The sound of crashing waves pulled him out of the darkness.
Sand stuck to his skin as he gasped for breath, coughing up saltwater. His vision swam, but when it cleared, he realized he wasn't alone.
Bodies.
Five others were scattered across the beach, all unconscious, their clothes torn as if they had been dragged here by the ocean. The shoreline stretched endlessly in both directions, but beyond that, thick jungle loomed, dark and unwelcoming.
The place felt wrong. The air was heavy, damp, and charged with something unnatural.
"Where… am I?" he muttered, staggering to his feet. His name sat heavy on his tongue, but he didn't speak it aloud. Not yet.
A groan pulled his attention back. One by one, the others stirred.
A tall man with sharp eyes sat up first, scanning the surroundings with military precision.
A girl with pale skin clutched her arm, fear written across her face.
Another—broad, muscular, but clearly confused—stumbled upright, fists clenched.
Two more followed, both younger, their expressions shifting between relief and panic.
"Does anyone know where we are?" the pale girl asked, her voice trembling.
Silence.
The tall man shook his head. "This isn't any place I've seen. No landmarks. No signal." He checked his phone, but the screen was dead.
Before they could process the situation, a sound split through the trees.
Grrrrr…
Low. Guttural. Hungry.
The group froze.
Branches snapped in the undergrowth. Then it emerged—an animal, no, a monster. Its body was wolf-like, but its jaw stretched unnaturally wide, rows of jagged teeth glistening with drool. Its eyes glowed faintly in the misty air.
"Run!" someone shouted.
The group scrambled back, but the beast lunged faster than expected. It knocked the muscular man onto the sand, snarling, jaws snapping inches from his throat.
Something inside him broke loose.
Crack!
His arm glowed faintly as his skin hardened, like stone. With a roar, he punched the monster square in the snout, sending it staggering back.
"What… was that?!" the pale girl gasped.
The others didn't have time to answer. The creature recovered, charging again—only for vines to erupt suddenly from the sand, snaring its legs. The youngest boy stood frozen, eyes wide, as green light flickered from his hands.
"Am I… doing this?" he whispered, terrified.
The beast thrashed, snapping vines one by one.
"Move!" the tall man barked, dragging the others away. His voice was steady, but his eyes darted constantly, calculating.
The pale girl pressed her palms together, trembling, and a faint glow lit her skin. The muscular man's bleeding wound closed slowly before their eyes.
"What the hell is going on?"
No one had the answer.
The monster finally broke free, rage in its glowing eyes. It leapt—
And then, the narrator of this chaos, the quietest of them all, stepped forward.
His fist clenched. Power surged. For just a moment, his body felt alive, stronger than it had ever been.
He met the beast mid-air.
BOOM!
The impact shook the sand. The creature's body hit the ground with a sickening crack, unmoving.
The group stared at him in shock.
He straightened, brushing sand from his hand, his expression unreadable.
The beach fell silent again, but the silence was heavier than before. The monster was dead, yet the danger was only beginning.
From the jungle, dozens of glowing eyes flickered to life, one after another, watching.
The pale girl's voice shook. "This… this island isn't normal."
The tall man nodded grimly. "No. It's a trap."
The MC said nothing, but deep inside, his lips curled almost imperceptibly.