The second night came quietly.
Too quietly.
The survivors had begun to sleep in turns — if sleep could even be called that. The air inside the shelter was damp and heavy. Shadows from the dim lamp clung to the walls like stains that refused to leave.
Raon lay awake near the corner, his mind replaying the train, the screams, the broken city.
His eyes refused to close.
Then — a sound.
Thump.
Followed by another.
Thump… thump…
It came from the tunnel outside the steel door — slow, uneven, growing louder with every heartbeat.
Someone whispered, "What was that?"
A child whimpered. The woman beside him pulled the boy close, her eyes darting to the door.
Then came the growl — deep, wet, animalistic.
Every head turned toward the sound.
The first person screamed. "They've found us!"
Instant panic. People stumbled to their feet, some grabbing pipes, knives, or rusted metal rods. The more desperate ones tried to push furniture against the door.
Cover the children!"
"Get back! Stay quiet!"
The old man near the entrance clenched his jaw and whispered, "It was only a matter of time…"
Raon stood, his pulse pounding in his ears. The air itself seemed to freeze.
The door began to bend inward —
A dent forming, then another.
And then it brokdoo
The steel door burst open as a massive shadow lunged through.
The creature's shape was canine, but its body was twisted — ribs exposed, jaws splitting too wide. Eyes glowed faintly red under the flickering light.
Screams filled the air.
The first man who swung his weapon was torn apart in seconds. Blood splattered the wall.
Raon moved without thinking. Someone shoved something into his hands —
A sword. Rusted but sharp enough.
"Take this!" a voice yelled — a man with a shaved head, holding a broken pipe. "We have to fight!"
Raon gripped the sword tightly, his mind empty of thought.
He swung — the blade cut through the first creature's neck halfway before snapping into pieces.
The broken hilt fell from his hands.
The monster roared and lunged.
He raised his arm in a desperate attempt to block—
And then — shards of ice burst from the air, piercing through the monster's body and pinning it to the wall.
Raon blinked. The air turned cold around him.
He looked to the side — and saw him.
A young man, barely in his twenties, standing amid the chaos. His right hand was glowing with frost, his expression hard and focused.
Raon recognized that face instantly.
"…You—"He was one of the survivors from the train.
The young man's hand lowered as steam rose from the icy remains of the monster.
But before Raon could speak, another System window flickered before his eyes.
[Skill Copy Completed — "Ice Bullet" Acquired.]
Due to insufficient synchronization, skill rank has been lowered to F-.
Raon froze.
"What—" he was thinking that what happened now ,but then an another monster leapt toward him. Without thinking, he raised his hand. A surge of cold ran down his arm.
A sharp spike of ice erupted from his palm and shot straight through the creature's skull.
The monster fell, twitching.
The young man stared at him, eyes wide with disbelief.
"…I didn't know you had the same skill as me."
Raon looked at his trembling hand, the frost still fading from his skin.
"I… didn't know either."
The air smelled of rust, smoke, and death.
The screams were thinning, replaced by the guttural howls of monsters and the crackling of flames from makeshift torches.
Raon's breath came out white. The Ice Bullet skill still pulsed faintly through his veins — raw, unstable, like a borrowed heartbeat that wasn't his.
And then, the System spoke.
[ Side Quest: Survival ]
Objective: Kill 100 Monsters
Time Limit: 1 hour
Reward: 5000 Coins
Penalty: Death
A silence fell over his mind.
Even in the chaos, those last words — Penalty: Death — echoed louder than anything else.
"Kill… a hundred?" he muttered. "You're kidding me."
All around him, the survivors saw the same notification flicker before their eyes.
Some broke down instantly. Others screamed, trying to run for the exit, only to be torn apart before they reached it.
"Stay together!" someone shouted. "Use your skills! Don't panic!"
But panic was all there was.
The walls of the shelter trembled as more monsters crawled in through the shattered doors. Their claws scraped against metal, their jaws opening with that familiar, sickening growl.
Raon picked up the broken half of his sword.
It was useless. Just dead weight.
He threw it aside and lifted his trembling right hand.
[Skill: Ice Bullet (F-)]
Cooldown: 2 seconds.
"Two seconds," he whispered. "That's all I get."
The first monster came — a twisted hound with eyes like burning coals.
Raon aimed his palm.
A spike of ice shot through its skull.
The body dropped, steaming. One.
[Monster Killed. +2 Coins.]
Another came. He turned, fired again.
The bullet missed — hit the wall — and the recoil froze his fingers numb.
He gritted his teeth and forced the pain away.
The shelter had become a warzone. Firelight and ice shards flickered like dying stars.
People screamed his name, screamed for help — and he couldn't even remember most of their faces.
He just kept firing.
Bang — two dead.
Bang — five.
Bang — twelve.
The ice tore through flesh, melted, then reformed as he channeled it again.
His arms felt heavier each time. His mana — or whatever this System called it — burned low, like his veins were being hollowed out.
But Still, he fired.He had to.
[Monster Killed: 47]
[Stamina Critically Low.]
Raon stumbled back against a wall. His vision blurred. The shelter was half-collapsed now, the air filled with smoke and frost.
Corpses — human and inhuman — covered the ground.
He turned to the left — saw the young man from before, the one who had used ice first. He was surrounded, bleeding, struggling to hold the creatures back.
Without thinking, Raon lifted his arm.
Another spike of ice shot forward —
CRACK!
It pierced through three monsters at once.
The young man looked at him — surprise flashing across his pale face.
Raon didn't respond. His whole body shook. His breath came in short bursts.
But the number in the corner of his vision kept climbing.
[Monster Killed: 98]
Two more left.
He fell to one knee, ice forming over his wrist as his body failed to contain the energy. His vision dimmed at the edges. His heartbeat slowed.
"I'm… not dying here," he muttered.
A beast lunged at him. He pressed his frozen hand against its face —And the entire skull turned to frost, shattering instantly.
[Monster Killed: 99]
One more.
The shelter was silent now, except for the sound of dripping blood and faint breathing.
He turned slowly — one creature still crawling toward him, half-dead but alive enough to move.
He aimed. His arm wouldn't lift. His body was at its limit.
So he closed his eyes — and whispered the words again.
"Ice Bullet."
A cold flash. Then darkness.
When he opened his eyes, he was lying on the ground — his body shaking violently, the air around him cold enough to make his breath fog.
[Quest Completed.]
[All conditions fulfilled.]
[Reward Granted: 5000 Coins ]
[Skill: Ice Bullet — Rank Up → E.]
A weak laugh escaped him.
"Ha… so I really… survived."
His vision wavered — the shelter nothing more than ruins now, scattered with bodies, frost, and silence.
The faint blue glow of the System flickered in the air above him.
He had killed a hundred monsters with one skill — one that didn't even belong to him.