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Chapter 2 - The Chosen and the Forsaken

Everything happened instantly.

I was just getting a glass of water—because my mom told me to. The fridge door was still halfway open when something flashed behind my eyes. Like lightning, but from the inside. Then—darkness.

Not sleep. Not unconsciousness. Just... gone.

I woke up lying on damp grass, the cold biting through my clothes. The sky above me was streaked with violet clouds, unfamiliar and wrong. Two suns hung low behind the trees—twisted things, tall and blackened, stretching like charred fingers into the sky.

And I was alone.

Completely, terrifyingly alone.

No houses. No streets. No people. No sound—just wind, rustling through the leaves like it was whispering secrets in a language I couldn't understand.

I sat up slowly, head spinning, heart pounding so loud it hurt.

Where was I?

Where was Mom?

Then it appeared—suddenly, silently.

A glowing screen, floating in the air right in front of me:

[WELCOME, CHOSEN]You have been summoned.

Objective: Survive.

Rewards will be granted upon completion.

Failure is not permitted.

I stared at the words, unblinking. What did that even mean? "Chosen"? For what? What kind of sick joke was this?

I waved a hand through the screen, but it didn't vanish. It just hovered there, faintly pulsing. And in my chest, a chill deeper than the cold crept in.

Something was very, very wrong.

And somehow, I knew...

No one was coming to save me.

I didn't know how long I sat there—minutes, maybe hours. The sky didn't seem to change. Time felt broken.

Eventually, the chill in my bones forced me to move. I stood, legs shaky, and scanned the trees around me. Everything looked unnatural. Even the air shimmered faintly, like heat haze, though it was anything but warm.

"Hello?" I called out, my voice swallowed by the forest. No echo. No reply.

Nothing.

Just the rustling of those dead black leaves.

I picked a direction and started walking. Not because I had a plan—just because standing still felt worse. Every step on the mossy ground made me feel like I was being watched. I kept glancing over my shoulder, half-expecting something to come crawling out of the trees.

And then, it did.

A sound—low, wet, and wrong.

I froze.

Something was dragging across the ground behind the trees ahead. I crouched low, heart hammering, and peered through the brush.

That's when I saw it.

Not an animal. Not a person.A thing.

Its skin was pale gray, stretched too tightly over its limbs. No eyes. Just a gaping mouth filled with needle-like teeth, sniffing the air like it could smell me. Its long fingers scraped across the bark as it crept, hunched and twitching, toward the spot where I'd just been sitting.

I clamped a hand over my mouth.

I couldn't fight that. I didn't have a weapon. I didn't even know what it was.

So I did the only thing I could do.

I ran.

Through the trees, lungs burning, heart thudding so loudly I thought it would give me away. I didn't know where I was going—just away. Far away. From that monster. From the screen. From whatever this place was.

Branches tore at my arms and legs. Thorns caught my clothes. I didn't stop until I tripped over a root and crashed into the dirt.

I lay there, gasping, trembling.

No footsteps behind me.

No sound.

Had I lost it?

My mind was racing, trying to understand, trying to make sense of this nightmare—but the only thing I knew for certain was this:

Wherever I was, I wasn't alone.

And nothing here wanted me to survive.

The ground beneath me was cold and damp, but I didn't dare move.

My breaths came in ragged gasps. Every broken twig or rustling leaf made my body tense, my muscles locked and ready to run again. I waited for the thing to find me. To end whatever this nightmare was.

But nothing came.

Eventually, I pushed myself up on scraped elbows, every inch of my body aching. My legs were scratched, my hands muddy, and my feet—bare. I was still in the clothes I wore from home. Just a shirt and thin pajama shorts. No shoes.

My toes were already numb from the cold dirt.

That's when I saw it. Half-buried under fallen leaves.

A sneaker.

I blinked, then scrambled toward it. White, stained with mud and old blood. It wasn't mine, but it was the right size—or close enough. A few steps away, its pair lay on its side, the laces tangled with twigs. I pulled both on quickly, not caring whose they were.

Whoever left them… wasn't here anymore.

Then I noticed the camp.

It was small—just a dead fire pit and makeshift logs arranged in a circle. Someone had definitely stayed here. Torn cloth tied to branches for shelter. Scratches on the bark where fingers must have gripped too hard. No weapons, no supplies—just signs of desperation.

And a message, carved into the tree behind the ashes.

DON'T TRUST THE SYSTEM. IT LIES.

I stared at the words.

The system. The message I saw earlier.

Was it lying to us?

A sound snapped me out of my thoughts.

A branch cracked behind me.

That thing was back.

I turned slowly—and saw its pale body crawl into view from behind the trees. Same eyeless face. Same horrible mouth. It sniffed the air again, head twitching like a broken puppet.

This time, it had found me.

I grabbed the nearest branch I could—a long, jagged piece of wood snapped from the shelter frame. My hands bled as I gripped it tight, planting my feet in the dirt.

The monster lunged.

And I screamed—shoving the sharp end straight at its throat.

It shrieked. I didn't even know it could make noise.

It wasn't clean. It wasn't strong. But I stabbed again. And again. Until it collapsed—twisting, twitching, and finally still.

Blood—black and oily—soaked into the soil. My arms shook. I dropped the branch, breathing like I'd just outrun the end of the world.

Then I saw it.

Another glowing screen blinked into existence, right above the corpse.

[Combat Complete]You have gained: 10 XP

New Skill Tree Unlocked

Initializing Player Data...

Wait—what?

[Name: Karina]

Level: 1

HP: 85/100

Stats Unlocked: Strength, Agility, Endurance

New Skill: Survival Instinct (Passive)Increases reaction time in life-threatening situations.

I stared at it, heart still hammering, arms shaking.

I wasn't dreaming.

This world—this system—it was treating me like a player in a game.

But this wasn't a game.

Because when I fell… I bled. When I fought… I hurt. And when that thing attacked me…

It could have killed me.

This system wasn't here to guide me. It was here to test me.

And whether I liked it or not, I'd just been leveled up.

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