On that day almost every animals were acting strangely but I didn't care any of it because I don't have a pet waiting for me in my apartment.
I was at the bus station, reading through the chapters I had downloaded. It was my only escape from my mundane life.
The novels I read usually featured an overpowered main character who focused solely on his quest to gain more power, indifferent to anything else.
Though it might seem dumb to some, it was my favorite genre. As I read the last chapter of the novel, a dog ran across the road, barking. Many more animals followed, all behaving in the same frantic manner.
At that moment, the sky turned red, and a small crack appeared in it. Slowly, the crack widened, and a strange creature that resembled a rabbit with deer antlers emerged.
The creature wore a loincloth made of fur and started to speak.
< ו∆¶`×÷π•^° >
The sound it made was unbearable, as if my eardrums were about to burst.
The crowd at the bus station froze in shock, their eyes fixed on the bizarre creature. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. It was as if one of the fantastical creatures from the novels I had read come to life.
People began to murmur, fear evident in their voices. The rabbit-deer creature raised a clawed hand, silencing them.
My thoughts were racing, heart pounding as I struggled to process the creature's words. Apocalyptic trials? Fight or perish? This had to be some kind of elaborate prank or hallucination.
But then, out of sheer curiosity and a glimmer of hope that this was some strange dream, I followed the creature's instruction.
*Panel*, I thought, focusing as hard as I could on the word.
To my astonishment, a translucent screen materialized before my eyes, displaying a wealth of information. It was like the character sheets from the novels I adored, complete with stats, skills.
[Name: Rian
Age: 24
Exclusiv Fragment:
Overall rating: Strength Lvl 4 , Agility Lvl 5
Stamina Lvl 3, Mana Lvl 3 ]
The surreal nature of the situation was jarring. My stats were low, reflecting my ordinary, non-athletic life. The exclusive attribute and skills stood out, but I had no idea how to utilize them.
The creature suddenly started to laugh in an eerie manner, the sound chilling me to the bone. Its laughter echoed across the bus station, adding to the already heightened sense of dread.
In an instant, the ground beneath us shook violently. People screamed, and some fell to the ground, clutching at anything stable. Buildings began to crumble, and the air filled with the sounds of destruction.
I felt a surge of panic, but a sudden calm washed over me as I recalled the novels where the protagonist faced impossible odds and emerged victorious. This was no different, I told myself. I just had to survive.
The translucent screen in front of me shifted, displaying a new message.
×
[Trial #1: Prove your worth]
Catagory: Main
Rank: F
Objective: Kill one or more in order to prove your worth.
Time limit: 30 minutes
Reward: 500 coins
Penalty: Death
×
Panic set in as I read the trial objective. Kill someone? My heart raced, and I felt a knot tighten in my stomach. Around me, the chaos intensified as people scrambled to understand their own panels and the reality of our situation.
"Is this real?" someone shouted. "Do we really have to kill each other?"
The creature watched us with an amused expression, clearly enjoying our confusion and terror.
The people started cause commotion and the bus station descended into chaos. Some people started screaming, others running aimlessly.
Someone aimed their animosity to that creature shouting, "This has to be a joke! It's some kind of trick!" They threw a rock, but it passed harmlessly through the creature, as if it were made of mist.
Suddenly that creatures face turned dark, now the sharp fangs were visible and it looked at the one who threw the rock with a predatory glare. The creature raised a clawed hand, and tore apart that person blood splattered everywhere.
The crowd screamed in horror as the person's lifeless body fell to the ground, blood pooling around them. The rabbit-deer creature's eyes gleamed with a twisted satisfaction.
I looked around frantically, seeing the fear and desperation on everyone's faces. A middle-aged man next to me was hyperventilating, his panel still open in front of him. A young woman was crying, clutching her phone as if it could somehow save her.
As I stood there, overwhelmed, a cold determination settled over me. If this was some twisted game, I had to play to survive.
I took a deep breath, assessing my surroundings. The bus station, once a place of routine, was now a battleground.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a teenager with a wild look in his eyes, holding a piece of broken glass like a weapon. He was muttering to himself, clearly on the edge.
"Stay back!" I heard someone shout, and I turned to see a man in his thirties wielding a metal rod, his eyes wide with fear. The teenager with the broken glass froze, his expression torn between fight and flight.
Then on the another corner I saw some people beating up an elderly man, their desperation driving them to brutal measures.
"Stop!" I shouted, running towards them. "There's another way!"
One of the attackers turned towards me, wild-eyed and trembling. "We have no choice! It's kill or be killed!"
The attackers continued to beat the elderly man, their eyes glazed over with a mix of fear and madness. The sight was horrifying, and my pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears.
As I ran towards them, the desperation in the attackers' faces made me realize that they were acting out of sheer survival instinct. They were losing their grip on their humanity.
"Please, stop!" I shouted, my voice breaking with the weight of the situation.
One of the attackers, a young woman with a bloodied face, she looked at me and then again started to beat up the elderly man.
I couldn't watch it anymore I averted my eyes.
[Remaining Time: 15 minutes]
As I stared at the remaining time something happened.
[You have killed a living thing]
[100 coins has acquired]
I stared at the notification, disbelief and confusion clouding my thoughts. How could I have killed someone? I hadn't even laid a hand on anyone. The attackers, now smeared with blood, continued their assault on the elderly man, oblivious to my inner turmoil.
I looked around to see what caused that notification and I saw a bunch of ants under my feet, they were wriggling around my feet and dragging something. I moved my foot and only at that moment I saw it, the crushed body if an ant.
Suddenly a thought flashed in my mind, "Did the notification pop up because of I killed the ant?"
My mind reeled from the revelation. Could this twisted game truly be that literal? Killing an ant had earned me coins. What did that mean for the rest of us? As I processed the absurdity of it all, the chaos around me continued.
The young woman beating the elderly man was getting more frantic, driven by desperation and the promise of survival. I needed to act quickly if I wanted to save him and perhaps save myself in the process.
"Stop!" I shouted again, this time louder.
She turned to me, eyes wild and unfocused. "Why should I?" she spat, her voice trembling. "It's us or them!"
"No," I said, stepping closer, my hands raised in a gesture of peace. "We can work together. We don't have to kill each other. There has to be another way."
She was skeptical, and looked at me with disgust in her eyes, then a teenager with brown hair pointed a wooden stick at me and said.
"I will give you five seconds to speak, if you don't convince us then I'll kill you after I kill this worthless thing" he looked at that elderly man.
I felt my heart hammering in my chest. Convincing these desperate people seemed nearly impossible, but I had to try.
"Look," I began, keeping my voice as calm and steady as possible, "this trial isn't about killing each other. It says 'kill one or more living things,' right? That could mean anything, not just humans. I just killed an ant, and it counted."
The teenager with the wooden stick narrowed his eyes at me. "Are you saying we should go around killing insects to pass the trial?"
"Yes," I said, grasping at this slim hope. "There are plenty of other living things around. We don't have to turn on each other. We can survive this if we think smart."
That teenager suddenly started to laugh, then swung the wooden stick and said while grinding his teeth. "Did you take us for fools? You want to save this worthless crap so bad you lied huh? Then watch how I'm going to kill him"
Suddenly, with a swift and brutal motion, the teenager brought the wooden stick down on the elderly man. The man's pained cry pierced through the chaos, and I could feel my heart sink. The attacker had chosen violence over reason, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
I saw that teenager laughing, and I realised that the elderly man's death had counted towards the killer's tally. The system's cruel logic was horrifyingly clear.
Desperation surged within me. I had to find a way to survive without succumbing to this barbarity. I turned away from the scene, scanning the bus station for any other living creatures. Insects, small animals—anything that could count towards the trial.
As I moved, I noticed a small group of people huddled together, whispering frantically. One of them, a woman with glasses, was pointing towards a patch of grass where ants were scurrying about.
"Ants!" I shouted, rushing over. "We can kill the ants!"
The group looked at me with a mixture of hope and disbelief. But with no other options, they joined me in stomping on the tiny creatures. Notifications began to flood my vision as each ant was crushed under my foot.
[You have killed a living thing]
[100 coins acquired]
[You have killed a living thing]
[100 coins acquired]
It was a grim task, but it was better than killing each other. As the time ticked away I crushed something other than ants.
[Remaining Time: 00:06]
The seconds ticked down, each one echoing like a hammer in my mind. I had no idea if this would be enough.
[00:05]
[00:04]
[00:03]
[00:02]
[00:01]
[00:00]
A new notification appeared in my vision, the words filling me with a mix of relief and dread.
[Trial #1 complete. Rewards will be distributed after calculating the total lives you took.]
I let out a shaky breath, my legs trembling from the effort. The trial was over, but the real fight had just begun.
[Calculating the total lives you took...]
The panel glowed for a moment before displaying my final tally.
[Total lives taken: 117]
[You killed 83 ants, 34 spiders]
[You have recieved 500 coins]
[You took the most life in the southern zone]
[Giving additional rewards]
[You have received 500 coins]
As the chaotic scene around me started to settle, the aftermath of the trial revealed itself. The bus station, once bustling with panic, now lay in eerie silence. The survivors, some visibly shaken and others blank-faced, looked around as if trying to make sense of the carnage.
I was numb, my hands trembling as I staring at the notifications. The sense of accomplishment felt hollow. What kind of world had I been thrust into, where survival came at such a cost?
The rabbit-deer creature reappeared in the sky, its eyes glowing with a sinister light.
The creature's announcement triggered a fresh wave of panic among the survivors. The once-frantic murmurs turned into desperate cries as the reality of the situation sunk in. I felt my own fear tighten as I watched the chaos unfold.
The rabbit-deer creature's eyes glowed menacingly as it turned its attention to those who had failed the trial. With a flick of its clawed hand, it summoned a dark, swirling vortex of energy around the failed participants.
The atmosphere grew heavy, filled with a sense of foreboding as the failed individuals were drawn into the vortex. Their screams pierced through the cacophony of fear, mingling with the creature's chilling laughter. The energy pulsed violently, causing their bodies to convulse and writhe in agony.
The vortex twisted and churned, and the failed participants' bodies began to distort grotesquely. Limbs elongated and twisted, their faces contorted in silent screams as their forms were torn apart by the dark energy. Blood and gore splattered across the station, creating a nightmarish scene.
One by one, their bodies disintegrated into a bloody mist, leaving nothing but splatters and pools of gore behind. The brutality of their deaths was a stark reminder of the cruel nature of the trials.
The survivors around me looked on in horror, their faces pale and their eyes wide with terror. The once-bustling bus station was now a gruesome battlefield, with the only sounds being the dying echoes of screams and the sickening squelch of blood.
I was paralyzed by the sight, my mind struggling to grasp the full extent of the creature's sadistic cruelty. The chilling realization hit me: the trials were not just a test of strength—they were a mechanism for the creature to enforce its twisted set of rules.
As the horrifying scene unfolded around me, I forced myself to focus on my panel. I needed to know where I stood now that the first trial had ended.
[Name: Rian
Age: 24
Exclusive Fragment:
Overall rating: Strength Lvl 4, Agility Lvl 5
Stamina Lvl 3, Mana Lvl 3]
[Coins: 12,700]