"Life isn't free, boy. It has installments."
Darkness.
Just thick, viscous, suffocating darkness.
Shunya felt like he was drowning in the deep ocean, yet strangely, he felt no need to breathe. His body was weightless, as if gravity had abandoned him.
Suddenly, a voice echoed in that infinite Void.
It wasn't a human voice. Nor was it the voice of the 'Stranger'. It sounded like old, rusted chains being dragged across a stone floor—heavy, rasping, and metallic.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION...]
[SOURCE: THE ABYSSAL VAULT]
[LOCATION: PLANET 404 (BLOOD-STONE)]
[CLIENT IDENTITY: SHUNYA (SPECIES: HUMAN)]
In the darkness before Shunya, ancient letters of bloody red and black began to float in the air. This was no magical hologram; it felt as if someone were branding these words directly onto his retinas with a hot iron.
[...ASSET EVALUATION...]
[STATUS: TRASH.]
"Trash?" Shunya's subconscious flickered.
The System ignored him and continued its cold report.
|| DAMAGE REPORT ||
Ribs: 3 Fractured (Repair Mandatory).
Lungs: Internal Bleeding.
Soul: 90% Corrupted.
Market Value: 0
[WARNING: Host Asset is on the verge of termination.]
[REPAIR COST: 10 LIFE-UNITS]
[CURRENT BALANCE: 0]
The voice now took on a cruel, merchant-like tone.
"Oh my... the account is empty. So, what shall we do? Let you rot?"
Shunya was terrified. "No... I want to live! My mother..."
"You want to live? Very well. We provide loans," the voice hid a demonic smile within its frequency. "But remember, the Moneylender never forgets a debt."
[OFFER: EMERGENCY LOAN]
[AMOUNT: 10 LIFE-UNITS]
[INTEREST RATE: 100% DAILY]
[CONDITION: If not repaid within 24 hours, the Host's heart rhythm will be CONFISCATED.]
"Heart rhythm... confiscated?" Shunya's mind went numb.
"Do we have a deal?"
Shunya had no choice. He screamed in his mind— "Accepted!"
[CONTRACT: SEALED.]
[INITIATING REPAIR SEQUENCE...]
Shunya expected relief, but he was wrong.
The System didn't apply a soothing balm. It grabbed his broken ribs and pulled them back into place.
CRACK! SNAP!
A wave of agony surged through him, as if hammers were being swung inside his chest cavity. His veins caught fire.
"AAAAHHH!"
Shunya's eyes snapped open.
He sat up on his broken cot, gasping for air. His entire body was drenched in cold sweat. His chest heaved like a blacksmith's bellows.
The sickly red morning light was filtering in through the holes in the hut's roof.
He frantically placed a hand on his chest.
The pain... was gone?
No. The pain wasn't gone. It was just numb. He could feel that his ribs were connected, but not naturally. It felt as if someone had stitched them together with invisible wire.
"So, I survived?" He looked at his palm.
There were no external marks. But on his wrist, just beneath the skin, black digital numbers were glowing. A countdown.
[23:55:12]
[LOAN OUTSTANDING: 10 LIFE-UNITS]
Shunya's heart sank. This wasn't a nightmare. Something was living inside him—a parasite, a creditor—waiting to collect its due.
"Shunya?"
Sumitra's weak voice came from nearby.
Shunya quickly hid his wrist and tried to force a normal expression onto his face.
"Son, are you alright? You were... groaning all night," Sumitra's eyes held deep worry.
"I... I'm fine, Ma," Shunya lied. Lying was becoming a habit now. "Just a bad dream."
He looked at his mother. Thanks to Anya's medicine, Sumitra's breathing was somewhat stable, but Shunya knew this peace was just the silence before the storm.
The medicine would only last two days. And the System's 'loan' timer... that was only 24 hours.
Two needs. One solution—The Hunt.
"Ma, I'm going to work," Shunya stood up. His legs were no longer trembling. The System's 'repair' had given him strength, even if it was borrowed. "Lots of work at the market today."
He knew if he didn't hunt today, either the disease would take his mother, or this 'System' would stop his heart.
He exited the hut and went straight to the pile of scrap in the backyard.
A sword? That was a dream for someone like him.
A knife? He didn't even have that.
He rummaged through the pile and pulled out an old, rusted 'Chisel'. It was once used for breaking stones. About six inches long, heavy in the grip, and the tip was still somewhat sharp.
"This will have to do," Shunya tucked it into his waist band. His eyes held a strange glint—a mixture of fear and resolve.
The Skeleton Forest - Outer Zone.
Bordering the city walls, this forest was known for its horror. The trees here weren't green; they were withered, their bark white as bone. A red fog crawled along the ground, reducing visibility to near zero.
Shunya was crouched behind a large, moss-covered rock. He held his breath.
The timer on his wrist was ticking away relentlessly.
[20:15... 20:14...]
A rustle came from the bushes ahead.
An 'Iron-Rat' emerged.
This wasn't an ordinary house pest. It was the size of a cat, with eyes like yellow pus. Instead of fur, its back was covered in black, hard spikes that looked like iron needles.
Shunya gripped his rusted chisel tight. His palm was slippery with sweat.
This isn't a training dummy. This thing can kill me.
"Calm your mind, Shunya..." he told himself, but his heart was hammering against his ribs. "Its neck... right below the spikes. That's the weak spot."
The rat was digging into the ground, eating some rotten roots.
Shunya took a deep breath.
NOW!
He surged out from behind the rock. No battle cry, no noise. He was as silent as death.
When he was two steps away, the rat's ears perked up. The beast's sixth sense flared.
The rat spun around and lunged at Shunya with a high-pitched screech.
Shunya panicked. His first strike was clumsy.
CLANG!
The chisel skidded off the rat's hard spikes, creating sparks.
"Damn it!" Shunya cursed.
The rat didn't miss its chance. It sank its yellow teeth into Shunya's ankle.
"Argh!"
The pain was sharp, but this time, Shunya didn't cry out. Compared to the 'agony' the System had inflicted on him, this was nothing.
He lifted his other foot and stomped on the rat's head with all his might.
THUD!
The rat was knocked back, rolled over, and instantly sprang back to its feet. Its yellow eyes had turned red. The prey had become the predator.
It leaped again.
Shunya didn't retreat this time.
Just as the rat was in mid-air, Shunya dropped to his back on the ground, pointing his chisel straight up.
Gravity and the rat's own momentum did the rest.
SQUELCH!
A gruesome sound.
The rusted chisel pierced the soft, white underside of the rat's throat and exited through the back of its neck.
Warm, foul-smelling blood sprayed onto Shunya's face like a fountain.
The rat thrashed on top of him. Its claws scratched at Shunya's arms, flailing in the air... and then, slowly, it went still.
Shunya lay on the ground, the rat's corpse on his chest. His entire body was trembling.
"D-Dead..."
Suddenly, a faint, white orb of light drifted out of the dead rat's body.
It floated for a second, and then, as if the 'Locket' in Shunya's chest took a breath—the light was sucked into Shunya.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[DEBT COLLECTION INITIATED...]
[+1 LIFE-UNIT ACQUIRED.]
[DEPOSITED TO ACCOUNT.]
[LOAN OUTSTANDING: 9 UNITS]
Shunya pushed the rat off and gasped for air.
"So this is the way... I have to steal their time to save my own."
He looked at the carcass.
"Its teeth and hide... maybe I can get 2 silver coins."
He was just about to pick up the rat when...
The silence of the forest shattered. Birds suddenly took flight from the trees.
A scent hit the air—a mix of wet dog and rotting meat.
The hair on Shunya's neck stood up. This was the smell of 'Danger'.
The System Interface before his eyes, which had been blue, suddenly turned BLOOD-RED.
[WARNING! HIGH-LEVEL THREAT!]
[APPROACHING RAPIDLY!]
From behind the bushes, two deep, glowing red eyes emerged.
This was no rat.
It was a 'Shadow Wolf'.
The size of a calf, its body made of smoke-like darkness, and jaws strong enough to grind bone into powder.
[SPECIES: SHADOW WOLF]
[RANK: 1-STAR]
The chisel almost slipped from Shunya's hand. A 1-Star Beast?
He was just 'Rank-0' trash. He couldn't fight this.
Run? The wolf was ten times faster than him.
The wolf opened its mouth. Saliva dripped from its yellow fangs. It wasn't looking at Shunya as an enemy; it was looking at him as 'Breakfast'.
Shunya backed away until his back hit a dry tree.
"No... not now... I just started..."
Suddenly, the System's voice echoed. But this time, there was no concern in it. There was an 'Offer'.
"Looks like game over, kid," the System said with amusement. "You can't afford this fight."
The wolf tensed its hind legs, ready to pounce.
"However..." the System whispered. "If you want, I can give you a little 'boost'. The price will be... slightly higher."
A new window opened in front of Shunya.
[OFFER: EXISTENTIAL CRISIS]
[Do you wish to activate 'Lifespan Overdrive'?]
[EFFECT: Increases physical stats by 200% for 3 minutes.]
[COST: 5 YEARS OF LIFESPAN]
[YES / NO]
5 years?
Five years of life for just 3 minutes of power? This was robbery!
But then the wolf leaped.
Its claws were extended in mid-air, ready to rip Shunya's chest open. Death was inch
es away.
Shunya had no time to think. The deal was expensive, but death was final.
With madness in his eyes, he screamed in his mind—
"YES! TAKE IT!"