Nasa's footsteps echoed as he slipped outside, only to freeze, the same man was right behind him.
"YOU BASTARD!" the man roared, his face twisted with rage.
He drew a slow, deliberate breath and lifted his sword. The man lunged, but Nasa didn't move, his body a statue of deadly calm.
Swish!
The blade cut through the air, and the man's head tumbled to the floor.
He advanced down the hallway, each step measured, expecting the next opponent, but what met his eyes froze him. The corridor was a nightmare: blood-slicked walls, broken bodies, and a stench of death so thick it clung to his throat.
Each door he pushed open revealed more terror: lifeless bodies sprawled across the floor, the blood thickened and reflecting the dim light like black mirrors, and medical instruments scattered around, battered out of recognition as tools of some unnatural study. The smell was of iron and rot, and it sickened him.
"I'm so confused… what is this place? At first, I thought it was a drug lab, then a killing chamber, and now… I'm seeing tools scattered on the floor," Nasa said, his voice trembling.
"Hey! You're not supposed to be here," a man behind Nasa shouted.
The man lunged at Nasa, but Nasa moved like a shadow—swift, precise, and unstoppable. His blade flashed: first the hand, then the leg, and finally the head, each strike landing with brutal, clean efficiency.
"How weak," Nasa said, his voice laced with disappointment.
Three men charged at Nasa, blades raised, but they didn't even land a scratch. With ruthless precision, he cut through them like a storm tearing through paper.
More attackers poured in, but each one met the same fate, screaming, falling, disappearing into the carnage that seemed to follow him wherever he went.
"Why is everyone so weak… or am I just that strong?" Nasa muttered.
Suddenly, someone punched Nasa, sending him flying into the wall with a painful thud.
"Well, I jinxed that," Nasa groaned, pushing himself to his feet.
Standing before him was a bald fellow with sharp black eyes and bushy green eyebrows wearing a hazmat suit.
He threw his head back, chest shaking, and a loud, reckless laugh tore from his throat. His opponent froze, expecting a strike, but he didn't move. He just laughed.
"Hahaha… why is your eyebrow so big and green?" Nasa asked.
He didn't respond, and before Nasa could react, the man threw another punch, but Nasa barely dodged it.
Even though he looked funny, he was really strong, Nasa thought, grinning. He raised his sword and lunged but the green-eyebrowed man dodged effortlessly.
Then the green-eyebrowed man grabbed a metal pipe from the ground.
"Now we're even," he said, a smirk tugging at his lips.
𝘞𝘰𝘸… 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦.
"Now the real fight begins," I muttered, surprised at how much it sounded like a line from a movie.
Then, the green-eyebrowed man lunged at me, swinging his metal pipe. I caught the strike with my sword and, in the same breath, drove my foot into his stomach, sending him flying.
I sprinted at him and swung for his leg, but he stopped my blade with the metal pipe. He kicked my leg, knocking me off balance, I went down and he pinned me, beneath him. He lifted the pipe to end me.
But I shoved my foot up and connected with his balls.
He crumpled to the ground, both hands clutching his groin. "AHHH—FUCK!" His cry tore through the air.
𝘖𝘰𝘰… 𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘥.
"Hey… man, sorry about that. Let's go get something to eat, okay?" I told him, offering my hand to help him up.
But instead, he grabbed my hand and threw me across the room, pipes and chunks of concrete raining down upon me, pain searing through my body.
He approached me, a smirk curling on his lips.
"F–fuck you, man! I actually felt bad for you!" I shouted at the green-eyebrowed man.
"I don't want your pity, kid… so tell me, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I was just exploring the forest and stumbled across this base," I replied.
"Hah… I see. So why did you come, he—" Before he could finish, I cut him off.
"Shut up… I want action, not some nobody who is irrelevant to the story talking on and on," I said, standing up, brushing the dust off my clothes, and spitting blood from my mouth.
Then, with all my strength, I yelled, "Winterheart Sword Arts—Stage 3: Cold Thrust!"
Swoosh!
A cold, precise strike to the neck cut his breath short. His hand jerked upward, fingers brushing his eyebrow, before he slumped to the floor, utterly still.
I knelt beside him, expression unreadable, and muttered, "Wow… even in death, he hasn't lost his sense of humor."
𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦... 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 green-eyebrowed, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 his boss was.
"Sigh… time to get going," I said.
Then I started searching for the boss. Many people tried to fight me, but they were all weak. None of them compared to the green-eyebrowed man.
Then I noticed a big metal door. I pushed it open, and there was a set of stairs leading down into the darkness.
Because of course, what do people in horror movies do?
"Yep… I'm definitely going down," I said, way too interested for my own good.
The stairs felt endless, like I was descending forever. Finally, I reached the bottom. The staircase opened into a massive hallway. I walked forward, and at the end was a huge room, every corner covered in plastic wrap.
Inside, countless enormous test tubes stood upright, each filled with something mysterious, floating silently in the liquid.
I stepped closer to one of the tubs, then recoiled in terror, there were monsters inside, many different types of monsters.
"What the fuck….. no, seriously, what the hell is this place?!" My voice cracked with shock and confusion.
I looked around, aside from the tubs, the room was cluttered with tools, chemicals, and hazmat suits scattered everywhere. On one of the tables lay a letter. I picked it up and opened it.
———————————————————
𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘴𝘴
𝘛𝘰: 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘺
𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘺,
𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧.
𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘈1 𝘵𝘰 𝘉1.
𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴,
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘴𝘴
———————————————————
"Wow… talk about convenience," I said, smirking."
𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴… 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘭.
I grinned, tightening my grip on my sword.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵… 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘤.