My eyelids slowly opened.
The first thing I felt was… coolness.
My skin had the texture of damp earth.
As if I'd been lying in mud for hours.
I lifted my head.
The sky… was unfamiliar.
A pale orange. Mixed with purple.
And the sun seemed larger than it should be.
Giant grasses stretched around me.
Between my legs, under my belly, around my head…
As if this world were about to swallow me.
I tried to stand up.
The ground felt strange beneath my feet.
It felt neither like stone nor like grass.
It felt alive.
When I turned my eyes forward… I froze.
Hundreds of people.
Some, like me, had just woken up.
Some had already begun exploring the surroundings.
Some were on their knees praying.
Some were tearing at the grass with their hands, looking like they were about to go crazy.
I heard a woman scream.
A short distance away, she was hugging a child on the ground, trying to sit up, trembling.
"Is this a dream?"
I muttered.
I pinched myself.
"Ah!"
It hurt.
This isn't a nightmare.
This was real.
But… where was I?
At that very moment, a voice echoed in my head.
Not in my ears.
Straight from my mind.
It was cold.
It was artificial.
Yet, every word… was understandable.
[System Notification]
Welcome!
Your world has reached its maximum human limit.
Congratulations! You've qualified to participate in the Destiny Game.
Tutorial Missions have been loaded due to mandatory login.
[Ding!] First mission acquired.
Mission: Elimination
"100 million powerless people... a waste of space."
Objective: Kill 10 players
Reward: Class Selection Roulette + Permanent World Access
Punishment: Death
Suddenly, my knees buckled.
My chest tightened.
Breathing became difficult.
Kill... 10 people?
I struggled to pull myself together.
I looked around again.
The faces were familiar. The humanity was familiar.
But now, we were all... in the same game.
I had just stood up when I heard a voice behind me.
—PLEASE! STOP!
As I turned, I saw a man running toward me.
His eyes were filled with tears.
He held his hands outstretched.
He was shaking.
He was crying.
—FORGIVENESS! I HAVE TO DO IT!
As I tried to comprehend what had happened, he jumped on me.
He was unbalanced but strong.
His fist hit my cheek.
I stumbled.
We rolled in the dirt.
I didn't let the man climb on me.
I threw a knee into his stomach.
I rolled him over.
At that moment... our eyes met.
He was crying.
—I have two children... I must return to them... Do you understand? Please...
I was crying too.
But I didn't even realize it anymore.
As his hands roamed my throat,
my hands wrapped around his.
The first time I squeezed, he didn't resist.
The second time, he trembled.
The third time... his eyes froze.
At that moment, the world stopped.
And the system spoke again.
[System Notification]
Congratulations. You've killed a player.
David Mucherson [Level 0] – killed.
I pulled my hand away.
I was shaking.
A pang of pain shot through my stomach.
"What have I done...?"
But the answer was clear.
The system hadn't asked me.
It hadn't given me a choice.
Either I was going to kill.
I was going to die.
And I…
wanted to live.
Slowly removing my hands, I let out a long sigh.
But I shouldn't have stayed where I was for too long.
I stood up quickly. I glanced around quickly.
People had already begun killing each other.
Some were violently attacking, others were kicking and screaming as if in a struggle.
I didn't want to be the target this time. Regrettably, I began searching for weaker targets.
I spotted an old man.
He couldn't even stand upright, so I silently ran towards him to kill him.
I jumped on him.
I strangled him.
There was a look of resignation in his eyes.
So, eight people remained.
By the time I'd killed my third and fourth targets, there weren't many people left in the area; some had already completed their mission and left.
The initially packed area was only a few people left. I'd fallen into a group and waited calmly.
We waited for a moment of movement, surrounded by various faces. A young woman stood at the far end, waiting with a small girl beside her. She was calmly retreating. A man, seizing this opportunity, tried to attack her, and what I saw shocked me.
With an unexpected act of agility, the young woman managed to kick the man, twisting his head!
I think there were five of us left at that moment. She was already incredibly strong, so we began searching for openings like wild animals waiting to pounce.
At that very moment, a young, well-built bodybuilder quickly jumped on the nearest man. At that moment, everyone began attacking him. I think everyone had agreed without speaking: We would kill the accessible target.
As a result of this dogfight, I managed to escape by strangling one person to death. But I was bleeding heavily. One of the madmen had opened a wound with his nails and enlarged it by biting.
The wound was throbbing like crazy. I took off my clothes, bandaged the wound, and continued on my way through the forest.
After various adventures, I finally reached 10 kills and slowly collapsed against the edge of the tree. Finally, the same voice rang in my head again.
*Mission accomplished.
My body was bathed in light.
I felt like I was being torn apart.
But there was no pain.
Just… as if my very being were being dismantled, then rebuilt.
Every cell beneath my skin…
Every part of me…
was slowly being dissolved and rewritten.
It was like a reset of sorts.
When I opened my eyes again…
I was on a cold stone floor.
The air was dry and cool.
The sky was closed in like the ceiling of a giant cave.
But this time there were stars.
And their light…
It wasn't artificial, it was real.
This place was… different.
Calmer compared to the previous place.
But not peaceful.
Just… organized.
I looked around.
Faces, like me, newcomers.
Some still in shock.
Some were crouched, staring at the system screen.
Some were crying.
Some were trying to make sense of their blood-covered hands.
So was I.
The system screen was still in front of me.
[System Message – Mission Successful]
Player: Alkinos
Quest: Initial Quest – COMPLETED
Class: Void Walker
Class Rarity: ???
Attribute:While those above are in happiness and prosperity, you are running through the claws of death. What is it all for?
Weaknesses:
• Glutton: Hunger duration increased by 300%. the speed at which you can become satiated slowed by 300%.
• Solo: All stats are reduced by 50% when fighting in a party.
Note: This class is outside the overall balance of the system. Cannot be tracked. Cannot be measured.
Tag: [Out of System], [Dark Dissonance], [Hidden Type], [Thriving in Loneliness]
I frowned.
"Void Walker?"
No one knew what this class was.
There was no information about it in the system.
In fact...
Some areas of the screen were blurry.
It was as if even the system couldn't recognize my class.
Out of system.
Untrackable.
I felt... a strange unease inside me.
On the one hand, I had succeeded.
But on the other...
It was as if a different fate awaited me.
This wasn't a game.
Every step here was real.
Every death was eternal.
A voice rose from the crowd.
—Everyone, line up! Now!
A group of people in red uniforms... were armed.
They wore no helmets.
But their gazes were like knives.
When the system screen focused on them, a label appeared above them:
[******* Level ****** ****** – Starting Area Overseer]
They didn't hesitate for a moment.
They plunged into us.
They didn't force it.
But anyone who resisted… they literally dragged them across the floor.
A woman screamed.
A man collapsed.
I… just watched.
Every reflex I had was ready to act.
But an inner voice said:
"Not now."
"Not yet."
A giant stone door opened in the wall directly in front of me.
Behind it, darkness…
And a passage.
The home world…