A loud chime echoed in the small apartment.

Ethan Vale groggily rubbed his eyes, reaching for his phone. The screen flickered unnaturally, glitches distorting the usual interface. A single notification pulsed at the center:

[Congratulations! You have been selected to participate in THE CRIMSON TRIAL.]

Below it, a simple [Accept] and [Decline] button.

“The hell is this?” Ethan muttered.

It had to be a prank—some kind of viral marketing gimmick. He tapped Decline without a second thought.

Nothing happened.

The screen remained frozen, the buttons unresponsive. Annoyed, he held down the power button, but instead of shutting off, his phone screen twisted into static before displaying something new:

[DECLINE REJECTED. THE GAME HAS ALREADY BEGUN.]

Ethan’s body tensed. A chill crawled up his spine. The room around him darkened unnaturally, as if something was draining the light itself.

Then—his phone exploded with blinding crimson light.

The next moment, he was falling.

A distant alarm blared in the background.

Ethan hit the ground hard, his lungs seizing as the wind was knocked out of him. Gasping, he forced himself up, his fingers pressing into rough concrete. The smell of blood, metal, and something… unnatural filled the air.

He wasn’t in his apartment anymore.

Towering structures loomed around him—skyscrapers with shattered glass and rusted steel, twisted into grotesque shapes. Some buildings floated mid-air, held by unseen forces, while others were tangled in massive, biomechanical roots pulsating with a sickly glow. The sky was wrong, an endless abyss of swirling red and black, with occasional flickers of… something moving. Watching.

A deep gong sounded, shaking the entire world.

A digital voice rang out, smooth yet devoid of emotion.

[Welcome, Players. The First Trial Begins Now.]

Ethan turned sharply, realizing he wasn’t alone.

People—dozens, maybe hundreds—stood scattered around the cracked streets. Some looked as confused as him, others terrified.

A girl in a hoodie was frantically tapping at a holographic screen in front of her. A muscular man in tactical gear surveyed the area, his jaw clenched. A teenager in a school uniform clutched his phone, whispering prayers under his breath.

Then, the voice returned.

[The First Trial: Survive for 30 Minutes.]

A low growl echoed from the alleys.

Something moved in the shadows.

Ethan’s blood ran cold as figures emerged from the darkness.

They weren’t human.

Twisted abominations, humanoid yet grotesquely elongated, their skin peeled back to reveal raw muscle and exposed bone. Their eyes—if they could be called that—were empty, glowing voids. Some dragged broken limbs behind them, while others twitched unnaturally, their mouths stretching into inhuman, jagged grins.

And then—

They charged.

Panic erupted. Screams filled the air as players scattered. Some bolted, others froze in sheer terror.

Ethan turned, his instincts screaming at him to run.

But his body wouldn’t move.

A creature lunged at the nearest player—a young woman who failed to react in time. Its claw pierced through her stomach, lifting her off the ground. She gurgled, eyes wide with horror before her body contorted, her flesh twisting as she was absorbed into the monster’s form.

The system’s voice chimed again.

[Player #314 Eliminated.]

The creature grew larger.

Ethan’s breath hitched.

This wasn’t just a game.

This was real.

And if he didn’t fight—

He was going to die.

The system’s voice continued to echo.

[Player #314 Eliminated.]

Ethan’s breath came in short, ragged bursts. The scene before him—the woman’s flesh absorbed, her form twisting into the monster’s own—was burned into his mind.

This was real.

This was happening.

The creature let out an ear-piercing shriek. Its elongated limbs cracked as it grew, its movements becoming faster and more fluid. The other monsters followed, their empty eyes locked onto the remaining players.

Panic erupted.

People ran, shoving past each other in desperation. A man in a business suit tripped over debris—he barely had time to scream before something ripped his torso apart, sending chunks of flesh flying.

[Player #227 Eliminated.]

Ethan took a step back, heart hammering against his ribs.

Move.

His body refused to obey. His muscles locked, every instinct screaming at him to do something—anything—but fear had sunk its claws too deep.

A sharp tug at his wrist yanked him out of his trance.

“Snap out of it, idiot!”

A girl.

She had short black hair, a torn hoodie, and piercing gray eyes that burned with urgency. Without waiting for a response, she dragged Ethan forward.

“Move or die—your choice!”

Her grip was iron, pulling him forward as the monsters gave chase.

The streets were a nightmare.

Bodies littered the ground, some still twitching, some already cold. Others had been warped—half-transformed into something inhuman, their screams gurgling into guttural, otherworldly wails.

Ethan’s mind struggled to process the chaos.

Was this some kind of death game?

Why him?

How?

His thoughts were cut short when the girl shoved him sideways.

“Down!”

Ethan hit the pavement just as a massive claw sliced through the air where his head had been. He barely had time to register the creature before the girl whipped out a knife and drove it into the monster’s wrist.

The thing screeched, recoiling in pain.

“Get up and run!” she barked.

No hesitation.

Ethan scrambled to his feet, forcing his legs into motion as the girl followed. The monsters were still coming. More screams. More system notifications announcing eliminations.

At this rate, none of them were going to survive thirty minutes.

Then—

A gunshot rang out.

A bullet tore through one of the creatures, making it stagger. A man in tactical gear emerged from behind a broken-down car, a sleek, futuristic-looking pistol in his hands.

“The hell are you two standing around for?” he shouted. “Get inside!”

He pointed at a shattered department store. Other players were already filing in, barricading the entrance with whatever they could find.

No better options.

Ethan and the girl sprinted for the entrance, the sound of heavy, wet footsteps closing in behind them.

The moment they crossed the threshold, the tactical guy slammed the doors shut.

The glass rattled as something smashed against it.

They had bought themselves a few seconds.

But it wasn’t over yet.

Inside the department store, tension filled the air.

Around fifteen players had made it in. Their faces were a mix of exhaustion, shock, and sheer terror. Some were sobbing, others gripping makeshift weapons—a broken chair leg, a fire extinguisher, a jagged piece of glass.

The tactical guy reloaded his gun with steady hands.

“Alright,” he said. “Who the hell here knows what’s going on?”

Silence.

No one had answers.

Ethan still struggled to breathe properly, his hands shaking. The girl who had saved him crossed her arms, her gray eyes scanning the room.

“Well, we know one thing,” she muttered. “Those things aren’t gonna stop coming.”

As if to prove her point, the barricade rattled violently. Something slammed against it—hard.

A player in a school uniform whimpered. “W-We’re all gonna die…”

Ethan clenched his fists.

No.

He refused to die here.

Think.

Think.

His gaze flickered to the glowing interface hovering beside him. The system screen he had ignored earlier.

[Player #719: Ethan Vale]

Level: 1

Class: None

Abilities: None

No weapons. No skills. Nothing.

But if this was a game—

“There has to be a way to fight back,” Ethan muttered.

The tactical guy—who had been checking his own screen—nodded. “There is.” He pointed at the corner of the room.

A glowing crate sat there, pulsing faintly.

[Supply Box: Claimable by Players]

Players rushed to it, each one touching the crate as a notification appeared before them.

[Claiming Weapon…]

One by one, weapons manifested in their hands. A baseball bat. A crowbar. A rusty knife. A sleek dagger. Even a few firearms—though the ammunition seemed limited.

Ethan stepped forward, pressing his hand to the crate.

[Claiming Weapon…]

Light flared.

In his palm, something solidified.

He looked down.

A black, curved blade rested in his grasp.

It was strange—almost organic, its obsidian metal pulsing with faint red veins. It felt cold, yet… familiar.

And then—

[Congratulations! You have unlocked your first ability: VOID EDGE.]

A wave of information flooded his mind.

His weapon—his Void Edge—wasn’t just a blade. It could cut through reality itself.

It could erase.

His heart pounded.

No time to question it.

Because at that moment—

The barricade exploded inward.

The monsters had broken through.

And the second half of the Trial was about to begin.

End of Chapter 1

The barricade exploded inward, sending wooden planks and glass shards flying. A monstrous limb—elongated, covered in pulsing veins—slammed into the floor, cracking the tiles beneath it.

Then came the screams.

The creatures surged forward, grotesque forms twisting as they lunged toward the players.

Ethan’s grip tightened on the Void Edge.

His instincts screamed at him to run, but deep inside, something shifted.

He wasn’t just a victim in this.

He had a weapon.

He had power.

And he was going to use it.

“Get ready!” the tactical guy shouted, raising his pistol.

The first monster pounced—a twisted humanoid with its jaw unhinged, dripping black ichor.

Bang!

A bullet ripped through its skull, but instead of falling, the creature twitched, its head snapping unnaturally before it kept moving.

“What the—?”

The realization hit all of them at once.

Headshots weren’t enough.

The monster shrieked and lunged again.

Ethan moved.

His Void Edge glowed, the black blade humming with a strange energy.

Slash.

A clean, precise cut.

The moment the edge made contact, the monster froze—its body distorting like static before vanishing entirely.

No corpse. No blood.

Just… erased.

Ethan stared at his blade, breath caught in his throat.

What the hell was this weapon?

A notification blinked before his eyes.

[First Kill Bonus: +1 Stat Point]

[Void Edge Special Effect: Annihilation Triggered.]

No time to process it.

More monsters poured in.

The players fought back—some wielding makeshift weapons, others using their newly acquired system-granted ones.

The girl in the hoodie—a dagger user—moved like lightning, weaving between creatures and slashing throats.

The tactical guy—now dual-wielding a pistol and a combat knife—covered their flanks, barking orders.

But despite their efforts, the monsters were relentless.

A player wielding a metal pipe screamed as a clawed hand tore into his abdomen, pulling out intestines like wet rope.

[Player #488 Eliminated.]

A woman swung an axe wildly, but a creature grabbed her wrist and twisted—the sickening crack of bone was drowned by her dying screams.

[Player #365 Eliminated.]

They were losing.

There were too many.

Ethan's mind raced.

There has to be a way to turn the tide.

His gaze darted toward the far end of the store. Beyond the shattered shelves and overturned mannequins, a stairwell sign flickered weakly.

“The second floor!” he shouted. “We can funnel them into a choke point!”

The tactical guy caught on immediately. “Everyone, move!”

The survivors sprinted for the stairs, Ethan covering their retreat.

The monsters gave chase, their howls echoing through the store.

As Ethan reached the stairwell, he turned for one last look—

—just as something massive crawled in through the entrance.

His blood ran cold.

This wasn’t like the others.

It was bigger, its form shifting like liquid shadow, multiple glowing eyes blinking across its amorphous face.

The system chimed.

[WARNING: MID-BOSS DETECTED – “HARBINGER OF GLUTTONY”]

The thing let out a gurgling hiss—then charged.

Ethan barely had time to leap up the stairs before the creature smashed through the lower level, sending debris flying.

“This just keeps getting worse,” the girl muttered.

The second floor wasn’t safe for long.

And now, they had a boss to deal with.

The Second Floor – Temporary Haven

Panting, Ethan stumbled onto the second floor, quickly scanning their surroundings.

They were in what used to be a clothing department—racks of torn, dust-covered outfits lay scattered across the space. The emergency exit sign flickered weakly in the dim lighting.

More importantly, there was only one way up—the stairwell they just came through.

“We can use this,” Ethan said, forcing himself to stay calm. “We hold this position. They have to come up the stairs. That bottleneck gives us a chance.”

The tactical guy nodded. “Agreed. We control the flow.”

The remaining survivors—barely six out of the original fifteen—regrouped.

One of them, a young man with glasses, was visibly shaking. “We—we can’t fight that thing! Did you see it?! It’s—”

A sharp smack interrupted him.

The dagger girl pulled her hand back, her expression cold. “Panic later. Fight now.”

Ethan had no time to comfort anyone.

The Harbinger of Gluttony was coming.

Boss Battle: Harbinger of Gluttony

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The stairwell trembled as the creature clawed its way up, its inky-black form twisting in unnatural ways.

It didn’t move like a solid being.

It was wrong—a mass of shifting flesh, eyes blinking across its surface, mouths forming and disappearing at random.

A deep, guttural voice echoed.

“H̷u̵n̶g̷r̶y̵.̷.̷.̷ ̵M̵o̵r̷e̷.̶.̸.̵ ̷F̷l̷e̴s̴h̵.̵”̷

A sickening chill ran down Ethan’s spine.

The system notification appeared—but this time, it was different.

[BOSS MECHANIC UNLOCKED: HARBINGER OF GLUTTONY]

Devour: Absorbs fallen players to evolve.

Corrupting Touch: A single strike infects the target, turning them into Servants of Gluttony.

Hunger Roar: Unleashes a deafening scream, stunning players.

[SPECIAL RULE: ESCAPE IS NOT AN OPTION. THE DOORS ARE SEALED UNTIL THE BOSS IS DEFEATED.]

Ethan clenched his jaw.

“No way out,” he muttered. “We end it here.”

The creature lunged.

The fight had begun.

End of Chapter 2

The Harbinger of Gluttony moved faster than expected.

Its shifting, amorphous body surged up the stairwell, clawed limbs materializing and vanishing as it crawled toward them. Its grotesque form pulsed with unnatural hunger, mouths forming at random intervals—some laughing, others screaming, all of them starving.

Ethan barely had time to react before the creature’s massive claw lashed out—

CRASH!

A chunk of the second-floor railing shattered as the boss slammed its limb down.

One of the players—a young man with glasses—was too slow to dodge. The creature’s hand engulfed him.

“W-wait! No—”

A grotesque mouth opened on its palm and clamped down, swallowing the player whole.

[Player #213 Eliminated.]

Then something worse happened.

[Harbinger of Gluttony has consumed a player. Its power increases.]

The creature’s form twisted, its flesh bulging, veins darkening. More eyes opened across its surface, twitching erratically.

It was getting stronger.

“Shit,” Ethan muttered. “We can’t let it feed!”

The tactical guy, Noah, reloaded his pistol. “Then we hit it with everything we’ve got.”

The Battle Begins

The survivors fanned out, forming a rough battle line.

The dagger girl, Ava, flipped her weapon in her grip, her stance low and predatory. “Aim for the eyes,” she said, her voice sharp.

Ethan nodded, gripping his Void Edge tightly.

The Harbinger moved, its body shifting, mouths splitting open to screech.

“M̵o̴r̷e̴.̸.̴.̶ M̴o̵r̸e̶.̷.̵.̴”

And then it charged.

Noah fired first—his bullets slammed into the creature’s eyes, causing them to burst in showers of black ichor. The boss screeched, stumbling slightly.

Ava struck next.

She moved like a shadow, her daggers flashing in quick, precise slashes. Each strike carved out an eye, but more kept forming, regenerating in seconds.

“Damn it,” she hissed. “It’s regenerating too fast.”

Ethan took his chance.

He dashed in, his Void Edge glowing.

The moment his blade connected—

The boss froze.

For a split second, its entire form distorted—like static on a broken screen.

Then—

A massive chunk of its body simply ceased to exist.

“Holy shit,” Noah whispered. “That sword—”

But the Harbinger wasn’t done.

It let out a deafening roar, the air around them vibrating violently.

[WARNING: Hunger Roar Activated – Players Stunned for 3 Seconds!]

Ethan’s body locked up.

Noah and Ava froze in place, their weapons raised but unmoving.

And the Harbinger struck.

It grabbed another player, a young woman who had been backing away in terror.

She didn’t even have time to scream before the creature’s jaws swallowed her whole.

[Player #089 Eliminated.]

Ethan’s rage boiled over.

As the stun wore off, he lunged forward, Void Edge crackling with energy.

His blade tore through the boss’s arm, severing it completely.

The Harbinger let out a distorted shriek, its severed limb disintegrating into nothingness.

It wasn’t regenerating this time.

Ethan’s weapon was the key.

“Focus on its limbs!” he shouted. “Cut them off, and it won’t regrow!”

Ava was the first to respond.

She vaulted over a wrecked clothing rack, her daggers slicing into the boss’s other arm. It screeched as the limb collapsed into static, vanishing completely.

Noah unloaded his clip into its torso, forcing it backward toward the railing.

Ethan saw an opening.

He leapt forward, raising the Void Edge.

With a single, devastating strike—

He plunged the blade deep into the boss’s chest.

The Harbinger convulsed, its body glitching, distorting, and finally—

Imploding.

Its entire form shrank inward, collapsing into itself before it simply ceased to exist.

The battle was over.

System Notification

[BOSS DEFEATED: Harbinger of Gluttony]

Players Rewarded: 300 EXP

Loot Dropped: [Gluttony’s Mark]

[Congratulations! You are the first player to defeat a Mid-Boss!]

Unique Title Unlocked: “Harbinger Slayer”

+2 Bonus Stat Points

Ethan exhaled sharply, his grip on his sword loosening.

The second floor was silent now.

Only four of them remained.

Noah. Ava. A scared-looking teenager who hadn’t said a word the entire fight.

The rest were gone.

Noah reloaded his pistol with shaking hands. “That was just a mid-boss?”

Ava wiped blood from her cheek, her expression unreadable. “We barely survived.”

Ethan looked at the loot drop in his menu.

[Gluttony’s Mark – A cursed relic. Grants unknown abilities.]

Unknown abilities?

Before he could examine it further, the system chimed again.

[New Mission Unlocked: The Feast Continues]

Survive the next 72 hours.

More bosses will appear.

A final challenge awaits at the end of the countdown.

[Time Remaining: 71:59:42]

Ethan clenched his fist.

They had won this battle—

But the nightmare was far from over.

End of Chapter 3

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