Against The Monster

Ethan's hands trembled as he stared at the orb, at the strange lights and symbols floating in the air. 

This wasn't part of military gear. It felt like a dream—or a nightmare he couldn't wake up from.

"What the hell is going on… what is this system…? Am I hallucinating?"

His voice shook as he looked down at his body. He didn't feel wounded—at least not badly—but everything around him said otherwise.

"This is so messed up… Did I hit my head that hard?"

Before he could think more, the far wall rippled like water, and movement came through the shifting space. 

Three figures stepped out, shadows in the shape of people, but wrong in every way. They moved in short, twitchy bursts, like broken puppets.

Their bodies were thin, almost see-through, covered in shifting smoke. Each step they took made the air buzz, like static on an old screen.

Ethan's breath caught. He reached for his firearm out of habit, but deep down, something told him it wouldn't work. These things weren't human. They weren't animals either.

The system's voice cut in, giving him notifications and also a warning:

[Recommendation: Execute Override.]

[Target: Primary Threat – Class E: Nullspawn]

He had no idea what "Override" meant or what a "Nullspawn" was. But he could see it in their movements—these things would kill him without hesitation. There was no time for confusion.

He raised his rifle slowly, heart racing. "Identify yourselves!" he shouted, voice echoing in the chamber. 

His brain knew it was pointless, but habit made him follow protocol anyway. "This is GDN command authorization! Step forward and declare your—"

"!@#@$%"

The closest one twitched and let out a sound like metal screaming. It dashed toward him, limbs stretching like rubber. 

Ethan fired one shot, then two, then three—but it kept coming albeit hurt, but still no response. 

"Shit!" he yelled, throwing himself to the side. 

The thing's claws scraped the ground where he'd stood, cutting the metal floor like butter.

One swipe hit his vest, tearing through the fabric and knocking him down. Pain shot through his shoulder as he rolled and came up firing. 

Five more rounds hit the creature's head and neck. It staggered and start bleeding but didn't fall.

"Why won't you die, you freak?!"

Its body glitched, flickering between shapes—first with a mouth, then without. 

It reminded him of a ghost from a horror movie he watched with his sister or glitches he saw when his PC was hacked, but now it was real and trying to kill him.

The second creature lunged. Ethan dropped to one knee and swung the rifle like a bat to its feet. The monster groaned and fell to the ground just like that. 

"They're not ghosts," he breathed, eyes wide.

"They can be touched and hurt…" a smile formed on his lips as the realization hit. 

He could kill them and survive. 

He ducked behind a metal beam, catching his breath. His hands shook as he checked the mag—half gone. 

"Damn, I can't waste this," he looked around, looking at items that could possibly be his weapon.

However, another monster approached him fast, and tried to lunge at him. Luckly, he spotted a thick pipe sticking out of the wall. 

He rushed over, yanked it free with a grunt. It came loose with a sharp screech. It was heavy and jagged at one end.

"Alright, let's come here you fuckers!"

The creature was right in front of him. Ethan stepped aside and stabbed the pipe forward with both hands.

It sank into the monster's throat with a wet crackle. The creature made a garbled, glitched noise that sounded like a radio trying to scream.

"!@#$&(" 

From its neck splurted a black liquid like blood, splatter to his face but Ethan didn't care he was in such an adrenaline rush to realize something like that. 

"Got you, asshole!" Ethan barked, smiling for just a second.

The creature twitched violently, black and thick liquid pouring from the wound, and then it collapsed, dissolving into fading light.

Ethan turned just in time to see the second one flying at him.

"Come on, you son of a—!"

He blocked with his rifle, but the weight knocked him down as the pipe fell with a clang sound. The creature pinned him, claws digging into his vest.

"ARRGH! Get off me!"

He shoved the firearms up into its throat and reached around blindly. His hand found a broken brick. He slammed it into the creature's head once—twice—three times.

The fourth hit made it stagger. He rolled free, grabbed the pipe again, and rammed it into the back of its neck.

The monster jerked violently and broke apart like shattered code.

Only one left.

It stood watching him, body flickering in and out like bad reception. Ethan didn't wait as he could feel his blood boil, his confidence surged, he could do this!

"You want a turn too? Then come get it!"

He charged, pipe raised ready to strike at any moment.

The creature didn't move in time, its movement was slowed down, but the rage in its voice was real. 

The first hit cracked its skull, but it didn't do enough so he swung the pipe again hitting it shoulder as it screamed and tried to attack back but Ethan as a trained soldier could dodge easily. 

Then Ethan moved again, this time went through its chest, pinning it to the floor.

"You, what are you?! Can you talk normally and understand me?!" Ethan screamed, "Where is my squad?!" 

However, the monster could only scream and struggle while Ethan kept pressing the pipe to its neck. 

"!@#%$%Y^"

"FUCKl" 

Ethan shouted in frustration, he raised his pipe and stabbed it throat with the jagged part of the pipe, the blood splattered across his face while the monster convulsed before it stopped moving and then vanished in a flicker of light and smoke.

Silence returned.

Ethan stood over the remains, breathing hard, pipe shaking in his hand. His arms ached and his legs burned. But he had won.

He had survived.

---

[QUEST COMPLETE – Sublevel Sweep]

[Objective: Eliminate 3 Nullspawn in breach corridor]

[✅ Status: SUCCESS]

[Reward: +25 SP | Partial Scan Data Uploaded]

---

[Void Sync Increased – 2.3%]

[SP Gained: +50]

[Inventory Updated: Unrefined Void Crystal ×1]

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[Void Bestiary Entry Unlocked – Class D: Hollow Drone]

[Classification: "Borrowed Skins"]

[Threat Level: Moderate]

[Entry: Available]