The day the rifts opened, the sky bled light.
It began as a shimmer above the city—a wound in the air, stretching wider until it split the heavens in two. People screamed as gravity bent, as shadows spilled across the streets, as shapes moved on the other side.
For Travis Asreth, it was just another reminder that the world didn't care whether he lived or died.
He stood in the crowd, pressed against the barrier of soldiers who had rushed to contain the area. His clothes were torn, his shoes nearly falling apart, but no one noticed him. They never did.
Everyone's eyes were locked on the rift.
The first beast fell through.
It hit the ground like a meteor, the shockwave flattening cars. Its body was a grotesque fusion of horn and muscle, eyes glowing with an alien fire. The soldiers opened fire immediately, bullets sparking uselessly against its hide.
The crowd scattered. Travis didn't move. His legs were frozen, his chest tight. He could only watch as the beast roared and swung, a single claw tearing through a group of men as if they were paper.
The soldiers' screams mingled with the civilians'.
And then—
[Initializing Protocol…]
A voice echoed inside his head. Cold, mechanical, but undeniably alive.
[Candidate located: Travis Asreth.]
[Binding System Core…]
[Connection established.]
Pain seared through his body. He fell to his knees, clutching his skull, the world spinning.
"What—what is this?!" His voice cracked, drowned by the chaos around him.
[Directive: Survive.]
Words burned across his vision, overlaying reality itself. Numbers. Stats. A simple interface that made no sense.
Strength: 1
Agility: 1
Vitality: 1
Intelligence: 1
Pathetic. The system had bound itself to the weakest man alive.
The beast turned. Its eyes locked on him.
Travis' heart stopped.
People ran past him, shoving, screaming, but he couldn't move. He had no weapon, no training, no chance. Just the glow of the rift behind the monster and the words in his vision demanding survival.
[Optional Directive: Hunt.]
Hunt? Hunt what?!
The monster charged.
Travis stumbled backward, his foot catching on debris. He fell hard, the creature's shadow swallowing him whole. He raised his arms instinctively—pathetic, meaningless—and the system responded.
[Emergency Protocol: Adaptive Reflex Lv.1 acquired.]
Suddenly, the world slowed. The beast's claw, descending to crush him, no longer moved like lightning but like a storm cloud drifting across the sky.
Instinct took over. He rolled, gravel tearing his skin, the claw smashing into the earth where he had just been. The ground shook violently.
Adrenaline flooded his veins. He wasn't safe—only alive for another second.
The soldiers opened fire again, distracting the monster. Travis scrambled to his feet, chest heaving, vision blurring with numbers and commands.
[Directive: Kill to grow.]
His gaze flicked to the debris. A steel rod jutted from the wreck of a car, jagged and broken. His fingers curled unconsciously. He snatched it up.
The beast roared, swinging its tail. The soldiers were flung aside like dolls, their screams silenced.
It turned back to Travis.
Every instinct screamed at him to run. But the system's words carved themselves into his mind.
Kill to grow.
He gritted his teeth, raising the crude weapon. His hands shook, his stomach knotted, but for the first time in his life, he didn't look away.
The beast lunged.
And Travis charged to meet it.
The air split with the beast's roar as Travis sprinted forward, the jagged steel shaking in his grip. His heart thundered so loud it drowned out everything else.
The monster's claw swiped down, aiming to rip him apart.
[Adaptive Reflex Lv.1 activated.]
Time slowed again. He ducked under the strike, the claw grazing the top of his head, ripping strands of his hair. Sparks exploded as the claw smashed the concrete behind him.
Travis didn't stop. His instincts—no, something deeper—screamed at him to keep moving. His body obeyed, even if his mind lagged behind in disbelief.
He closed the distance, the steel rod raised high, and drove it into the beast's leg.
The sound was sickening—a wet crunch as the rod pierced the gap in its armor. The beast howled, ichor spraying hot against Travis' face. His arms shook violently from the force.
It wasn't dead. Not even close.
The monster kicked. The blow connected with his side, and his body lifted off the ground like a ragdoll. He hit the pavement hard, breath exploding from his lungs. Pain flared through his ribs. His vision blurred.
He coughed, blood spattering the concrete. His entire body screamed to give up.
But the system didn't let him.
[Directive: Continue the hunt.]
Travis spat crimson and forced himself to stand. The beast limped now, ichor dripping from its wound, rage twisting its grotesque face.
It charged.
Travis' hands trembled as he raised the bloodied rod. Every cell in his body told him this was suicide, but some primal fire had ignited in his chest.
If I run, I'll die. If I fight… maybe I'll live.
The beast lunged, maw wide.
Travis sidestepped, shoving the rod upward with all his strength. It tore through the creature's jaw and into its skull. The momentum carried both of them down, the rod jamming deep into bone.
The monster convulsed violently, its roar turning into a choking gurgle. It thrashed, slamming Travis against the ground again and again. His ribs cracked, blood filled his mouth—but he didn't let go.
With one final violent shudder, the beast collapsed. Its body dissolved into shards of glowing essence, fading like embers into the air.
Silence.
Travis lay on the ground, chest heaving, his vision clouded with tears and blood. He had killed it. Somehow, impossibly, he had killed it.
The system chimed.
[Hunt Complete.]
[Essence Acquired: +2 Strength, +1 Vitality.]
[Skill Progression: Adaptive Reflex Lv.1 → Lv.2.]
His body pulsed with warmth. The pain dulled, his limbs steadied. Strength—real strength—coursed through his veins.
He stared at his bloodied hands, shaking with exhaustion and awe.
"…I… I killed it."
The soldiers who survived stood frozen, weapons lowered, eyes wide. The crowd behind the barriers stared in shock. A boy no one had noticed, a boy who had always been nothing, had just slain a monster with his bare hands and desperation.
Travis staggered to his feet, the broken steel rod slipping from his fingers. He met their stares—not with pride, but with cold determination.
Because he understood now.
This was just the beginning.
The rift behind him pulsed, widening. More shadows writhed on the other side.
Travis' jaw clenched. His breath steadied. He knew what the system would demand.
The ground trembled as the rift widened, the edges of reality bending like shattered glass. The sky above flickered, and the air thickened with a pressure that pressed against Travis' chest.
The soldiers pulled back, their weapons useless, their eyes fixed on the growing wound in the world. From within the swirling void, shapes writhed—larger, darker, far more menacing than the beast Travis had just slain.
Whispers rippled through the crowd behind the barricades. Fear. Desperation. Hopelessness.
Travis didn't move. His body ached, his clothes were torn, blood dried across his skin, but his eyes burned with a new fire.
The system's voice cut through the silence.
[Directive: Enter the rift.]
[Warning: Current strength insufficient. Survival chance: <10%.]
[Optional Directive: Withdraw.]
He stared at the glowing words in disbelief. Enter the rift? Are you insane?
The memory of the beast's claw raking past his skull was still fresh. His ribs screamed with every breath. He had barely survived the first monster. Entering that void was suicide.
And yet…
He looked around him. The soldiers—shaken, broken. The crowd—terrified, powerless. No one here could face what was coming. If more beasts emerged, they would all die.
If I don't go, everyone here is finished.
His fists clenched. His jaw tightened.
"…Damn it."
He stepped forward.
Gasps erupted from the soldiers as he crossed the barricade. "Kid, are you crazy?! Get back!" one shouted, grabbing his arm.
Travis yanked free. "If someone doesn't go, we're all dead."
The man's face twisted with disbelief, but he couldn't stop him. No one could.
Travis walked toward the rift. His legs trembled, but each step grew steadier. The air vibrated around him, pulling at his body, dragging him closer.
[Acknowledged: Candidate entering dimensional boundary.]
[System calibration… complete.]
The moment he touched the edge of the rift, light swallowed him whole.
---
The world shifted.
Travis stumbled forward, his breath catching in his throat.
He stood in a forest bathed in pale, unnatural light. The trees stretched impossibly high, their bark black, their leaves glowing faintly blue. The air hummed with energy, thick and alien, filling his lungs like liquid fire.
Every sound was sharper here—the distant roar of unseen creatures, the rustle of leaves, the crackle of energy that danced across the ground.
He wasn't on Earth anymore.
The interface flared to life.
[Dimension: Tier One Boundary.]
[Objective: Hunt to evolve.]
[Warning: Death within this realm is permanent.]
Travis' blood ran cold. Permanent death. There was no respawn, no second chance. If he fell here, he was gone forever.
A distant growl echoed through the forest, low and guttural. His fingers tightened around the jagged steel rod still in his grip. His heart pounded, but he forced himself to breathe.
He remembered the beast he had killed. How impossible it had seemed. And yet he had done it.
Kill to grow.
He clenched his jaw and took his first step into the glowing forest.
---
It didn't take long.
The creature emerged from between the trees—a wolf-like beast, its body armored with crystalline shards, its eyes glowing red. Saliva dripped from its fangs, sizzling as it hit the ground.
Travis froze, his breath sharp.
[New Entity Detected: Crystalline Direwolf.]
[Threat Level: F-Rank.]
F-Rank. His chances were better than before.
The wolf lowered itself, muscles tensing. Then it leapt.
Travis' instincts screamed. He ducked aside, the claws grazing his shoulder, leaving burning lines of pain. He spun, swinging the steel rod, smashing it across the wolf's flank. Sparks flew as it struck crystal armor.
The wolf snarled, unhurt, circling him.
Travis panted, sweat dripping down his face. His grip tightened. Think. Don't waste energy.
He waited this time. When the wolf lunged again, he sidestepped and drove the rod straight into its open jaw. The beast shrieked, ichor spraying as the rod lodged deep. Travis twisted, driving it further, until the wolf collapsed, thrashing violently before dissolving into glowing fragments.
The system chimed.
[Hunt Complete.]
[Essence Acquired: +1 Strength, +1 Agility.]
Warmth surged through his limbs, sharper reflexes already humming in his veins.
Travis wiped the blood and ichor from his face, his breaths ragged but steady.
One kill. Then another. And another.
He looked deeper into the forest, where shadows shifted and growls rumbled.
"This place…" he whispered, eyes narrowing. "…this is where I'll change everything."
The forest seemed alive with a pulse that throbbed in Travis' chest as he stepped deeper, each footfall muffled by glowing roots that curled around his ankles, and the air itself hummed with energy that made his skin tingle, reminding him that this was no ordinary place, that every sound, every flicker of movement, belonged to something waiting, watching, calculating, and he had to move, had to survive, had to hunt, because hesitation here would be fatal.
He could feel the system thrumming inside him, whispering just enough to guide his limbs, sharpening his senses without revealing the danger yet to come, and the numbers overlaid on his vision glowed brighter, Strength 13, Vitality 12, Agility 8, Skills: Adaptive Reflex Lv.2, Predator's Instinct Lv.2, Traits: Survivor's Tenacity Lv.2, and he flexed his fingers, tasting the power that pulsed through him, knowing that every step forward meant he was leaving the boy who had trembled in the crowd behind forever.
A distant roar echoed through the warped trees, shaking loose leaves that fell like sparks to the forest floor, and Travis froze mid-step, the hairs on his arms standing as he traced the vibration through the roots beneath him, and instinct screamed that this was not the same as the beasts he had faced before, that it was bigger, faster, smarter, and yet, beneath the fear, beneath the heat of adrenaline and the ache of his muscles, there was excitement, a thrill that made his blood burn hotter, and he realized that this was what the system demanded, what he craved—growth through danger.
He moved cautiously, every motion flowing into the next, stepping over exposed roots, sidestepping jagged shards of crystal that had fallen from unknown beasts, his eyes tracking movement that was too fast for the ordinary human eye to catch, and then he saw it: a shadow shifting between two massive trees, tall and thick, clawed hands scraping bark as if testing the strength of the forest itself, and Travis' stomach clenched as the creature revealed itself, its eyes glowing molten gold, teeth bared, and its roar shook him to his core, yet he didn't flinch, didn't step back, because the system's voice inside him reminded him, Hunt. Kill. Evolve.
He gripped his steel rod tighter, feeling the rough metal bite into his palms, and he advanced, every step measured, every breath synchronized with the rhythm of the predator before him, and the creature lunged, a blur of claw and fanged maw, and Travis reacted without thinking, twisting to the side as the system slowed time in his perception just enough to dodge, to counter, to strike, and he jabbed upward into a gap in the armor-like hide that shimmered with light, feeling the give beneath his weapon, sensing its pain translate into his exhilaration, and before it could recover, he had driven another strike into its flank, rolling away as molten ichor sprayed across the glowing foliage.
The creature staggered but did not fall, and Travis felt the system nudge him, More. Push further. Adapt faster, and he obeyed instinctively, springing forward as it charged again, every motion of his body following the previous one, every thought flowing into the next, weaving between claws and snapping jaws until he reached the creature's back, drove the shard of bone-like crystal into its shoulder, feeling the resistance give way, and it convulsed violently, flames of energy spilling into the clearing as its form began to shatter, and Travis rolled clear, breathing ragged, muscles screaming, yet a fierce smile spread across his bloodied face.
[Hunt Complete.]
[Essence Acquired: +5 Strength, +4 Vitality, +3 Agility.]
[Skill Progression: Predator's Instinct Lv.2 → Lv.3.]
The system's glow faded slightly, leaving him alone in the clearing with the fading echoes of the beast's final roar, and he staggered to his feet, chest heaving, arms trembling, but the warmth of power in his veins reminded him that he had survived, that he had conquered, and that this was only the beginning, because deeper in the forest, the shadows moved, whispering of greater threats, of creatures that would challenge every limit he had, and Travis Asreth, drenched in sweat, blood, and ichor, set his eyes on the darkness ahead, letting each step carry him forward without pause, because retreat was not an option and evolution waited for no one.
The rift behind him pulsed faintly, a constant reminder that the world he had left was fragile, that the Oblivion Nexus moved in shadows plotting the end of humanity, and that he was now humanity's first line of defense, their apex predator, their hope, and as his fingers brushed against the jagged steel still clutched in his hands, he whispered to himself, Then let them come. Let them see what a nobody can become.
And with that, he walked deeper, flowing into the unknown, into the heart of the dimension that would forge him into something unstoppable.