Chapter 3 – Surviving the Unending Night

He forgot what day it was.

If this forest even had days.

There was no sun here. Only the dense canopy of diseased trees, the flicker of pale fungal growths on dying bark, and the constant shriek of distant monsters.

Riku had long stopped marking time. There was only “before the next attack” and “after the last wound.”

And there were always wounds.

The second time he leveled up, it cost him part of his ear.

A long-fanged crawler had latched onto his neck in the middle of the night, nearly severing an artery. He'd fought blind, smashing his elbow into bone and ripping the creature off with his bare hands.

He killed it by driving a rock into its eye until it stopped twitching.

Then he’d crawled into a hollow stump and bled through the rest of the “night.”

The system pinged just before he passed out.

[ENEMY DEFEATED – NIGHT CRAWLER – LV 13]
XP GAINED: +92
[LEVEL UP → LV 3]
New Skill Unlocked: “Darkfang Slash Lv.1”

It wasn't just a stronger attack. It felt different.

The first time he used it, his body moved faster than his thoughts. He struck from a crouch, blade gleaming with a strange shimmer, and cleaved through a serpent-beast’s throat like paper.

The kill was so clean, he didn't realize it was dead until it collapsed behind him.

It thrilled him.

And terrified him.

By Level 5, the kills stopped hurting.

Not physically—his ribs were still cracked, his shoulder still raw—but mentally.

The first time he stabbed a creature begging for mercy in a human voice, he hesitated.

The fifth time, he didn’t.

He learned the signs of fake illusions.

He learned the difference between monster cries and human mimicry.

He learned what parts of a corrupted beast could be eaten—and what parts would make you hallucinate, vomit, or bleed internally.

He learned how to make a fire in damp air with moss and pressure stones.

He learned to sleep in 20-minute bursts, dagger under his chin.

[Skill Gained: Blood Instinct Lv.1]
Type: Passive / Combat Awareness
Effect: Heightens enemy detection, improves dodge window when low HP]

The first time that kicked in, he was mid-swing, nearly out of stamina, cornered against a steep ridge. A twin-tailed panther lunged—

—and his body moved on its own.

He ducked, slashed, drove his boot into its stomach, then followed with a throat strike.

It died without landing a single blow.

He didn't even realize he’d survived until his ragged breath fogged in the cold.

By Level 7, he started seeing patterns in the chaos.

Predators stalked in intervals. Certain groves were nesting grounds. Mushrooms bloomed in blood-rich soil. Small winged insects always led to carcasses.

The forest was a system.

A broken, corrupted, cruel system.

But so was he.

He started tracking the beasts before they tracked him.

He didn’t just survive anymore—he hunted.

[Quest Update: “Rule the Forest”]
Optional Objective: Surpass Level 10 Before Leaving the Demon’s Forest]
Bonus Reward: ??? (Class Evolution Trigger)

He paused the first time he read that.

Leave?

The idea seemed distant. Unreal.

The forest was his world now.

But that objective… it meant something.

There was a way out.

And he would earn it.

His most brutal fight came at Level 9.

A beast that bled shadows—its body made of bone, its breath a low whistle like a flute.

It moved like fog, wrapped in layers of screaming faces that weren’t real—but sounded too close to ones he'd heard before.

It hurt him. Nearly gutted him.

But in that moment, when his HP dropped below 15% and blood coated his screen, the system offered him a choice:

[Skill Mutation Opportunity: Yes / No?]
Eligible: Darkfang Slash → ???

Riku didn’t hesitate.

“YES!”

The blade in his hand pulsed. Shadows wrapped around the steel. His eyes burned—and the beast screamed in sudden fear.

[New Skill Acquired: Umbral Rend Lv.1]
Effect: Dark-element burst strike. Damage increases with missing HP. May inflict Silence.]

He killed it with a single slash.

Split it from jaw to tail.

Then he fell to his knees and laughed.

He was no one.

He was unwanted.

He was a mistake.

But in this cursed place, he was becoming something greater.

[LEVEL UP → LV 10]
Sync Rate: 51%
Class Evolution Prerequisite Met]
[Unique Class: ??? – Awaiting World Anchor to Unlock]

World anchor.

He didn’t know what that meant.

But he knew one thing now with absolute certainty:

He didn’t need to be chosen.

He didn’t need permission.

He would carve his place in this world.

And if the gods wanted to erase him?

They should’ve done a better job.