Near a shallow stone cave carved into the hillside, chaos ruled.
Dozens of bodies collided in a frenzy of desperation. Stone clashed against skulls. Wooden spears cracked against bone. Screams tore through the air without pause. No formations. No alliances that lasted longer than a breath. Just survival.
The cave entrance loomed like a promise.
Or a trap.
A girl stood near the mouth of the cave, wielding a curved wooden stick against another wooden stick. Their movements were sharp and disciplined compared to the surrounding madness. Anyone with sense could tell—something inside that cave was worth killing for.
A boy wearing a blue hat spotted her near cave.
Anger flashed across his face.
"That weapon inside is going to be mine!"
He shoved through two fighters, ignoring a cut across his arm, and sprinted toward the cave.
He never made it.
A wooden spear whistled through the air.
It pierced cleanly through his neck, bursting out the other side in a spray of blood.
The boy staggered two steps, fingers clawing uselessly at the shaft lodged in his throat, then collapsed.
Up in the trees, a boy with glasses crouched casually on a thick branch.
"Bullseye," he said proudly. "Did you see that? Straight through his neck."
He nudged the leg of the girl standing beside him.
She was small—almost childlike in stature. A loli with pink twin ponytails that bounced lightly against her hoodie. She wore a short skirt and knee-high socks splattered with dried blood.
Her sharp eyes didn't even glance at the corpse below.
"Bastard," she snapped, irritated. "After throwing five wooden spears, you only hit one. How is that great?"
The boy scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Well, it still counts."
They weren't part of the chaotic brawl below.
They were gatekeepers.
Their only job was simple—kill anyone who tried to enter the cave.
Below them, bodies kept piling up.
Near the cave entrance, hidden within thick grass flattened by previous struggles, another girl lay low. Her breathing was shallow. Careful. She waited for an opening, eyes fixed on the narrow gap that led inside.
If she could slip past unnoticed—
She would survive.
Most fighters were too distracted to notice her.
But someone did.
High above, the loli's eyes narrowed slightly.
Like an eagle spotting a mouse.
Without another word, she bent her knees and leapt from the branch.
Midair, she turned her head toward the boy with glasses.
"I'm going to take care of someone. Don't play around so much."
She landed lightly between two corpses, barely disturbing the fight raging around her. Her small frame weaved through swinging tree branches and thrusting spears with eerie ease.
Then she vanished into the grass.
The hidden girl sensed movement.
Too late.
The loli dropped onto her like a predator pouncing on prey.
The air rushed from the hidden girl's lungs as she was slammed flat against the ground. Before she could react, the loli straddled her waist, pinning her down effortlessly.
The pink-haired girl tilted her head, smiling sweetly.
"Dear, dear… what are you trying to do here?"
The trapped girl's eyes widened in shock and fury.
She tried to shove her off.
It didn't work.
The loli grabbed both of her wrists with one hand—one hand—and forced them above her head.
The difference in strength was absurd.
"Are you trying to run from me?" the loli asked, giggling. "Amazing."
She seemed genuinely entertained.
The pinned girl struggled harder, panic rising.
Damn it. What kind of monster is she?
The loli's smile widened as if she could hear the thought.
With her free hand, she slowly wrapped her fingers around the girl's throat.
"I think it's your good bye."
Her grip tightened.
The trapped girl's eyes bulged as air stopped flowing. She kicked violently, heels digging into dirt. Her hands twisted helplessly in the loli's iron grip.
She tried to scream.
Only a strangled rasp came out.
The loli leaned closer, her face flushing faintly, breath quickening with disturbing excitement.
"Aahh… yeah. Try more to survive," she whispered breathlessly. "You can do it."
The girl beneath her thrashed wildly, nails scraping against the loli's arm.
The grip tightened further.
Her struggles weakened.
Fingers twitched.
Vision darkened.
Then—
With a final squeeze, the loli crushed her windpipe.
The body went limp.
Silence, at least in that small patch of grass.
The loli stayed seated on the corpse for a moment longer, breathing heavily, eyes half-lidded in satisfaction.
Then she released the neck and stood up.
Blood smeared across her fingers.
She licked it absentmindedly.
From the tree above, the boy with glasses called down, "All clear?"
She looked back at him, expression returning to casual annoyance as if nothing unusual had happened.
"Yeah. Just trash."
Behind her, the battle near the cave raged on.
Time dragged on.
The battlefield outside the stone cave slowly emptied.
One after another, people fell.
Some died screaming. Some died silently. Some tried to crawl away only to be dragged back into violence. A few desperate souls attempted to slip inside the cave during the chaos.
None succeeded.
From the trees above, wooden spears fell like silent judgments.
Through the grass and between corpses, a small pink-haired figure moved like an executioner.
Eventually, the madness burned itself out.
Only five people remained.
Three boys. Two girls.
They stood together, backs almost touching, breathing heavily. Sweat dripped from their chins onto blood-soaked earth. Their clothes were torn, their arms trembling, but they were alive.
They had survived.
One of the boys tightened his grip around a wooden spear and looked toward the dark cave entrance.
"Let's take the weapon from inside."
His teammates nodded.
"Yeah."
"It's our reward."
"Sure enough."
They had earned it.
Or so they thought.
"Don't think of taking that weapon. It's mine."
The voice came from behind them.
Calm.
Almost playful.
All five froze and turned.
Standing a short distance away were the two figures who had never joined the open battle.
The boy with glasses adjusted them casually, wooden spear resting against his shoulder.
Beside him stood the loli.
Pink twin ponytails swayed lightly as she tilted her head, smiling.
"Sorry to say," she chirped, "but you can't have that weapon."
One of the girls from the exhausted group narrowed her eyes.
"Wait. I saw them earlier. They were sitting on a tree branch killing people who tried to enter the cave."
The loli puffed her chest out proudly.
"Yeah. That was us. And we're very strong." Her smile widened, sharp and unsettling. "You're weak. So you have to die here."
The air tightened.
One of the boys suddenly bent down, grabbed a stone, and hurled it with all his remaining strength.
The stone struck the loli directly on her left shoulder.
A dull thud echoed.
She staggered half a step.
Silence fell.
She slowly raised her hand and touched her shoulder.
Not in pain.
In excitement.
Her eyes lit up as she looked at the boy who had thrown it.
He smirked arrogantly.
"Bitch, go away. We have no time to waste on someone like you."
For half a second, nothing moved.
Then the world exploded.
The boy with glasses moved first.
His wooden spear flew forward with mechanical precision, piercing straight through one of the girls' thighs and pinning her to the ground. Her scream tore through the clearing.
Before the others could react, the loli vanished.
She reappeared in front of the arrogant boy.
Her small hand grabbed his face.
And slammed him into the dirt.
The crack of bone breaking echoed loudly.
Screams erupted.
"Ahhh! Grrrrr it hurts!"
"Stop it, plea— ahhhh!"
"I'm sorrrrrrry! Ahhhh! No, please don't cut it! Ahhhhh!"
The clearing became a slaughterhouse.
The boy with glasses fought efficiently, no wasted movement. Each thrust of his spear crippled rather than killed immediately. Knees shattered. Wrists pierced. Shoulders torn open.
He left them alive just long enough to scream.
The loli was worse.
She broke fingers one by one.
She dislocated shoulders with casual twists.
She laughed softly as she moved between them, her hoodie slowly staining darker with blood.
The boy who had thrown the stone tried to crawl away.
She stepped on his back.
"Where are you going?" she asked sweetly.
He begged.
She tilted her head.
Then she grabbed his arm and tore it free at the shoulder with horrifying strength.
His scream cut off into a choking gurgle.
One by one, the five were reduced to nothing but torn flesh and silence.
Minutes later, the clearing was quiet again.
Inside the cave, dim light flickered across rough stone walls.
The loli walked slowly, rotating her left shoulder as if testing it.
"Aaaw," she said, pouting slightly. "They died so early."
Her hands were soaked in blood up to the wrists.
Beside her, the boy with glasses stepped carefully over a corpse, spinning another wooden spear between his fingers.
"You're like their nightmare," he said calmly. "You destroyed them. So forget it."
He glanced at her with mild amusement.
"You can't expect toys to last forever."
She giggled faintly.
They moved deeper into the cave, boots scraping against stone.
Something lay ahead.
A hammer.
The loli stepped forward, crouched, and lifted it with both hands. Its weight made her arms dip slightly, but her eyes shone.
"Can I have it? Pretty please?"
The boy with glasses didn't even turn around. He kept watching the path they had come from, alert and distant.
"Yeah," he said flatly. "I don't like that type of weapon."
And outside—
The number in the sky continued to fall.
067,334,992
067,334,902