"RUN!! GO, GO, GO!"
A shout ripped through the street.
Both of them instantly crouched behind a broken delivery truck.
Down the road, four people sprinted as if death itself chased them. Their clothes were torn, faces covered in dirt.
Behind them were the Small Wyverns.
Dog-sized creatures with underdeveloped wings but long reptilian legs. They moved with terrifying speed, jumping from walls, cars, rooftops.
Han swallowed. "They're fast."
"Take the left ones," Raon ordered. "I'll handle the front."
The wyverns pounced.
Raon dashed out, sword gleaming faintly under the moon. He parried the first wyvern mid-leap—its jaw snapped inches from his neck.
Han fired an Ice Bullet—freezing another wyvern's legs to the ground.
A third creature dove from above.
Raon twisted—cutting it in half as it passed.
The survivors watched with wide eyes.
Within moments, the last wyvern fell, its body sliding across the road.
Breathing hard, Han bent over his knees. "I hate these things… they jump like frogs on steroids."
Raon sheathed his sword. "Are you all okay?"
The four survivors exchanged stunned glances.
"You two…" the leader said slowly. "You're newcomers, aren't you?"
Han nodded. "We came from the river side."
At that, the group froze.
"No one survives that place."
Raon's eyes narrowed. "Where's your shelter?"
The group seemed hesitant.
Then the leader sighed. "Follow us. Our city… isn't like other places."
"What do you mean?" Han asked.
The survivors began walking.
The leader looked back with a grim expression.
"We've stopped running. We've stopped hiding. We've… adapted."
As they turned the corner, Raon's breath caught.
A colossal stadium rose before them, its outer walls fortified with thick metal sheets, guard towers, and giant searchlights powered by makeshift generators.
Dozens—maybe hundreds—of survivors moved across the structure.
It wasn't a shelter ,It was a stronghold .A city within a city.
The shelter was quiet.
The night after the centipede battle had passed in a haze of pain, exhaustion, and the metallic smell of blood.
Raon sat against the cold stone wall, feeling the warmth of the healing potion knitting torn skin and bruised muscle back together. Han was already asleep, snoring in short, tired bursts.
Outside, the distant groans of wounded survivors filled the night like a dying city's lullaby.
When dawn finally arrived, it wasn't a bright sunrise—just a pale grey light pushing through the cracks of the broken world.
Raon stepped out of the shelter.
The landscape had changed overnight.
Ruined houses sagged under their collapsed roofs. Broken buildings leaned like dying giants.
Smoke rose from different corners of the settlement—whatever "society" existed here was fractured, bleeding, barely alive.
People wandered through the debris.
Some were limping, bandages wrapped hastily around arms and legs. Some sat silently with empty eyes.
And others were equipped with scavenged weapons and makeshift armor—moved in patrol groups with grim expressions.
This wasn't a safe zone.
It was a battlefield that had simply stopped fighting for a moment.
Raon scanned the scene until he spotted Han.
He was speaking with the two men they had rescued yesterday. Both were alive thanks to Han's healing and Raon's intervention. When Han noticed Raon standing nearby, he raised a hand and waved with a tired smile.
Raon nodded back but kept walking.
Further ahead, a group of survivors were locked in combat with small monsters—dog-sized creatures with bone plates on their backs and snapping jaws. Shouts and the clashing of metal echoed as Raon passed by.
He didn't stop to help.
He had something more pressing to check.
Raon climbed the staircase of an abandoned building. The steps cracked beneath his feet, and dust flew in the air. Finally, he reached the rooftop—a wide, broken concrete slab overlooking the devastated center of this ruined society.
A cold wind brushed over him.
He opened the system window.
[ The reward of defeating: Mutant Centipede ]
[Total Reward Distributed]
Jeon Raon: 40,000 Coins
Han : 10,000 Coins
[Contribution: 90% – Primary Finisher]
[Reward Item Obtained: Golden Monkey Eye (Rare)]
A relic from an extinct primate mutant species.
Enhances visual perception, sharpens intuition, increases resistance against poison, disease, and fire.
Grants long-range eyesight up to 10km.
Item level can increase with use.
Raon's expression hardened.
Another notification popped up.
[Copy Skill – Rank Upgrade]
You can now store up to 5 skills
Increase the rank of copied skills automatically based on proficiency
Reduce cool down between copying attempts
A sharp thrill ran through him.
More skills. Better versions. More power.
Raon looked at the glowing golden orb icon of the item reward.
He selected Equip.
At first, nothing happened.
Then pain exploded.
His vision blurred. His left eye throbbed as if something was drilling into it. Raon staggered, gripping his face. His heartbeat pounded like a war drum, and heat spread from the eye down his neck and spine.
The world tilted—
Red—
Black—
Gold—
White—
A scream escaped him before he could stop it.
Then, suddenly…
Silence.
The pain vanished.
Raon lowered his hand and blinked.
The world looked different.
Sharper.
Clearer.
Alive.
He could see individual cracks on faraway rooftops. He could see the patrol group's footsteps kicking up dust even from kilometers away.
He could even make out the faint steam rising from the ruined market district.
He felt stronger.
Lighter.
As if his body itself had leveled up.
A slight reflection on a broken window caught his attention.
Raon stepped toward it and stared.
His right eye was the same as always.
But the left one…
A brilliant, unnatural golden iris stared back at him—glowing faintly like a predator's eye under moonlight.
A new power.
But also a new mark.
Raon closed the system window slowly.
The day had just begun ,And the world had shifted again.
Morning had barely settled over the ruined city when the world was torn open.
A blinding flash detonated at the center of the streets—
A column of white light burst upward like a spear,Followed by a thunderous, unnatural drumming.
DrrrrRRRUM—
POP!
The ground quivered beneath Raon's feet.
Windows shattered.
Dust trembled loose from hollowed buildings.
People staggered out of shelters and broken homes, clutching their ears, blinking into the brightness.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Another monster?"
"No… that light looked different…"
Raon stepped out of the shelter, scanning the chaos. People were pointing, gathering, whispering.
Han was shouting orders somewhere behind him, but Raon couldn't focus on anything except the trembling air around the light.
As he approached the center of the street—
The world fell silent.
Not just quiet.
Silent.
The wind stopped.
The faint groans of broken metal disappeared.
Even the ever-present distant growls of roaming monsters faded as if swallowed.
Time itself felt like it was holding its breath.