Tired of seeing the world advance without purpose, the god decided to play with him. Not like a wise man who guides, but like a child who shakes an anthill out of boredom. For him, humanity had ceased to be interesting. They were inhuman among themselves, cruel to their own species and to the other creatures that he, in his infinite patience, had designed.
This is how the world of hunters was born. A perfectly balanced battlefield, where countless lives would be lost the moment the first door opened. But it wasn't an uncontrolled chaos. He was not a careless god. He designed a system, an invisible network of rules to contain the hordes of monsters he would unleash. Not because he cared about humans, but because each game needed pieces that at least had the illusion of being able to win.
From the top of his throne, the god contemplated his work. The first door had been opened, and the hunt had begun. He watched with the same indifference with which a painter contemplates how the rain washes his unfinished work.
Humans screamed, fled, died. Some tried to resist, raising weapons they did not understand against creatures that should never have existed in their world. For him, it was just one more cycle. I had seen civilizations born and fall, empires crumble with the ease of a sand castle.
But then, he saw it.
A man in the crowd. Not a king, not a legendary warrior. Just one more human... and yet, something in him was out of place. He didn't give up like the others, he didn't let himself be consumed by panic.
The god frowned.
- You have my attention.
And with a simple thought, he decided to put it to the test.
The earth trembled under his feet when the door opened. First it was a deaf roar, like the growl of a hungry beast. Then, the chaos.
The creatures emerged from the darkness, devouring, destroying. There was no warning, there was no salvation. The city, his home, became a battlefield in a matter of minutes.
But he didn't run away.
While the others screamed and fell into despair, he looked at the disaster with cold eyes. He took a breath, adjusted the grip on his improvised weapon provided by a screen that claimed to be a system and advanced. He had no answers, only one certainty: he wasn't going to die like the others.
The game was progressing.
Humans fell like badly carved pieces on a board that was never in their favor. But he was still standing. Not for cunning, nor for a deep understanding of his situation. No, its only engine was the simplest and most primitive of all: the desire to live.
That made it fascinating.
He didn't analyze the world like a strategist, nor was he looking for answers like a hero. He just ran, hit, resisted. He didn't fight for glory or defiance. Only for his people, for those he loved.
The god watched him with a mixture of fun and curiosity.
"Let's see how much you can endure."
He raised his hand and dropped a shadow on him.
Everything was burning.
The heat was unbearable, the smoke burned his lungs, but he had to continue. I couldn't stop. Not now.
He stumbled among the remains of a destroyed house and felt his body scream to give up. But I couldn't. Not when his family was still out there.
Live. Get to them. Get them out of here.
A growl tore the air and his stomach shrank. He looked up and saw him. It was huge. His claws shone in the light of the flames, and his breath was a mixture of rot and death.
The beast looked at him. He didn't attack right away. As if I was waiting. As if I were… trying.
The hunter, or rather a 15-year-old boy, gritted his teeth and held his gun with trembling hands. I didn't have a plan. I didn't have a real chance. But I couldn't die here. Not yet.
He prepared to fight.
I couldn't look away.
At first, it was just curiosity. A defective piece on his board, someone who shouldn't have lasted so long in his perfect world. But the more he watched him, the more something grew inside him.
It wasn't admiration. It wasn't just interest. It was desire, it was the desire to be able to possess it.
His chest shook with an unknown feeling. How could a simple human provoke this? A slight blush adorned his face, and for the first time in centuries, he felt the urgency to possess something.
- Mine... - he whispered without realizing it.
I couldn't allow this human to fall. Not when I was just starting to have fun.
He stretched out his hand and let his will descend on him. His blessing would envelop him like an invisible shield, making sure that no one else could snatch it from him.
The game had changed.
The monster threw himself on him.
He didn't have time to think, he just reacted. He threw himself aside, rolled over the rubble and felt the claws brush his skin. His heart was beating hard, the adrenaline kept him moving. I couldn't die here.
But then, something strange happened.
An unknown heat ran through his body, a chill that did not come from fear, but from... something else. His muscles hurt less, his breathing became firmer. What was going on?
For a moment, he thought he saw something in the sky. A distant silhouette, eyes that watched him with a terrifying intensity.
I didn't understand what was happening, but I didn't have time to question it. He grabbed his gun harder and faced the beast with a security he didn't have before.
Without knowing it, he was no longer the same as before.
With the last beast collapsing, the god watched the chaos vanish. The door, which had brought so much destruction, was under his control, but he did not undo it. Curiosity continued to grow inside him, like a spark that didn't stop burning.
Seeing the hunter face the creatures without giving up, without even knowing why he was doing it, was increasingly fascinating to him. There was something primitive in his struggle, something as basic as the desire to live. And that's why he decided to continue.
" Not yet..." he murmured to himself, while his smile curved subtly. We'll see how far you get.
The monster fell and the weight on his shoulders, although still heavy, seemed to decrease. The air was no longer so dense, although the ruins of the city were still burning. He looked around, feeling a strange calm. The doors of destruction no longer lurked him, but the feeling that something else was still lurking remained.
He couldn't let his guard down. His mind did not think about whys, not about the origin of this nightmare, but about a single clear thought: to protect his family. Everything else was noise.
Fight. Survive.
So, without questioning anything else, he took a step towards what could be his next challenge.