10 years ago…

  The sky cracked open. Not with light, nor with any promise of salvation, but with something darker, something suffocating.

  From the rift above poured a black haze, tendrils of swirling smoke that coiled and twisted as if alive.

  The people around screamed, some clawing at their own minds as the miasma seeped in, stealing reason, memory, even life itself. Kael Vale felt it first—not the fear, but the liberation.......

  Something long-bound within him unraveled. His body shimmered with an unnatural glow.

  “What… what is happening?” Kael muttered, staggering as his vision blurred. Power surged through him, intoxicating and unfamiliar. Numbers and readings blinked across his mind like a status window......

  Ability : Blink

  The word pulsed. His body leapt, shifted, vanished and reappeared in the blink of an eye. Pain flared. He gasped. Vision blurred. Darkness claimed him.

  Before he could comprehend, dizziness struck. His knees buckled, and the last thing he saw before darkness swallowed him was Mara gripping his arm, eyes wide, and Karl shouting something he couldn’t hear.

  When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer alone.

  Surrounding him were survivors—Mara, Max, Jax, Karl, Shin, Lei Feng, and Chen—eight of them, his only family in a world unraveling. Together, they hid in the crumbling ruins of a once-bustling city, each heart hammering in synchrony with the tremors of the massive magical beasts roaming nearby.

  “Quiet,” Mara whispered, eyes scanning the shadows. “Move only when I say.”

  Kael pressed his back against the cold stone, blinking to the next cover, feeling the fluid, deadly grace of his new ability.

  Max’s hand clenched around his dagger. “I swear, if that thing breathes near us, it’s over.”

  Chen muttered, “Over? We’ve survived a week already. We’ll survive this too… maybe.”

  Karl’s knees buckled. “I… I can’t…”

  Thump…........

  Thump…........

  Thump..........

  The ground shook. A monstrous vibration rolled through the ruins.

  Kael’s instincts screamed: something enormous was moving nearby. A magical beast, born of the fractures themselves, its steps echoing through skeletal remains.

  Shadows stretched unnaturally as it passed.

  Kael nodded, swallowing down vertigo. Blink… if he could move like this, he could keep them alive.

  The eight crept through the ruins, Mara covering Karl’s weak steps. The beast’s growls grew closer, each exhale of corrupted breath a reminder that the world was no longer theirs.

  By nightfall, the monster had passed, leaving silence.

  “W-we survived,” Karl stammered.

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  Jax snickered, “Hopefully.”

  Shin interrupted, “Don't jinx it, you fool.”

  Mara breathed a sigh of relief. “Barely. The beast almost got me.”

  Chen added, “By the way you ran, it should have almost caught you.”

  Max sighed. “So there are eight of us… maybe we can survive until help arrives…”

  Kael nodded. “Yes, I think so too.”

  For seven long years, they survived. Every day was a battle: scavenging for food, avoiding corrupted beasts, navigating collapsing ruins, and watching each other for signs of weakness.

  Slowly, trust and camaraderie built between them—shared laughter over meager meals, whispered jokes in the dead of night, stolen moments of warmth amid a dying world.

  One day, during a check of the southeast sector, a new dungeon appeared unexpectedly.

  From it emerged a magical beast larger and more corrupted than anything they had faced before. Panic surged, but Kael’s analytical mind kicked in......

  They as fast as they can ran, dodging falling debris and crumbling buildings. Mara and Kael coordinated, using every tactic they had learned over the years. Karl blinked with Kael’s guidance to avoid the worst of it.

  “Move!” Kael whispered. The three survivors at the forefront—himself, Mara, and Karl—took the lead. Behind them, the others struggled, caught in rubble. Screams pierced the air. Shadows fell over bodies as five companions sacrificed themselves so the rest could escape.

  The earth trembled beneath the jagged ruins. Dust and debris hung heavy. Kael’s ears rang, heart hammering.

  The dungeon-born beast was enormous, its limbs a twisted mass of corrupted muscle, eyes burning with sickly amber.

  “We can’t stay here,” Kael hissed. “If it notices us—”

  “Shh! Quiet!” Mara snapped. “It can hear everything. Move only when I tell you.”

  Karl whimpered. “I don’t—”

  “Survive, Karl. That’s all we do and that's all what our fallen comrades hopes too,”

  Kael muttered, gripping his Blink ability. The creature let out a bone-chilling roar, sending debris raining down. Five had already fallen. Only these three remained.

  A blinding flash of light cut through the dust—a synchronized tactical strike stunned the beast. Bolts of concentrated mana streaked through the air, emanating from figures descending from above...........Like a hero stepped out of a timeless fairy tale

  "That day, I met him—their final light in a world swallowing them whole, a living promise that survival was still possible, if only for a heartbeat more."

  Wayn Syamir. The founder of Survivor Association.

  Wayn’s eyes glowed with intensity, artifacts floating like silent sentinels. Four other SA members moved with deadly precision, weaving barriers and launching targeted spells, forcing the beast back.

  “Stay close! Don’t split up!” Wayn shouted, eyes scanning every movement. The air warped under his control, a calculated dance of offense and defense.

  The first light of dawn barely filtered through the reinforced windows of the SA base. Kael stirred beneath a thin blanket, shadows of the Southeast Sector still pressing against his chest.

  “Kael! Wake up, damn it!” Mara hissed, nudging him. “You’ve been snoozing through prep again, and Squad Leader isn’t gonna wait!”

  Karl rubbed his eyes. “Nightmare?”

  Kael’s eyes snapped open. Blink. Memory check. Alive. Mostly.

  Squad Leader barked, pacing like a storm. “VALE! Get your squad ready for scout mission!”

  Mara groaned. “Do we need the verbal assault every morning?”

  “I do,” Squad Leader replied.

  Kael smirked, stretching. Outside, the base buzzed—survivors tending tasks, smiths hammering artifacts, medics moving swiftly.

  Every greeting, every nod reminded him the SA base was more than a shelter—it was home.

  Tara leaned casually against the workshop wall.

  “Morning, Tara,” Kael said, holding a small chocolate bar. “Happy belated birthday. Don’t tell anyone I remembered.”

  Her laugh rang soft and genuine. “You… remembered?”

  “You’re important. Consider it… data points for survival.”

  On the other side of the base, Wayn leaned over a cluttered table in the command center........

  Monitors hummed, charts blinking alarming numbers.

  Miasma levels abnormal, dungeon rates surging, magical beast encounters low.

  “This… this doesn’t make sense,” he muttered. “Every spike, every gap… it’s a warning.”

  Wayn’s desperation wasn’t panic—it was sharp, burning focus.

  The weight of responsibility pressed on him like the air itself. He slammed a hand on the table.

  “I will not let this base fall. Not the people, not the survivors. I have to find a solution… now.”

  The question is whether there is there a disaster powerful enough to shake Wayn’s soul, leaving him restless? What dark truth lies behind his unease?

  Answer… will be revealed piece by piece, like shadows creeping in the night.