DEADLY GAME SYSTEM

Chapter two: The Hunt

Ethan’s breath fogged in the chill air as he staggered backward, his eyes wide at the grotesque scene. The red sky bled into jagged black clouds, and the ground beneath him pulsed faintly, veins of molten fire glowing between cracks in the stone.

The roar still echoed in his bones.

And then—screaming.

His head was pounding.

Everywhere felt too small and too tight, he rubbed his chest.

He was having a panic attack

Then he heard a loud piercing scream

It sounded like

Sophia Kane the cheerleader

He turned back , his heart beating too fast, to see other figures scattered across the plain. Students. The same ones who had laughed at him minutes ago. Marcus, pale-faced and furious. Two girls clutching each other. A handful of others stumbling around, shouting in panic.

Sophia fell with her leg bent at an awkward angle

She was screaming

Marcus rushed to her

“Calm down Sophia" he said

“It hurts” she cried

“This—this has to be some VR trick!” one of the other girls cried, pounding her fists against the ground. “It’s fake, it’s just—just graphics!”

Blood trickled down her knuckles where the stone tore her skin. The look on her face when she saw real flesh split open said otherwise.

Ethan’s stomach knotted. We’re really here.

The air hummed. A system chime cut through the chaos.

[Quest Initialized.]

Blue text hovered before their eyes, too large and bright to ignore.

Quest 1: The First Hunt.

Objective: Slay one monster.

Reward: 500–1,000 points (based on performance).

Failure: Death.

The words pulsed, final and merciless.

“What the hell do you mean failure equals death?” a girl shrieked. “It’s a bug—it has to be—”

Her voice died when the shadows moved.

Shapes detached themselves from the horizon, lurching forward on distorted limbs. The creatures weren’t human, weren’t animal. Their bodies were stretched too long, with glistening carapaces and dripping maws filled with teeth that gleamed like knives.

The closest one let out a shrill, bone-rattling screech.

Panic erupted. Students scattered, screaming, tripping over one another. Marcus cursed loudly, dragging a chair leg he must have found nearby like it was a weapon.

Ethan’s whole body froze. Every instinct screamed at him to run. But where? The red horizon stretched endlessly in all directions. There was no exit, no safe zone.

The monsters were faster.

One lunged.

It barreled into a boy near Ethan, claws slicing through flesh. The boy’s scream cut off instantly as blood sprayed across the stone. His body twitched, and then—

[Player 58 Eliminated.]

The words flashed coldly in the air, indifferent. The boy’s body dissolved into ash.

Ethan gagged, bile rising in his throat. This is real. We can die here.

Another creature skittered toward him. Instinct took over. He stumbled backward, his eyes darting for anything, anything to use as a weapon. His hands closed around a jagged stone.

The monster lunged and Ethan swung the stone at it.

The impact shuddered through his arm as the rock cracked against its skull. The creature shrieked, claws raking his side. Pain exploded in Ethan's side forcing a scream from his throat.

He staggered backwards, clutching his side as blood dripped down coating his hands in bright red blood.

The monster snarled, Moving towards Ethan again.

Ethan’s chest heaved, His vision blurred. If I don’t kill it—I die.

He forced his shaking legs to move. Another swing, much harder than the last time.

The stone smashed into the monster’s head again. Once. Twice. A sickening crunch echoed across the plain. The creature collapsed in a spray of black blood, twitching once before going still.

it was dead, but Ethan kept on hitting and hitting and hitting till he felt his hands go limp and he fell to his knees beside the dead creature gasping, his arms trembling with exhaustion and terror. His lungs burned. His whole body shook.

Then—

[ Player 382 Quest Completed.]

A new screen filled his vision.

Player 382: Ethan Cole

Points Earned: 500

Level: Beginner

Life Saves: 1

Ethan’s breath caught. His first points. Real and Tangible.

The fuck was going on

But when he looked up,

The room was chaos.

Marcus swung his chair leg wildly, bashing another monster to death, his face twisted in rage.

[Player 390 Quest completed]

Player 390: Marcus Hale

Level: Beginner

Points: 500

Life saves: 1

A girl screamed as claws dragged her down. The words [Player Eliminated] blinked again and again in the air.

The red sky shook with roars. More monsters emerged from the shadows, dozens of them. The “first hunt” wasn’t over for everyone.

Ethan staggered to his feet, clutching his side where blood seeped hot and sticky. His whole body screamed to curl up, to hide, to pretend this wasn’t happening.

The monsters avoided Ethan and Marcus

Ethan looked around and saw a pink haired girl in pig tails

Struggling with a monster

She had her hand wrapped around its neck while it screeched and clawed at her

Ethan rushed to her side and grabbed the monsters claws, the girl brought out a pin from her hair and stabbed the monster in its neck

Repeatedly

Till the monster went limp in her arms.

[Player 150 Quest completed]

Player 150: Lena Rivers

Level: Beginner

Points: 500

Life saves : 1

The girl pushed the monster away from her body and looked at Ethan

“Thank you” she said

“It's fine” Ethan said and sat down, watching the other players kill their monster

Just then the whole room went pitch black

“I hope this is me waking up from my nightmare” The girl said

[Congrats on completing your first Quest, 400 players were admitted into the game

150players are left

Congrats on your Victory

You can use your points to go to the infirmary and treat your wounds

But remember

To go to the next level you need a total of 10,000 points

Life saves can be used to save your life and wake you up when you die once.

But each player can only have three lifesaves for the three levels and countless quests.

Happy surviving

And welcome to The deadly game system]

The lights turned back on and all the dead monsters were gone

Ethan looked around and saw

Marcus Hale, Oliver Grant and even Sophia Kane had survived

Everyone was murmuring

Ethan looked around

“I don't want to be in this fucking game” a boy yelled from behind

[Player 13, do you wish to leave the game?] The system voice asked

“Yes I do” the boy said again

[You will be eliminated from the game then]

Just then an arrow shot right into the boy's head and he fell to the ground

Everyone gasped

Ethan looked shocked , his eyes widened

A door opened , Everyone looked at the door

“Is this another trap?“ the pink hair girl asked

“Only one way to find out" Ethan said

****

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