2026-05-03 18:40:15“This isn't real” zayn mumbled under his breath as he staggered a few steps back repeating the words in his head like he was trying to awaken himself from a dream
The screen didn't disappear instead a ray of light emanated from it scanning Zayn as he tried using his hands to block the stream of light
CANDIDATE DETECTED
A low hum filled the air coming from the screen as it ran a few lines of code.zayn clenched his his fists who's doing this?
No answer came from the screen only a continuous hum
INITIATING CONTRACT
Zayns heart skipped a beat as the temperature around him dropped.his breathing hitched and come out in trembling clouds.His instincts screamed at him to run but where could he go? The world itself was frozen
Then the screen displayed more lines of code
DO YOU ACCEPT?
YES. NO.
Zayn stared blankly at the two options presented to him
This is a joke he mumbled to himself almost letting out a laugh some kind of a prank or hallucination he whispered as he looked back at the frozen street
His heart pounded harder as thoughts ran through his head think think he said almost hitting himself in the head,he forced himself to breath,there had to be a logical explanation for this maybe the fact that he was stressed or due to his lack of sleep the last few days
His fingers hovered over the screen unsure what to pick,okay if i pick no this should all end he thought to himself
It had to
There was no way this was real. He slowly,cautiously approached the screen and selected no. It was all calm around him for a while after he pushed the button and relief slowly washed over him
Then, pain shot through his entire body,he felt like his body was being ripped apart from the inside,his vision became blurry and pain shot through his head in waves he couldn't dismiss
He couldn't scream,he tried but his throat wouldn't make a sound,every nerve ignited,and he felt every bone in his body cracking slowly,every breath turned into fire and then nothing, everything seemed to slow down
Zayn gasped.
Air rushed into his lungs as he stumbled forward, collapsing onto his knees.
The street.
The frozen people.
The unmoving cars.
Everything was exactly the same.
“No…”
His hands trembled violently as he looked down at himself,no wounds,no blood,just pain that wouldn't go away
The memory of it clung to him like a shadow,raw and real
“No, no, no….”
The screen flickered back into existence.
DO YOU ACCEPT?
Zayn recoiled as if struck.
“I died,” he whispered inwardly to himself.
His voice sounded small and fragile.
“I just… died.”
The system did not respond,it didn’t need to,it had already made him relieve the moment and that was more than enough
Zayn’s mind raced, trying to process what had just happened,that wasn’t a dream,it couldn’t be,dreams didn’t feel like that.
Dreams didn’t leave echoes of agony crawling under your skin.
“This is insane…”
But even as he said it, he knew the truth,and as much as he didn't want to accept it this was real,and whatever this was,it wasn’t giving him a choice.
His gaze slowly lifted to the screen again.
YES NO
His body flinched involuntarily at the sight of the second option.
“No means death,” he said hoarsely.
His lips pressed into a thin line.
“…Then what happens if I say yes?”
He thought inwardly to himself
Taking a shaky breath, Zayn forced himself to think.
If this thing wanted him dead, it wouldn’t ask,if it gave him a choice even a fake one then there had to be a reason.
“Survival,” he murmured. “This is about survival.”
His hand lifted again, slower this time,more certain.
“If I’m going to die anyway…” His eyes hardened. “Then I’ll choose how.”
He pressed YES
The world shattered,broke before his eyes like glass, fragments floating away into an endless void
Reality broke apart like glass, fragments floating away into an endless void. The frozen city dissolved into nothingness, leaving Elias suspended in darkness.
“Welcome player Zayn ” a voice said.
It wasn’t loud,it didn’t echo,but it filled everything.
Zayn spun around, searching for its source. “Who’s there?”
But no figure appeared,only darkness,and the voice.
Zayn’s chest tightened.
“What… is this?”
“The first trial will now begin.”
The words dropped like a bomb shell loud and final.
“Wait trial? I didn’t agree to….”
“The objective for the trial will be provided upon deployment.”
“Deployment?” His voice cracked. “Deployment where?”
Again no answer came.
But suddenly the darkness began to break and then a very bright light shone around zayn consuming all of him
Before Zayn could realize what was going on he hit the ground hard the impact knocking the breath out of him as he rolled across rough concrete, coughing violently.
“...ck!”
He forced himself upright, blinking against the dim light.
It was night, atleast it looked that way,but this wasn't the same city he knew.
This place was… wrong,it just felt wrong .
The buildings around him were tall, decaying structures, their windows dark and hollow like empty eyes, staring at Zayn watching his every move
The air smelled of rust and something rotten.
Distant sirens wailed,but they sounded distorted, stretched into something almost inhuman.
“What the hell is this place…?”
But before he could reply to his question in his head
The screen reappeared glowing brightly in the distance.
TRIAL ONE SURVIVE UNTIL DAWN
LOCATION INFECTED ZONE
TIME REMAINING: 06:00:00
Zayn stared at it.
“Survive…?”
A low sound echoed down the street,not quite a growl,but not quite human either.
His body stiffened,and he cautiously and slowly turned his head.
And at the far end of the road,something moved,a figure,tall,twisted.
Its limbs bent at unnatural angles as it dragged itself forward, jerking with every step,its head snapped up suddenly,and its glowing red eyes locked onto him.
Zayn’s breath caught in his throat,the creature tilted its head,then it smiled,too wide,too wrong.
WARNING: HOSTILE ENTITY DETECTED
Zayn stumbled back.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
The creature lunged fast,far too fast.
“Run!” his mind screamed
Zayn turned and sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him he literally ran faster than he could think, his heart slamming against his ribs as the sound of scraping limbs echoed behind him.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 10
Light swallowed everything,not blinding at least, not in the way Zayn expected,it was softer,warmer,and even almost… comforting.That alone made it dangerous.When the light faded, he wasn’t in the containment level anymore, instead he stood on grass.Real grass.Soft beneath his feet, swaying gently in a breeze that actually felt alive,the sky stretched endlessly above him,blue, clear, untouched by the decay and distortion of the world he’d been trapped in.For a moment,zayn didn’t move.“…This is fake,” he said quietly.“Correct.”The voice came from behind him.Zayn turned.A figure stood a few meters away.Human,completely human,no distortion,no flicker,no glowing eyes.Just a man,dressed simply, hands clasped behind his back, watching him with calm, unreadable eyes.“…You’re not an enemy,” Zayn said.“Not in the conventional sense.”Zayn exhaled slowly. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”He glanced around again.No Lira.“…Where is she?”“Removed,” the man replied.Zayn’s expressio
Chapter 9
The door opened and the silence broke,cold air rushed in first, carrying that same heavy, metallic scent. Zayn stepped through beside Lira, every muscle tense, his mind already reaching for the edges of his upgraded skill.The hallway beyond had changed,the red emergency lights were gone,now it flickered in a dull, pale white,but unstable,and glitching“…It wasn’t like this before,” Zayn murmured.“No,” Lira said quietly. “It wasn’t.”The corridor stretched ahead longer than it should be.Too long.Zayn frowned. “…Did it get bigger?”Lira didn’t answer.Because she was already moving.Zayn followed, slower this time, eyes scanning every shadow, every flicker of light,his mind felt… sharpe,not clearer,but faster,like something beneath the surface was constantly calculating,and predicting what was to come.A faint flicker,he saw it.A movement that hadn’t happened yet,a distortion at the far end of the hallway.“…Stop,” Zayn said suddenly.Lira froze instantly.“What?”Zayn’s eyes narro
Chapter 8
Darkness pressed in from all sides.Zayn leaned against the cold wall, forcing his breathing to steady as the lingering effect of the system’s penalty drained through him. It wasn’t just fatigue,it felt like something essential had been taken.He didn't feel much pain,not exactly but he felt an absence within him“…I feel lighter,” he muttered.Lira glanced at him. “That’s not a good thing.”“Yeah,” Zayn said weakly. “Figured.”The room they’d stumbled into was small,and enclosed,no windows,no visible exits beyond the door they had just sealed behind them.And worst of all,no sound,no movement,no enemies,as good as that sounded it wasn't really comforting Zayn slowly pushed himself upright, gripping the wall for balance. His legs still felt unsteady, like they didn’t fully belong to him anymore.“…Where are we?” he asked.Lira moved cautiously toward the center of the room. “I don’t know.”That alone was unsettling,she always seemed to know something.A faint hum began to fill the ai
Chapter 7
The fall felt longer than it should have,wind tore past zayn’s ears as the rooftop vanished above them, replaced by open darkness and the rushing blur of broken walls. His grip tightened around Lira’s arm instinctively, his other hand reaching for anything that could slow them down.“zayn!” Lira’s voice cut through the air, sharp with alarm.“I see it!”A narrow ledge,two floors below,barely standing on its own,barely wide enough to stand on.Not ideal.Not safe.But it was something.Zayn twisted midair, pulling Lira with him as gravity dragged them down faster.“Brace!”They hit hard.The impact exploded up his legs, forcing a strangled gasp from his throat as his knees buckled. Lira slammed beside him, her shoulder crashing into the wall with a dull thud.For a split second,everything went black.Zayn sucked in a ragged breath as sensation rushed back all at once.Pain shooting through his body “…Still alive,” he groaned.“Barely,” Lira muttered beside him.He pushed himself up sl
Chapter 6
Zayn tried to rest for a bit but he just couldn't,he tossed around his head from side to side but whenever he closed his eyes all he could see was what seemed to be a dream but it felt all to real,one of the monsters lunging at him and he narrowly escaping its claws “…Echo Trace,” he murmured.Below, the creatures were still trying to climb up the building Five of them now,their limbs scraping against the wall, their glowing eyes locked onto him with terrifying intent.“zayn!” Lira snapped. “Focus!”“I am,” he said, though his voice had shifted,quieter, steadier,different.The moment one of the creatures moved,he saw it,not just the motion,but a faint after image.A trail of where it had been… and where it was about to be.“…Whoa.”The creature lunged upward,but Zayn moved before it even reached him,he sidestepped instinctively, the claws slicing through empty air where he had just been.His eyes widened.“I saw that…”“What?” Lira demanded.“I saw it before it happened!”No time to
Chapter 5
They didn’t stop running,they couldn't risk stoppingThe alley behind the store twisted into a maze of narrow paths, broken fences, and crumbling walls.zayn followed closely behind the girl, his breath ragged, legs already screaming in protest.“Slow down ” he gasped.“If you slow down, you die,” she shot back without looking at him.Fair point.Zayn pushed himself harder.Behind them, the sounds had changed.It wasn’t just one creature anymore,it sounded like more has joined the chase.Scraping,dragging, roaring and hot on their tail “They’re tracking us,” Zayn said.“Yes.”“How?”“They remember.”Zayn grimaced. “I hate that answer.”She turned sharply, ducking under a half-collapsed metal beam,zayn barely managed to follow, the rusted edge scraping across his jacket.They emerged into a wider space,and zayn skidded to a halt.“…That’s not good.”The alley opened into what looked like a courtyard,wide,empty,and exposed,and worst of all,blocked on the other side by a collapsed buildi
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