The stench of smoke and blood clung to the air, thick and suffocating. Ryuu Arakawa coughed as he stumbled through the ruins of what was once his village. The streets were littered with broken carts, charred timber, and lifeless bodies. His legs burned with exhaustion, his vision blurred, but he forced himself onward.

He had to find her.

"Ayame!" he called, his voice raw and hoarse. The only response was the distant crackle of flames licking the remnants of their home. Fear gnawed at his chest like a starving beast. Where was she? Where was his little sister?

A sudden sound—the crunch of boots on gravel. Ryuu's heart leapt, but it wasn't relief he felt when he turned. Emerging from the smoke was a mercenary, clad in worn leather armor stained with fresh blood. The man's lips curled into a cruel grin as he raised a jagged sword.

"Well, look what we have here," the mercenary sneered. "Another rat scurrying through the ashes."

Ryuu clenched his fists. He had no weapon, no strength left to fight, but retreat wasn't an option. Behind him lay nothing but more destruction. Ahead was only this man and death.

"Where's my sister?" Ryuu demanded, his voice trembling but fierce.

The mercenary's laugh was cold. "Your sister? You should be more worried about yourself." With a swift step forward, the man swung his blade.

Ryuu's instincts screamed, and he dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike. Pain lanced through his arm as the edge of the blade grazed him, but he forced himself to his feet. His breaths came in ragged gasps. He wasn't going to survive this.

"Ayame..." he whispered under his breath. Images of her smiling face flooded his mind, of the way she'd tug on his sleeve and ask him to tell her stories about knights and heroes. Heroes like the kind he'd dreamed of being when he was younger. Those dreams felt so far away now.

The mercenary advanced, raising his sword for the final blow.

"You'll die here," the man said with grim certainty.

Time seemed to slow as Ryuu's legs buckled. He closed his eyes, bracing for the inevitable. But instead of pain, a strange, cold sensation coursed through his body.

"Do you wish to live?"

The voice was neither human nor natural. It echoed inside his mind, smooth and dispassionate, carrying with it an unnatural weight. Ryuu's eyes snapped open, and he saw it—a glowing, semi-transparent screen hovering before him. The letters glowed faintly in the smoke-filled air, pulsing with an otherworldly light.

[The Eclipse System has chosen you as its host.]

[Do you accept?]

Beneath the text were two options:

[Yes] [No]

Ryuu blinked, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing. The mercenary paused mid-strike, his face frozen in place as if time itself had stopped. Around them, the world seemed suspended, colors muted and sound snuffed out.

"What... what is this?" Ryuu whispered.

The voice returned, sharper this time. "Do you wish to live? Do you wish to protect the one you hold dear?"

His thoughts raced. This was impossible. He must have been hallucinating, some desperate part of his mind clinging to hope as his body shut down. But the pain in his arm was real, the smell of smoke and blood too vivid to ignore. And the words on the screen glowed with an undeniable presence, demanding an answer.

Do you wish to protect her?

"Yes," Ryuu whispered, his voice trembling but resolute. "Yes, I want to live! I want to protect her!"

The moment he spoke the words, the screen flashed brightly, and a sharp, searing pain erupted in his chest. Ryuu cried out, collapsing to his knees as the mercenary's frozen form blurred back into motion. But something was different. The pain in his chest began to subside, replaced by a dark, pulsating energy that coursed through his veins like wildfire.

The screen reappeared, filling his vision with new text:

[The Eclipse System has been activated.]

[Initializing... Welcome, Host.]

A new notification appeared:

[Quest Generated: Eliminate the Threat.]

Ryuu's hands trembled as he pushed himself to his feet. His body felt lighter, stronger, and when he glanced down, he saw dark tendrils of energy curling around his arms, seeping from his skin like living shadows. He looked up at the mercenary, who now seemed less like an insurmountable threat and more like prey.

"What the hell are you?" the mercenary growled, his confident smirk replaced by unease.

Ryuu didn't answer. He didn't fully understand it himself. All he knew was that something inside him had changed, and for the first time in his life, he felt like he had power.

The system's voice spoke again, cold and unfeeling:

[Kill the enemy to complete the quest and gain experience.]

The tendrils of shadow coiled tighter around Ryuu's hands, forming the shape of a blade. It felt natural, as if it were an extension of his body. For the first time, Ryuu stepped forward, no longer running, no longer afraid.

"I'll protect her," he said softly, his amber eyes glowing with a dark intensity. "No matter what it takes."

The mercenary lunged, swinging his sword with brutal intent. But Ryuu was faster, the shadows moving with him, guiding his every step. The energy flowing through him felt like it had always been there, a raw, unrelenting force just waiting to be unleashed.

With a flick of his wrist, Ryuu slashed through the air, the shadow-blade cutting through the mercenary's sword like it was nothing more than paper. The man staggered back, eyes wide with shock, but before he could recover, Ryuu was on him, moving with inhuman speed.

A scream cut through the air as Ryuu's blade found its mark. The mercenary's throat was slit in an instant, blood spurting in a dark, wet spray. The man gurgled, hands clutching at his neck, but Ryuu didn't hesitate. He watched as the life drained from the man's eyes, cold and unfeeling.

The system chimed, its voice colder than ever:

[Quest Complete. Experience gained.]

Ryuu stood over the mercenary's twitching body, his breath coming in shallow gasps. His hands were covered in blood, and a part of him wanted to recoil in disgust, but the darkness inside him burned brighter. There was no room for weakness, no time for remorse. His sister... he had to find her.

The world around him seemed quieter now, the smoke thickening as it swallowed the remains of the village. But the silence in his mind was deafening, his thoughts consumed by the twisted sense of power that coursed through him.

Another notification appeared in front of him, flickering in the smoke-choked air.

[Quest: Find your sister - Progress: 0%]

The cold, distant voice in his mind spoke again.

[You have already chosen. This world will test your resolve. It is a world of killers, and you must become one if you wish to survive. You will need strength, willpower, and an unshakable heart. But beware, Host. The more you use the Eclipse System, the more you will be bound to it.]

Ryuu's stomach churned, but his desire to protect Ayame drowned out the nausea. He had no choice but to obey. To survive.

He looked down at the mercenary's body one last time. The man was nothing but a pile of flesh and blood, his life snuffed out without a second thought. Ryuu swallowed hard and wiped the blood from his hands on the dead man's armor, his expression hardening.

There was no time to mourn. His sister was still out there, and whoever had done this to their village would pay.

As he moved forward, his eyes never strayed from the path ahead, the faint sound of distant cries echoing in his ears. It didn't matter. The world was broken, and now, so was he. The Eclipse System would shape him into something new, something lethal, because in this world, only the strong survived.

The darkness was now his ally, and it was a hunger that would never be sated.

Ryuu's footsteps were heavy as he moved through the charred remnants of the village, his mind focused but distant. His sister was out there somewhere, and every passing second felt like a blade to his chest. His hands, still trembling from his first kill, clenched tightly, but the cold energy of the Eclipse System pulsed within him, urging him forward.

He couldn't afford to slow down.

With a thought, he activated the system. The glowing screen appeared before his eyes, its eerie light cutting through the smoke around him.

[System Menu]

[Host: Ryuu Arakawa]

[Level: 1]

[XP: 0/100]

[HP: 100%]

[MP: 100%]

[Skill: Eclipse Strike]

[Abilities: Shadow Blade, Shadow Step]

[Current Quest: Find Ayame - Progress: 0%]

[New Quest Available: Eliminate the Threat - Progress: 100%]

The options were stark, the system's interface coldly indifferent to his plight. He scrolled through the menu, his eyes locking onto the highlighted skills—Shadow Blade and Shadow Step. They had been activated with the first kill, and already, he could feel their power running through his veins.

Shadow Blade was an extension of the dark energy that had flowed from him, an ethereal weapon that could cut through flesh and steel alike. But it was the other ability that intrigued him more: Shadow Step. It was a skill that allowed him to meld with the shadows, moving from one place to another in the blink of an eye. He hadn't used it yet, but the system promised that it would make him faster, more unpredictable. He needed it.

Without hesitation, he selected Shadow Step. The screen flickered, and for a moment, Ryuu felt a strange pressure build up around him. The air grew heavy, as if time itself had slowed. His body felt lighter, almost weightless, as if the world around him was bending to his will.

He took a deep breath, then in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

The world shifted. The flames, the ruins, the bodies—everything blurred around him as he was swallowed by darkness. When his feet landed, the ground was different. The familiar landscape had shifted. He was farther down the street, closer to the edge of the village. The shadows had swallowed him whole, and for a moment, he felt like a ghost.

The system's voice spoke once again, its tone dispassionate.

[Skill Activated: Shadow Step]

[Cooldown: 5 minutes]

Ryuu could feel the exhaustion gnawing at him, but he pushed it aside. He needed to keep moving. The Shadow Step had been swift, but it also left a drain on his body—like the very energy of the world had been stolen from him for a brief moment. He had to get used to it. He would need it if he were to survive.

He checked the quest list again, a cold sweat forming on the back of his neck.

[Current Quest: Find Ayame - Progress: 0%]

No new information, no updates. But the chilling reminder loomed over him: Progress: 0%.

The system was taunting him. It was as if it reveled in his suffering, in his desperate search for his sister, as though it was enjoying his torment. Ryuu clenched his fists again, the shadows tightening around his hands like a vice.

"Where are you, Ayame?" he muttered under his breath, his voice hoarse with desperation.

Suddenly, the air shifted again. The system's voice was different now, colder, more urgent.

[Warning: Unidentified Hostile Entity Detected.]

Ryuu's heart skipped a beat. His eyes scanned the village, the smoke and haze making it difficult to see. But the presence… the feeling of something wrong was undeniable. The system's warning was enough to make his pulse quicken.

The next message appeared with grim clarity.

[Quest Update: Eliminate the Threat - New Objective: Exterminate Hostile Entity.]

[Reward: Unknown.]

Ryuu's body tensed, the shadows around him flaring as his pulse raced. He had no choice but to fight. His eyes narrowed, and he instinctively pulled the Shadow Blade from the darkness, its cold edge gleaming ominously in the dim light.

The hostile presence was close now, too close. He could feel it in the air, a tangible malice lurking just beyond the veil of smoke and ash.

He readied himself.

With another surge of shadow, Ryuu vanished from his spot, Shadow Step carrying him once more, but this time with a clearer target. He could feel the presence drawing nearer. It was monstrous.

The world around him grew quiet again, save for the faint crackling of the flames. And then he saw it—a towering figure cloaked in blood-red armor, moving through the destruction like a nightmare made flesh. Its eyes were black, voids that swallowed all light, and its sword was as large as Ryuu's body, stained with the blood of those who had come before him.

It had the air of a hunter.

Ryuu's heart thudded, and for a brief moment, fear crept into his thoughts. But he couldn't afford it. His sister was still out there. This creature—whatever it was—would not stand in his way.

With a silent vow to himself, he melded into the shadows once more, the hunger for power growing.

The system had spoken. He would kill to survive.

And this thing? It was just another obstacle.