MXB_SUNNY

In 2025, Earth was suffocating. Oxygen reserves plummeted, cities collapsed into riots, and governments launched the *Ark Horizon*—a fleet carrying 150 million civilians in cryogenic pods toward **Exidous**, a planet 5,000 times Earth’s mass. The voyage, crawling at 0.1% light speed, would take 25 years.

Mutagenic

The water's edge was still, a mirror of the jungle's twisted canopy. Mark crouched, fingers skimming the surface. It was warmer than he expected. Almost *alive*.

Ren shifted behind him, his Death Scythe flickering in and out of existence. *"You're seriously jumping in?"*

Mark didn't answer. He just said, *"Don't leave."*

Not like the murky swamps of Earth—this was liquid glass, refracting sunlight into emerald spears. Schools of silver-finned creatures darted past, their bodies translucent, their bones glowing faintly blue. For a heartbeat, it was beautiful.

The **fish**—no, the *predator*—uncoiled from the depths like a whip. Its scales weren't just slick; they *rippled*, distorting the water around it. Its red eyes locked onto Mark.

Mark's lungs burned. He kicked upward, but the thing was *fast*, its jaws widening—

—he breached the surface just as teeth grazed his boot.

Mark hauled himself onto the bank, gasping.

It **surged** after him, half its monstrous body erupting from the water. Its gills flared, its teeth dripping with saliva that *hissed* where it hit the mud.

A crimson arc sliced through the air—once, twice, *three times*. Each cut carved deeper, the final strike shearing through the creature's neck with a wet *thunk*.

The head toppled. The body spasmed, then stilled.

Mark collapsed to his knees, his vision swimming. The skill had drained him—three slashes in rapid succession left him lightheaded, his veins throbbing.

**[You have killed Unclassified Level 7 River Maw. +85 EXP.]**

**[Blood Slash Mastery 3 → 5]**

**[3 Status Points to allocate freely]**

Ren staggered to his side. *"Holy shit. You—"*

Then the fish's corpse **glowed**.

Faint at first, then pulsing green. Its scales dissolved, its flesh withering to ash—until all that remained was a single, **orb**, hovering above the water's surface.

First Hunt