Rejected by All, Chosen by the System Chapter 2
803 Words
📘 Chapter 2 – Section 3: Fragments of Betrayal
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The silence after the kill was deafening.
No wind. No rustling. Just the slow drip of blood from his fingertips and the rhythmic pounding of his heart. Elias leaned against a moss-covered tree, eyes half-lidded, mind slipping into that dark place again.
He didn’t want to remember.
But he didn’t have a choice.
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⬛ Six Days Ago...
The fortress wall shimmered with rain. Everything smelled like ash and steel — the last signs of a failed evacuation. Civilians screamed beyond the barricades while guards dragged bodies into piles.
“Elias,” General Morek had said, his voice cold. “You’re not strong enough.”
He didn’t argue. He wasn’t supposed to. His unit had just died, torn apart by something no one even saw clearly. Some called it a “Rift Eater.” Others a system error. Either way, it had left Elias covered in blood — but alive.
Too alive.
“Contain him,” Morek ordered. “No burial rites for the squad. It’s better if we say they died in a collapse.”
Elias's voice cracked. “What did I do wrong?”
“You survived. That’s always suspicious.”
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⬛ Now...
He snapped out of it with a gasp. The memory faded, but the words lingered.
Survival is suspicious.
They had thrown him out to die because he was still breathing.
And yet… here he was.
> [System Alert – Fragment Recovered]
Memory Encoding stabilizing. Mind Recovery: +5%
He blinked at the interface. “You feed off my past, too?” he muttered.
But the system didn’t answer.
It never answered.
📘 Chapter 2 (Continued) – Section 2: First Kill
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The Ravager Hound lunged.
Faster than the last one. Stronger. Its claws slashed through the air, aimed at Elias’s throat. He rolled left, landing hard, breath knocked from his lungs.
Pain lanced through his ribs, but the system pulsed inside him.
> [Stamina: -2]
[Endless Hunger Activated – Reflex Boost +10%]
He didn’t understand it all yet, but it was working.
Move. Now.
Elias kicked off the dirt, grabbed a thick shard of bone from the first beast’s corpse, and spun. It wasn’t a sword — it was jagged, slippery — but it was sharp.
The hound came again.
He waited this time. Let it come close. Smelled the rot in its breath. Felt the impact as it pounced.
Then, he struck upward — jamming the bone into its side.
A terrible sound tore through the forest.
The beast screamed, not in pain, but rage.
It didn’t die.
It only got angrier.
> [Vitality: -7%]
[Warning: Bone Fracture – Right Arm.]
The thing had slashed across his arm before he even saw it move. Elias gritted his teeth, falling back.
His vision blurred again.
He had to win.
Not to prove anything.
To live.
To keep moving.
He circled the beast, panting. Blood dripped from both of them now. The Ravager moved slower, favoring its side.
It’s bleeding. So am I. One of us will break.
The hound lunged again.
This time Elias didn’t dodge.
He ducked under, slammed his shoulder into the beast’s ribs, and shoved the broken bone shard through its underbelly — all the way up to the hilt.
The Ravager twitched once.
Then collapsed.
Dead.
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> [Enemy Slain: Ravager Hound (Lv. 4)]
+12 Evolution Points Earned
New Essence Absorbed: Ravager Core – Partial Sync
Endless Hunger – Active
[Stamina Restored: +7]
[Vitality Stabilized: 23%]
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Elias collapsed beside the corpse.
He was shaking.
He wasn’t proud. He wasn’t triumphant.
He was alive.
And that meant everything.
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Let’s keep building! Next up is:
📘 Chapter 2 – Section 4: The Hidden Core
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Elias returned to the corpse of the Ravager Hound. He wasn’t sure why. Instinct, maybe. But something tugged at him — not curiosity. Hunger.
He knelt by its chest, tore open the flesh with a jagged rock, and dug deep.
There it was.
A small, pulsing orb. Black with red veins, warm to the touch. It vibrated with energy that made his bones itch.
> [Rare Drop Acquired – Beast Core (Tier 0)]
Would you like to Consume?
[Yes] / [No]
He didn’t hesitate.
He crushed it between his hands.
The world snapped into darkness.
Then the screaming began.
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> [Mutation Triggered – Warning: Unstable Evolution Path]
Adapting Trait: Endless Hunger → Voracious Core (Lv. 1)
Unlocked Skill: Consume (Passive)
Unlocked: Path of the Abyss Predator (Branch 1/4)
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When Elias opened his eyes, his vision was sharper. His fingertips pulsed with black heat. He saw veins of energy running through the trees, the soil, the wind.
H
e could smell fear.
His fear.
Others’ fear.
He was no longer fully human.
And he didn’t care.
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- Writer
