00:00:01
The air turned to glass.
Noah's ears popped as the cave warped—walls stretching upward, stalactites sharpening into fangs. The survivors froze, their panting breaths syncing into a dissonant hum. Then the system carved its words into their vision, jagged and blood-warm:
[Toritual Begins Now.]
[Goblins Killed: 0/2000.]
[Failure Penalty: Extinction.]
A woman near Noah laughed—a shrill, broken sound.
Her head burst.
The goblin's tail retracted from her eye socket, dripping gray matter. Its body was a nightmare of mismatched biology: six jointed limbs, translucent skin stretched over writhing organs, a mouth split into four mandibles. It hissed, revealing a stinger-tipped tongue.
Chaos detonated.
---
00:03:27
Noah's first kill was an accident.
He'd backed into a crevice, his bare shoulders scraping rock, as the goblin skittered toward him. Its stinger lashed out. He ducked, and the barb embedded in the wall. For a heartbeat, they stared at each other—Noah's pupils blown wide, the goblin's compound eyes flickering with alien intelligence.
Then he grabbed a loose stone and swung.
The impact was wet, like cracking a melon. The creature crumpled, its skull oozing black ichor. A notification seared his vision:
[Goblin Killed: 190/2000.]
[XP +10.]
[Item Acquired: Crude Bone Dagger (Durability: 2/10).]
Noah stared at the dagger materializing in his hand—a shard of obsidian lashed to a femur with sinew. It reeked of rot. Across the cave, a teenager screamed as a goblin's mandibles sawed through his calf.
"Help me! Please!"
Noah took a step—then froze. His Fireball icon pulsed, mana bar empty. He waited, breath held—until a soft shimmer of light flowed up his arm.
[Mana +1.]
[Mana +1.]
[Mana +1.]
[You have Learned the skill: Calm breath LVL1: Passive Skill: Once user take a deep breath and concantrate on their Mana they will gain 1 Mana/S.
The Fireball fizzled, singeing the goblin's carapace. It turned, hissing, and lunged. Noah's second swing missed. The dagger snapped on impact.
[Durability: 0/10.]
[Item Broken.]
The goblin's stinger grazed his ribs.
[Venom: Neurotoxic (HP -0.3/sec, Duration: 15s).]
Pain lit his nerves like fuse wire. He scrambled backward, venom-hot blood slick under his feet.
---
00:47:15
The cave was a slaughterhouse.
Bodies clogged narrow passages—human and goblin entwined in death. Survivors had fractured into packs:
The Optimizers: A shirtless man with [Enhanced Strength] led a squad, farming kills by herding goblins into choke points. He roared as he ripped off a stinger-tipped tail and impaled three creatures at once. [Level Up!] flashed above his head.
The Scavengers: A girl with [Night Vision] looted corpses, pocketing broken daggers and venom sacs. She hesitated over a dead child, then pried a [Minor Healing Herb] from its stiff fingers.
The Altruists: An older woman with [Field Medic] staunched wounds using moss and torn clothing. Her hands glowed faintly—until a goblin pounced, tearing out her throat. Her killer gained [Skill Fragment: First Aid].
Noah crawled through the carnage, his HP ticking down to 15.5/20. His venom symptoms had passed, but the shakes hadn't. He'd killed three goblins: one with a rock, two by luring them into stalagmite traps. Each kill left him emptier.
[Goblin Killed: 857/2000.]
[XP +10.]
[Level 1 → 2. Status Points +3.]
His ribs knit with a sickening pop, but the hunger remained. They hadn't eaten in hours.
---
01:59:48
The fifth kill broke him.
A goblin cornered a boy—maybe twelve—against a resin-coated wall. The child's skill was [Calm Aura], useless against predators. Noah's mana was at 5/20.
He drew a slow breath, and his veins lit with a faint glow.
[Mana +1.]
The Fireball was weaker this time, a sputtering ember, but it distracted the creature. Noah tackled it, driving the broken dagger into its thorax. Acidic blood sprayed his face.
[Burn Status: Moderate (HP -0.2/sec x 12s).]
The boy stared at him, mute, as Noah's skin blistered.
[Goblin Killed: 1599/2000.]
[XP +10.]
[Level 2 → 3. Status Points +3.]
Noah collapsed, retching. The boy ran.
---
02:59:59
The survivors huddled in the cavern's center, now a charnel pit. The system's final tally burned overhead:
[Toritual Complete.]
[Goblins Killed: 2000/2000.]
[Human Survivors: 598/2000.]
[Rewards Distributed.]
No one cheered. A man with [Pyromancy] had set himself on fire. A woman cradled her dead infant, rocking as her [Herbalism] skill auto-harvested poison from the corpse.
Noah's interface flickered:
[SYSTEM INTERFACE]
Name: Noah White
Level: 3
Race: Human
Class: None
XP: 0/ 60
---
[STATS]
Status Points: 6
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 14
Agility: 9
Magic: 25
Health (HP): 13.1/ 20
Mana (MP): 7 / 30
Stamina: 3/ 10
---
[SKILLS]
Calm Breath (Lv. 1)
Flame Ball (Lv. 1)
A notification blinked—a private message:
[ReZero (Admin):]
«Not bad, #4471. But you hesitated. 5 kills? Pathetic. Don't worry—I'll make sure you get… motivated.»
598 humans stood.
598 humans followed the light.