Daniel's lungs burned as they ran.
The chamber was pure chaos—screams echoing off the walls, the clicking of dozens of Scuttlers, the wet sounds of combat and death. Everywhere Daniel looked, people were fighting, fleeing, or already dead. Blood pooled on the black stone floor, making it slick and treacherous.
[TIME REMAINING: 52 MINUTES]
[PARTICIPANTS REMAINING: 1,089/1,247]
Over a hundred and fifty people dead already, Daniel thought, his stomach twisting. In less than ten minutes.
"There!" Dante pointed toward the far wall, where a cluster of broken pillars created a semi-defensible alcove. "We can bottleneck them there!"
They sprinted toward it, Kevin nearly slipping on a puddle of blood but catching himself at the last second. Behind them, the Elite Scuttler's screech echoed through the chamber, followed by more screaming.
They dove into the alcove, backs pressed against the cold stone. The space was narrow—maybe fifteen feet across—with the broken pillars creating natural choke points that would force the Scuttlers to come at them one or two at a time instead of swarming.
"Good call," Daniel gasped, trying to catch his breath. His hands were still shaking, the kitchen knife sticky with black ichor.
Dante slumped against the wall, clutching his injured arm. Blood seeped between his fingers. "We need to—shit, we need bandages or something—"
"Here," Kevin said, dropping his backpack and frantically digging through it. He pulled out a first aid kit. "I packed supplies. Hold still."
As Kevin worked on wrapping Dante's arm, Daniel kept watch, his eyes scanning the chaos beyond their alcove. Three Scuttlers were tearing apart a group of people near the center of the chamber. The Elite was demolishing anyone who got close to it, moving with terrifying speed despite its massive size.
But Daniel noticed something.
People are starting to adapt.
Here and there, groups were forming. Coordinating. A woman with a fire axe was leading a team of five, taking down Scuttlers with brutal efficiency. A man in tactical gear was shouting orders, organizing strangers into a defensive formation.
We're not the only ones who thought of teaming up.
"Done," Kevin said, finishing the bandage. It was already soaking through, but it would have to do. "How's it feel?"
"Like I got sliced by a giant bug leg," Dante said with a weak grin. "So, not great. But I can still swing." He flexed his hand, wincing. "We good on healing items or...?"
Daniel pulled up his menu mentally.
[INVENTORY: EMPTY]
"Nothing yet. We'll have to find them."
SKITTER-SKITTER-SKITTER
Daniel's head snapped toward the sound.
Two Scuttlers had broken off from the main swarm and were heading straight for their alcove, drawn by their voices or movement or whatever nightmare sense these things had.
"Contact!" Daniel shouted.
The three of them moved into position—Daniel and Kevin at the front, Dante slightly back to protect his injured arm but ready to support.
The first Scuttler charged through the gap between pillars.
Daniel met it head-on this time.
No freezing. No hesitation. Just survive.
He sidestepped the creature's lunge, remembering every fight scene he'd ever read in novels. The Scuttler's momentum carried it past him, and Daniel drove his knife down into its back as it passed—not as frantically as before, but with more control. More precision.
The blade sank deep into a joint between chitin plates.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
The notification flashed.
The Scuttler shrieked and collapsed, twitching. One more stab finished it.
[CREATURE DEFEATED: SCUTTLER]
[+200 EXP]
[LEVEL UP!]
[YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 2]
[+5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE]
Daniel's body suddenly felt... lighter. Stronger. The exhaustion pulling at his limbs faded slightly, replaced by a warm sensation spreading through his muscles.
So leveling up restores you, he noted. Good to know.
The second Scuttler lunged at Kevin, who barely managed to get his tire iron up in time. The creature's maw clamped down on the metal bar instead of his arm.
"Little help?!" Kevin yelled, struggling to hold it back.
Dante swung his bat one-handed, cracking the creature across its side. It stumbled, and Daniel finished it with a knife to the head.
[CREATURE DEFEATED: SCUTTLER]
[+200 EXP]
[PARTY MEMBER: DANTE MORRIS HAS REACHED LEVEL 2]
[PARTY MEMBER: KEVIN CHU HAS REACHED LEVEL 2]
All three of them felt the level-up surge at once.
"Okay," Dante said, breathing hard but grinning. "Okay, I think I'm getting the hang of this."
"Don't get cocky," Daniel warned, scanning for more threats. "We've got—" he checked the timer "—forty-eight minutes left."
[TIME REMAINING: 48 MINUTES]
[PARTICIPANTS REMAINING: 892/1,247]
Kevin's face went pale. "Three hundred and fifty people dead. In twelve minutes."
"Focus," Daniel said sharply. "We can't help them. We can only survive."
It was harsh, but it was true. Every instinct screamed at Daniel to help the people dying out there, but he knew—from every novel he'd ever read—that heroes who tried to save everyone in situations like this were the ones who died first.
Survive first. Help others when you can afford to.
A notification appeared in front of Daniel.
[TIP: ALLOCATE YOUR STAT POINTS TO IMPROVE YOUR COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS]
Right. The stat points from leveling up.
[AVAILABLE STAT POINTS: 5]
[CURRENT STATS]
STR: 8
AGI: 9
INT: 12
VIT: 7
MANA: 10
Daniel considered his options. In most novels, there were different build strategies—glass cannon DPS, tank, support, balanced...
I'm using a knife. Close combat. I need to not die.
He made his decision.
[+2 AGI] - Speed and reflexes to dodge and strike
[+2 VIT] - Durability to survive hits
[+1 STR] - Just enough to hit harder
[STATS UPDATED]
STR: 9
AGI: 11
INT: 12
VIT: 9
MANA: 10
Immediately, Daniel felt the difference. His body felt more responsive, his breathing easier, his grip on the knife more confident.
"What'd you put yours into?" Dante asked.
"AGI and VIT mostly. You?"
"Strength and Vitality. I'm going full brawler." Dante flexed, testing his newly enhanced muscles. "Kevin?"
"...Intelligence and Mana," Kevin admitted quietly.
Both Daniel and Dante stared at him.
"Dude," Dante said. "We don't even have magic yet."
"I know," Kevin said defensively. "But when we do, I want to be ready. Someone needs to think long-term!"
Daniel couldn't argue with that logic, honestly. It was risky, but if Kevin could unlock magic abilities later, having high INT and MANA from the start would pay off massively.
"Fair enough. Just stay behind us until then."
A massive CRASH echoed through the chamber.
The Elite Scuttler had just demolished a stone pillar, sending chunks of debris flying. It was getting closer to their side of the room, carving a path of destruction through anyone in its way.
[ELITE SCUTTLER - LEVEL 5]
[HP: 2,847/3,000]
"Someone's hurting it," Daniel noted, seeing the HP bar. "It's not invincible."
"Yeah, but it's killed like fifty people getting that damage," Dante muttered. "We are not fighting that thing."
SKITTER-SKITTER-SKITTER
More Scuttlers were coming—four this time, drawn by the commotion or perhaps hunting in coordinated packs.
"Positions!" Daniel called.
They fell into rhythm. Daniel and Dante took the front, Kevin supporting from behind with his tire iron whenever something got past them. They fought with desperate efficiency—no wasted movements, no hesitation.
[CREATURE DEFEATED: SCUTTLER][+200 EXP]
[CREATURE DEFEATED: SCUTTLER][+200 EXP]
[CREATURE DEFEATED: SCUTTLER][+200 EXP]
The fourth one managed to slip past Daniel, lunging straight at Kevin.
Kevin screamed and swung wildly, catching it mid-air with his tire iron. The impact knocked it off course, and Dante finished it with a brutal overhead swing.
[CREATURE DEFEATED: SCUTTLER][+200 EXP]
[YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 3]
Another surge of warmth. Another small restoration of stamina.
[+5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE]
Daniel quickly allocated them—[+2 AGI, +2 VIT, +1 STR]—feeling his body enhance again.
[TIME REMAINING: 41 MINUTES]
[PARTICIPANTS REMAINING: 734/1,247]
Over five hundred people dead now.
Daniel's jaw clenched. Just survive. That's all we need to do. Survive.
But then he heard it.
A scream—high-pitched, terrified, young.
Daniel's head snapped toward the sound.
About fifty feet away, near one of the other alcoves, a girl—couldn't be more than sixteen—was cornered by three Scuttlers. She had no weapon, just a broken piece of stone she was holding like a club, tears streaming down her face.
She was going to die.
"Daniel, no—" Dante started, seeing the look on his face.
But Daniel was already moving.
I know. I know I shouldn't. I know it's stupid. I know in the novels, this is how people die.
But he couldn't just watch.
He sprinted across the blood-slicked floor, knife gripped tight.
The first Scuttler didn't even see him coming. Daniel slammed into it from the side, driving his knife into its head with all the enhanced strength and speed his new stats provided.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
[CREATURE DEFEATED: SCUTTLER][+200 EXP]
The second one turned toward him, screeching. Daniel rolled under its lunge—something he definitely couldn't have done before leveling AGI—and came up behind it, slashing across its back legs. It stumbled, and he finished it.
[CREATURE DEFEATED: SCUTTLER][+200 EXP]
The third one was smarter. It ignored Daniel and lunged straight for the girl.
"NO!"
Dante's baseball bat came from nowhere, smashing into the creature mid-leap and sending it crashing to the ground. Kevin followed up with his tire iron, and together they beat it into the floor.
[CREATURE DEFEATED: SCUTTLER][+200 EXP]
[PARTY MEMBER: DANTE MORRIS HAS REACHED LEVEL 3]
[PARTY MEMBER: KEVIN CHU HAS REACHED LEVEL 3]
Daniel turned to the girl. She was hyperventilating, clutching the stone like a lifeline.
"You're okay," he said, trying to sound calm despite his own racing heart. "You're okay. Come with us. We have a defensive position."
She nodded shakily, unable to speak.
[PLAYER: SARAH CHEN WISHES TO JOIN YOUR PARTY]
[ACCEPT? YES/NO]
Daniel selected YES without hesitation.
[SARAH CHEN HAS JOINED THE PARTY]
[PARTY STATUS: 4/6 MEMBERS]
"Can you fight?" Dante asked her as they moved back toward their alcove.
She shook her head. "I—I don't have a weapon. I just—I was at the library when the announcement happened and I—"
"It's okay," Kevin said gently. "Stay in the back. We'll protect you."
They made it back to their alcove, Sarah tucked safely behind them.
[TIME REMAINING: 38 MINUTES]
Thirty-eight minutes to go.
Over six hundred people are already dead.
And that Elite Scuttler was still tearing through the chamber like an unstoppable force.
Daniel gripped his bloody knife and took a deep breath.
We're going to survive this.
All of us.
Even if he had to kill every single one of these monsters himself.