“The First Blood”
The ground beneath her feet trembled. Arora could feel it before she heard the announcement. The countdown had begun. Ten minutes had passed, and the first challenge was now live. She was no longer in her bedroom, no longer safely hidden away in her home.
The world around her was already beginning to change. The game had started.
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Mission:
Stay within the marked zone for 3 minutes. Failure to comply will result in elimination.
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The system's voice was chilling in its indifference. To them, it was a game. To her, it was the beginning of her fight for survival.
The marked zone was ahead, just visible through the mist that had suddenly engulfed the area. She could barely make out the shapes of other players, some already huddling together, while others paced nervously, unsure of what was coming. The fog gave everything an eerie, suffocating feel, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Three minutes.
Her pulse quickened, but there was no panic. She had already anticipated this. She wasn't about to fall into their trap.
She glanced at the small map on her phone, the one she had meticulously studied. The map showed a large, circular area marked in red—the so-called "safe zone." She knew that the Entities loved to twist the rules, to make everything feel like a trap.
She had to stay within the zone, but she didn't trust it. It wasn't safe.
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[Mission Update: The Marked Zone]
The marked zone grew brighter as if trying to entice the players to step into it, as if it was a sanctuary offering safety. But she had seen this before—she had experienced this in her nightmares, in fleeting visions of the first round. She knew exactly what would happen if anyone stayed in the center of that glowing zone for too long.
It was a trap.
The game wasn't about playing safe; it was about survival, no matter the cost.
So, she took the risk. Instead of heading directly into the zone, she circled the edge, keeping herself on the move, stepping in and out of the glowing perimeter, carefully measuring her time.
Every step felt like a silent rebellion against the system, a move to show them that she would not play by their rules.
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The First Test:
Time crawled forward.
Her heart hammered in her chest as she kept her eyes on the glowing edges of the zone. The minutes seemed to stretch as the silence between the players grew heavier. The fog made it hard to see anything clearly, but she was hyper-aware of every movement, every breath, every small shift in the air.
Then, a sudden crackling sound echoed through the silence— a trap triggered.
Two players, caught unaware, tried to escape the zone. The ground beneath them cracked open like a massive maw, swallowing them whole. Their screams echoed, but before she could even blink, the fog swallowed them, and the game moved on.
She flinched, but didn't hesitate.
Keep moving.
Her mind was sharp. Her focus, laser-like. Each step, each calculated movement, was one step closer to surviving this round.
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Just as the final seconds approached, she felt a sudden pull on her body. Something was wrong. Her heart raced. The fog thickened.
Her eyes darted around, scanning the area. There, at the far edge of the marked zone, she saw a flicker of movement—another player, standing in the center, motionless. The player was about to be caught in a trap. They were too late to react.
Without thinking, Arora darted forward.
She slipped into the fog, just outside the trap's range, moving with the precision she had only dreamed of. In that split second, she reached out, grabbing the person's arm and pulling them away, just before the earth cracked open beneath them.
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Mission Complete: You survived by staying within the marked zone for three minutes.
The system's cold voice washed over her, but the feeling of relief was fleeting.
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The person she had saved stumbled, shaking, but alive. Their eyes met hers, filled with shock, gratitude... and something else. A sense of awe, perhaps.
"Thank you," the player whispered, clearly too stunned to say anything else.
But Arora wasn't paying attention to them. She had survived. The mission had been completed.
Now, she felt it. The power.
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System Notification:
Ability Unlocked: Shadow Step - Passive ability that allows the user to phase through shadows for brief moments, evading detection and teleporting short distances.
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She had done it. Her first ability—Shadow Step. The system had rewarded her. But it was only a glimpse of what was to come.
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Mission Rewards:
Ability Unlocked: Shadow Step
Survival Points: 50
Rank: B (First Completion)
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Arora didn't celebrate. She didn't even look at the rewards for long. She was already moving, already thinking ahead. The game was far from over. This was just the beginning.
Her thoughts flickered to Alex. He had survived the first round, but she couldn't let her guard down.
She knew that the rules were changing. The Entities were watching. The game was going to get harder. And if she wanted to win, she had to keep moving in the shadows, keep gaining strength, and keep manipulating the rules of the game to her advantage.
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As the fog began to lift and the players around her started to regroup, she quickly melted back into the shadows, unseen and unnoticed.
She wasn't just playing to survive anymore.
She was playing to win.