 Unlocked."
Jax blinked, his eyes wide, blood rushing in his ears.
"No," he muttered. "Nope. Nope. I'm not doing this. I didn't sign up for any freak system."
He ripped the busted headset from his head and hurled it into the junk pile. Sparks popped, a faint whine of power cutting short.
> Jax (shouting):
"Screw this! I don't want your game, your system, your whatever!"
He turned around, storming toward the chain-link exit.
But the air behind him cracked — like glass snapping under pressure.
He barely had time to turn before something invisible slammed him into the dirt. His ribs howled. Dust burst in his lungs. He coughed, tried to move—
And froze.
> SYSTEM:
"First task: Ignored."
"Penalty Trial: INITIATED."
> Jax (choking):
"Wait, no—NO, I didn't agree to this—!"
The world shattered.
---
🎬 Scene 2 — ??? | "Penalty Trial Zone"
He landed on metal.
Sharp, hot, uneven. The sky was red — no sun, just boiling clouds over an ocean that wasn't water, but liquid static. A shore made of bent steel, broken rebar, and bones.
Then the sea parted.
A serpent rose.
No… not a serpent. A monster. Its body coiled like a corrupted god's spine. It breathed in silence. One eye — gold and cruel — locked on him.
> SYSTEM:
"Penalty Trial Initiated."
"Class: Phantom."
"Threat: Abyss Serpent."
"Time Limit: 7 Minutes."
"Objective: Survive."
> Jax (horrified):
"I don't even have a weapon—!"
He turned and ran.
The serpent moved.
Metal screamed under its mass. Each second felt like a lifetime as Jax stumbled over twisted ground. His lungs fought. His legs failed. His vision blurred—
> Jax (thinking):
"This isn't fair—why me—why now—why this—"
The serpent hissed. A blast of pressure knocked him forward. Jax slammed into a rusted pillar and crumpled, coughing up spit and dust.
He crawled behind the scrap heap.
> Jax (whispers):
"I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die…"
> SYSTEM:
"Six minutes remaining."
> Jax:
"Shut up!"
The ground exploded behind him. The serpent's tail crushed the heap, sending shrapnel everywhere. A jagged shard sliced across Jax's shoulder. He screamed.
He ran again. Limping. Sobbing.
> Jax (breaking):
"PLEASE—STOP! I didn't ask for this! I didn't even say YES!"
The serpent lunged. It missed — barely. A rusted beam took the hit and snapped like a twig.
> Jax (hyperventilating):
"This is a dream. It has to be. I'll wake up. I'll wake up—"
He tripped. Fell flat.
The world tilted.
His hands hit something cold.
He looked up.
A long, rusted blade lay buried in the dirt — bent at the hilt, stained black. The only thing not broken.
Jax's fingers curled around it.
It felt heavy. Too heavy for a kid like him.
> Jax (crying):
"You want me to fight that with this? You've got to be kidding me…"
> SYSTEM:
"Weapon registered: Improvised Steel Cutter."
"Estimated damage: 2% (non-critical)."
> Jax (snapping):
"Then why even give it to me?!"
> SYSTEM (emotionless):
"Because I'm not here to save you."
Lightning flashed overhead.
And the serpent struck again.
---
🎬 Scene 3 — 4:23 PM | Mid-Trial
Jax screamed as he dove to the side.
The serpent's jaws grazed his leg, tearing through fabric, flesh, and pride.
He rolled.
Fell flat.
Blood smeared the metal floor.
> Jax (sobbing):
"It hurts—God, it HURTS—"
He tried to stand. Failed. Cursed. Shivered. Screamed into the sky.
> Jax (thinking):
"No one's coming. No friends. No family. Just this system… and death."
The serpent reared back, tail thrashing.
Jax screamed again, raised the blade—
CLANG!
Steel met scale. Sparks flew. His hands went numb.
> SYSTEM:
"Five minutes remaining."
He slid across the metal. His arm broke his fall. A sick crunch echoed.
He didn't get up.
> Jax (weak):
"I… I can't…"
The serpent approached slowly.
Savoring it.
> Jax (to himself):
"I never mattered. Not to school. Not to the world. I wasn't chosen for anything…"
> Jax (whispering):
"I didn't even get a goodbye…"
The monster hissed.
Its mouth opened — rows of teeth, like saws.
And then something snapped.
In him.
Jax stood.
Screaming. Bleeding. Raging.
> Jax (roaring):
"THEN I'LL KILL YOU FIRST!"
He charged.
He dodged the next lunge—barely—and slid beneath its jaw. He swung the blade upward — once, twice, again.
The third strike pierced soft flesh between plates.
Green blood exploded like acid.
The serpent howled, tail flailing blindly.
It caught Jax in the ribs and sent him flying.
He landed hard.
Didn't move.
> SYSTEM:
"Time remaining: 1:02."
"User vitals: Failing."
"Sync instability: 47%"
> Jax (gurgling):
"…I can't…"
The serpent slithered forward, slow and sure.
Its jaw lowered—
> Jax (wheezing):
"I just… wanted… a life…"
His eyes burned. Not just from pain. From rage.
He saw the blade near him.
Barely out of reach.
He crawled.
Hand shaking. Ribs broken. Blood on his tongue.
He grabbed it.
> Jax (final breath):
"THEN TAKE IT FROM ME—IF YOU CAN!"
He thrust upward with everything he had.
Right between the eyes.
The serpent froze.
Then cracked.
Glass fractures raced across its body.
> SYSTEM (flat):
"Penalty Trial: COMPLETE."
"Survival: Confirmed."
"Skill Path: Unlocked."
"Cruel Origin Sync — Stabilizing."
The serpent exploded into data.
Jax collapsed.
---
🎬 Scene 4 — Back at the Junkyard | 4:35 PM
Jax gasped awake on the ground.
Same broken world.
Same rusted piles.
But something new throbbed in his chest — cold, pulsing, alive.
A red glow hovered over his wrist.
> SYSTEM:
"Cruel Origin Protocol: Phase One — Complete."
"Task progression: Stand by."
"Welcome to your second life."
Jax didn't speak.
Didn't blink.
His fingers curled into the dirt.
> Jax (whispering):
"You tried to kill me."
> SYSTEM:
"You needed to die. So you could decide to live."
A long silence.
Jax looked at the sky, then down at his blood-stained hands.
> Jax (coldly):
"Fine. Let's play your game."
His voice shook.
But this time, not from fear.
From something darker.
From something reborn.
---
📌 END OF CHAPTER 3
---
🔥 Chapter Notes:
Jax refused the system. The system responded with death.
He didn't awaken with ease — he earned it, with blood, screams, and desperation.
No shortcuts. No mercy.
📣 Want More?
💬 Drop your thoughts: Would you survive seven minutes with a Phantom-Class monster and only a junk blade?
⚔️ Add to Library | Chapter 4 drops soon…