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
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