I didn't press it.
The word [ACCEPT] hovered at the edge of my vision, steady and patient.
I kept staring, searching for a way around something that clearly didn't have one.
"Kill a human."
Not survive.
Not escape.
Kill.
A part of me wanted to believe this was a test. That if I refused, the system would adjust, give me another option, prove that it wasn't as twisted as it sounded.
So I waited.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
A full minute.
Nothing changed.
[Reminder: Quest pending.]
"Yeah… I figured."
Sunlight spilled across my room like everything was normal. Outside, traffic moved, voices drifted in, and somewhere down the street, a dog kept barking.
The world hadn't ended yet.
But I knew exactly how much time it had.
"How long?"
[Time until first breach: 02:13:47]
Two hours.
Just over two hours before everything collapsed again.
I exhaled slowly.
Panic wouldn't help.
Denial wouldn't change anything.
"Define human."
[Human: Homo sapiens.]
"No loopholes, huh."
I moved to the window and pulled the curtain aside.
A couple argued across the street. A kid dragged his backpack along the sidewalk. An old man watered plants like he had all the time in the world.
None of them knew.
Only me.
My gaze lingered for a moment—
Then shifted away.
"No."
That wasn't happening like that.
[Clarification: Target selection is unrestricted.]
"I got that."
Unrestricted didn't mean random.
If I had to do this, then there would be a reason.
Even if it was a weak one.
Memories surfaced.
The first day.
Where things went wrong.
Where people died first.
"…The supermarket."
It would become a death trap within minutes.
Getting there early meant control.
Control meant a chance to change something.
Then the thought formed clearly.
"I don't need to wait for the monsters."
The silence that followed felt attentive.
"Is that what you want?" I muttered. "You don't care who I kill. You just want to see if I will."
[Correction: I want to see what you are willing to become.]
My grip tightened on the window frame.
"…Right."
That answered enough.
I grabbed my jacket and moved toward the door.
My hand hovered over the handle for a brief moment.
A memory pushed forward.
The man who ran.
The way he died.
The way I kept running.
"If I had been stronger…"
The thought faded on its own.
[First Kill Bonus: +5 to all stats]
"Convenient."
[Encouragement increases efficiency.]
"You're disgusting."
No denial followed.
The door opened.
The hallway outside stayed quiet. A TV played behind a closed door. Footsteps echoed faintly from the stairs.
Normal life.
For now.
I stepped out.
Every second that passed pulled the future closer.
Every step forward narrowed the number of choices left.
"Two hours."
Last time, I spent those two hours running.
I thought staying ahead would be enough.
I thought avoiding danger meant surviving.
It didn't.
All I did was delay the inevitable.
And when it finally caught up to me—
it ended exactly the same way.
I died.
Powerless.
That truth settled in quietly.
Not dramatic.
Not loud.
Just certain.
I kept walking.
The choice remained.
[ACCEPT?]
I didn't press it.
The meaning was clear.
Refuse… and die the same way.
Accept… and become something else.
For the first time—
there was no search for another option.
I moved forward.
The button remained untouched.
But this time…
there was no pretending anymore.
The only difference this time…
was that I knew exactly what it would cost.