"Am done with this test"

The moon wept blood, casting a ghostly silver sheen over the snow.

Silence lay thick across the mountain like a suffocating shroud.

Cold gripped every inch—an unseen predator stalking, waiting to pounce.

The trees loomed—towering, ancient, as if daring to pierce the heavens themselves.

Their leaves whispered secrets of the dead, rustling like soft sighs.

Somewhere deep in the forest, blood stained the snow crimson—fresh and brutal.

Shreds of flesh scattered like fallen leaves, scattered by an unseen storm.

Screams ripped through the night air—a dreadful summons to chaos.

Something had gone terribly wrong.

A massive armored truck lay on its side—broken, battered like a fallen beast.

Its metal skin torn, twisted, pierced by cruel spikes that jutted out like bones.

Around it, youths struggled—survivors of a nightmare.

Out of a hundred, only sixty-four still drew breath.

Limbs lost, bodies shattered, many unconscious, others dead.

The devastation was total.

But the survivors clung to life—barely.

For now.

Those with healing gifts scrambled to tend to the injured—hands trembling, desperate.

They barely knew each other, strangers cast together by fate and blood.

Yet pain forced them into uneasy kinship.

Not far from the wreck, a soft voice cut through the chaos.

Evae.

Her face pale, streaked with dirt and blood.

She knelt in the frozen snow, tears carving icy rivers down her cheeks.

Her hands clutched Karze's broken body like a lifeline.

She turned to him, eyes wide, heart shattered at the gaping wound in his chest.

Cold gripped her heart—metal forged in icy depths.

His skin paled, life slipping with every breath.

If nothing changed…

She dared not think it.

Gently, she set him aside—fragile as glass.

As she moved to rise, a weak hand caught hers.

She froze, breath stolen.

"K-Karze… you're…"

Words failed her.

Relief crashed over her—he was still here.

Still breathing.

His hand was soft but cold, as if blood no longer warmed it.

Her tears spilled free, a flood of joy and dread.

She pulled him close—desperate to feel life beneath her fingers.

"Ouch! Easy…"

His groan pulled her back, heart breaking.

A weak smile from her.

"Sorry…"

"Nah, it's nothing…"

His voice cracked.

Then he smelled it—blood.

Her blood.

His eyes snapped to her torn clothes—holes dripping fresh red.

A heartbeat skipped—thunder in his chest.

She had ignored her own wounds to save him.

Now she paid the price.

Ignoring his own pain, Karze surged up, catching her before she collapsed.

She was fading fast.

He tore off her hoodie.

What he saw chilled him—multiple wounds bleeding deep.

Chest, shoulder, stomach.

Her breath came ragged, lungs gasping.

Skin growing colder, faster.

---

FLASHBACK

"EVERYONE, HOLD ON TO SOMETHING! NOW!"

The shout cracked through chaos.

Hands scrambled for grips.

The truck screamed under impact—metal twisting, breaking.

Lights died.

The world flipped, crashed, shattered.

Those who lost their hold flew like rag dolls—bones breaking, flesh tearing.

Screams filled the metal coffin.

Karze clung to Evae, steadying her.

When the truck stilled on its side, he jumped free.

Helped her up, though she struggled to stand.

"You should sit," he said softly.

She obeyed.

Karze scanned the wreckage—injured everywhere, corpses like dead leaves.

His heart? Cold.

Dead.

People, all gone.

A white light pierced darkness—someone activated healing.

Others moved, trying to save what they could.

But unease twisted inside him—only the strong survived.

Was this the government's plan?

To butcher the weak mercilessly?

Failures became monsters.

Survivors grew stronger.

Gathered here, death's gatekeepers.

A cruel, perfect design.

Karze's gaze caught a girl—limbs broken, ribs jutting grotesquely.

Silver hair stained crimson.

Frosty blue eyes dimming.

School uniform.

Name: Sophia.

Her gaze locked with his—pleading without words.

She wanted release.

Mercy.

Death.

Karze knelt, eyes glassy silver—cold as the grave.

Their souls met—hers begging, his empty.

"I'm not saving you," he whispered, voice hollow as death itself.

"I'm only keeping you alive to face the pain coming."

She flinched.

He placed something in her mouth.

Agony shattered her—heart breaking, bones remaking.

She tried to scream.

No sound.

Darkness claimed her.

Karze faded from her sight.

---

BACK TO PRESENT

Karze held Evae—rage twisting his mind.

Summoned a white pill—the same as Sophia's.

Placed it in Evae's mouth.

Nothing.

A holographic screen flickered—ancient runes glowing ghostly violet and silver.

NEXAR's voice slithered through his mind—sweet poison, deadly calm.

! DANGER !

Chosen target unknown!

Blood contaminated with Necrothorn poison!

Moonlight's Blood may fail!

Further attempts risk death!

Proceed?

YES | NO

Karze clenched his jaw.

A gamble with death.

No one else could save her.

He wouldn't ask for help.

"I won't lose you..."

NEXAR's voice cut in cold and final.

NEW CHALLENGE RECEIVED.

Defeat the Necrothorn.

Reward:

Necrothorn's pure blood

Poison King status

Description:

Once impure as night, now pure as day.

Drink this blood to escape certain death.

No poison can harm you—for you are its King.

Karze stared.

The system toyed with him—maybe.

But the prize was worth the risk.

The beast was strong—his head still throbbed from its strike.

A spike cracked his skull.

Luck had spared him a fatal blow.

He stripped Evae's hoodie over her fragile frame.

Rose eyes no longer lively black but shimmering glassy silver.

His gaze sharp as razors.

Looking over his shoulder, he whispered—a deathly vow:

"Come out."

From the shadows stepped a girl—bloodied uniform, silver hair stained red.

Frosty blue eyes sharp and cold, like a viper ready to strike.

Sophia—the girl he saved before.

"You survived…"

Her voice careless, a shadow of worry lost.

"Did I look like a goner?"

She paused.

"Okay, maybe I did. But at least sound relieved I'm here."

He turned fully—his silver eyes made her recoil.

Her body screamed to flee—but she couldn't.

He said nothing.

Placed Evae in her arms.

She didn't protest.

Life owed him nothing.

He glanced at Evae, then vanished into the forest.

Sophia followed in silence, voice calm but fear buried deep.

"How do you plan to find it?"

Karze's eyes flicked back—sharp, icy.

"And how do you know?"

Her laugh was nervous.

"I can see people's challenges... only the ones they're doing though..."

He looked up at the bleeding moon—its image burned onto his corneas.

His voice dropped low—cold as winter's breath.

"As long as it lives… my blade will taste its blood and hear its last breath."

She didn't ask more.

She just watched him disappear.

One question burned in her mind—

Who is this man?

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