The street burned.
Flames licked the shattered walls, throwing jagged shadows across the cracked pavement. Screams echoed from every direction, drowned only by the monstrous hiss that rolled out from the creature in front of Lucas.
The Mutated Spider turned its many eyes toward him, its mandibles twitching. The ground beneath its legs cracked with each step.
"Damn it…" Lucas whispered, backing up. His pulse thundered in his ears. The blue window still floated in front of him, mocking him with cold numbers.
[ Mutated Spider (F)]
[ Level: 3 ]
A level five monster. Stronger. Faster. Smarter.
And Lucas was Level 1.
He could already feel sweat bead down his neck. "I can't win this head-on… but if I run, it'll chase me. I need to think."
He glanced around the street — broken carts, shattered bricks, the faint flicker of a lamp that hadn't completely died. His mind worked fast. Anything I consider a weapon becomes one.
He tightened his grip on the branch still glowing faintly from earlier. The blue light from Weapon Resonance flickered at his fingertips.
"Let's see if you're worth all that System hype," he muttered and activated the skill again.
[ Weapon Resonance Activated! ]
The branch glowed brighter this time, a soft hum coursing through the wood. Lucas could feel his blood rushing faster — his Strength and Agility increasing by five each. The System's cold energy pulsed through his muscles.
The spider moved first.
Its front legs stabbed the ground, launching its body forward with terrifying speed. Lucas barely dodged as the creature's leg smashed into the ground where he had stood seconds ago, leaving a crater.
"So fast—!"
The spider spun, its leg sweeping sideways like a spear. Lucas ducked under it, rolled, and swung his branch upward — the weapon slammed into the creature's side with a burst of blue light.
Crack!
The hit connected — but barely scratched it. The monster's carapace absorbed most of the impact. It hissed, furious, and struck again. A leg caught Lucas in the side and sent him tumbling across the ground.
"Argh—!" His back slammed against a wall. Pain flared through his ribs. His HP bar dropped slightly in the corner of his vision.
He spat blood. "Damn… I'm still too weak."
The spider loomed over him, its shadow swallowing the light. Lucas scrambled backward, his mind racing. His branch had cracks now, glowing faintly blue but ready to snap. He needed something else — something stronger.
His eyes darted to the side — a chunk of stone from a collapsed wall, shaped like a wedge.
He reached out his hand. "That'll work!"
He deactivated Weapon Resonance and reactivated it on the stone, the blue glow shifting instantly.
The rock vibrated with energy. Lucas could feel its weight — heavy, stable, deadly.
The spider reared up, legs twitching, and lunged again. Lucas waited, breath held tight, and at the last moment sidestepped the charge. The spider crashed into the wall behind him, stone dust exploding into the air.
Now!
Lucas slammed the glowing rock into one of its legs. The impact cracked the joint with a sharp snap.
The spider shrieked — a high, piercing sound that rattled his bones.
"It worked!"
But the victory was short-lived. The monster spun around and spat a glob of sticky silk. Lucas reacted too late — the web hit his arm and dragged him backward, slamming him into the ground. The rock flew from his grip.
"Ugh—damn it!"
He struggled, pulling at the web. It clung like tar. The spider moved closer, each step shaking the ground. Its eyes glowed crimson in the firelight, and its fangs dripped acid that hissed as it hit the dirt.
Lucas's breathing turned sharp and ragged. His mind screamed for something — anything.
Then he saw it.
To his left — a metal pipe, half-buried under rubble. He reached for it, stretching until his fingers brushed cold metal.
"Come on… just a little more!"
The spider lunged.
Lucas yanked the pipe free, rolled to his feet, and activated Weapon Resonance again.
[ Strength +5 | Agility +5 ]
[ Mana : 8 ]
The metal glowed, humming like a blade eager for blood.
Lucas didn't think. He moved. His body felt lighter, faster, more in tune with the flow of combat than it ever had before. He ducked beneath a stabbing leg, sidestepped another, and struck.
Clang!
The pipe slammed into one of the spider's eyes, bursting it in a spray of dark fluid. The monster screamed, its body flailing wildly. Lucas used the momentum, spinning around to deliver another strike — this time straight into the open wound where the leg joint had cracked earlier.
The pipe sank deep. The blue aura flared like a heartbeat.
The spider convulsed violently before collapsing with a heavy thud. Its body twitched once, then stilled.
A familiar blue window appeared in front of Lucas's eyes.
[ You have killed Mutated Spider (Level 3). ]
[ Level Up! ]
[ Level Up! ]
[ You have gained 6 Undistributed Stat Points. ]
[ You have obtained 30 Coins. ]
For a long moment, Lucas just stood there — chest heaving, the night air thick with smoke and the scent of blood. The glow of the System reflected in his eyes.
He dropped to his knees, the pipe slipping from his hands. His whole body trembled, exhaustion catching up with him. "I… actually did it," he whispered.
Around him, the Safe Zone burned. The faint echoes of screams still rang from deeper within, but the street near him had gone eerily quiet. He looked at the corpse of the spider, its twisted form half-scorched by fire.
He had killed a level five monster — as a newly awakened Level 1 Raider.
Luck? Maybe.
Instinct? Possibly.
But deep down, he knew it was something else.
The blue glow of Weapon Resonance still shimmered faintly around his hands.
His job — Weapon Master — wasn't ordinary.
Lucas took a deep breath and stood. His body ached, but his eyes burned with resolve. He picked up the pipe again, gripping it tightly.
"If this is what being a Raider feels like…" he muttered, glancing at the fires ahead. "Then I'll fight."
His gaze shifted to the distance — to where the explosions had started, where the largest plume of smoke now rose into the night sky.
"That's the center of the Safe Zone," he said quietly. "If monsters broke through there… everyone's in danger."
He tightened his grip on the pipe, the faint hum of magic pulsing beneath his skin.
"Mom told me money is power," he whispered, the memory of her voice echoing softly. "But to earn it… I need to survive first."
The System flickered at the edge of his vision.
[ Quest Unlocked: Defend the Safe Zone ]
[ Difficulty: F ]
[ Objective: Eliminate invading monsters (1/5) ]
[ Reward: 200 Coins | Random Common Skill Scroll ]
Lucas stared at the glowing text for a moment before a small, tired grin tugged at his lips.
"Fine. Let's get rich, then."
He turned toward the fire, pipe in hand, blue aura lighting his steps as he disappeared into the burning streets.