The Dread Wolf's body twitched once, then stilled. Steam rose from its open chest, mixing with the stench of blood and ichor that coated the landing. For a long moment, no one moved.
Then footsteps echoed across the chamber. Human.
Four figures strode through the far gate. Survivors, but not like us. They wore scavenged armor etched with faint runes, and their weapons weren't duct-taped scraps. A spear thrummed with pale light, a curved sword glowed faintly blue, an archer's bow hummed like a tuning string.
Their leader walked in front. Tall, lean, sharp-eyed. His smile was the kind that cut more than comforted.
He looked at the corpse, then at me. "Well," he said. "Looks like you did the hard part for us."
Ruiz, still pale from blood loss, shifted unsteadily on his feet. Lila stiffened beside him, her hands still glowing faint gold. The wiry stranger clutched his broken dagger like it might mean something.
Me? I didn't answer. I just stared back.
The leader's smile deepened. "Boss fights always drop loot. That wolf had to drop something. Where is it?"
"There was nothing," Lila said quickly, too quickly.
He tilted his head, spear tapping the floor. "Don't lie. System doesn't cheat. If you killed it, it rewarded you."
My chest tightened. The shard humming inside me wasn't the kind of loot you could hold up. And the Error's gifts weren't something I could explain.
The man took a step closer. His group fanned out, cutting off exits.
"You can hand it over," he said softly, "or we can take it from your corpses."
The wiry stranger swallowed hard. Ruiz tightened his grip on the shattered remains of his shield. Lila's breath hitched.
I felt calm. Too calm. Maybe it was blood loss. Maybe it was the Error buzzing like static under my skin.
"You want to try?" I asked.
The smile slipped from his face. His eyes hardened.
"Kill them," he said.
The archer loosed first. His arrow sang through the air, glowing faint blue.
I yanked Ruiz down behind the wolf's corpse. The arrow buried itself in stone where his head had been.
The spear-bearer lunged. His weapon cut a silver arc through the air, aimed at my ribs.
[ERROR CLASS Chain Detected.]
[Adaptive Instinct + Observe Weakness → Predictive Counter.]
[Stability Cost: -1.]
Red threads lit the path of his strike a heartbeat before it landed. I twisted, screwdriver braced, deflecting the tip just wide. It scraped sparks across the wolf's armor instead of my side.
I slammed my elbow into his jaw. He staggered back.
The curved-sword wielder rushed me, blade humming. Too fast to block outright. I dropped low, kicked his ankle, and rolled away as his weapon carved a shallow line across the wolf's corpse.
Ruiz roared, charging with his broken shield like a club. He slammed it into the archer, sending the man sprawling. The wiry stranger darted forward, stabbing wildly at the spear-bearer. The blows barely scratched, but they bought seconds.
Lila crouched behind us, hands glowing, ready to heal whoever dropped first. Her eyes were wide with terror.
The leader with the spear recovered quickly. His grin was gone now. He spun the weapon, runes flashing.
"You're quick," he said. "But not quick enough."
He lunged. His spear feinted left, then darted right, catching me across the shoulder. Pain ripped through me.
I stumbled back.
He pressed harder, each thrust faster than the last. My screwdriver caught some, others scraped skin. My ribs screamed.
The Error pulsed.
[ERROR CLASS Override Available.]
[Chain: Predictive Counter + Improvised Tool Proficiency → Redirection Break.]
[Stability Cost: -1.]
Threads glowed red. I ducked under his next thrust, screwdriver sliding against the shaft, twisting the momentum sideways. His own strike jammed into the stone wall with a crack.
His eyes widened.
I rammed the screwdriver upward into his throat.
It punched through soft flesh.
His mouth opened in shock, blood gurgling out. He staggered, clawing at the wound, and collapsed.
[First Human Opponent Defeated.]
[Compensation Granted: Instinct Surge (Lv. 0).]
[Warning: Stability 0/10.]
The burn ripped through me. My vision doubled. My wrist sigil seared red-hot. For a moment, I thought my body would glitch apart.
But then the pain dulled. My breathing steadied. The Error held.
The chamber froze.
The archer scrambled back, eyes wide. The curved-sword wielder faltered, blade lowering an inch. The last survivor—a thin woman with twin daggers—stared at me like I was something inhuman.
Blood dripped from my screwdriver.
"Next?" I asked.
The archer shook his head. "Not worth it," he muttered, hauling the dagger-woman with him. They bolted for the gate, leaving their leader's corpse cooling on the stone.
Only the curved-sword wielder lingered, torn between fight and flight. Ruiz hefted the broken shield like he meant to crush the man's skull anyway.
The survivor cursed under his breath, then fled after the others.
Silence pressed down.
I crouched by the corpse, pried the glowing spear from his grip, and examined the interface.
[Acquired: Spear of Fractured Light.]
[Type: Weapon — Rare.]
[Effect: +20 Attack, +5 Speed.]
[Bound to ERROR CLASS — Function Unstable.]
The runes flickered, glitching between blue and red. My Error sigil burned hot in answer.
Perfect.
I strapped it across my back.
Behind me, Ruiz sagged against the wall, blood running down his arm. Lila pressed her glowing hands to the wound, jaw tight. The wiry stranger trembled, his broken dagger clutched in white knuckles.
"You killed him," Lila whispered.
"Yes."
"You didn't hesitate. You just—"
"He would've killed us," I said flatly. "That's all there is."
Her lips parted, but she said nothing.
The wiry stranger muttered a word I caught anyway. "Monster."
The System chimed, merciless.
[Checkpoint Ending.]
[Proceed to Next Descent.]
The gate ahead pulsed, runes flaring.
I rose slowly, screwdriver slick, spear humming, ribs burning.
The others looked at me differently now. Not just as the one who fought hardest, but as something to fear.
Maybe they were right.
But I didn't care.
Because the only rule in this new world was simple: kill, or be killed.
And I wasn't dying again.