2026-04-06 11:33:52The roar tore through the silence of the night with an intensity that could shatter the courage of even the strongest man. Raka felt the vibration travel from the concrete beneath his feet all the way to his spine. Before his eyes, the massive shadow blocked the light of the dying streetlamps, creating a monstrous silhouette that looked more like a nightmare than reality.
"You... you're kidding, right?" Raka whispered, his voice barely audible over the creature's thunderous breathing. "System! Give me a hint! How am I supposed to fight something that big with a scrap of iron?"
[Warning: Level difference is too great.]
[Suggestion: Fleeing is statistically the most logical choice.]
"Thanks for the genius advice!" Raka growled.
He didn't wait for the next warning. As the giant claw slammed into the wall where he had just been leaning, Raka threw himself to the side, rolling across the rough asphalt. The sound of concrete shattering into pieces echoed behind him. Without looking back, he dragged his newly recovered legs toward a small iron door on the side of the building, the emergency exit leading to a minimarket warehouse.
Run, Raka! Run if you still want to see the sun tomorrow! he thought, holding his breath.
He slipped inside just as the creature slammed its head into the mouth of the alley, making the entire building shake violently. Raka locked the door from the inside, leaned his back against a pile of empty cardboard boxes, and listened to the growls outside slowly fade as their prey vanished into a gap that was far too narrow.
Two hours passed in a deathly silence.
Raka sat on the dark floor of the minimarket. Dim moonlight filtered through the shattered front window, illuminating the messy shelves. The smell of spilled detergent mixed with the metallic scent of blood that seemed to come from nowhere. He held a bottle of mineral water he had found under a shelf, gulping it down greedily until the very last drop.
"System," Raka called out softly. "Display menu. I need to know what I just got."
Ziiing.
A transparent blue screen reappeared, lighting up his dirty, scratched face.
[Name: Raka Pratama]
[Level: 2]
[HP: 50/100]
[Stamina: 45/100]
[Active Skill: Predator's Eye (Level 1)]
[Skill Point: 1]
"Skill Point?" Raka asked. "Is that for unlocking new abilities?"
[Correct, Player. You may open the Skill Tree to choose your initial specialization.]
"Open Skill Tree," Raka commanded.
A branching diagram appeared before him. There were paths for Physical Strength, Speed, and Perception. His eyes fixed on the branch connected to Predator's Eye. There was an option that caught his attention: Weak Point Insight.
"If I take this, what happens?"
[The 'Weak Point Insight' skill will provide an instant analysis of the target's anatomical structure. Any attack hitting a red point will deal 200% critical damage.]
"Double damage?" Raka gave a thin smirk. "Very useful for someone who only has a piece of rusted iron as a weapon. I'll take it. Confirm."
[Skill Point used. 'Predator's Eye' has evolved into 'Predator's Eye: Insight'.]
Raka closed his eyes for a moment, feeling a tingling sensation behind his eyelids. When he opened them again, the world looked different. Thin lines began to appear on every object. He looked at his hand and could see the paths of his blood vessels and nerve points pulsing faintly.
"Incredible," he muttered. "Now, I'm no longer blind prey."
Suddenly, his ears caught a faint scraping sound coming from the drink racks at the end of the room. It wasn't the heavy, dragging footsteps of the zombies he had fought in the alley. This sound was fast, light, and rhythmic.
Srak. Srak. Srak.
"Who's there?" Raka challenged, gripping his rusted iron tightly.
[Warning: 'Runner' detected within a 5-meter range.]
"Runner?" Raka activated his new skill.
In his monochrome vision, he saw a shadow moving incredibly fast behind the shelves. The creature was skin and bones, its skin clinging tightly to its frame, and the muscles in its legs appeared disproportionately enlarged. Unlike ordinary zombies, this creature didn't groan. It waited.
"Damn, they evolved this fast?" Raka whispered. It wasn't waiting because it was stupid; it was waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.
Without warning, the Runner leaped over the two-meter-high shelf. Its movement was so fast it looked like a black blur in the air. However, to Raka, everything seemed to move in slow motion. A bright red circle pulsed right under the creature's Adam's apple.
"Got you!" Raka shouted.
He didn't dodge. Instead, he ducked slightly and slammed the tip of his iron rod toward that red circle.
Jleb!
The iron went in easily, as if piercing through butter. The Runner choked, its body slamming onto the floor and twitching for a moment before finally going completely still. Black blood sprayed toward Raka's shoes.
[Target neutralized.]
[Gained 25 EXP.]
"Twenty-five?" Raka raised an eyebrow. "More than a regular zombie. But they're much more dangerous. If there were two or three at once..."
[Analysis: Your survival probability against three Runners simultaneously is 12%.]
"Thanks for that highly motivating statistic, System," Raka said sarcastically. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I need a better weapon. And maybe... a safer hiding place."
Raka began searching the back of the minimarket, hoping to find something useful. He found an intact black backpack and started stuffing it with several cans of food, chocolate bars, and two large bottles of water. His mind drifted to his life before this. Before, the most stressful thing in his life was facing overdue rent or his boss's scolding for a data entry error.
Now, I'm killing monsters for breakfast, he thought bitterly. The world had gone mad, or maybe he was the one going mad for enjoying this sensation of power.
He was just about to shoulder his backpack when a high-pitched scream erupted from outside the store. It was a human voice. A woman's voice, filled with sheer terror.
"Help! Help us!"
Raka froze. He stepped slowly toward the shattered front window, hiding behind the cracked wooden frame. Through the gap, he saw a group of people maybe four or five running down the middle of the dark street. Behind them, at least three Runners were chasing with terrifying speed.
"Hurry! Get inside that building!" a man in the group shouted, pointing toward an office building across from the minimarket.
One of them, a young girl, tripped over a cable lying across the road. She fell face-first.
"Sari! Get up!" her friend screamed, but the Runners were already too close.
Raka gripped his rusted iron. His heart pounded. Instinctively, his hand moved toward the minimarket's door handle. But he stopped.
What are you doing, Raka? a voice whispered inside his head. You just leveled up. Your HP isn't full. If you go out there, you'll just be another corpse on the street. They aren't your problem. Survival means not being a hero who dies for nothing.
"Damn it..." Raka gritted his teeth. He saw the girl crawling backward, her face pale with terror as one of the Runners prepared to lunge for her throat.
[Side Quest Triggered: Survivor Rescue.]
[Reward: 100 EXP and Mystery Item.]
[Failure: No penalty, but potential allies will be lost forever.]
"Potential allies?" Raka stared at the girl. There was something in her eyes, a determination to live that reminded him of himself when he was trapped in the alley.
Raka looked at the System screen, then back at the street outside. Logic told him to stay quiet, to stay safe in the darkness of the minimarket until morning. But his heart, the small part of him that still felt human rebelled.
"I'm going to regret this," Raka muttered.
He kicked the minimarket door wide open, creating a loud bang that drew the attention of the three Runners. Raka stood there, under the pale moonlight, holding his rusted iron like a gladiator entering the arena.
"Hey, rot-faces!" Raka roared. "You're looking for a more challenging prey, right? Come here and face me!"
The three Runners stopped instantly. They twisted their necks with the sound of cracking bones, their hungry yellow eyes now fixed entirely on Raka. Raka swallowed hard, activated his Predator's Eye, and saw three red circles p
ulsing before his eyes.
"Come on," Raka challenged, even though his hands were shaking. "Let's see who becomes whose EXP tonight."
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Latest Chapter
The New Victim Zone
The sky above Sector 7-B no longer glowed with the orange-red hues of dawn. Instead, the horizon looked torn open, revealing a gaping void filled with thousands of lines of dark purple static code that crackled like silent lightning. The air, once purified by Raka’s modifications, suddenly turned heavy, reeking of sulfur and scorched metal. Every breath felt like inhaling shards of fine glass scraping against his lungs.Raka stood on the command balcony, his hand gripping the metal railing that now felt unnaturally cold, not with morning dew, but with an emptiness, as if the atoms composing the iron were losing their energy. Before him, his usually steady silver interface flickered wildly, blasting blinding warnings.[SYSTEM WARNING: LOCAL ANOMALY DETECTED][Status: Guardian Authority Suppressed by Architect Protocol][New Area Formed: “VICTIM ZONE”]“Raka
Battlefield Modification
The cold wastewater seeping through the cracks in his boots no longer registered to Raka. Deep within the underground labyrinth of Sector 7-B, he stood in near-total darkness, save for the faint silver glow emanating from the strange lines running along his arms. The sound of dripping water from cracked concrete pipes echoed softly, forming a monotonous rhythm that only sharpened his focus.Before him, a transparent interface window hovered quietly. Unlike the red screens of ordinary Players or the golden one he once possessed, this one was a dense silver, its codes flowing like an inverted waterfall.“Sari, are you there?” Raka whispered, his voice low, nearly swallowed by the distant hum of pumping machines.“I’m here, Raka,” Sari’s voice came through the neural link, clear but tense. “I’ve redirected the signal from Aris’s transmitter. On Bara’s radar, his hy
Defection Tactics
The remnants of the inferno from the Dawn Assault still left streaks of black soot clinging to the warehouse walls, yet the morning air felt colder and more oppressive than the night before. The scent of scorched metal mixed with the metallic tang of blood drying in the cracks of the asphalt. Inside the Sector 7-B complex, the silence was not a sign of peace, but of tension stretched to its limit, like a wire pulled too tight by unseen hands.Raka sat slumped against the concrete wall in the corner of the control room, his chest rising and falling in a heavy rhythm. His skin was pale, almost translucent, revealing faint silver lines spreading along the veins of his arms. The “Forced Hibernation Protocol” triggered by the System had not fully ended, yet his consciousness had returned, though it felt like being dragged up from the depths of a dark ocean.“Drink,” Sari’s voice came, soft yet firm. She held out a slightly worn plastic bottle of water.Raka accepted it with trembling hands
Dawn Assault
A thin mist blanketed the ruins of Sector 7-B as the first light of dawn began to peek over the blood-red horizon. The morning air carried no freshness, only the sharp scent of rust and lingering ozone from the aftermath of Raka’s silver power manifestation hours earlier. Above the warehouse complex that served as their final stronghold, the protective dome, now a pale silver, trembled faintly, as if breathing in rhythm with Raka’s still-unsteady heartbeat.Raka stood at the highest point of the makeshift watchtower. His eyes, now glowing faintly like constellations, stared into the distance along the main road cutting through the city. There, in the dim horizon, rows of combat vehicle lights began to appear, slicing through the darkness like the eyes of starving beasts. Not just one or two, but dozens, perhaps hundreds.“They’re not wasting any time,” Sari’s voice came from behind him. She climbed the iron ladder with slightly hurried breaths, clutching a data tablet filled with blin
The Unspoken Pact
The black metal sphere felt heavier than its actual weight. It seemed to drain the heat from Raka’s palm, leaving a cold sensation that seeped deep into his bones. Beneath the fractured night sky streaked with red ripples, Raka ran through the ruined city, dodging the sweeping beams of flashlights from the group chasing him, their shouts echoing behind.His breath came in ragged gasps, yet each heartbeat pulsed in sync with the fading golden light emanating from the warehouse. He had to get there before it was too late.The moment he slipped past the hidden rear barricade, Raka locked the steel door and leaned against it. His chest heaved violently. Inside the warehouse, panic had shifted into a tension on the verge of explosion. He could still hear Pak Darma arguing heatedly with several people downstairs.“Raka! You’re back!”Sari emerged from behind a stack of crates, her pale face illuminated by the glow of an active computer terminal. Her eyes immediately locked onto the object i
Whispers from the Shadows
The roar of the crowd outside the warehouse sounded like waves crashing against jagged rocks, dull yet relentless. Inside the dim medical tent, Raka could still feel the vibrations through the concrete floor each time Pak Darma or his angry followers kicked the metal barricades. Yet inside his head, there was another noise, far more disturbing.It was not the cold, authoritarian voice of the Architect. Nor was it the mechanical tone of the System.Zzztt... Le...ave... Sector... 0...Raka’s vision suddenly blurred. The golden interface that usually hovered steadily before his eyes now shook violently, shattering into thousands of colorful pixels before snapping back together into chaotic lines of text. The characters were not from any programming language he knew. They twisted like worms, forming patterns that hurt to look at.“Raka? Hey, can you hear me?” Sari gripped his shoulder, her face very close, filled with genuine concern.Raka blinked rapidly, trying to clear the static cling
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