Chapter 1The Primal Hunter

📖 Chapter 1: The Fall --- They left me to die. No explanation. No second chance. One moment, I was standing beside my commander, blade drawn, defending the wall against a tide of beasts. The next, I was bleeding in the mud, staring up at the broken sky as the gate slammed shut behind me. > “Sorry, kid. You’re not useful anymore.” That’s what he’d said. And that’s what echoed in my skull as I lay there, ribs shattered, leg crushed, body torn apart by a beast I barely managed to kill. I was twenty-one. I’d survived over a dozen raids. Carried wounded, stood in the line, killed when others froze. I wasn’t the strongest, but I wasn’t weak either. So why? Why throw me away? Blood soaked the ground beneath me. I could feel it draining. My vision blurred. So this is how it ends? I should have screamed. Should have cursed. But all I felt was cold. Not the cold of death. The cold of betrayal. And then— > [System Detected… Initiating Link.] I blinked. What? > [Host identified: Elias Vale.] [Trait: Resilient Spark – Triggered.] [System Core: Proto-Evolutionary Combat Grid — Version 0.01 Installed.] A dull blue screen blinked into life in front of me. No one else could see it. But it was there. Real. Burning. I coughed blood and laughed. It hurt. Everything hurt. But I wasn’t hallucinating. A system? Now? On the edge of death? > [You have been chosen.] [You were forgotten by the world. The world will now remember you through blood.] A menu opened. Glitching. Barebones. Vitality: 3% Stamina: 0/10 Traits: Resilient Spark (Lv. 1) Evolution Points: 0 > [Quest: Survive the next 12 hours. No healing. No help. Only you.] Reward: Trait Upgrade – “Endless Hunger” That was it. Survive. Not escape. Not kill. Just... survive. I looked down. My left arm was twisted wrong. My leg was a mess. Bones pierced my skin. I could barely crawl. And around me, I heard the first growl. Low. Hungry. Another beast. Attracted by blood. Good. Let it come. I might die here. But I wouldn’t go out crying. > I’d go out fighting. ---