Kael didn’t sleep.

Maybe you didn’t need to, in Bloodcore. He hadn’t seen a fatigue stat.

But his body ached like hell. His brain felt like gravel.

A dozen players had survived the courtyard.

Some sat by a cracked fountain in silence. Others cried. One guy stared at his hands, like they weren’t his.

Kael crouched by a fallen Overseer and stripped it for parts. The dagger from earlier? Already decayed. Literally turned to ash in his hand.

Item Durability: Real-Time Degradation Enabled.

He pocketed a fang and a chunk of glimmering scrap-metal from the Overseer’s jaw.

NAME: Kael Juno
ID: Player Zero
CLASS: Codebreaker (???)
LVL: 2
HP: 113/160
MP: 14/50
SKILLS:
– Backend Sight (Passive)
– Exploit Injection (Active)
STATUS: Hunted

He didn’t like the last part.

Behind him, someone called out. “Hey. You. You were the one who killed it, right?”

Kael turned.

A red-haired woman approached, armored in mismatched leather and chain. A massive axe rested on her shoulder.

Her tag blinked:
LENA // Lvl 3 – Berserker

“You soloed an Overseer,” she said. “That ain’t normal.”

Kael said nothing.

She squinted. “You glitched or something?”

“I don’t know what I am,” Kael muttered.

She grinned. “Well, glitched or not, you might be our best shot at not dying.”

A tone echoed across the zone.

[ZONE EVENT: PROTOCOL ASHFALL – INITIATED]
Hostile wave incoming. Time remaining: 04:59

Red mist began to rise around the courtyard walls.

Lena cursed. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”