The massive corpse of the Crimson Alpha lay in the center of the clearing, its amber eyes dimmed to lifeless glass. Dark blood pooled beneath it, mixing with acidic sap and the spilled vitae of dozens of fallen players. The air hung thick, heavy—not just with death, but with something fouler, metallic, wrong.
Sun Li stood over the beast, chest heaving, golden light from his rewards still fading from his skin. His new stats throbbed through him like a second heartbeat: stronger, sharper, alive in ways he'd never known. For the first time, he felt power coursing through his veins.
But the moment shattered.
CRACK—CRUNCH!
From the edge of the clearing, a corpse twitched.
The spearman—the first to fall, spine shattered against a tree—his body crumpled and broken, fingers clawing at blood-soaked earth. Bones popped and grated as they realigned. His pale flesh bubbled, simmering like molten tar, turning deep, glistening crimson.
Sun Li froze.
What the hell…
More sounds followed. Groans, snarls.
The knife-wielder convulsed, chest cavity splitting open as jagged bone spikes erupted from his back. The bowman's severed torso dragged itself forward, arms elongating, fingers fusing into claws.
The girl—the one with the broken staff—lay nearby, legs mangled from the Alpha's swipe. Her shallow breaths quickened. Suddenly, her pupils dilated into vertical slits. Crimson veins snaked across her face.
"No…" she whispered, voice cracking, jaw elongating, teeth sharpening.
Sun Li's mind raced.
The Requiem doesn't just kill you. It recycles you.
Rumors, whispers from broken survivors—the dead didn't vanish. Their essence was corrupted, twisted, mutated into lesser versions of the Alpha. The tutorial wasn't just a test. It seeded the next wave. The dead became hounds, vines… or worse. Mini-Alphas. A self-sustaining ecosystem of death.
The spearman rose first. No longer human. Elongated limbs, taut crimson muscles, bone protrusions mimicking the Alpha's crown. Face a grotesque mask—snout elongated, rows of fangs, amber eyes glowing with malice.
HALF-HUMAN SCREAM, HALF-BEAST ROAR.
The others followed. Five… six… seven abominations, each a hybrid of player and Alpha. Smaller than the original, but fast. Hungry. Fueled by fragments of rage and pain.
They turned toward Sun Li. Nostrils flaring.
He backed away, dagger raised. Confidence against one—or two—but a pack? Too many. Too fast.
His gaze fell on the girl. Despite her mutation, she fought it—slower, incomplete. Crimson fur sprouted along her arms. Tears streaked her face.
"Help… me…" she gasped, voice distorting into a growl.
Sun Li hesitated. Survival meant ignoring weakness. But something stirred—a fragment of former self, seeing her vulnerability, remembering what he had once been.
He darted forward. Scooped her up. Surprisingly light, trembling violently, still human enough.
"Hold on," he muttered. "We're leaving."
She buried her face in his bloodied pajamas, muffling her whimpers.
The infected pack howled. They bolted north, toward the shimmering extraction archway. Mud sprayed beneath his boots. He zigzagged, conserving stamina, using the terrain. Trees, boulders, sap—every forest hazard became weaponized.
One leaped—a hulking former swordsman—blocking the path. Sun Li veered left, sap spraying onto the beast. It shrieked, slowed.
Smart. Use the environment.
The girl convulsed violently, nails digging into his shoulder—sharpening.
"Not yet," he growled. "Hold onto who you are a little longer."
Fifty meters. A smaller infected—the bowman—leapt from a fallen log. Sun Li rolled, creature sailed past, crashing into its packmates. Chaos bought him precious seconds.
The archway loomed—pure white light humming with promise.
He skidded to a halt. The infected formed a semicircle behind him, halting at the light's edge. Amber eyes gleamed with feral intelligence, bodies twitching with unfinished mutations.
The lead one—the spearman—tilted its grotesque head, sniffing the air. For a heartbeat, its eyes flickered: recognition? Regret? Then it snarled.
Sun Li inhaled, dagger ready, heart pounding. The extraction was within reach—but the true trial had only just begun.