He had maybe four hours before the alien reached his neighborhood.
The System kept updating the distance at 8.2km now moving slow but steady, following roads probably, or tracking him somehow.
[Estimated arrival: 4 hours 12 minutes]
'Four hours to figure out how to kill something that almost killed me last time.'
His chest still hurt from where the first one grabbed him, the scratches on his back were still raw, and his only weapon was a kitchen knife he grabbed on the way out.
'This is such a bad idea.'
But the alternative was letting it find his mom.
---
[Daily Mission: Physical Training]
[Requirements: 50 pushups, 50 situps, 2km run]
[Reward: 20 XP, +1 VIT]
He did the exercises while moving toward the alien's position, pushups in an empty parking lot, situps behind a closed gas station, running through back streets until his lungs burned.
[Daily Mission Complete]
[Reward: 20 XP, +1 VIT]
[Current XP: 90/200]
Ninety out of two hundred, still not Level 3.
He checked the Scan, the alien was close now maybe a kilometer away moving through the industrial district near the old warehouses.
'If I'm going to do this, better to pick the spot than let it pick mine.'
---
He found the alien in an alley off Industrial Road three kilometers from his house.
Different species than the first one, smaller, more compact, with mottled gray skin and eyes that didn't reflect light, it moved carefully pausing at corners, checking windows, looking for something.
'Scout. It's scouting the area for the others.'
[Entity identified: Vulkrath Scout]
[Threat Assessment: Low-Moderate]
[Recommendation: Neutralize before it reports]
He circled around behind it staying low, staying quiet, heart pounding so loud he was sure the thing could hear it.
The alien paused and sniffed the air.
'Now or it'll know I'm here.'
He moved.
---
[Mission: Eliminate the Scout]
[Reward: 40 XP]
The fight was messier than he expected.
He lunged with the kitchen knife aiming for the throat but the alien was fast and faster than he expected, the blade only grazed its shoulder before it spun with claws out and caught him across the chest.
Pain, sharp and immediate, his shirt tore and blood welled up along three parallel lines.
'That's gonna leave a mark.'
But he didn't stop, couldn't afford to.
The Enhanced Reflexes kicked in and the alien's next swipe seemed to slow down just enough for him to duck under it, drive the knife into its ribs, feel it scrape bone.
The alien shrieked and grabbed his arm with claws digging in, he headbutted it because it was desperate and stupid but it worked, the thing staggered and its grip loosened.
He yanked the knife free and stabbed again, and again, until it stopped moving.
[Mission Complete]
[Reward: 40 XP]
[Current XP: 130/200]
[Level Up! You are now Level 3]
[Store Function Unlocked]
He sat back against the alley wall breathing hard, bleeding from his chest and arm, his hands were shaking.
Two kills now, two aliens dead because of him.
'Why don't I feel worse about this?'
The System didn't offer any moral guidance, just another notification:
[Store Function Unlocked. Access at will.]
Something to look at later, right now he needed to get home before his mom noticed he was gone.
---
The walk back took forever, every step hurt, the scratches on his chest burned with each breath.
His mom was still asleep on the couch when he got home, didn't even stir when he slipped past.
He cleaned the wounds in the bathroom because they were shallow and nothing that needed stitches, the extra Vitality seemed to help because the bleeding stopped faster than it should.
When he came back down for dinner she looked at him with that hollow expression she wore since his father died.
"How are you feeling, honey?"
"Tired. But okay."
"You'd tell me if something was wrong?"
'I killed an alien in an alley two hours ago. There are five more out there.'
"Yeah. I would."
She nodded accepting the lie because the truth was impossible.
He ate dinner in silence with mind churning through what came next, Store access, more training, more levels, because the scout carried something when he killed it, a communicator still blinking with an active signal.
[Alert: Communication device detected on terminated entity]
[Analysis: Device was transmitting location data]
[Conclusion: Other entities now aware of scout's termination]
They knew, and they were definitely coming now.
The thought should scare him more than it did, it did scare him, but underneath that was something else, something that felt too much like anticipation, and he wasn't sure what that said about him.