The air outside was different.
Thinner. Sharper.
Asher stepped into the cold night, breath misting in the dark. The door creaked shut behind him, sealing in the warmth—and the carnage—still bleeding out in the basement.
His hoodie clung to him, soaked in blood. Dried along the sleeves, stiff on the chest. It stuck like memory.
He didn't run.
Didn't cry.
He just walked.
---
> [Kill Confirmed: x7]
[Kill Points Gained: 70]
[New Feature Unlocked: Kill Shop]
[Skill Tree Now Available]
The words hovered in his vision—crisp, clinical. Like a game's HUD layered over the ruins of real life.
It should've felt insane.
But it didn't.
The rules of the world had cracked long before tonight. And whatever shattered inside him in that basement… it made room for this.
---
> [Available KP: 70]
Minor Healing – 50 KP
Shadow Flicker (Movement Skill) – 100 KP
Locked: Shadowform – 500 KP
Consumable: Adrenal Surge – 20 KP
> [System Note: KP is earned through confirmed kills. Spend wisely.]
Asher stared at the menu. His fingers twitched toward Minor Healing.
Then dropped.
> "I don't need to be healed," he said. "Not yet."
> [Decision Saved.]
Gravel shifted underfoot as he neared the treeline. The forest loomed ahead—dense, silent, waiting. The same forest from whispered stories and campfire warnings.
But they hadn't been stories.
Not really.
Not anymore.
---
> [Task Generated – Situation-Based]
Objective: Escape detection. Reach forest interior undetected.
Reward: 25 KP + ???
Asher froze.
Flashlights flickered down the street. Voices. Close.
> "The Vail house! I heard screaming!"
"Call the cops—someone's hurt!"
Too soon.
He bolted into the woods.
Branches whipped his face. Roots threatened to trip him. But Parasight updated in real-time—highlighting terrain, mapping sound zones, tracking heart rate like a stealth interface built for survival.
> [Stealth Proficiency: Novice]
[Success Probability: 68%]
He slid behind a fallen log as footsteps crunched past—too close.
> "I saw him! He ran that way—blood all over him!"
"Jesus… you think he… killed them?"
---
> [Optional Task: Kill Pursuer – Reward: 15 KP]
[Warning: Not Recommended – Exposure Level: High]
His breath came slow. Controlled.
Not yet. Not again.
The forest swallowed the voices. One step at a time, it embraced him.
Until—
Silence.
Only the wind. Only trees. Only him.
---
> [Task Complete: Escape detection successful.]
[Reward: 25 KP + Hidden Bonus Unlocked]
[Parasight Integration Level Increased]
[Kill Points: 95]
Asher dropped beneath a twisted pine, back against bark.
His hands were still shaking. Still stained. But less, now.
> "They think I did it," he whispered. "They saw the blood. The bodies."
> [Assessment: Status – Primary Suspect. Escape advised.]
> "I can't explain it. No one would believe me."
> [Parasight remains hidden unless manually revealed. Host transformation is undetectable unless breached by external forces.]
They didn't know about the cult.
Didn't know about the ritual.
Didn't know what his parents had become.
All they'd see was a blood-soaked teenager walking away from a massacre.
He didn't ask for this.
But it was his now.
And something deep inside—the part that survived—was starting to understand.
The world was cruel.
But now…
So was he.