Rejected by All, Chosen by the System
368 Words
đź“– Chapter 1: The Fall
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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.
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- Writer
