[You have been transported to the novel "Survivor's Pledge"]
[Initiating the system]
[The role "Extra 001" has been assigned]
[No skill has been found]
A sprawling wasteland greeted the sight of more than a hundred newborn.
Infectious wastes littered throughout, providing a provisional crib for the newborn. The metallic smell of blood from their uncut umbilical cords wafted through the air, meeting the pungent blend of rot and mildew that clung to the back of the throat.
In just seconds, several babies suffocate to death.
Struggles became evident as incessant vagitus filled the top of the barren hill the newborns were at. Flies and mosquitoes buzzed with blast, watching their stomach bloat yet with several newborn babies waiting to be feasted on.
However, this was not the same for everyone.
With back resting atop wastes, a newborn awoke from his slumber. The shrill of the babies around him pulled him to his senses.
'Where am I? What is up with these babies crying?', the newborn racked his mind.
To his surprise, he couldn't utter a single word. He then tried moving his body but to no avail, major movements were proven to be difficult.
'I can only move my body or rather drag it. More than that would consume my energy and make me tardy. Indeed, I have turned into a baby', the man succumbed to his new reality.
He was immersed in his daily routine just moments ago and then with a hum of an unfamiliar energy, his head throbbing and the next moment he could recall was the shrill of the newborn around him.
'But before all that, what is this? System?', resting his worned-out body, his eyes drifted to the translucent screen floating before him.
[You have been transported to the novel "Survivor's Pledge"]
[Initiating the system]
[The role "Extra 001" has been assigned]
[No skill has been found]
'Survivor's Pledge? That sounds familiar", he felt familiar with the novel's title.
Racking through his brain, he found it hard to figure out the source of familiarity.
Rubbing it off, he squirmed his little body some more and with little energy, he managed to lay with his belly kissing the polluted wastes before him.
'It hurts!', he wailed as his umbilical cord caught into a broken glass, hindering further movement.
'I guess this is as far as I can move', he pondered as his eyes then scanned the area around him.
Desolate sprawled the area. Pungent smell was oppressive in the air, ending the incessant shrills of babies around him.
Looking ahead, he caught sight of several babies struggling as their cords got stuck into something or as mosquitoes feasted on their helpless state.
'It seems that we are all newborn here.', he thought, indifferent with their deaths.
'So this is what being a newborn is like. My sight is not as vivid as adults'
As a newborn, he perceived nothing but high-contrast colors. To him, the world was in either black, white, or shades of gray.
After scanning the area, he realized several things. They were at the top of a hill no better than a wasteland.
Atop his head, there was a translucent screen with text on it.
[Extra 001]
It was his name apparently.
There were around 150 newborn around them with a few being able to fend for themselves like him whilst no more than 50 were plagued by mosquitoes to death.
Among those who had survived, an unexplainable event happened.
'Did he just run?'
A newborn identical to himself, with still umbilical cord draped his navel, began running. With just a few attempts of tripping and falling over, he had successfully regained full control of his body and ran.
Atop his head, a translucent screen settled.
[Banuar Calinga]
Looking at his name, Extra 001 felt yet another familiarity with the name. It stings to his mind, screaming of a painful experience from him.
'Survivor's Pledge… Banuar Calinga where have I seen them?'
Ransacking through his mind, he finally figured out the source of this familiarity.
'Survivor's Pledge! Yeah, it was the Survivor's Pledge I've read before', he recalled
The novel went on hiatus several years ago and has never been continued. He recalled being a kid when it ended so he barely called its contents.
'Banuar Morningstar is the main character of the novel'
He just knew that it ended with 6 volumes and the copies mysteriously disappeared a month after it went on hiatus. Several readers protested on the site in rage as they had spent coins to support it only for it to disappear without notice.
As expected, the site disappeared as well.
'It remained a mystery till now.', he though
'Nonetheless, does it mean I have transmigrated inside the novel?... then this is the prologue, damn?!'
He could only curse inwardly for one reason - in the prologue titled "The First Culling", only 10 newborns had survived.
And scanning around, he had found the exact number of newborns hanging around Banuar.
Their names seemingly shining atop their heads.
[Dos Calinga]
[Sadiri Calinga]
[Homobono Calinga]
[Isagani Calinga]
…
..
They were the 10 survivors of the prologue.
'How do I live here?', extra 001 raced his mind
Prompting his mind to think further, the system harassed them with succeeding notifications.
[Now Commencing]
[Scenario 1: The First Culling.
Mission: Race to the foot of the hill
Characters: Banuar Calingan, Dos, Sadiri…. and 90 other extras
Survivors: 10]
'Same as I remember, they will be the only survivors of this prologue.'
A translucent sheet of towering heights then began covering around the hill as the scenario commenced.
'Basically, the prologue is about reaching the foot of the bronze-level threat hill. They are all babies and only these 10 were able to reach the foot by crawling and following the path cleared by Banuar.'
He didn't know what happened to the other babies who failed but he was sure of one thing.
'They were never mentioned in the story again.', extra 001 thought.
Aside from him, there were 89 more extras who had similarly realized their situations.
He didn't peer into the reason behind this sudden transmigration nor the absurdity of the situation.
Extra 001 just knew that it was now their reality and failure to adopt meant demise.
Before he knew it, Banuar began running down the hill, his speed incomparable to a 1-year-old.
'Should I just follow behind him?', he thought as the other destined survivors followed behind Banuar. It was for this reason that they had survived.
However, in comparison to them, extra 001 couldn't crawl as fast.
'It is tiring!', he heaved for breaths as with just less than a meter covered, fatigue grew on him.
'At this rate, I cannot catch up to them', he thought, catching his breath.
The other newborns were no different than him. With others becoming desperate, rolling down the hill.
In contrast to belief, a newborn's body does not fracture easily. They have softer and more flexible bones than adults and are not entirely fragile.
Under normal circumstances, given there were no trees, they could have reached the foot of the hill by rolling but the stack of wastes kept hindering their actions, with some babies ending up stabbed by protruding sticks.
'Rolling is not an option, then what else?', extra 001 raced for a feasible method.
And at that moment, the emerging monsters from the trash caught his sight.
Raccoons, twice the size of these newborns, emerged from the pile of wastes. Their canine teeth feasted on the punctured newborns, bleeding them further.
*snarl
Gazing at a group of newborns smugly racing down the hill, the raccoons snarled, menacing the group. Its fur was drenched in newborns' blood.
What should have come as terrifying, didn't translate to the group as they proceeded their footsteps without worry.
Banuar, leading the group, raised his small arm as he drew the littered stick that punctured a newborn. Resting the body to the ground and closing its eyelids, Banuar momentarily closed his eyes as he seemed to pray.
Then
His figure vanished as he jumped and landed right atop a raccoon's head. His stick drew an angle as it pierced through its menacing mouth.
Repeating this, Banuar slew raccoons that were blocking their paths, causing a theriocide with little energy consumed.
The other destined survivors swiftly followed behind Banuar, hasting themselves.
A raccoon, lagging behind, grew furious. Driven by madness of the prey escaping, it looked at a newborn beside it, its head distorted from the impact of rolling.
The raccoon held its limbs
Then
It threw the newborn's deceased body
Banuar, being hit by the thrown body, stopped momentarily to look at the raccoon. His eyes filled with rage but looking at those following him, he knew he shouldn't stop.
Witnessing this, the other raccoons halted in chase and began throwing bodies of the newborns.
With an arc, blood dripped from the distorted face of several newborns, hurling ahead.
Remaining atop the hill, Extra 001 watched this absurdity.
'Am I the only one remaining here now?', he halted to take another breath.
Aside from Banuar and the 9 others following him, Extra 001 was the only one alive.
'They either die from rolling or being caught by the raccoon.'
No one could match up the speed of the leading group. They could only die in vain.
Watching a raccoon nearing toward him and the group closing in to the foot of the hill, desperation grew toward him.
'It's a gamble from here on!'
Resorting to his last option, extra 001 took a littered sock beside him. With the little energy left, he squeezed in his head to the opening of the adult-sized sock that was softer and thicker than it looks.
'Still, it smells bad, just where did it come from?!'
Enduring the rotting smell, he laid beside a punctured newborn and lied in wait for the incoming raccoon.
The raccoon, furiosity surging in its eyes at seeing that the group was about to exit their territory, wildly grabbed the feet of a lying newborn nearby.
Then
Throwing it with the strongest force it could muster
It hurl the body
*SNARLLLLLL
With a confident shriek, the raccoon limped as it drained its strength. The body of the baby surged toward the group like a javelin thrown by the greatest athlete.
Feeling his skin about to tear off from the insanely high air resistance, extra 001 kept hold of the edge of the sock as he hurled in the air.
The next moment, insurmountable pain surged in his body with his back hitting something hard.
A system announcement then followed.
[Congratulations! You are the 10th person to complete the mission!]
[You have survived!]
Losing his strength from the impact and pain, extra 001's vision turned blurry as he lost his consciousness.