I can't see it clearly.
Only movement.
Something shifting in the darkness behind me.
My body feels… hollow.
Weak.
My legs tremble just from standing.
My stomach twists painfully, like it's folding into itself.
Hungry.
Too hungry.
The sound comes again.
Wet.
Slow.
Breathing.
Too close.
I take a step back— My knee buckles.
I almost collapsed.
No.
Not now.
The ground crunches beneath my foot.
The sound spreads through the cave—
And the breathing— Stops.
My chest tightens.
Silence.
Not empty.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then— It moves.
Fast.
Something tears through the darkness.
I try to react— My body doesn't listen.
I stumble instead.
My foot slips.
I hit the ground hard.
Pain shoots through my side.
Something passes just above me.
A smell follows.
It hits me instantly.
Rot.
Not just decay— Something deeper.
Thick.
Heavy.
It clings to the air.
To my skin.
To my throat.
I choke.
I can't breathe properly.
Each breath feels wrong.
Like the air itself is spoiled
I force myself to turn— And I see it.
My mind rejects it instantly.
No.
That's not— its body looks like it's falling apart.
Not clean.
Not whole.
The surface of it shifts— Slowly.
Unnaturally.
Something drips from it.
Dark.
Thick.
It falls to the ground with a soft sound.
Then— Something else slips free.
A small piece.
It lands beside it.
I freeze.
The smell thickens.
My stomach twists violently.
I swallow hard— But it doesn't help.
It feels like I'm breathing it in.
Like it's inside me now.
The thing moves again.
Its limbs drag across the ground— Not smoothly.
Like they weren't meant to move that way.
And where its face should be— There's nothing.
Just stretched skin.
And in the center— An opening.
It expands.
Contracts.
Breathing.
Looking.
At me.
My heart starts pounding.
Too loud.
Too fast.
I have to Run.
I try to stand.
My legs fail.
I collapse again.
My hands scrape against the ground— Searching.
Desperate.
My fingers close around something sharp.
A broken piece of stone.
My grip is weak.
It almost slips.
The thing is already on me.
That opening— Yeah.
That thing— Right in front of my face.
The smell is unbearable now.
I can't think.
I can't breathe.
My arm moves.
Slow.
Unsteady.
I stab.
The stone barely sinks in.
The thing jerks.
A sound escapes it.
Not a scream.
Something wet.
Something tearing.
Its limb slams into my side.
A sharp crack.
Pain explodes through my ribs.
Air leaves my lungs.
I try to breathe— Nothing comes.
My vision darkens.
I'm going to die.
Here.
Like this.
Weak.
Useless.
My fingers loosen.
The stone slips— No.
Something in me refuses.
Not strength.
Not courage.
Just— Refusal.
My grip tightens.
My arm moves again.
Messy.
Desperate.
I stab.
Again.
Again.
And Again— I don't stop.
Even when my arms shake.
Even when my vision blurs.
Even when I can't feel my fingers.
I keep going.
Until— It stops moving.
Silence.
Heavy.
The smell lingers.
Thick.
Unavoidable.
I collapse beside it.
My chest heaves violently.
Each breath burns.
My throat feels raw.
My body feels like it's falling apart.
I can't move.
I don't want to move.
Then— Pain.
Sharp.
Inside my head.
I gasp.
Something is wrong.
No— Something is happening.
Heat spreads through my body.
Not warmth.
Burning.
My muscles tighten.
My vision distorts.
The cave twists— Or maybe it's me.
Images flash— Endless desert.
Hunger.
Violence.
A need.
Deep.
Primal.
Kill.
Consume.
Survive.
"No…"
My voice barely exists.
My fingers dig into the ground.
My body trembles uncontrollably.
Something inside me is changing.
I can feel it.
Not outside.
Inside.
Deeper.
Like something is settling into place.
Or replacing something that was there before.
Then— It stops.
Just like that.
Silence.
I lie there.
Breathing.
Barely.
My body feels lighter.
But wrong.
Different.
I slowly lift my hand.
It's still shaking.
But not from weakness alone.
Something else is there now.
Something I can't see.
But I can feel.
A presence.
Cold.
Watching.
Waiting.
I turn my head—
Toward the body.
And for a moment—
I swear—
It's still looking at me.
A voice echoes in my mind.
Cold.
Clear.
Not mine.
[Fragment Acquired]
[Unknown Trait Assimilated]
[Stability: Critical]
My breath catches.
Critical…?
My body trembles again.
Not from exhaustion.
From something deeper.
Something waiting.
Something growing.
I close my eyes for a moment.
I don't understand anything.
Not this place.
Not that thing.
Not what just happened to me.
But I understand one thing.
If I stay weak— I die.
And next time— There won't be a second chance.