Chapter 2 CHAPTER TWO
Adrian stood frozen in the narrow maintenance corridor while black blood dripped steadily from the bent metal pipe in his hands. The creature at his feet twitched once more before finally going still, its pale limbs curling inward like a dying spider.
The smell hit him immediately afterward.
Rotting meat.
Burned plastic.
Something sour beneath it all.
The teenager beside the wall made a choking sound.
Adrian dropped the pipe and rushed toward him instinctively, crouching beside the boy as blood bubbled violently from the torn throat wound. The kid’s fingers clawed weakly at Adrian’s sleeve, eyes wide with terror and confusion.
“Help me,” he whispered.
Adrian pressed both hands against the wound automatically even though he already knew it was pointless. He had seen enough death at the morgue to recognize when someone was already gone.
The boy convulsed hard.
Then stopped moving.
Silence settled over the corridor except for the distant screams echoing somewhere beyond the walls.
Adrian slowly pulled his blood-covered hands back.
Another blue window appeared in front of his face.
[Residual Biomass Detected]
[Consume?]
His stomach twisted instantly.
“What?”
The glowing words hovered motionlessly in the air.
[Consume?]
[Yes / No]
Adrian stared at the screen in disbelief before looking back at the corpse beside him. The boy’s empty eyes still faced upward, frozen in fear.
A loud screech echoed somewhere nearby.
The walls trembled.
More creatures.
His breathing sharpened.
The system window flickered again.
[Survival Probability Critically Low]
[Available Resources Nearby: 2]
The dead creature.
The dead boy.
Adrian felt sick.
“No.”
The moment he answered, another notification appeared.
[Decision Logged]
[Caution: Refusal of available resources may reduce survival rate]
The hallway lights flickered violently.
Something scratched against the ventilation shaft overhead.
Adrian grabbed the metal pipe again and backed away slowly, every muscle in his body tightening.
The scratching stopped.
Then came the whispering.
Movement.
Dozens of tiny legs crawling somewhere inside the walls.
Another blue screen materialized suddenly.
[Player Detected]
[Initializing User Status]
A sharp pain exploded behind Adrian’s eyes.
He stared at the floating window while trying to steady his breathing.
This wasn’t real.
None of this could possibly be real.
But the blood soaking his hands felt real enough.
The screams outside sounded real too.
Another notification appeared immediately afterward.
[Warning]
Unassigned players display lower survival efficiency.
Choose initial pathway.
Three glowing symbols appeared before him.
Available Archetypes:
[Fighter]
[Runner]
[Scavenger]
The corridor suddenly shook hard enough to nearly throw him off balance.
Something smashed into the maintenance door behind him.
A scream followed.
Then another.
The metal door bent inward violently.
Adrian’s pulse spiked.
The system window remained hovering calmly in front of him while more impacts slammed against the door.
[Fighter]
Basic combat specialization.
Improved strength growth.
Moderate survival rate.
[Runner]
Enhanced agility and escape efficiency.
Increased stamina recovery.
High early-game survival rate.
[Scavenger]
Resource acquisition specialization.
Residual compatibility increased.
Adaptive growth potential unknown.
Warning: High mutation probability.
Adrian’s eyes locked onto the last description.
Residual compatibility.
Consume.
Mutation.
A horrible feeling crawled through his chest as pieces started connecting together.
The system had offered him corpses for a reason.
The maintenance door burst inward.
A pale creature lunged through the opening, shrieking violently as too many limbs scraped against the floor.
Adrian reacted instantly.
He swung the pipe sideways with both hands.
CRACK.
The creature staggered but didn’t stop.
Its claws slashed across Adrian’s shoulder, tearing through fabric and skin together. Pain exploded through his arm.
Adrian slammed backward into the wall.
The creature lunged again.
He barely shoved the pipe horizontally between its jaws before the thing crushed down hard enough to bend the metal.
Hot saliva dripped onto his face.
Adrian gritted his teeth violently and drove his knee upward into its stomach.
The creature recoiled just enough.
He grabbed the broken emergency fire axe mounted beside the wall and buried it into the side of its skull.
Black fluid exploded across the corridor.
The creature collapsed twitching at his feet.
A notification flashed instantly.
[Predator Eliminated]
Experience Gained.
+12 EXP
Another followed immediately.
[Level Up Available]
Adrian stared at the glowing screens while blood dripped from his injured shoulder.
The creature’s corpse suddenly began dissolving.
Its flesh broke apart into black particles before flowing slowly toward him.
The particles touched his skin.
Pain erupted through his body.
Adrian dropped to one knee with a strangled gasp as freezing sensations crawled beneath his flesh. Images flashed through his head violently.
Dark tunnels.
Hunger.
Fear.
The sensation of crawling through wet spaces beneath the earth.
Then it stopped.
A new message appeared.
[Residual Memory Absorbed]
Minor Night Vision acquired.
Adrian froze.
The corridor around him looked slightly clearer now despite the dim emergency lights.
His breathing became uneven.
This system wasn’t rewarding him for surviving.
It was changing him.
A deep groan echoed through the walls around him.
The entire station trembled again.
Then the floor split open.
Flesh burst upward through the cracked tiles like roots erupting from underground. Veins spread rapidly along the walls while organic growth swallowed pipes and wiring alike.
The Nest was expanding.
And it was heading straight toward him.
A final notification appeared slowly before his eyes.
FIRST QUEST GENERATED
[Descend]
Objective: Reach the lower ecosystem before surface collapse.
Reward: Class acquisition.
Failure: Consumption.
Below the quest window, darkness stretched downward through the newly opened crack in the floor.
Something was moving inside it.
Watching him.
Waiting.
And after only a brief moment of hesitation
Adrian stepped forward and descended into the Nest.
