❖ Operation 1: "The Feast of Beasts"Time Remaining: 6 hours, 48 minutesStatus: First Wave Approaching
The clearing was quiet again.
Not peaceful.Never peaceful.Just the kind of quiet that meant something was about to go very wrong.
Seo Juwon had felt it before.
The kind of silence that came right before a train left the rails.
People had stopped screaming, but only because they were too scared to keep making noise. Many crouched near the center of the clearing, clumped together like children clinging to the illusion of safety.
A man in a suit was pacing the edge of the tree line, muttering numbers under his breath. A trio of teenagers sat in the grass, whispering plans to run the moment something appeared. They didn't look like they meant it.
Juwon didn't blame them.
None of this felt real.
The glowing trees. The violet sky. The system windows hanging in the air like judgment.
But real or not—The girl who turned to ash was still gone.
The boy dragged into the woods hadn't come back.
A branch cracked in the distance.
Every head turned.
The violet fog between the trees pulsed.
Then came the growl.
Low. Wet. Close.
❖ First Wave Engaged.
A beast emerged.
It crawled on too many limbs—furred, jointed wrong, ribcage rippling under loose skin. Its eyes burned white, not with light but hunger.
It didn't run.
It walked.
Casual.
Confident.
It had done this before.
The beast paused at the tree line, as if to savor the moment.
Someone near the front screamed and bolted.
The beast moved.
One step.
Two.
Then it pounced.
Juwon didn't move.
Not yet.
His heart was steady. His hands cold.
He watched.
Analyzed.
Size: larger than a man.Speed: above human average.Mana: ??? (He still couldn't sense it.)Weak points: Exposed throat. Eye cluster. Rear legs too thin for weight.
He didn't have a weapon.
He didn't have mana.
But he had information.
And information was everything.
The screaming man didn't make it far.
The beast slammed him to the ground with one paw and tore his stomach open with its teeth.
Gasps. Vomiting. Panic.
And then a second beast appeared.
Then a third.
Juwon grabbed Jiyeon's arm.
"Move."
She didn't hesitate.
Together, they broke left, skirting the outer ring of panicked survivors. Most people were running in random directions, too afraid to notice the pattern.
The beasts didn't chase the fastest runners.
They targeted the loudest.
The fourth beast landed near a huddle of girls trying to pray.
One looked up.
Too late.
Juwon didn't watch the rest.
They reached the shadow of one of the taller trees. Juwon crouched behind its roots, pulling Jiyeon down with him.
"Stay low. Don't make noise. Don't run unless they're looking away."
Jiyeon nodded, face pale but focused. "You've done this before."
"No," Juwon said. "But I've watched things like this unfold."
"Movies?"
He shook his head. "People."
Another scream. Another system chime.
❖ Player 0429: Deceased.Cause of Death: Internal Trauma.
Juwon took a breath and looked out.
There were maybe thirty people left in sight. Most were still in the clearing. Only a few had taken cover—some behind roots, some under brush.
The beasts were still moving.
Still killing.
But they weren't hunting.
They were cleansing.
This wasn't chaos. It was method.
"I think it's a test," he said.
Jiyeon blinked. "A test of what?"
Juwon's eyes stayed on the beasts.
"Judgment."
A small sound to the right—a shuffle.
He turned sharply.
Another survivor—boy, early twenties—was inching toward their position. Blood on his arm, clothes torn.
"Please," he whispered, "let me hide there—please, I'm bleeding—"
Juwon looked at the trees.
The beasts hadn't noticed yet.
But blood had a smell.
He reached for the boy.
"Crouch. Slow. Don't speak."
The boy tried.
But the pain was too much.
He cried out.
Three heads turned from the clearing.
Beasts.
Locked.
Then they sprinted.
Juwon made a choice.
He grabbed Jiyeon and ran.
The boy screamed behind them.
Then he didn't.
They didn't look back until the trees swallowed the clearing completely.
❖ Time Remaining: 6 hours, 24 minutes❖ Players Remaining: 1,019