Somewhere deep inside a dense forest filled with the gentle moonlight and stars of the night sky, a man wearing tattered bloodied leather tunic sat down gazing at the night sky while eating a bunch of beef jerky and leaning against a big tree tiredly.

"Sigh.. it's still felt like shit after killing another human being, I can't ever get used to it." Sam said while chewing a beef jerky.

As Sam took a break after nearly two hours of delving deeper into the forest, he found himself reflecting on the day's actions. Despite the necessity of survival in a kill or be killed scenario, he couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that settled over him. The adrenaline had waned, leaving him alone with his thoughts and the stark reality of his actions.

The forest, once an arena of fierce battles and desperate chases, now seemed eerily quiet. The stillness gave him a chance to process the events, and the weight of his actions began to press heavily on his conscience. Killing another human being, no matter how justified by the circumstances, was not something he could take lightly. Outwardly, he might have appeared unbothered, a cold and efficient killer, but inside, he was a maelstrom of conflicting emotions.

He was acutely aware of the fear that had gripped him throughout each encounter. Fear of dying, certainly, but also a deeper, more insidious fear, the fear of becoming desensitized to the act of taking a life. Each time he ended a life, a part of him recoiled, grappling with the moral and psychological implications. He worried about the long-term effects on his psyche. Would he lose a part of his humanity in exchange for survival and power?

Despite his circumstances and the harsh reality of his situation, Sam didn't want to become a monster, devoid of empathy and remorse. He was determined to hold onto his humanity, even if it meant confronting the unpleasant truths about himself. He understood that the path to power was fraught with moral peril, and he was wary of the toll it could take on his soul.

Sam had always strived to be the best version of himself, even if that version was far from perfect. He wasn't a paragon of virtue, but he aimed to improve, to be better than he was yesterday. This commitment to self improvement was what kept him grounded, a small beacon of hope in the chaotic world he inhabited. Striving for a better version of himself, however flawed, gave him a sense of purpose and a reason to keep fighting.

As he sat there, the forest silent around him, Sam resolved to remember this moment of introspection. He would continue to fight and grow stronger, but he would also remain vigilant against losing his humanity. In a world where survival often demanded brutality, he would strive to remain human, to hold onto the values that made him who he was. And perhaps, in doing so, he could navigate the fine line between power and compassion, emerging not only stronger but also wiser and more resilient.

"No matter the challenge and trial we will come across in the future, be true to yourself and don't you even dare to lose yourself no matter the reason is, me. We've still got a long way to go." Sam muttered to himself, still gazing into the beautiful night sky covered with countless stars.

With his mood already getting better, Sam smiled and decided to go through his system notifications. And man, there's a lot of them notifications waiting for him.

*You have slain [Human / Shadow Assassin - lvl 11 - bonus experience earned for killing or an enemy above your level. 1,296 SP earned*

*You have slain [Human / Night Hunter - lvl 12 - bonus experience earned for killing or an enemy above your level. 1,401 SP earned*

*DING!* CLASS: [Rebellion Soldier] has reached level 11 - Stat points allocated, +2 Free points*

*You have slain [Human / Night Hunter - lvl 12 - bonus experience earned for killing or an enemy above your level. 1,390 SP earned*

*You have slain [Human / Night Hunter - lvl 12 - bonus experience earned for killing or an enemy above your level. 1,387 SP earned*

*You have slain [Human / Night Hunter - lvl 13 - bonus experience earned for killing or an enemy above your level. 1,474 SP earned*

*DING!* CLASS: [Rebellion Soldier] has reached level 12 - Stat points allocated, +2 Free points*

*You have slain [Human / Shadow Assassin - lvl 12 - experience earned. 1,315 SP earned*

*You have slain [Human / Shadow Assassin - lvl 12 - experience earned. 1,362 SP earned*

*You have slain [Human / Rune Assassin - lvl 15 - bonus experience earned for killing or an enemy above your level. 1,867 SP earned*

*DING!* CLASS: [Rebellion Soldier] has reached level 13 - Stat points allocated, +2 Free points*

The gains from the battle were good especially the experience, but there's something else that piqued Sam interest and it's his enemies SP.

"Goddamn, where the fuck did they get so much SP?!" Sam said, flabbergasted.

Stolen story; please report.

Sure their high level made sense for their ridiculous high SP but in term of hardworking, Sam is damn confident he didn't fell short on collecting SP. Even with his hard work, he didn't manage to reached or come close past a thousand SP! The only reason he got over a thousand SP right now before he met the heavens gate group is through killing five peoples.

'Wait a minute, killing?' Suddenly something seemed to clicked inside his head.

If it's what exactly what Sam thought, then this whole situation is way beyond fucked. There's only one of two reasons they managed to get so much SP, it's either they killing beasts like there's no tomorrow or they killed another survivors.

There's a reason why Sam considered the whole situation to be beyond fucked. First, if they went with the whole killing beasts without any second thoughts, then G'rath awakening will possibly happened before the tutorial ended. Secondly, it meant that their group is filled with a bunch of hostile cold blooded killer who's more than willing to kill any survivors that didn't joined their group.

"Fucking hell! Didn't they read the objective given by the system?! How hard is it to follow the objective to survive and kill only when necessary?!" Sam grumble angrily.

Well, even if it's infuriating it proves that human greed will never change no matter where and what time they're in. Shaking his head, Sam decided to not think about it anymore as he didn't want to get a headache thinking about something he can't control anyway. Instead, he decided to open his personal status window.

Status

Name: Sam Carlson

Race: Human

Class: Rebellion Soldier Lvl 13

Profession: N/A

Health Points (HP): 570/570

Mana Points (MP): 630/630

Stats

Strength: 33

Agility: 33

Endurance: 57

Intelligence: 30

Wisdom: 33

Sense: 34

Willpower: 42

Free points: 9

Titles

N/A

Looking at his stats, Sam would be lying if he said he's not surprised. His stats after evolving his class really made a huge difference, especially his high endurance stats. His second highest stats is Will and perhaps will be the highest stats he will possessed in the future, he didn't put a single free points into this but boy the +4 every level up is not something he could simply call impressive, because it's really underselling on how good it actually is. After he's done checking his personal status, he decided to check the tutorial window.

[Tutorial Panel]

Duration 24 days & 18:24:13

Tutorial Type: Survival

Completion Criteria: Survive the duration of the tutorial

Tutorial information: The Evernight World is filled with danger and opportunities for the fledgling. Beasts are roaming around hunting for prey. Kill the beasts to acquire Survival points (SP) while gaining strength. Be warned, excessive killing or destruction will alert the sleeping G'rath...

Survival points (SP): Killing a beasts will gives you SP but if you're in a group the SP will be split equally amongst the contributors.

Final rewards is based on SP and the Number of Survivors

Total survivors remaining: 354/500

SP Collected: 13,388

May the twilight blessing be with you survivor, good night and good luck.

'The amount of people who's died is approaching the 150 mark. What the hell are they doing out there?' Sam thought with a frown on his face.

With the increasing survivors death, Sam was a little bit concerned. if it keeps going at the same rate without stopping, then there's not going to be much survivors left until the mark of day 10 comes.

"Sigh..." Sam sighing out loud with a really tired tone.

Sam decided to looked at the beautiful night sky for one last time. After gazing at the sky for a few moments, he closed his eyes and begin to fell asleep.

~~~

Somewhere far away from Sam's location, in a certain part of the dense forest, chaos was about to erupt.

A man, bloodied and staggering, stumbled into a clearing teeming with survivors. The bustling crowd fell silent as he caught their attention, their faces reflecting a mix of shock and curiosity.

Emanuel, the leader of Heaven's Gate, noticed the commotion. He didn't know who he was but if he remembers correctly, the man should be a part of the Night Crawler team. After getting a closer look at the bloodied man, he frowned as he saw the look of fear present on the face of the man.

'What the hell happened to him?' Emanuel wondered, narrowing his eyes.

He knelt down in front of the man, locking his eyes with him. Before the man could speak, Emanuel demanded answers.

"What happened to your team? Where is Yu?"

"T-they are d-dead.. a-all dead s-sir.." The man stammered, his voice trembling.

Emanuel upon hearing what the man had said immediately burst in anger.

"What?! What happened? Did you encountered a high level monster? And why the fuck are you the only one returning!?"

The bloodied man was currently on the brink of collapse. He knew that the moment their leader entered his anger state it's already over for him, all of the Heaven's Gate members knew about how temperamental their boss is and once he's angry there would be dead body that followed in his wake. Determined not to die unjustly under the man hands, the man gritted his teeth and begin to explained what had happened to their team in details.

"I didn't know why he spared me, but it's likely that he wanted me to deliver his message sir. He told me that he didn't meant to kill our entire team, and he told me to not send an assassination team toward him because once you did that he will come to this place to kill our entire group one by one."

"THE AUDACITY OF THAT BASTARD!!" Emanuel roared in fury, his voice echoing through the air as he stomped the ground, creating a bunch of cracks.

"HE KILLED MY ELITE TEAM, THE ONE I PERSONALLY NURTURED, AND HE DARES TO THREATENED ME?? ME?!"

"With all due r-respect sir, p-please don't chase after him." The man pleaded, his voice quivering with hesitation.

Emanuel's eyes flared with rage. He grabbed the man by the collar and lifted him off the ground.

"What the fuck did you just say? COME ON SAY IT AGAIN!!" Emanuel bellowed, while looking the man dead in the eyes.

"L-Leader... He's someone with a unique rogue class, we can't possibly stand against him. H-he.. is a monster who didn't die even after being stabbed in the neck. Please, leader, think it over!" The man gasped, struggling for air.

Normally, Emanuel would have killed the man in front of him on the spot, but the man's determined yet fearful eyes conveyed truth. The threat was real.

Emanuel released his grip on the man collar, dropping the bloodied man into the ground. Without another word, he stormed out of the camp, heading to his private quarters. There, he activated a blue holographic screen and began typing.

*New potential danger has been added. [The Meat Dealer]*

'You better not let me catch you, Meat Dealer. The moment i did i will make you beg me to kill you' Emanuel Thought with a glint of fury burning in his eyes.