午夜的街道籠罩著一層薄薄的霧氣，刺骨的寒風席捲而過，彷彿要將程宇吞噬。昏暗的路燈將他的影子拉得又長又細，而他則背負著瀕臨崩潰的生活，艱難前進。
他剛被解僱實習生。
這個消息就像是一記重錘，狠狠地敲在他的心上。
「為什麼……為什麼總是這樣……」程宇咬牙切齒，抓著背包的手因為握力而發抖。他是一名來自貧困家庭的大學三年級學生。為了減輕家裡的經濟負擔，他很早就開始實習。然而，儘管他做出了努力，公司的決定還是讓他的希望破滅了——一份解僱通知讓他徹底失敗了。
路燈的影子越來越長，越來越細，程宇卻沒有註意到，一個模糊的身影已經無聲無息地爬進了自己的邊緣。
“生命的終點是什麼？”一道低沉的聲音從身後響起，彷彿直接鑽進了程宇的耳膜裡。
程宇猛地停了下來，僵硬地轉過頭。幾步之外，一名黑衣男子靜靜地站著。他的身上披著長袍，臉龐隱藏在冰冷的黑色面具下，漆黑的眼窩深邃如深淵。
“你是誰？”程宇小心翼翼地後退了一步，手心裡冒出冷汗，心跳不受控制地加快。
“那你的未來呢？”黑衣人沒有回答，而是伸出手，指著程宇的腿。 “如果失去了他們，你還能繼續前進嗎？”
話還沒說完，程宇就覺得雙腿傳來劇烈的疼痛，彷彿要被撕裂一般。他想尖叫，但聲音卻被卡在了喉嚨裡，很快眼前一片漆黑。他倒在了地上。
腐爛和血腥的刺鼻惡臭讓程宇回過神來。他睜開眼睛，映入眼簾的是昏暗的天花板和閃爍的燈光。他想動一下，卻發現自己的下半身已經完全麻木了。低頭一看，那恐怖的景象幾乎讓他窒息——他的腿部肌肉幾乎消失殆盡，只剩下光禿禿的白骨和裸露的青筋纏繞在一起。
“你醒了？”熟悉的低沉聲音再次響起。
程宇猛地抬起頭，看到黑衣人就站在幾步之外，手裡握著一塊血淋淋的肌肉。在他身後，一群毫無生氣的孩子正冷冷地將他的肌肉拼湊成某種扭曲的形狀。
"You... what did you do?" Cheng Yu's voice trembled, his eyes filled with terror and anger.
"I'll give you a choice." The man in black stepped closer, holding out a pitch-black mask. "Put it on, and you will be reborn. Refuse, and... you will become one of them." He gestured toward the numb children.
Cheng Yu’s heartbeat thundered in his chest. He knew he had no choice. Shaking, he reached out and took the mask, slowly placing it over his face. Instantly, an irresistible force surged into his body, as if it were tearing him apart. Under the intense pain, he couldn’t help but let out a heart-wrenching scream.
As the pain gradually subsided, Cheng Yu looked down and found that his legs, now devoid of muscle, were surrounded by black mist, yet they somehow supported him, allowing him to stand once again. He waved his hand experimentally, and a blade of black light appeared out of thin air, effortlessly slicing through a nearby metal operating table.
"What is this...?" Cheng Yu muttered to himself, his gaze complex, his voice filled with shock and mixed emotions.
"Death magic," the man in black coldly replied. "It grants you power, but the price is that you will never be redeemed."
From that day on, Cheng Yu became the "hunter" of the man in black. His task was to hunt the chosen souls, using the death magic to offer their bodies as sacrifices to the man in black. At first, he resisted. Each killing left him feeling as though his soul was being consumed. But whenever he tried to fight back, the man in black easily suppressed him.
"You're nothing but a tool of mine," the man in black reminded him coldly. "This power cannot be used against me. Don't try to challenge the rules."
Day after day, Cheng Yu noticed a gradual change within himself. Killing no longer caused him pain; instead, it brought a strange pleasure. The use of death magic became an addiction, and this power seemed to be slowly consuming his soul.
One day, while Cheng Yu and the man in black were on a mission, he inadvertently witnessed the death ritual formation the man in black used. The complex and eerie array made Cheng Yu vaguely sense a flaw within it. The power of the formation relied on sacrifices, and the man in black himself was a part of it.
Cheng Yu began to use each mission as an opportunity to secretly absorb the energy of the sacrificed souls, storing it within himself. His death magic became more refined, and the black mist around his legs gradually took shape, even emitting a faint golden hue.
“If I can destroy the formation...” a dangerous thought began to form in Cheng Yu's mind.
He didn't act rashly. He knew that if he wanted to defeat the man in black, he needed to break through in terms of strength, not just by acting on impulse. He began to quietly draw energy from the sacrificed souls with every mission, storing it inside his body.
After each hunt, he felt his power growing. His legs were no longer mere black mist; they began to form into some kind of solid black armor. His death magic also became more powerful, even allowing him to create huge bursts of energy.
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The man in black seemed unaware of his changes, perhaps due to overconfidence, or maybe because Cheng Yu's disguise was just that skillful.
Finally, during a new hunting mission, Cheng Yu decided to set his plan into motion.
As usual, the man in black activated the formation amidst the struggles and screams of the target soul. Cheng Yu stood to the side, pretending to follow orders casually while focusing all his attention on the structure of the formation. He had already identified the crucial node—the core symbol constructed from the energy of the sacrificed souls.
The formation flickered with unstable light, and the struggling souls emitted faint cries, as though resisting an unavoidable fate. Cheng Yu fixed his gaze on the core symbol, silently gathering his strength.
At the moment when the man in black was engrossed in chanting the incantation, Cheng Yu suddenly turned, seizing the opportunity to strike. A never-before-seen black blade of light formed in his hand and he swung it forcefully towards the core of the formation!
Boom——
The entire space was engulfed in blinding black light, and the ear-splitting vibration felt like thunder cracking. The souls in the formation screamed and soared toward the sky, their light and shadows intertwining like a doomsday storm, tearing apart the formation's core. The man in black was sent flying several steps back, a low growl escaping beneath his mask.
Cheng Yu coldly watched him, a faint smirk flickering in his eyes. "The rules are broken, and now it's your turn."
The man in black staggered backward, his face growing darker. His breath was chaotic, clearly affected by the intense backlash of the formation's collapse. "So you've been hiding this all this time..." he growled coldly, his eyes brimming with uncontrollable rage.
The man in black raised his hand, conjuring a pitch-black spear, and the air was thick with an oppressive pressure. "Do you think this is enough to defeat me?" His cold voice was filled with undeniable threat. "Your power is still not enough to truly kill me."
Cheng Yu's gaze did not waver. He lightly pressed his lips together and slowly stood up, his eyes revealing an unwavering coldness. "I don't need to kill you, I just need to destroy the rules."
As he spoke, he quickly gathered all his death magic, and the black blade of light in his hand once again gleamed, charging directly toward the spear the man in black had thrust toward him. Cheng Yu swiftly retreated, and the black blade collided violently with the spear, producing a sharp, ear-piercing clash. The two forces interwove and tore at each other in midair like colliding stars. The shockwave sent ripples through the space, warping the air around them. Cheng Yu could feel an overwhelming pressure as the man's frantic energy rapidly spread.
However, Cheng Yu did not choose to evade. He knew that this moment would determine his fate and the outcome of this battle. His black blade gleamed with a dark golden hue, gradually consuming the energy the man in black had unleashed. In this intense confrontation, Cheng Yu, relying on his increasingly refined death magic, began to suppress the man in black’s attacks.
The man in black's complexion grew paler, clearly taken aback by Cheng Yu’s ability to gain the upper hand in this struggle. "You really think you can turn the tables?" The man in black sneered, a wicked curve forming at the corner of his mouth. "This is just a small part of the game. You will never escape the chains of death."
"The chains of death?" A cold gleam flickered in Cheng Yu’s eyes, his voice low and firm. "I am the new rule of this game."
Cheng Yu struck fiercely, the black blade of light piercing like lightning into the source of the man in black’s spear, tearing apart the remnants of the formation. The man in black let out a scream of pain as the energy Cheng Yu had seized began to spiral out of control, causing the entire space to shake violently. The man’s body started to lose control, and dark mist began to spread from his body, swirling like a decaying storm.
However, the man in black did not fall. He snapped back to his senses, his eyes flashing with a mix of anger and surprise. With a sudden jerk of his hand, his spear trembled and flared with radiant light. Cheng Yu was struck by an overwhelming wave of retaliatory force, sending him staggering backward, struggling to keep his balance. The man in black had regained partial control; though not as fluid and confident as before, he still wielded terrifying strength.
“You think this is enough to destroy everything?” The man in black snorted coldly, and the intense energy fluctuations around him caused the space to distort, forming a massive black vortex. His voice was laced with threat. “You are far from capable of deciding the laws of death.”
Cheng Yu’s body trembled violently, sweat beading on his forehead, but he did not retreat. He knew this was not the final battle, but a crucial moment in the contest of their powers. Though the man in black had not yet perished, Cheng Yu’s gaze grew even more resolute. No matter what, this struggle was far from over.
The man in black suddenly sneered, his spear carving a blood-red arc through the air before unleashing a deafening sound, once again aimed directly at Cheng Yu’s heart. Cheng Yu barely managed to swing his black blade to intercept, and the two forces collided in a dazzling display of light. However, the clash sent violent tremors through the entire space.
“How long do you think you can hold out?” The man in black’s cold voice echoed in Cheng Yu’s ears. “The ender of the laws of death is never easily challenged.”
Cheng Yu clenched his teeth, the black and gold armor on his legs shining with an even more dazzling light. He quickly channeled the magic within him, focusing all his strength to retaliate against the man in black. Cheng Yu knew that to win this battle, he needed to employ a deeper strategy.
As the man in black's energy grew ever more powerful, Cheng Yu realized that he had to end this conflict quickly, or he would once again be consumed. Just as the man in black prepared to launch his final strike, Cheng Yu suddenly turned, unleashing a powerful blow with immense speed.
The man in black’s eyes flashed, and he swung his spear to block Cheng Yu's attack. But Cheng Yu had already anticipated this. At the moment the man in black swung his spear, Cheng Yu quickly summoned a lightning-fast wave of black energy, directing it toward a spatial rift behind the man.
“You...” The man in black was caught off guard. The energy wave struck the edge of the rift, causing the space to collapse violently. The man in black was thrown back, his black mist swirling like water, yet it was unable to fully regain control.
“I don't intend to end you,” Cheng Yu said calmly, a faint indifference in his gaze. “But today, your laws will no longer be as simple as they once were.”
The man in black struggled to his feet, his eyes flashing with anger and resentment. He took a deep breath, fixing Cheng Yu with a burning gaze. “You haven’t defeated me, Cheng Yu. This game is far from over.”
Cheng Yu smirked coldly, “No matter what, things have already changed.”
說完，他轉身朝著前方的裂痕走去，身影緩緩消失在遠方。黑衣人沒有追擊，知道他動搖不了程宇的決心。程宇的力量已經開始改變遊戲規則，現在，他才是自己命運真正的主宰者。
程宇走向了一個未知的世界，黑衣人冰冷的聲音在他身後響起：“程宇，你只是進入了一個新的遊戲，一個新的獵人，一個新的規則。”
程宇沒有回頭。他的腳步堅定而堅定，他走向了新的命運。
第2章
第二場比賽：死亡魔法
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