The beast hit the ground like a moving wall.
Every step shook the dirt beneath Ethan's shoes.
Black armor plates covered its body from head to tail, overlapping like jagged metal shields. Its tusks dragged through the grass, tearing deep scars into the earth as it charged straight toward him.
Ethan's body wanted to freeze.
His mind wanted to scream.
But his eyes moved on instinct.
Left shoulder lowered.
Front leg pushing hard.
Tusks angled upward.
Too much weight behind the charge.
That meant one thing.
It couldn't turn fast.
Ethan sucked in a breath.
"Move."
The word barely left his mouth before he threw himself sideways.
The beast thundered past him.
Wind slammed into his chest as one of the tusks ripped through the air where his ribs had been half a second ago.
Ethan hit the ground shoulder-first and rolled through the grass.
Pain shot down his arm.
Real pain.
Sharp.
Hot.
Awful.
He pushed himself up, teeth clenched.
"Okay. Definitely real."
The beast skidded across the field, tearing up dirt as it tried to turn its massive body around.
Ethan's breathing came fast.
His hands were empty.
No sword.
No armor.
No potions.
No inventory menu.
Just a hoodie, sweatpants, and shoes that were absolutely not made for fighting nightmare boars under alien moons.
A system window flashed in front of him.
[Combat State Activated]
Current Weapon: None
Survival Probability: Low
Ethan glared at the screen.
"Oh, that's helpful. Thanks."
The beast roared again.
The sound punched through his chest.
Ethan backed up, scanning the ground.
Grass.
Mud.
Rocks.
Broken branches.
Nothing useful.
Then he saw it.
A rusted blade sticking out of the dirt near an old skeleton.
The skeleton was half-buried, one arm still reaching toward the sword like whoever owned it had died trying to crawl away.
Ethan didn't have time to think about that.
He ran.
The beast charged again.
Ethan sprinted toward the sword, legs burning, breath tearing in his throat.
The ground shook harder.
Closer.
Closer.
Closer.
His fingers closed around the sword's handle.
He pulled.
It didn't move.
"No, no, no—"
He yanked harder.
The blade broke free from the dirt with a wet scrape.
Ethan spun around just as the beast reached him.
Too late to dodge fully.
He twisted his body.
One tusk caught the side of his hoodie and ripped through the fabric, grazing his ribs.
Pain exploded across his side.
Ethan flew backward and crashed into the ground.
For a second, the sky spun above him.
Two moons.
Too many stars.
Not enough air.
A red warning flashed in front of his face.
[Health Reduced]
Minor Bleeding Detected
Pain Response: Active
Ethan groaned.
"Yeah. I noticed."
The beast turned again.
Slower this time.
Its left front leg dragged slightly.
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
There.
During the charge, it had clipped a rock. Not enough to stop it, but enough to make its movement uneven.
A weak point.
His hands tightened around the sword.
It was heavier than he expected. The balance was awful. The handle was wrapped in old leather that felt ready to fall apart.
But it was still a blade.
And Ethan knew how to work with bad gear.
He forced himself to stand.
His side burned.
His knees shook.
The beast lowered its head.
Ethan lowered his stance.
"Come on."
The beast charged.
This time, Ethan didn't run away.
He waited.
Every part of him screamed that this was stupid.
That he was stupid.
That no boss fight was worth getting crushed by a monster the size of a pickup truck.
But this wasn't a boss fight.
This was survival.
The beast came closer.
Twenty feet.
Fifteen.
Ten.
Ethan watched its injured leg.
Watched the way the weight shifted.
Watched the tusks rise.
Now.
He stepped in instead of back.
The beast's tusks swept upward.
Ethan ducked under the curve by inches, feeling one pass close enough to scrape his hair. He planted his foot in the mud and swung the sword with both hands.
The blade slammed into the beast's injured front leg.
Metal rang against bone.
The impact nearly tore the sword from his hands.
The beast screamed.
Not roared.
Screamed.
Its leg buckled.
The whole creature crashed forward, skidding through the grass and mud.
Ethan stumbled away, arms numb.
A system message appeared.
[Critical Weakness Struck]
Agility Response Increased Temporarily
Ethan blinked.
"Temporarily?"
The beast tried to stand.
Its injured leg shook under its weight.
Black blood dripped from the wound, steaming as it hit the grass.
Ethan's stomach twisted.
This was the part games skipped.
The smell.
The sounds.
The way something alive looked at you when it realized you could hurt it.
For one second, Ethan hesitated.
The beast didn't.
It snapped its head toward him and lunged.
Not a full charge.
A desperate attack.
Ethan barely raised the sword in time.
The tusk slammed into the blade and sent him sliding backward. His arms screamed. His feet dug trenches into the mud.
The sword cracked.
Ethan's eyes widened.
"Oh, come on—"
The blade snapped in half.
The beast's head shoved forward.
Ethan dropped flat.
The tusk passed over him.
He rolled under the beast's neck and drove the broken sword upward with everything he had.
The jagged blade sank into the softer flesh beneath its jaw.
The beast went still.
For a heartbeat, neither of them moved.
Then Ethan twisted the blade.
The monster convulsed.
A terrible, choking sound left its throat.
Ethan let go and scrambled backward.
The beast staggered once.
Twice.
Then collapsed.
The impact shook the field.
Grass flattened.
Dust rose.
Silence followed.
Ethan sat in the mud, chest heaving.
His hands shook so badly he couldn't close them.
The beast didn't move.
A blue screen appeared above its body.
[Target Defeated]
[Attribute Extraction Available]
Ethan stared at the words.
His breathing slowed.
Then the beast's body began to break apart.
Not like a corpse.
Like data.
Golden cracks spread across its armor. Its flesh dissolved into glowing particles that rose into the air, spinning together above the body.
A small crystal formed.
It hovered there, pulsing with light.
[Attribute Fragment Detected]
Type: Strength
Quality: Minor
Absorb?
▸ YES
NO
Ethan looked at the fragment.
Then at the blood on his hands.
Then back at the screen.
His voice came out quiet.
"So that's how this works."
He should have felt excited.
A permanent stat increase.
A unique ability.
The kind of power every player dreamed about.
But all he could think about was the weight of the broken sword in his hands.
The sound the beast made when it died.
The way it had looked at him.
Ethan swallowed hard.
"This isn't loot."
The fragment pulsed.
Waiting.
Ethan clenched his jaw.
"But if I don't get stronger…"
He looked out across the plains.
Far in the distance, beyond the hills, shapes moved under the moonlight.
More monsters.
Maybe worse ones.
Maybe people.
Maybe something that knew exactly where he was.
Ethan reached toward the fragment.
"Then I'm dead."
He selected YES.
The crystal shot into his chest.
Ethan gasped.
Heat rushed through his body.
His muscles tightened.
His bones ached.
For a second, it felt like his blood had turned into lightning.
Then it stopped.
Ethan fell forward onto one hand, breathing hard.
A new message appeared.
[Strength Increased by 1]
[Attribution Progress: 1 Fragment Absorbed]
[Warning: Attribute Integration May Affect Physical and Mental Stability]
Ethan laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because if he didn't laugh, he was pretty sure he'd lose it.
"Physical and mental stability. Great. Love that."
He slowly stood.
His legs still hurt.
His side still bled.
But something had changed.
The broken sword felt lighter in his hand.
Not weightless.
Not magical.
Just easier to hold.
Ethan stared at his fingers.
"So it actually works."
A cold breeze passed over the field.
His ripped hoodie fluttered against his side.
The pain reminded him of something important.
He could still die.
No matter what the system gave him, he was still flesh and blood.
Still Ethan Vale.
Still a guy who had been sitting in his room twenty minutes ago talking trash to a computer screen.
Now he was standing in another world with monster blood on his clothes.
A sound came from behind him.
Ethan turned fast, raising the broken blade.
A girl stood at the edge of the field.
She looked around his age, maybe a little older.
Dark brown hair fell messily around her face, half-tied back like she had done it in a hurry. A short cloak hung over leather armor scratched with old marks. In one hand, she held a curved dagger. In the other, a small lantern glowing with pale blue fire.
Her eyes weren't on Ethan at first.
They were on the dead monster's remains.
Then they moved to the broken sword in his hand.
Then to his clothes.
Then finally to his face.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Ethan kept the sword raised.
The girl narrowed her eyes.
"You killed a Thornback Boar…"
Ethan didn't answer.
He had no idea what a Thornback Boar was.
He was also trying very hard not to pass out.
The girl took one careful step forward.
"With that?"
She pointed at the broken sword.
Ethan glanced down at it.
Then back at her.
"Technically, it was longer when I started."
Her expression didn't change.
"You're not from any village near here."
Ethan's grip tightened.
"And you are?"
The girl raised her dagger slightly.
"Someone who knows people don't just fall out of the sky and kill monsters barefoot in nightclothes."
Ethan looked down.
One of his shoes had come off during the fight.
"Okay, first of all, these are not nightclothes."
The girl stared.
Ethan sighed.
"Second of all… I didn't exactly plan this."
The blue lantern in her hand flickered.
Her gaze sharpened.
"Are you Marked?"
Ethan frowned.
"Marked?"
The system flickered faintly near the edge of his vision.
No explanation.
Of course.
The girl noticed his eyes move.
Her face changed.
Not fear exactly.
Recognition.
"You can see it, can't you?"
Ethan went still.
"See what?"
"The system."
The word hit harder than the monster had.
Ethan stared at her.
"You know about the system?"
The girl lowered her dagger a little, but not all the way.
"Everyone knows about the system."
Ethan's throat tightened.
Everyone.
So this wasn't just his ability.
This wasn't just some secret event.
This was the world.
The girl stepped closer.
"My name is Lyra."
Ethan stayed quiet.
She looked at the blood on his side.
"You're injured."
"I've been better."
"You need a healer."
"I need answers."
Lyra's expression darkened.
"Answers won't matter if you bleed out."
Ethan hated that she had a point.
His vision blurred for half a second.
He forced himself to stay upright.
Lyra noticed.
She sighed, then lowered her dagger.
"There's a village east of here. Not far. If we move now, you might make it before the night beasts start hunting."
Ethan looked toward the dark hills.
"Night beasts?"
Lyra gave him a look like he had just asked if fire was hot.
"You really don't know anything."
Ethan looked back at the empty field where the monster had died.
Then at the faint golden shimmer still moving beneath his skin.
"No."
His voice was quieter this time.
"I really don't."
Lyra studied him for a moment.
Then she turned and started walking.
"Then keep up, skyfall."
Ethan blinked.
"Skyfall?"
"You fell from the sky."
"That's not my name."
"It is until you give me a better one."
Ethan hesitated.
For some reason, saying his name out loud made everything feel more real.
Like once he said it, he wasn't just a player anymore.
He was a person trapped here.
He took a breath.
"Ethan."
Lyra glanced back.
"Ethan what?"
"Vale."
She nodded once.
"Fine. Ethan Vale."
Another roar echoed somewhere far behind them.
Much farther away.
Much bigger.
Lyra's face went pale.
Ethan felt the ground vibrate under his remaining shoe.
A system message appeared.
[High-Level Entity Detected Nearby]
Recommendation: Flee
Ethan stared at it.
"For once, we agree."
Lyra grabbed his sleeve and pulled him forward.
"Run."
Ethan ran.
Pain tore through his side with every step.
His lungs burned.
His legs screamed.
But he ran anyway.
Across the moonlit grass.
Away from the dead monster.
Away from the roar.
Toward a village he had never heard of.
Beside a girl who knew more about this nightmare than he did.
And above him, unseen by both of them, another system window opened.
Not blue.
Not gold.
Red.
[Anomaly Confirmed]
[Attribution User Located]
[Notifying Administrator]