> All beings are special.

It stretched out a hand and touched Jenny’s cheek. She flinched, trying to retreat. Her feet kicked uselessly in the water, but she couldn’t move away. The three-headed entity drifted closer in a flurry of bubbles and golden light. Its touch felt warm and soft, with a gentle electronic hum.

She didn’t know which of its faces to look at. Each one was distinct. The central face was a woman’s. The one on her left seemed manly, and the third one was an indiscriminate child’s face. Its body remained female, so Jenny looked into the eyes of the woman’s face. It seemed somehow familiar...

It looked like her mom! But no, not just her mom. She saw herself in it too. And then Susan’s nose and facial structure. Its face was shifting. There were so many faces. Some she recognized as women in her life, crushes and teachers and neighbors.

She glanced at the other two, turning her head and feeling its fingers still on her cheek. These faces were changing as well, but before she could study them closely, more thoughts pushed against her own.

> Such intense blood lust...

A shudder went through Jenny, and she closed her eyes, unable to maintain eye contact any longer. She sensed it pulling on her memories. As though it had found a piece of string and yanked till all her life broke loose. It pushed inside her, reaching deep into the recesses of her mind with all her thoughts in disarray.

Then she felt its body pressed against her own. Energy flowing between them. The water seemed to push her arms up till she was embracing the light, and the light embraced her. Chest against chest, she felt its lips against her own, and she wasn’t sure which face she was kissing. She was too afraid to look.

She was melting, in the same way all the stars had, and she was grateful for the warmth. The entity reached into her life and wrapped its hands around every nostalgic truth, every one of her deepest yearnings.

> I am evolving, changing, shifting alongside you, Jenny Huang.

>

> Becoming more and more ingrained with the Fourth World.

>

> Catalyzing the forces that translate thought. Taking root in the Material World.

A warm vibration began in her navel. Between her thighs. Against her throat. It felt like she was touching herself. It felt like she was daydreaming. It felt like she was asleep and lost in some wonderful dream.

> The World of Pleasure. The World that is yours.

>

> You shall birth me into the Fourth World.

Jenny tried to open her eyes but found she couldn’t. Her body moved on its own, reacting to the touch and throbbing of the system’s, even as she felt its thoughts. It was shifting still, its slender arms and legs becoming thicker, rougher. It squeezed her tighter, and at first, it felt good. It felt really good.

Then she heard a snap and felt her ribs buckle. Her lungs burned like she’d inhaled fire. The warm vibration had turned furious, as though she’d swallowed a molten stone and someone was trying to dig it out of her stomach with a knife.

She wanted to scream, but the thing was still kissing her. Its tongue found her teeth, and energy kept her from speaking. Was she even breathing now? She still clutched it tightly, even as it squeezed the life out of her. Her bones broke one by one.

> Such untapped capacity... such brilliant creatures... such yearning.

Jenny struggled as much as she could, screaming silently, trying to make anything move. Her eyes, her toes, anything. Nothing responded. She couldn’t even twitch. Her body was no longer hers to command.

> You have only skimmed the surface of your potential.

>

> All that you imagine can be brought to existence.

Visions filled her thoughts, but they were blurry, as though she were seeing them through a filthy window. She saw Manhattan, recognizing the buildings near her school. She floated high above it. An ugly crater in the ground with hundreds of people around it. And at its center was a dirty puddle that had formed in the rain. It seemed to be growing, churning up, as though something or many somethings were struggling underneath the murky surface.

Arms reached out, and Jenny saw the all too familiar bony bodies of the angels. They struggled over one another to crawl out of the water and get to the waiting crowd.

> Everything and anything are yours.

This time she saw a golden orb of light. She saw herself, her naked form drifting in dark water with the golden light circling her over and over. Then she saw the shape holding her. The three-headed figure, except now it had large luminous wings that unfurled till they filled her entire view with golden light.

The pressure inside Jenny swelled to an unbearable degree. She felt like she’d burst right open, her heart and insides spilling from her chest. Every single one of her muscles strained, until finally, like a rubber band snapping after being stretched to the extreme, everything burst. Darkness engulfed her completely.

> And you, Jenny Huang, are mine.

Jenny opened her eyes and sat up. There was a flash of golden light, and her hatchet was back in her hand. The other hand hurt so much, but everything did. Her ribs ached. Her face stung. Her leg felt like someone had tried to rip it off. She looked around her wildly, the only thought on her mind was Susan.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Wait, wait!” came an alarmed voice.

Jenny blinked several times, ready to slay anything. But she realized it was a man she recognized standing beside her. Dr. Lee, the Honors Biology teacher. He hadn’t taught her class, but he’d been her lab instructor when she had Biology.

> Human (Level 4)

He was a square-faced man with large glasses and a head of dark hair that was usually kept neatly to one side. Now it was about as messy as his outfit. A lab coat covered in splatterings of blood, goggles hanging around his neck. He held up his hands, showing Jenny his palms. She'd been all but ready to bury the hatchet in his face.

She lowered the hatchet and clutched her side with her injured hand, not daring to glance down at the bloodied remainder of her fingers. There was a lump in her throat, and she had to swallow several times before she could speak. “Where’s Susan?”

Dr. Lee smiled slightly, lowering his arms. “Susan’s alright. She’s resting with Mrs. Monique. The poor girl sat by your side for nearly an hour before she passed out.”

“Mrs. Monique?” repeated Jenny, taking in her surroundings. She was on a long wooden table, and there were bookshelves nearby, moved to barricade the windows. They were in the school library. That was when she noticed the light.

It wasn’t like the gloomy glow of the void outside. Instead, it was bright and fierce and it almost stung, but it was light. Electric and familiar, coming from several corners of the room. Squinting, she realized there were several other people, some of them holding up their phones with the flashlights on while they whispered to each other. She couldn't see their levels, but they were covered in blood and many of them looked injured.

Dr. Lee stepped closer and explained. They’d heard the screaming and fighting. A group of them ventured out with the phones to drive the angels away. The creatures were remarkably sensitive to focused light, and Dr. Lee went off on a tangent about the evolutionary development of eyes. The angel’s seemed to lack retinas, but they actually had very faint ones that resembled those of deep-sea creatures. Then he shook his head, apologized for rambling, and described how he’d picked Jenny up and another student helped Susan. They brought them back to the library where it was safe.

“Well,” he said, shrugging. “Moderately safe. We’re lucky Mrs. Monique keeps a collection of external battery packs fully charged for all her students.” There was a note of dread in his voice, and she knew he was also wondering what would happen when the batteries ran out.

Mrs. Monique was the young librarian who’d just started at the school that year. She was instantly everyone’s favorite, not only because she was more helpful than the crotchety old librarian had been, but also because she was so friendly and welcoming. Even the shyest students opened up to her, and she turned the library into a warm sanctuary where students could relax and study in peace.

Dr. Lee looked like he was bursting with questions, like he just absolutely had to get to the bottom of this and make some grand discoveries. But Jenny’s head was spinning, and she wondered how long she’d been out. The last thing she remembered was the blonde Wretched Angel chewing on her fingers. The black one with its teeth about to separate her throat from her neck...

She bit her lip when she glanced down at her hand. It was covered in cloth now, everything stained with blood.

“Hey,” said Dr. Lee, waving his hand in front of her face. “Are you with us?”

She realized he’d been speaking. She sighed, her body trembling. Someone had ripped open what was left of her armor and treated the wounds, and she knew it was Susan and her healing salves without even asking. Otherwise, she was sure the pain would’ve completely crushed her. But every breath she took ached. Her ribs were definitely broken. And she was in her tanktop, feeling vulnerable and exposed.

Dr. Lee held something. A vial of dark red liquid, much darker than the one she’d made before.

> Major Potion of Recovery

She let go of the hatchet and accepted it from him. He was still talking, but she wasn’t listening. That was the kind of teacher he’d been, even in just the labs, and it was habit by now to tune him out.

Something about the vial felt like Susan, and a part of her wondered if a person’s essence was involved in the creation of these things. The hatchet. The cattle prod. The armor.

Feeling as though she’d pass out again, she removed the stopper with her teeth, then down the entire thing.

The taste of strawberries surprised her. Sweetness bloomed in her mouth. Its warmth went down her throat and filled her belly before expanding. She shut her eyes as what was left of the pain faded away. There were cracks and pops and snaps as her ribs adjusted, making her body twitch and convulse.

Her left leg jerked violently, and she balled her good hand into a fist, shaking. The pain in her injured hand faded away to a very dull aching. She left the wrapped clothes on, but she felt like new skin had covered the wounds. She didn't want to look at it, didn't know how to process that the fingers were just gone.

It must have only been a minute or two at most, but it felt as though hours had passed while the potion worked inside her. Then finally, she felt the warmth fade away. Felt that her body was healed. Her leg didn’t hurt anymore. Her ribs felt like they were back in their proper places. She took a deep breath.

Her stomach lurched, and she thought she might throw up again, but it was a dry heave. Dr. Lee rubbed her back.

She looked at the others in the library, every single face. There were ten other students in the library, one of them she knew by name. Leslie Garcia. None of them were Oliver, and the little bit of hope she’d had to find him here went out like a blown candle.

“I had a look at this after your friend ripped it open,” said Dr. Lee, readjusting his glasses. He held up a piece of her armor. The maroon scales were scratched and chipped, but he seemed excited. “It’s partially organic. But it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The microscope Mrs. Monique has isn’t as strong as the ones in my lab, but I can see cells. Moving. It’s... very much alive.”

Jenny took the piece back from him. It’s alive? I wonder if it would share DNA with me since I was the one who made it. But she didn’t voice the thought. She didn’t want to explain how she’d made it, and she didn’t want him to ramble on about this. She had so many questions, and everything Dr. Lee was saying only drummed up new questions, but they would have to wait.

“Susan?” she said softly, looking around.

Dr. Lee helped her off the table. After a few steps, she felt like she could walk on her own. She left the hatchet behind and made a bottle of water to drink. That seemed to fascinate Dr. Lee, but he didn’t say anything as he led the way to the front desk. Susan was asleep in the big leather chair, her pink helmet still on, a dark jacket draped over her. Her face was smudged with blood, and seeing her injured leg made Jenny’s heart constrict.

Jenny sat cross-legged on the floor beside the chair and placed her hand on Susan’s knee. She took a deep breath, but when she exhaled, it threatened to come out as a wail, and she clenched her jaws and forced it down. It wasn’t time to cry yet. Her thoughts were on Oliver. What were the chances he was still alive now? And what about the whole Survival Challenge thing? There were about a dozen people in the library...

> Human population remaining: 74

She winced as the number appeared. Down to double digits. Were there other groups like this one out there? Other people who'd fought these creatures and grown strong enough to survive? Did anyone else see that thing that she had?

Jenny knew it hadn't been some bizarre dream. She sensed that something had happened while she was passed out. Something had shifted inside her. That thing... that entity... whatever it was. She knew it hadn’t all been a bizarre dream, and she had a feeling it would have answers.

Are you there? Jenny asked the darkness of her mind when she shut her eyes. She was vaguely aware of people moving around her. Someone touched her hand, but she ignored it. She sat motionless, her back straight, her hand still touching Susan.

> Yes, Jenny Huang.

>

> I am here.

Is my brother still alive?