The man's scream echoed through the empty street.
"Help…! Please—someone help me!"
Kael turned toward the alley.
A man in his late twenties stumbled out, his clothes torn and soaked with blood. His breathing was ragged, and terror filled his eyes.
Behind him— Something moved.
A massive shadow crawled from the darkness.
Its body dragged across the ground like a giant lizard, but its skin was covered in jagged bone spikes. Its mouth split open unnaturally wide, revealing rows of needle-like teeth.
The creature's yellow eyes locked onto its prey.
The injured man collapsed onto the pavement just a few meters away from Kael.
"Please…!" he gasped. "Don't just stand there—help me!"
Kael didn't move.
His eyes were focused on the red system window floating in front of him.
[New Opportunity Detected]
Hidden Quest: Collapse Catalyst
Objective: Cause the fall of your first human player.
Reward: Rare Skill
Failure: Unknown
Kael's jaw tightened.
"…So this is what you meant."
The system wanted him to let the man die.
Or worse—
Kill him himself.
Kael clenched his fists.
"No."
The monster crawled closer.
Its claws scraped across the wet pavement with a horrifying screech.
The injured man turned his head and finally noticed Kael.
Hope filled his face.
"You… you're a player too, right?!" he shouted desperately.
A blue system window floated beside the man's head.
Unlike Kael's red interface, this one was bright and clean.
Player: Daniel Park
Level: 2
Daniel crawled toward him.
"We can fight it together! Please!" The monster let out a deep growl.
Kael glanced at the creature.
Then back at the system message.
If he did nothing…
The monster would kill Daniel.
The quest would be completed.
The system would reward him.
Simple.
Kael sighed quietly.
"…This system really likes testing me."
The monster suddenly lunged forward.
Daniel screamed.
"WATCH OUT—!"
But Kael had already moved.
"Shadow Step."
The world blurred.
Darkness swallowed him for a split second.
Then he appeared between Daniel and the monster.
The creature's claws slashed downward—
Kael grabbed a broken metal pipe lying on the ground and swung it upward.
CLANG!
The impact rang loudly through the street.
The monster staggered back slightly.
Daniel stared at Kael in shock. "You… you actually came back?"
Kael didn't look at him.
His eyes were locked on the monster.
"Get up," Kael said calmly.
"What?"
"If you can still move, then move."
Daniel scrambled to his feet.
The creature roared again.
A new system message appeared.
[Warning]
User is interfering with system objective.
Penalty risk increasing.
Kael smirked slightly.
"Yeah?"
He tightened his grip on the metal pipe.
"Then stop me."
The monster rushed forward again.
But this time— Kael moved first.
"Shadow Step."
He vanished.
Reappearing beside the creature's head.
The metal pipe swung through the air with full force.
CRACK!
The blow struck the monster's jaw.
It roared in pain.
Daniel stared in disbelief.
"Holy—!"
Kael turned slightly.
"Don't just watch."
Daniel snapped out of it.
"O-Okay!"
He grabbed a broken brick from the ground.
The monster lunged again.
But this time—
It was facing two opponents.
The rain poured harder.
Thunder echoed across the sky.
And somewhere deep within the system interface—
The red letters flickered with something strange.
Almost like… amusement.
[Observation: User behavior deviates from expected path.]
The game had only just begun.