The city was dying.

  What was once Ethan’s neighborhood now looked like something out of a nightmare. Smoke coiled through the street. Buildings burned. Sirens wailed. Somewhere far off, gunfire stuttered like a desperate heartbeat. And in the middle of it all, Ethan ran.

  His arm throbbed from the goblin’s claws, blood soaking through the shredded sleeve of his jacket. The pain was sharp, but distant. Background noise. Because he couldn’t stop. Not until he found them.

  “Mom… Dad…” he muttered, breath ragged as he sprinted through the debris-choked streets. “Please be okay.”

  He turned a corner, skidding on broken glass and asphalt, and froze, his instincts screaming to keep moving. Every second spent here was a second wasted. The danger was real, and it was closing in fast. But something tugged at him. The voice was desperate, human, like the last thread of a rope.

  Don’t get involved. Keep going.

  But his legs moved before he could tell himself to stop.

  He sprinted down the alleyway from where the voice had come, ducking through the wreckage of a storefront. Inside, a young man lay pinned beneath a concrete slab, blood pouring from a mangled leg.

  "Help… I can't feel my leg... Please... don’t leave me..." the man gasped, voice strained with panic.

  Ethan’s heart pounded as he assessed the situation. He didn’t know this guy. He owed him nothing.

  But—

  He’s human. He’s asking for help.

  Every survival instinct told him to turn away. Leave him. The city was crawling with monsters—real, living creatures straight out of some twisted nightmare. The longer he stayed here, the more vulnerable he became.

  But…

  Ethan’s mind flashed to his mom’s face, to her hands on his shoulders, her words from a time before the world broke apart. “If you see someone in need, you help them. You make the world a little less broken.”

  Ethan clenched his fists.

  “I’m not a hero,” he muttered to himself, but he dropped to his knees anyway.

  With a grunt, he grabbed a nearby metal pipe and wedged it under the slab. His arms screamed with effort, but he finally managed to lift it enough for the man to crawl free.

  “Thank you… Thank you…” the stranger gasped, his voice weak.

  “Can you walk?” Ethan asked, looking over his shoulder toward the street.

  The answer came as a pained groan as the man’s foot slipped from under him. Ethan caught him just in time, hauling him up.

  “I… I’ll try. Just… get me out of here,” the man murmured.

  The sound of skittering feet froze them both.

  Ethan’s eyes flicked toward the street. Two creatures—freakish, lanky monsters with pale, mottled skin and dark, hollow eyes—moved into view, their claws scraping the ground.

  Monsters.

  They were fast. Efficient. Bloodthirsty.

  Ethan shoved the man behind the half-burned sedan, his heart pounding in his chest. His arm screamed from the injury, the left one barely able to move. Pain sliced through his side where the goblin had torn him earlier, but there was no time to think about it. He couldn’t hesitate. Not now. Not when the monsters were so close.

  One of the creatures barreled toward him, hulking and covered in matted fur. Its jaws gnashed as it howled, making the air tremble. Ethan’s legs barely reacted fast enough. He sidestepped its swipe, the ground uneven underfoot. With his right hand, he gripped the jagged street sign and slammed it into the beast’s chest. The impact sent a sharp, dull crack through the air, but the creature barely flinched. It turned back with an angry growl, undeterred.

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  The second monster was already on him. Lean and fast, its claws gleamed in the fading light. It moved like a blur, faster than Ethan could track. Pain flared through his side, and before he could react, the creature slashed at him, its claws raking across his ribs.

  Ethan gasped, his vision blurring. His arm—his left—hung uselessly at his side, throbbing in protest. But he couldn’t afford to think about it. Not now. He twisted away from the second monster, using every ounce of his strength to stay on his feet.

  The first monster had recovered. It charged again, mouth wide, its bloodshot eyes locked onto Ethan’s. He ducked just in time, the hulking beast’s jaws snapping inches from his face. Ethan’s heart thundered as he swung the street sign upward, hitting the monster across the jaw. It stumbled back, dazed but still standing.

  Not enough.

  The second monster came at him again, its claws flashing. Ethan swung the sign in desperation, but his movements were sluggish. His body, drained from pain and blood loss, was slowing. Still, he kept fighting. He couldn’t let himself stop. Not now.

  The creature dodged the first swing, but Ethan had anticipated it. He swung again, striking the monster in the face. The force of the blow sent it reeling backward, but it wasn’t finished. Its mouth opened wide, and it let out a guttural growl, preparing for another attack.

  It’s too fast. Too damn fast.

  Before Ethan could react, the creature lunged.

  And then—something else.

  The man. The man who’d been trying to crawl to safety behind the sedan, his leg broken and mangled, was still out there. The man’s desperate scream cut through the chaos.

  Ethan whipped around, just in time to see the second monster leap onto the man, claws sinking deep into his side. The man screamed again, blood spraying across the pavement.

  Ethan froze. He reached out, but his legs wouldn’t move. His body refused to respond.

  No...

  The man struggled beneath the creature, but it was no use. The monster’s claws shredded through his chest, the sound of tearing flesh filling the air. His body jerked, a few final gasps escaping his mouth, and then he went still. The monster continued to rip at him, indifferent to the life it had just ended.

  Ethan’s breath caught in his throat, his chest tightening. His legs felt like stone. His head swam with a dizzying mix of helplessness, rage, and disbelief. He had been so close. If only he had been faster—if only he had reacted sooner.

  But now it was too late. The man was gone.

  The creature tore into the corpse one last time before it turned its blood-smeared face toward Ethan, its yellow eyes gleaming with hunger. The silence that followed felt suffocating, the world around Ethan suddenly too quiet. He stared at the lifeless body, unable to look away.

  He should have done something. He should have been quicker. But instead, all he could do was watch as the man he had failed bled out in front of him.

  The monster took a step forward, snapping Ethan back to reality. But he was already too tired to fight. Too slow. His body screamed for rest, but he couldn’t give in.

  With shaking hands, he grabbed the street sign, gritting his teeth against the pain, and swung once more. The blow hit its mark, knocking the creature back, but the monster wasn’t done yet. It recovered and prepared to strike again.

  Ethan’s heart thudded against his ribcage, but his arms felt like lead. The weight of it all hung heavily in his chest, pressing down, suffocating him.

  But then, he swung again. And this time, the sign found its target with precision. The street sign crashed into the creature’s skull with a sickening crunch. It staggered backward, its eyes flickering in confusion as it tried to regain its balance.

  With a growl, Ethan followed through, using his body’s last reserves of energy to slam the street sign down into the creature’s head again. This time, the blow shattered its skull, and the creature crumpled to the ground, motionless.

  A moment of silence followed. Ethan’s chest heaved, his pulse hammering in his ears. He barely had time to catch his breath before a glowing blue screen appeared in front of him.

  [EXP Gained – 30]

  [Level Up Progress: 100 / 100]

  [Level Up! Ethan Walker – Level 2]

  The screen flickered, and the weight of his actions crashed into him once more. He’d done it. He’d killed them both. And now, with a quick glance around, he saw the monsters' bodies littered across the ground. As the tension in his muscles began to subside, He could feel his body get stronger, it was negligible but definitely noticeable.

  Level up… He realized.

  Ethan noticed something strange. A soft shimmer over the dead bodies. Loot.

  A small vial lay on the ground, nestled among the monster’s remains.

  [Low-Quality Grade HP Potion x1]

  Ethan bent down and snatched them up, his fingers slick with sweat and blood. He didn't know what this potion did, but they were the first real loot he had found since all this started. He wasn’t about to let it go to waste.

  His legs felt weak as he rose, the adrenaline fading, leaving him drained. His side ached from the slashes, and his arm—still nearly useless—hung limply at his side. But he had to keep moving. There was no time to rest, no time to mourn the man who had died. He had to survive.

  The monsters were dead. He had leveled up.

  But the price... the price had been too high.