Nightmare Scenario One — Initiation

Clear Conditions:

Survive the attack or be the one to receive immunity.

Optional Scenario Quest: Vanquish Thy Evil

Slay the attackers to complete this quest. The High Council rewards those who take fate into their own hands greatly.

Good luck!

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[0:08]

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[0:00]

The dark orb shimmered—warbled in shape a little, as if it could sense the pulsing hearts of everyone surrounding it—and then expanded.

A man wearing a wrestler’s garb took several steady breaths. Murmurs of confusion started up around him. For a moment, nothing happened. His hands began to falter on his sword but he just gripped it tighter. The nerves wouldn’t get to him. He was no amateur. He’d won countless bouts in the ring, and to his mind, what was the world if not just a bigger ring? He was in peak condition, in the best shape of his career, and there was no challenge he couldn’t meet.

Then the weird orb-gate thingy fluctuated a little more. He gripped his sword tight enough to choke even steel as something stepped out of it.

It was a small, furry little thing. Its height hardly reached his knee and its snarl was high pitched like a childs. It stumbled clumsily as it took its first step out. The others had mixed reactions. Some circled a little closer, some took a step back, others looked to him, expectantly.

The wrestler laughed, “Ha! Come on, look at all of you losers! Scared of little fur ball now?”

His grip on his sword relaxed as he took a step forward. He towered over the thing three times over and it wasn’t even close. Who was he to be scared of it?

He raised his sword. He’d been about to kill it when he froze.

A flicker of motion had him staring into that dark abyssal gate. It stared back. They stared back. Countless of them, red little dots in pairs from the abyss. For just the briefest moment he hesitated. And that moment was enough.

The creature at his feet bared its fangs and before he could react it had already chewed his throat out.

A speck of blood landed on a nearby woman’s cheek, next to her other freckles. She touched it, its sticky warmth hardly registering as she stared in shock at the man next to her, his throat a fountain of the stuff.

She stepped back, eying the furry devil like it might take a bite out of her next. For the moment it didn’t.

It still had its teeth sunk into the hulking man who moments before had told her to stay behind him, that he'd protect her. He spasmed beneath its bite, then stilled. The thing met her eyes then, giving a scowl rimmed in blood.

Suddenly, it wasn’t alone. Dozens of its brethren exited the gate, stepping up beside it. And with a clank of metal, something much larger did too, sheathed from head to toe in dark armor.

They attacked.

Someone cursed. Someone else shoved her aside as they fled. Multiple voices rose above the others, trying to maintain order but bringing only chaos. Someone screamed. Someone died. More blood splattered her cheeks.

No, she thought, Please, not like this.

And yet, despite the field of carnage now surrounding them, that blood stained creature still met her eyes. She raised her staff to chant only for it to launch itself, interrupting her part way. Its claws dug into her sides and she screamed. It was only on pure reflex that she was able to raise her staff as it tried to bite at her neck.

She tripped and tumbled side over side on the grassy slope. The thing scratched at her cheek and blood welled up that she knew was hers this time. She had her staff wedged between its teeth as it hissed and spit saliva at her face and the wood began to crack. They tumbled some more before finally coming to a stop.

“Help!” She screamed, “Somebody help me!”

No one answered her calls. She yelped as someone stepped on her braids in the chaos. Then with just the force of her will she threw the snarling thing off of her. It was heavier than it looked. It landed with a thud a few feet away.

She didn’t let it regain its footing. She wanted nothing more than to cast her smokescreen and disappear, to somehow find her way back home, but she knew she didn’t have the time. Instead, she used her staff to strike at the thing. It wailed and she wailed on it, each blow wetting the tip of her staff more. It was no longer a thing of magic or mystique, just another tool for bludgeoning.

She’d been about to crush its skull in when a sudden force slammed into her. Scenery blurred and she tumbled like a rag-doll, limb over limb, twisting, until she came to a thudding stop at the edge of the clearing. She was on her back. She touched her chest where whatever had hit her impacted and it came away wet. Her arm fell away to rest by her side.

It was night out. When did it get so dark?

She didn’t know, but her world only grew dimmer. She looked up at the stars, shining bright in between the cloud’s gaps. Then at the treeline above her as it suddenly shimmered. For a second she swore she saw a person there, but when she looked again there wasn’t anyone.

Must be death, she thought, Here to take me with him.

Silence found space in the chaos for a second. Just long enough that if one were listening closely they might hear the ruffle of wind in the trees, of life in the bushes, and the soft scrape of boot against bark as someone shifted positions in the treeline.

The woman was listening closely.

She’d rather listen to the sounds of nature than to the man who was stammering incoherent apologies for accidentally shooting her with a magic missile. She’d rather hear the breeze than his choked screams for help as something killed him. And because she was listening so intently, the world unveiled its deception to her.

There was a man there after all, up in the trees. He was tall and skinny, with cold and dispassionate eyes. She saw him acknowledge her, then he put his finger to his lips in a shushing motion and ducked further back into the forest.

The man needn’t have bothered. She didn’t have the life in her to even shout. And within seconds, she was dead.

Alex had watched it happen.

He’d watched from a fresh perch, crouched on a thick branch in the treetops as the woman drew her last breath. He quickly fed more mana into his [Stealth] skill until the nearby creatures scrambled off, drawn by other prey no doubt. Then he returned his attention towards the center of the field.

Hell had broken loose on that grass. It’d been maybe a minute, two at most, and they were already down to only nineteen people, including himself in the count. Corpses littered the mayhem and no one had time to pay them heed as they scrambled to raise steel and shoddy spellwork in defense.

Eighteen now, he thought as an old man got his eyes clawed out by a gang of rabid chimks—the unholy things.

There were of course a handful of those that had chosen to run into the forest, but he’d put it to only half of them still being alive given what had run after them.

Chimiks were small, terrible creatures. They had a grangly look to them, like a rabid albino oppossum crossed with a goblin, but they were child sized and generally considered weak.

For years Alex’s ungodly fear of them was something he had trouble explaining to others, but just one look at the carnage was enough to quell any shame. He remembered being down there, amongst the others, tripping and stumbling over corpses, ducking and weaving the flying death rats.

He counted them now. Thirty-seven Chimiks and an Armored Knight. Not an impossible threat to beat if they all banded together, but he supposed that was the irony of the task.

Still, those that stood remaining were actually doing surprisingly well for themselves. Around the minute mark a remarkable young woman, maybe the one he’d seen arguing earlier, had started shouting orders to the others and they actually listened. She had that sort of aura to her, he noticed. The kind of person people naturally find themselves gravitating to.

Eventually others just found themselves wrapped in the flow and they’d formed a sort of deadlock formation. A shoddy one, but impressive for an amateur. Whenever one of the chimiks tried to latch onto one of them, the others would swarm in to kill it, usually allowing the victim to retreat—grievously wounded, but still breathing.

Alex knew it wouldn’t hold though. And from the way the Chimiks began to step back, he knew they knew it too.

Intriguingly, the armored knight hadn’t moved from its spot this entire time. It had simply stood near the back with a few other Chimiks, next to where the gate had closed. Now, however, the wave of Chimiks made space for it and it stepped up to the front of the wave. It crouched down in there, positioned like a sprinter before a race.

Those at the front of the formation cowered as it launched forward. The resulting slaughter made Alex feel sick.

He’d seen a lot of slaughters over the years, been a part of many more—on both sides of the exchange—and they always made him sick.

That dark broil in your stomach when you’re marching on innards that ought to still be inside a person and appendages that should still be attached, it never went away. You could get used to it sure, you could even welcome it if you’re fucked enough in the head, but no matter how many times you’ve seen it it doesn’t leave you.

His fingernails ground into his palm.

A slaughter was one thing, but to witness a slaughter he should’ve been easily able to prevent made him feel so powerless. It was infuriating.

Still, this was what he’d been waiting for. He’d known this would happen.

They would’ve died either way, he told himself, every single one of them. No matter what you’d done.

And it was true. The people he’d teleported in with were different from how he remembered, but the scenario was exactly the same. He could say with certainty that banding together under him would’ve been their only odds for survival and the chance of that happening had been shot from the get-go. If he'd been only one strong personality in the group there might've been a chance but any more than that would've just caused a divide amongst them, which was exactly what had just happened.

No, he’d already thought it over from all angles, this was the only way. If Alex wanted to get any cooperation at all out of the survivors he needed them to understand what they were up against first. He needed them to see what he saw. Needed them to come to fear it. And above all, he needed those who had been playing it safe up till now to show him their damn skills. Only when he knew what he had on hand could he decide how to go about this.

And so he watched the unfolding slaughter intently.

Those at the front were the first to get away. They had a better view of the battlefield, a better gauge for how close danger really was, and so they’d abandoned post before the knight had made it three steps.

Those right behind them weren’t so lucky.

Someone cast a level-1 shield skill as if expecting it would do a single thing against the charging behemoth but it shouldered through it effortlessly, spearing the man on its shoulder-spikes. Vines erupted from the ground, wrapping around its legs which were a little more effective but it didn’t stop it from sweeping its blade out to decapitate two bystanders.

The [summon vines] skill…

He looked around to see if he could spot the caster, and he did. Just in time to see him mauled by a chimik. He moved on.

[Sword Swing]

[Retreat]

[Enchant]

[Minor Regeneration]

He saw a lot of skills in the frenzied of chaos. All of them were useless for his current needs and Alex had been just about to give up on his search when something caught his eye. A blinding flash in the corner of his vision, aptly belonging to a skill named [Blinding Flash]. It wasn’t exactly what he'd been looking for but it would do. Nevermind that its caster let it off in the wrong direction, accidentally blinding the woman who’d been barking orders as well. She stumbled, losing her footing and the metal knight swung its sword, cleaving her in half.

Everyone scattered like ants after that, all those that had clung to safety in numbers splitting off into the forest. Alex understood. Something about watching a natural-born leader just kick it like that did that to a person. Made them realize it could happen to them too.

He grunted. I think I’ve seen enough here.

Alex noted which direction the caster ran off to then climbed down from the tree. He would reactivate his stealth soon and head there but he had a needling suspicion in his brain, something he needed to check on first. He walked up to the chimik he’d seen the mage woman club to death moments before, knelt down, and came away with some of its green blood on his fingertips.

He watched as it dissipated into coarse ash before him. It was like he thought.

Well, that makes things a lot more simpler.

If not a whole lot more pleasant. He grimaced, trying not to let that anger boil up again. A plan was starting to come together, and there was little other choice than to follow it through.

It was right when he had that thought that a distant [Howl] echoed over the treelines. Alex frowned. There was something different about this one, not the typical use of the skill. It almost felt like it had nuance to it.

He tapped his lip in thought for a second then entered [Stealth], noting the direction it had come from for later.

He set out into the night.

***

Alex plunged his dagger in the small creature’s jugular—then immediately flinched back in pain. The creature’s sharp, grimy claws scraped to his bones in its death throes—its green blood mixing with his red.

Ah fuck–he twisted his knife in its neck, kicking its limp corpse loose from its blade.

A level 3 Chimik has been slain!

+30 Essence Crystals

Goddamn Chimiks. every single time. He stared at it where it lay, with those disgusting, beady little eyes, determination filled to destroy every single thing–

“Who–who are you?”

Oh, right.

Alex dropped his shroud of stealth, shifting his wounded arm behind his back. He knew it should’ve been an immediate kill on a normal chimik, but still… careless. He kept the pain from his voice when he addressed the asian man sprawled on the forest ground, “Nice skill you got there. Shame you’re using it all wrong though.”

“Huh?”

“Your skill,” he repeated, “Saw you using it earlier. What do you say we help each other out?”

Truthfully, he'd seen a lot more than just his skill. After he'd talked to the woman with the [Blinding Flash] skill he'd been trailing him for a few seconds to try and see what kind of man he was, to ensure his personality wouldn't be too hostile after what he'd experienced. He'd seen the way he looked as those who had fallen, how he almost seemed to want to stop for a second to help. He was sure he could work with that.

“You–you mean to survive?”

Alex sighed. Survive this, survive that, frankly he was tired of just surviving.

"No, I plan to win."

“Win?!” the man in front of him stammered, “You saw that thing. How do you intend to—mmph!”

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Alex covered the man’s mouth, “Listen, I just saved your life. And I’m your only shot at living. So put it in my hands now and do what I say.”

"Mmmrf!"

Alex removed his hand.

“We need to run–”

“No. I’ve scouted the area. [Howl]—that’s your skill right?” The man’s eyes went wide, “Tell me, what you were thinking when you used it.”

He extended his good arm, helping the man to his feet. He looked to be in his late twenties and had bangs that parted evenly around a slight baby face, but also a surprisingly solid build for his lean frame. Thankfully so, as it had bought him the time Alex needed to talk to him. He met the man’s eyes for the first time and saw the fear in them, that fear he’d needed them to have… but also recognition? Of his authority? The man scanned his surroundings. Then calmed—if just slightly.

Not good.

The shortened spiel wouldn’t do it with this one. He’d co-operate, he’d entrust his life with Alex, but not out of just fear. He was more composed than the others—quicker to calm—he would have to be convinced and that took time. Unfortunately he was also the only one Alex actually needed. The woman with [Blinding flash] would do as a contingency but his plan had evolved once he’d heard that [Howl]. This was by far more ideal.

“What was I thinking? I…I was just thinking that I had to stun the–”

“No,” Alex snapped, “I mean what did it feel like.”

“Feel like…?” The man trailed off as a scream sounded over the forest canopy, “Wait–how much time do we have exactly?”

“I scouted the area. A minute and some.”

Less actually, Alex amended mentally.

He narrowed his eyes on the man. [Howl] at its most basic was a crowd control skill used to stun monsters—but from the glimpse he’d heard earlier, the man’s use of it almost appeared to have to dug deeper than that, or at least it had gone on for far longer than someone at his level should be capable of. It suggested that he might an exceptionally high arcane stat, or maybe something else entirely. Then perhaps it was better that he was sharp. If Alex was wrong and he was a talentless schmuck then he might have to scrap the plan entirely.

Everything rode on his next words.

And strangely, the man seemed to still have enough composure to give thought to his answer, “I think—it felt like I could feel the skill—kind of. Like there was an underlying–”

“Force that that you felt you could shape?”

“Yes! exactly.”

Oh thank god. Alex almost felt like he could collapse from relief. Or maybe he just felt like collapsing in general. His body wasn’t made for all this leg work.

His bones were still weak and he’d been pushing his flesh to the limit running all across the forest. But he couldn’t let a single hint of his fatigue show. These people needed someone to look to, someone who was a veteran where they found themselves lost and afraid. He couldn’t show weakness.

But his timer had already sounded. Not with another scream—but with an uncomfortable stretch of silence. He clenched his teeth.

Thirty seconds. That was all he could afford.

“Now listen carefully, we’re out of time.”

Alex snapped his fingers as the man had been about to panic, “Listen, your understanding of the skill itself is fundamentally wrong–”

“No! What the hell am I doing? ‘Win’?! I should be–”

He slapped Alex’s hand away—but he still found purchase around his collar, “No, you listen to me! It wants you to—fuck–stop–”

He’d managed to push Alex off. So… so easily. He turned to run.

“It didn't have a time limit!” Alex shouted, “The clear condition!”

The man stopped at that and Alex barely managed to hide his heaving, “There was no time limit, it just said ‘survive’. And what if I told you winning was the only way to. What then?!”

Alex could see the cogs turning within the guy, “Then I’d–”

“And it is. Winning. It’s possible. I’ve gathered a group, seven of us--”

“Wait–I don’t have a swor–”

“There’s a wieldable one 30 yards give or take over in that–

“Whose–”

“It doesn’t matter anymore!”

Alex bit back his anger. He was directing it at the wrong person, “In any case, I don’t think he’ll be needing it anymore. Now look, we’ve lagged here long enough that you don’t stand much chance running—and unless you thought you could go all night it was a bad idea anyways. So here's how it is: The monsters have all left in pursuit of us so the clearing is empty now. That means we can be prepared this time. We know our enemy, we can share our skills—discuss our strategy. We convene at the Northern side in one minute—and this time it’ll be different. You’ll have me to guard your back.”

Alex said that last part with conviction. The kind you find yourself naturally projecting after a decade on the battlefield. And as he said it, he felt a glimpse of attention lock onto his soul. Multiples of them.

The young man squared his shoulders. For the first time in their encounter seemed to address him with respect, “Just one question. When I was with the Arbiter, it said something strange. It talked about those who’d been trained for the tutorial, was it–”

“talking about me?” Alex finished for him. “We’re out of time. If we both survive this I’ll tell what that’s about.”

Alex saw reassurance settle into the man’s shoulders. He was surprised he remembered a small detail like that, but he could use that to his advantage. He’d let him believe that for now, let it remove his doubt.

“Alright,” he said, “I can’t teach you about your skill right here like I intended, but I’ll leave you with this: Skills are more flexible than you think. You think it’s a push, but you’re wrong. It’s a pull.”

It was a disgustingly simplified explanation but it would have to do. There were snarling and primal howls now, not far from where they were. They were closing in fast.

The man reeled. “Wait, you’re not coming?!”

“I need to lead these creatures off your trail first—remember, we reconvene on the north side. North is in that–”

“I know where North is!” the man snapped. He hesitated, briefly, then disappeared into the night.

As soon as Alex was sure he was alone, he quickly knelt down to examine the Chimik’s body.

Chimik? No… that’s not quite right is it?

These things always seemed so obvious in hindsight. He watched as this green blood as well dissipated into dark ash. It was a good thing the night was so dark out, he’d have a hard time explaining it otherwise. He felt a sense of tension leave him as he confirmed his hunch twice over, he was one-hundred percent sure now. And by the time he’d drawn his next breath, he was already cloaked in a shroud of stealth.

No sooner than that did one of the creatures launch itself out of a bush after him. But Alex had already fled into the night. Or into its shadow—the night within the night, that’s how it felt to run in the realm of [Stealth]. It didn't perfectly erase him from those that already had their senses locked in on him at the novice rank, but it did make him much harder to percieve. Choosing it was how he'd managed to survive in his first life, up till he ran out of mana at least. He'd have to be careful how he managed that now. One minute sure didn't sound like much, but evading such a high number of gazes was the kind of thing that could tire a skill out real quick.

His dangersense didn't give him an exact count of his pursuers but they weren't exactly subtle or quiet hunters either and he reckoned he had almost a dozen. With his proficiency at only level 1 he wouldn’t be losing them very easily.

For the better probably.

He had to buy the other man enough time on his end of things anyways. But it still put his body on fire—his lungs burning from years of bad-habit smoking. He had to hope the abbreviated explanation he gave the man would be enough—

No. It will be. It was just a gut feeling, but after seeing him up close Alex’s instinct was telling him he'd been correct. In fact, he had the feeling that he might in fact be more than just a little talented.

It was a realization that only left him with more guilt.

***

Jun rushed through the forest, a new sword in his hand. It was thinner and less unwieldy than the greatsword and he admonished himself for letting his childhood fantasies influence his decision making for even an instant. He worked out still, afternoon on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays, but that thing had been something else, unnaturally heavy. He’d had to drop it when he’d fled initially.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but his eyes still hadn’t adjusted to the dark. He barely dodged a log that came up to his shin.

Not a log, he realized, but he didn’t let that terrorize him into stopping. There was still a part of him screaming that he was making the wrong decision, that he should stop, turn around, and bolt the other direction. But that instinct had been going off the entire time he’d been here. It couldn’t be trusted.

Neither can that man, it told him.

Everything he’d said was sound and it was clear that he knew more than him… but that was just the thing. Jun didn’t have the full picture. For once he didn’t have all the information he needed to make the correct choice. Nor the time. But even so, he knew one thing the man said was the truth. He'd known it instinctively, the second he’d said it.

“Pull not push.”

When he’d used [Howl] before, it’d been like he was forcing his will onto others. But instead he should be letting his enemies be subjected to his will. He could just tell that it would work. And if it would mean he could survive this...

Wait, 'survive the attack'? Wasn't there another clear condition as well? What even is Immunity?

He huffed, his legs starting to tire. How long had it been since it all started? Was this actually happening? He’d been on a plane about to land in Seattle less than half an hour ago! Was this happening to everyone else back home as well? To his friends and family?!

Jun could feel his heart cutting through his chest with its beats. The odd scream or yell started coming less and less, so when he spotted the forest’s end he pushed himself faster. And as he broke through, it dawned on him that he had relinquished control of his own destiny.

He slowed to a walk as he exited the bushes, catching his breath. As the man said, there didn’t appear to be any enemies. But he waited anyway… until he saw another person walk out first from a bush nearby. the young woman eyed him warily.

Just one?

Wait.

Wasn’t there supposed to be seven of them? And the man wasn’t here either! Had the others died on their way? Or were they still coming??

Or…had he been…

The other woman who had gathered came up to him now, her expression more terrified than his. He found mutual recognition in her eyes, “Did you also find that man…?”

Jun gave a terse nod.

“Do-do you think we’ve been…”

Lied to, Jun finished the thought.

Red eyes swiveled their way. Five pairs. The moon only now started to peek through the clouds and he could almost see the metal sheen of the knight there as well. The clearing wasn’t empty at all, they’d just been too blind to notice.

The woman wailed, cradling her head. Her hands started to light up in a blinding flash, recklessly aimed.

Jun’s breath caught--“Wai-wait! Look, only four of them are coming! The knight! The knight’s staying! We can take them!”

Could they though? They were small but rabid. And were steadily approaching—Sense the force underneath the skill. Don’t think of it as a push, think of it as a pull!

Determined, he let an ear curdling scream out from his maw, loud enough to reach all the enemies in sight. They froze.

It…it had worked.

Then suddenly the air shifted and the monsters unfroze. Unfroze—and started a rabid sprint dashing directly towards him.

The Metal Knight too—Fuc–!

His system pinged.

Congratulations, you’ve learned the skill [Taunt]!

***

The [Taunt] had been much more powerful than Alex had expected.

He hadn’t been close enough to see the battle start, but it'd sounded more like an ear-piercing scream of desperation than a proper roar, like nails on the dusty chalkboard that was his shriveled heart—he cut the thought off.

You don’t want to be weak? This is how you do it.

He sprang from his position. He couldn’t get as close as he’d liked without the cover of trees, but it was close enough. He used a large burst of mana in that instant, making his [Stealth] as flawless as it could get as he closed in.

The night was fully moonlit now, as it was in his memories. The grass was a darker shade of green and the wind whistled through the trees around them. He could smell it now, the smell of rot. And as he neared, the tangy smell of a musky Chimik.

There was only one of them, snout twisting in bafflement as the knight left its side, eyes a brighter shade of red than the others. Even distracted—fighting off the taunt—its eyes still swiveled Alex’s way.

“Too late.”

He plunged a dagger into its heart. Warmth left its eyes and its limbs simply sagged when he twisted the knife for good luck. Its corpse didn’t dissipate, it just sat there, green blood seeping from its wound. He heard the distant clatter of the armor losing its magic and collapsing. He didn’t pay it further attention.

Congratulations! You Have defeated a Level 9 Necromantic Chimik!

[+500 Essence Crystals]

Congratulations huh.

Alex didn’t feel congratulated, he felt sick. But it didn’t stop him from plunging his knife into the thing's corpse and digging out its shimmering core.

Identify.

[Chimik Core - (Unranked, Common)]

The core of a Chimik with Death Aura. Can be used as crafting material.

Unranked, but it had a surprising amount of energy to it. Not to mention the lingering aura of death—the core would go a long way for him this early. And now that he had a better look… all of the items it dropped were shockingly good for the thing’s level. It was clear the tutorial heavily rewarded beating the initiation. His hand paused slightly, then unfroze in haste as he went through the necromancer’s belongings.

[Skill Stone (Unranked, Common)]

Break for a small chance to gain one its owner's skills.

[Twin Earrings (Unranked, Common)]

Earrings forged from mana crystals. Slightly increases base mana regen.

[Bone-Shard Necklace (F rank, Common)]

Necklace formed from the bone shards of a Necromancer Chimik. Slightly increases Arcane.

Wolf-fang Bracelet (F rank, Common)]

Bracelets made of Wolf fang. Increases the wielder’s stealth abilities and backstab damage.

Alex felt a bitter emotion reading the description of the last one. He’d been about to pocket the belongings when his ears picked up a rustle of footsteps in the grass, and he put the wolf-fang bracelet over his wrist. He knew what he had to do, but that didn’t mean he would enjoy doing it. You can have all the riches and items in the world, but a knife in the back was still a knife in the back and more often then not it poisoned the wielder as well.

Regardless, he rose cautiously, tucking the core into his pocket. An asian man stood ten paces away, blood caking his temple, a limp in his leg, ash dissipating off his clothes, only him.

“You survived then,” Alex said, holding his knife subtly at the ready. He hadn’t heard a second roar after the [taunt] so the man undoubtedly had more mana reserves than him. He prepared for the worst as he approached.

“Your advice,” the man answered the unasked question, “it came in handy.”

There was a certain off-kilter energy to the man. Alex had noticed it earlier as well, but it was all the more apparent now. His stance was composed but menacing, his eyes were lightly bloodied and ravenous but still had an awareness to them.

“Military?” Alex asked.

“No.”

Alex looked into the man’s eyes. There was anger there, smoldering, but something else as well. Surprisingly, it was that ‘something else’ that Alex felt was burning holes in him. He gnawed the inside of his cheek and left the knife in his belt loop as he walked past him.

It won’t come to that.

Then the man gripped Alex by his arm. His grip was surprisingly strong for someone barely on his feet and when they locked eyes once again, hurt and anger gave the man’s voice a deep, shaky rasp, “When you… ask someone to trust you with their life… you need to trust yours with them too… The other… she’d trusted you with her life… just like me… and now she’s…”

The man stopped there. No more needed to be said.

“I did what I had to. And as promised, it helped you survive,” Alex said, breaking his hand free, “The rest is yours. I took the first loot but it’s an even split.”

The man didn’t look away.

“Jun,” he spat.

“Alex.”

Walking off, Alex was the first to break eye contact. He couldn’t be there with that man. His words had felt hollow even as he said them and now he could feel his face twisting into something unsightly. It wasn’t something he had any right to show him.

They would’ve all died anyway, he reminded himself. It felt like a pitiful deflection now.

Irritation boiled up. ‘Something else’ he’d called it.

How vague.

The quality he’d seen in the man—what had made him trust him—it had a name. It was called humanity.

Stopping, Alex looked out into the moonlit night. He remembered this night better than some friends’ deaths. The way his sword trailed dirt, too heavy for his scrawny arm. The red blood that followed gravity down its tip. The way his stomach lurched, empty gags and dry heaving, his mana pool bottomed out. The terror of those who'd served to slow down his pursuers had echoed in his mind for years after. He remembered his body’s silent scream—and how the rest of him couldn’t muster even the faintest cry.

There’d been no other choice. No other way to outlast the others without mana for [stealth]. He'd deliberated for so long on what those clear conditions meant, it provided no other instructions for gaining immunity other than 'be the one to receive it'.

He remembered what he’d been feeling that night, when the System congratulated what he’d done: Twisted relief.

"Congratulations! As the last survivor, you have received Immunity"

The sound of footsteps snapped him out of his memories.

There was another person, entering the clearing from the trees. She stared back, bewilderment written all over her. It was the small woman he’d seen earlier, before the attack had even begun, the last person to teleport in. She’d been the farthest from the portal, the first to run, the most terrified.

But still, how did she…

Alex trailed off as he saw her dagger, limp in her right arm, blood gravitating to its tip.

Red blood.

The woman stepped out of the shadows. Her eyes were wide and shell-shocked, confused at his and Jun’s presence. Her shape was scrawny, her walk teetered like she was about to pass out… by all means she looked weak.

And Alex could tell he looked the same.

She hid the dagger’s tip behind her back, “How…how–”

“We killed it,” he said.

Her expression twisted into pure anguish and he, better than anyone else, understood what those words did to her.

There’d been a choice this time. He could’ve just walked away, let it all happen like it was supposed to. But he’d made his choice—and he’d make the same one again—but all the dress up in the world wouldn’t change what It was. It was true, the woman would've died no matter what he'd done, whether he'd used her or not. But half-hearted excuses over the matter only spoke to having a weak will.

There could be no excuses for the things he'd done this night.

Congratulations Alex Smith! Scenario 1 has been cleared!

Remaining Players: 246,753