This was his second hideout.
The second felt more like a grave.
After a week spent preparing supplies and equipment, he was finally moving out. He had gone out several times on reconnaissance from his shelter. He had built a ladder, a wooden hatch to slip out of the den quietly. A reinforced bow. Sharpened arrows.
During that week in hiding, he hadn’t seen the flying monster that had hunted him before.
Only mutant dogs. And scavengers.
Yūshin picked up a few feathers from the ground.
A brutal memory surged through his mind.
Those damn mutant vultures. Real pieces of shit.
A massive condor-like body, powerful talons, a hooked beak, amber eyes sharp as blades. Fast. Sly. Vicious.
He clenched his teeth.
Those bastards were watching me. Always. As if they knew I was weakened… that I had a target on my back.
He had to kill them one by one just to reach the game — his only source of meat.
…I still remember the first one.
The vulture circled silently above the ruins, waiting for him to tire.
It wouldn’t leave me alone… It was there for me.
When it dove, Yūshin thought his time had come. He felt its shadow slide over him like a sentence.
The vulture passed behind him. Its talons grazed his back and tore his tunic.
But he had rolled beneath the rubble and fired his [Double Arrow] skill at an angle. The first arrow lodged into the monster’s wing. The vulture let out a sharp scream.
Yūshin took the opportunity to jump on it and finish it off with his makeshift blade.
The dry wind carried the smell of dust, death… and sometimes dried blood.
His arm was still trembling as he slit the creature’s throat. That memory would never leave him.
They were hard to kill… not just because of their agility, but because they knew. They observed. They judged. They attacked in groups. Intelligent hunters.
But thanks to their feathers, he had managed to craft arrows far faster than his old ones. Arrows that cut through the air like never before.
After all those efforts, he had reached Level VIII.
And now…
He slung his quiver over his shoulder, bow in hand.
He checked the string. Again. As if to reassure himself.
Yūshin closed his eyes. A mental image formed in his mind — his stat window.
I distributed ten attribute points: five into Agility and five into Spirit.
[Current Stats — Level VIII]
Strength: 15
Agility: 25 (+5)
Endurance: 13
Intelligence: 15
Charisma: 12
Perception: 12
Mana: 0
Spirit: 50 (+5)
Divine: 0
I’m waiting to reach Level IX to get my next skill… I’m close, but I won’t stay here. If the wyvern finds me again, I won’t get the same chance. I’d rather move away… and not look back.
I don’t really have a choice. If I wait, I doom myself too.
He opened his eyes after a long sigh.
A sensation of lightness washed over him, his whole body bathed in a fleeting halo — then everything faded.
Something new had awakened inside him.
A dry wind swept the dust from his face. He tightened his cape, checked his bow, and pulled the string one last time. A simple ritual before leaving. A way to anchor himself.
The atmosphere remained just as grim. Sinister. Days passed. The air was scorching, the wind dry, and the almost unnatural stillness of the landscape dulled his features like a veil of exhaustion.
But Yūshin did not falter. He moved forward. Kept going. Because stopping… meant dying.
And something out there was still hunting.
He had learned.
To move better.
To strike true.
To survive at all costs.
And to never stay too long in the same place… otherwise something always ended up finding you.
The agility he had gained transformed every one of his movements. Faster. Sharper.
Now, three or four mutant dogs?
He annihilated them.
His shots were no longer just efficient.
They were instinctive. Lethal. Surgical.
Another fight.
He leapt, light as a feather. A controlled backflip, precise, fluid. It looked like he was flying. His body no longer endured combat — it directed it.
He activated [Double Arrow].
A green light pulsed along his forearms, like a living wave of energy. His bow vibrated, charged with tension ready to burst. His arrows shimmered with an almost supernatural halo, wavering between green and silver, as if the air itself refused to touch them.
Time froze.
Space bent.
Yūshin was no longer an archer.
He was the trajectory. He was the shot.
Two whistles tore through the air.
The first arrow burst through an eye — exiting through the flank.
The second ripped through a throat — exiting through the back in a wet impact.
Silence.
Every shot landed perfectly.
And left no chance.
But then…
A shadow surged forward.
A mutant wolf. Bigger. Faster. More cunning.
It had been waiting. Studying his rhythm. An opportunistic predator.
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It lunged from the darkness.
Yūshin saw the attack only at the last second.
Instinct took over. Sharp pivot. Side slip.
A gust brushed his chest. Too close.
He fired point-blank.
The arrow snapped forward, piercing the beast clean through.
No scream. Just a dead weight collapsing into the dust.
Silence fell again.
Yūshin stood motionless, gaze fixed, muscles still tense.
His breathing slowed. But his mind did not.
I’m improving…
But every step in this world exposes me to greater danger.
I have to stay vigilant.
I still have two uses of [Double Arrow] left… after that, I’m empty.
He slowly lowered his bow.
Adjusted his glasses with an automatic motion.
Then, without a word, he resumed walking.
Slowly.
But with the determination of someone who knows the fall is never far away.
The last monsters he had defeated had given him confidence.
But he knew he couldn’t relax… nor ask too many questions.
This world gives… just to see if you’ll lose everything afterward.
So if I fall… I want it to be while moving forward.
And then, suddenly, his right arm began to emit a strange white glow.
A vibrating aura enveloped him entirely.
Blue electrical arcs ran along his arm, crackling like contained lightning.
And in the silence of his mind, a voice echoed.
It didn’t come from him. It came from somewhere else.
Do you want power? Press your right wrist.
Yūshin froze.
He had never felt anything like this before.
It was new. Powerful.
What is this…?
His gaze dropped to his arm, pulsing with energy.
His tattoo was glowing, beating in rhythm with his heart.
Yūshin held his breath.
He found a cave hidden along a narrow path and set a rudimentary trap at the entrance — just a simple alert to avoid being caught off guard.
He knew that if he chose to activate a skill, he would have only five minutes. Vulnerable.
No door, no hatch, no barrier could save him.
He closed his eyes. Visualized his current stats.
I need a skill that will let me create a diversion… or survive in the worst moments.
He inhaled deeply.
His gaze settled on his tattoo, the strange mark still faintly vibrating.
He closed his eyes.
Pressed his wrist.
And in an instant.
The world shifted.
A deep, absolute darkness swallowed him.
Corridors appeared around him, lined with luminous doors.
Aligned. Countless.
Stretching endlessly into the distance.
Each door vibrated with a distinct aura.
Each threshold seemed to contain a unique power. A truth.
A voice rose in the void:
Do you wish to see only the doors accessible with your current attributes? Or all possible doors?
Yūshin remained still.
This is the first time the Voice asks me what I want…
Time seemed frozen.
But the clock was ticking.
Thirty seconds. Already.
His voice burst out.
“All the doors!”
Space split apart.
What was already immense became inhuman.
Doors erupted by the hundreds, by the thousands, as if space itself were tearing open infinitely. Some barely vibrated. Others burned like suns. Others still… made no sound, yet crushed the air simply by existing.
Every handle bore a name.
Every name carried a price.
And that price… was him.
He hurriedly scanned the doors from left to right, unable to stop on any of them.
Names, costs, promises flashed by too fast to grasp.
Only a few managed to pierce through the chaos in his mind.
His gaze caught the first lines that came within reach.
[Raw Strength]
[35 Strength / 5 Mana]
Unleashes an overwhelming physical attack capable of breaking enemy defenses.
His jaw tightened.
I’m at 15. Not even half.
Without losing a second, he moved on.
[Phantom Step]
[30 Agility / 5 Mana]
Instant short-range displacement.
A chill ran up his spine.
25 agility… I’m close. But without mana, it’s still a mirage.
[Steel Fangs]
[20 Strength / 10 Endurance]
Enhances bite and unarmed attacks.
I’m not a dog. I’m an archer.
[Hunter’s Gaze]
[20 Perception / 0 Mana]
Increases detection of tracks and vital points.
12. Too low.
[Bleeding Strike]
[15 Strength / 15 Agility]
Targeted attack causing rapid hemorrhage.
He narrowed his eyes.
That… I could almost use. But I don’t have a blade worthy of the name.
[Saving Lightning]
[15 Mana]
Summons a concentrated bolt of lightning onto the enemy.
Yūshin felt an icy emptiness in his stomach.
Even if I hit… after that I’m drained.
One more attack. One more monster.
And I die.
[Burning Heart]
[15 Strength / 10 Charisma]
Temporarily increases strength and charisma by +5. Can intimidate enemies.
A dry laugh escaped him.
Intimidate who? Ruins? Corpses?
He glanced behind him at a door speckled with stars.
[Portal]
[40 Mana / 15 Intelligence]
Creates a small teleportation portal between two visible points.
He lingered on the word for a second, as if the universe were mocking him.
Forty mana.
Zero.
Even just looking at it, he knew.
He would never reach that threshold.
Not in this life.
Not here.
Others assaulted him — tracking, barrages, healing — promises too expensive or useless.
The countdown hammered inside his skull.
Two minutes… and already thirty seconds gone.
The doors were calling him.
Some whispered.
Others screamed.
But all said the same thing:
Choose.
Yūshin inhaled.
And a brutal thought imposed itself like a survival reflex:
I don’t want to be alone anymore.
An image surfaced.
Reiboku. His face.
Then his body. Motionless.
I abandoned him…
No.
He was doomed.
He lowered his head.
Then why does he keep coming back to me?
His gaze hardened.
I can’t die for someone who’s already dead.
I need a familiar… a companion. A beast, a creature… anything that can walk with me through these abysses.
The Voice answered immediately, implacable:
Specify.
He froze. Completely still.
Yes. Animal invocation.
The corridor distorted again.
The doors began to ripple, as if breathing.
The light changed. Lower. More primal.
Shapes appeared behind the thresholds.
Eyes. Fangs. Moving shadows.
Names carved themselves into the air.
[Mountain Tiger]
[55 Spirit / 10 Charisma]
Fierce and fast familiar. Frontline attacker. Exceptional tracking. High loyalty.
Yūshin imagined the beast lunging through the dust, jaws wide, drawing enemy fire toward itself.
A wall of muscle between him and death.
Fifty-five… not yet. Not enough.
Damn it… there are too many doors.
His eyes swept across them.
Too fast. Too many.
[Dread Wolf]
[20 Spirit / 5 Charisma]
Agile. Silent. Coordinated attacks. Ambush specialist.
A black silhouette slid behind the door.
Cold eyes. Patient.
A hunter that never roared.
A predator like me.
I can’t decide.
His hands began to tremble on their own.
As if seized by spasms.
[Virtuous Mygale]
[30 Spirit / 15 Charisma]
Creates traps. Slows targets. Poison.
He saw webs stretching through the darkness.
Prey struggling far too late.
Useful… but slow. And I run more often than I fight.
I’m running out of time.
[King of the Astrals]
[35 Spirit / 10 Charisma]
Celestial creature. Close combat. Loyal.
A luminous mass loomed behind the door.
Raw power. Crushing presence.
Too visible. Too tempting. Everything that hunts will go for it… and therefore for me.
A king…
A king doesn’t run.
[Titanoboa]
[25 Spirit / 10 Charisma]
Giant serpent. Crushes. Constricts. Paralyzes.
He almost felt the coils wrapping around him.
A monster that frightened even monsters.
Slow… but terrifying. No one attacks what can crush them.
The voices grew closer.
Layered. Overlapping.
Insistent.
Take me.
Come to me.
I am your destiny.
He grabbed his head with both hands, as if trying to keep the voices out.
“Shut up!”
[Wa?blí the Visionary]
[10 Spirit / 10 Charisma]
Mystic eagle. Vision. Guidance. Perception.
He saw the sky.
The world from above.
See before being seen… survive before fighting.
His heart was beating too fast.
Sweat ran down his temple.
He wasn’t choosing a companion.
He was choosing how he would keep surviving.
The doors called to him.
Open me…
The giant clock kept descending.
50… 51… 52… seconds. The hand kept turning.
Twenty seconds.
Not one more.
He swallowed.
Then sprinted toward the door that felt the most right.
This time, he wouldn’t choose what hurt the most.
He would choose what allowed him to live.
After this… no turning back.
He closed his eyes.
Took a breath.
Face set.
As long as I exist… I move forward.
He pressed the handle.
A flash of light tore through him — body and soul.
A thick fog flooded his vision.
Then, in an instant, he was back in his body… as if nothing had happened.
Or almost.
He slowly opened his eyes.
He swayed, one hand on his temple.
A shiver ran through him.
A burning sensation twisted his face.
His gaze slid down to his wrist.
A crimson IX carved itself there in a blazing flash. Like a mark of fire, indelible.
A faint smile touched his lips.
He had crossed a threshold.
He turned his head toward his left arm.
A new inscription, etched forever, marked his new skill.
But before he could read it fully, a low growl echoed from deep inside the cave.
His senses ignited.
He straightened, bow in hand, ready to fire.
Heavy footsteps. Rhythmic.
Each step made the ground vibrate, as if the earth itself were holding its breath.
Something massive was approaching.
Then… two yellow eyes.
Frozen in the darkness.
No eyelids. No blinking.
Predator’s eyes.
They were fixed on Yūshin.
As if, the next second…
…everything would collapse.
Shit… no. Not now.
Fear rose.
He didn’t move.
This wasn’t the gaze of a beast.
It was a gaze that measured.
Yūshin tightened his grip on his bow.
The string vibrated — a tiny tremor betraying him.
Sweaty hands. Tight throat.
He turned without looking away from those eyes.
The trap behind him didn’t trigger.
This was more than a monster.
In this world…
the stronger you become,
the more something comes to check
whether you still deserve your place here.
