[Name: Miles Thorn]
[Affiliation: None]
[Level: 20]
[Classpect: Harbinger of The End]
[Attributes: Ender's Essence]
[Skills: Weapons Proficiency (Scythe) – Level 03; Resilience – Level 03; Focus – Level 03]
[Strength: 29]
[Agility: 24]
[Dexterity: 25]
[Perception: 36]
[Intelligence: 41]
[Inventory: Scorching Rune; Harbinger's Scythe; Ether Teapot; Cheshire's Gleam; Desert Rain; Wonderland's Key; Clockwork Rabbit's Piece – Gear; Clockwork Rabbit's Piece – Core; Clockwork Rabbit's Essence]
Miles had to cover his mouth to suppress a yelp.
'Holy shit… How did I-'
Before he could finish the thought, though, static filled his ears, and after a few seconds, the system's voice echoed through his mind, along with a few message windows popping up before him.
[A few more bugs have been fixed, but hang tight, player! The support team is working hard to solve your issues]
[Due to unexpected external interference, delayed messages are now being delivered]
[Open?]
[Yes] [No]
'Yes.' Miles thought, afraid to speak out loud and end up attracting the monsters' attention to him.
[You have completed the – Mad Hatter's set]
[Requirements for the usage of – Ether Teapot – have been met]
[Synergy elements have been acquired]
[Synergy Effect – Wonderland's Madness – can now be used]
[Synergy Effect – God Hunter – can now be used]
'I am… At level twenty?' Miles grinned, tapping his feet silently on the floor. 'How?'
He bit his fingers, trying to suppress a shout, and got up. A few seconds later, though, a huge shadow veiled the moon, sending shivers down Miles' spine as he looked up.
Against the night sky, it was hard to discern the colors painting the scales of the gigantic creature, but the sharp, bony tail, the spiked wings, and the pointy maw made it impossible for Miles not to notice that the flying nightmare was an actual dragon.
Also, the sound of the monsters' horde was getting closer by the minute, making Miles rethink staying out until sunrise.
'Anyway, I better go home before I check everything deeper.' He smiled sheepishly, starting to move.
Looking up to see the address on a street sign, Miles smiled and sighed inwardly, glad to be close to home. He moved like a shadow through the ruined city, his breath shallow, his footsteps deliberate and soft against the cracked asphalt. He kept to the darkest corners, slipping between the jagged carcasses of cars and crumbled walls, his figure melting into the debris like a ghost.
Every sound was amplified in the suffocating silence of the night. The distant crash of falling rubble, the guttural growl of a monster echoing through the desolation, and the soft scrape of his boots against the ground.
He froze at the sound of shifting rubble nearby, pressing himself flat against the remains of a crumbling wall. His heart thudded in his chest, each beat like a drum, threatening to give him away. Slowly, he peeked around the edge, scanning the gloom for any sign of movement.
A group of monstrosities prowled the remains of what had once been a marketplace. Their elongated limbs moved with an unnatural grace, their glowing eyes cutting through the darkness like embers.
One of them stopped suddenly, sniffing the air, and the teenager ducked back into the shadows, holding his breath. The faint smell of rot wafted past him as the creature's guttural growl faded into the distance.
Frowning, Miles held his breath until the creature seemed to lose interest in its curiosity, counting the seconds in his head until he was certain they were gone, then slipped out from his hiding spot.
'What were these things? I never seen any Beast like that before…' He thought, staying low, weaving through the skeletal remains of collapsed buildings and overgrown alleyways.
Vines crawled up the sides of ruined structures, their tendrils curling around shattered windows and jagged rebar. His path was a labyrinth of destruction, but he was very familiar with it. Every shortcut, hiding spot, every place where the monsters never searched through.
A faint glimmer of light caught his eye up ahead. The distant glow of a campfire flickered in one of the intact buildings, probably a group of players hiding in one of the nightly Safe Zones, but Miles ignored it.
He moved past it, his focus solely on getting home, his limp getting less and less uncomfortable.
At one point, a distant screech pierced the night, high-pitched and unnerving, and he instinctively dropped to the ground, pressing himself against the cold concrete. The sound was followed by the heavy thud of monstrous footsteps, shaking the ground ever so slightly.
Miles dared not to look up, his muscles tense like springs, waiting for the silence to settle in again. When it did, he exhaled slowly and pushed himself up, his knees trembling but still keeping up.
As he drew closer to his building, the ruins grew more familiar. The half-collapsed billboard with a faded image of a smiling family. The overturned bus that had been his hiding spot once before. The alley was littered with old tires and bones that he avoided without a second glance.
Finally, the towering silhouette of his building came into view, looming against the fractured skyline like a guardian over the wasteland.
The building stood as a monument to survival in the falling city, torn between ruins and chaos. Its weathered façade bore the scars that came with daylight and quests. claw marks gouged deep into the concrete, shattered windows gaping like empty eyes, and scorch marks that streaked across the walls, remnants of the skirmishes between players and monsters.
The fire escapes dangled like broken ribs, twisted and warped, barely clinging to the sides of the building. At the top of it, a holographic sign that only appeared at night, set by the game's system, flared radiantly in green.
[Safe Zone]
Relief washed over Miles, along with the excitement that remained from when he looked into his new stats and everything else he had unlocked after his journey through that strange forest that led him to Wonderland, but he didn't let his guard down.
Moving quickly now, ducking into the shadows of the entrance and through the door, he exhaled with a heavy sigh, letting his body fall against the inner wall of the building.
"Ah, finally…"
However, before Miles could get up and head up the stairs, his eyes widened as a scream pierced the silence, sharp and raw with terror. His breath hitched, and his heart pounded in his chest.
He knew that voice.