The end came with headlights.
Elias Vale froze in the crosswalk, plastic grocery bag swinging from his hand. Tires screamed. A horn blared. The truck bore down—unstoppable.
Impact. Pain. Darkness.
But not silence.
When Elias opened his eyes, he lay on damp soil. His lungs filled with air too sharp, too alive. He groaned and sat up, blinking against a violet sky where two pale moons watched like silent sentinels. The stars were wrong. The world was wrong.
"This… isn't Earth," he whispered.
Around him, the forest glowed faintly. Mushrooms shimmered with blue light. Silver veins traced across leaves. Insects with glassy wings drifted, clicking in alien rhythms.
His right hand clenched something smooth and cold. He lifted it. A crystal shard pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.
A metallic chime echoed in his head.
System Initialization[System Booting…]
Welcome, Chosen Host.
Name Detected: Elias Vale.
Synchronization: 37%
Condition: Weak / Disoriented.
Elias stumbled back, clutching his skull. "What… is this?"
Another chime followed.
[Tutorial Directive: Survive first encounter.]
The brush shuddered. A hiss rolled through the clearing.
From the shadows crawled a nightmare. A spider the size of a wolf, its black carapace gleaming like obsidian, eight crimson eyes glowing. Venom dripped from its fangs, sizzling where it struck the soil.
Elias's blood froze. He staggered back. "No… no, no, no!"
The spider lunged.
He tried to run, but his foot snagged a root. He crashed to the ground, palms slapping dirt—and sticking.
"What—?!"
The monster loomed. Desperation surged. His arm flung upward. A silver thread snapped from his wrist, anchoring to a branch. His body was yanked skyward. He slammed into the trunk with bone-rattling force, pain exploding across his ribs, before tumbling back down.
[Skill Acquired: Basic Thread Projection Lv. 1]
[Skill Acquired: Wall Adhesion Lv. 1]
The spider hissed, charging again. Elias scrambled, firing another thread. It caught a leg, jerking the beast sideways. The monster shrieked, tearing free.
He fired again, missed. Fired again—too short. His hands shook, wrists aching. Each mistake nearly killed him, but each shot whispered correction: angle the wrist, release at the snap, use momentum.
The beast lunged. Elias fired mid-roll, snagging a branch and swinging wide. Venom splattered where he had stood. His ribs screamed, but he lived.
[Skill Proficiency Increased: Basic Thread Projection Lv. 2]
[+1 Agility]
The System's cold voice steadied him. Fear dulled into focus.
The spider reared, mandibles dripping. Elias's back hit a tree. His breaths came ragged.
It lunged again.
This time Elias didn't dodge backward. He dove forward, sliding under its legs. His crude shard of wood jabbed upward, scratching along its underside. Green ichor spattered across his arm, burning faintly.
The spider shrieked, staggering.
It reared, slamming its legs down. Elias fired three threads, anchoring to trees. He pulled desperately. The silk stretched taut, holding for a heartbeat.
"NOW!"
He sprinted forward, plunging the shard into its largest eye.
The monster convulsed, ichor spraying. The threads snapped. One leg slammed into Elias, flinging him across the clearing. He hit hard, agony flooding his ribs.
[Health -6]
Vitality: 4 → 3
Blood filled his mouth. His vision blurred. But Thread Sense pulsed faintly—an instinct whispering of movement before it happened.
The spider lunged again. Elias moved first, rolling aside before its strike landed. Venom splattered the ground, hissing.
Something in him clicked. He fired twin threads—one to its mandible, the other to a boulder. He pulled with everything left in his battered body.
The monster's head wrenched sideways.
With a ragged cry, Elias leapt and rammed his branch deep into its eye.
The spider shrieked one last time, legs curling inward before collapsing with a thunderous thud.
Silence.
Elias dropped beside it, chest heaving, body trembling violently. He had won. Somehow.
System Rewards[First Victory Achieved]
Reward: +2 Strength, +2 Agility
New Skill: Thread Sense Lv. 1
Thread Sense (Lv. 1): Heightened awareness of vibrations. Detect hidden movement within 10m.
The world shifted. Elias felt it—the faint quiver of beetles underground, the scurry of tiny creatures, the ripple of leaves before they moved.
He laughed, broken and wild. "I should be dead… but I'm not."
The crystal shard pulsed warmly in his hand.
Then Thread Sense jolted. Another presence. Smaller, quicker. Elias spun and fired instinctively. His thread snagged a smaller spider mid-leap, yanking it into a tree with a crunch. It twitched once, then lay still.
His whole body shook. He staggered toward the first spider's corpse, tearing free a shard of carapace. A crude weapon, ugly but his.
Weaving trembling threads, he sealed himself into a hollow beneath tangled roots. His body screamed with pain, but his eyes burned with determination.
No more running. No more hiding. I will survive this world.
The System chimed again, colder than before.
Path Selection AvailableThreadbearer's Path – Specialize in webs, traps, and agility. Bonuses to silk manipulation and evasion.
Predator's Path – Specialize in strength, venom, and ambush. Bonuses to lethal strikes and raw power.
Time Remaining: 24:00:00
Elias blinked at the glowing text. His choice would shape everything. He clenched the crystal shard tightly, exhaustion dragging him down.
The moons gleamed overhead as his eyes closed.
[Status Screen – Elias Vale]Level: 1
Race: Human (??? – Synchronization 37%)
Condition: Injured / Exhausted
Attributes:
Strength: 5 (+2)
Agility: 6 (+3)
Vitality: 3
Intelligence: 7
Perception: 7
Skills:
Basic Thread Projection Lv. 2
Wall Adhesion Lv. 1
Thread Sense Lv. 1
Titles:
[Survivor of the First Hunt]
Loot:
Venom Gland (Damaged)
Spider Carapace Shard (Crude Weapon)
Arachnid Core Fragment
Pending Choice: Path Selection [24 Hours Remaining]