Seth was studying the Moon Beast when that eerie voice came back.
"Prepare."
And just like that—poof—the damn thing disappeared.
Seth's heart skipped a beat. Where'd it go? Then—shit—darkness swallowed him. Something huge blocked the light above.
The freaking Moon Beast was dropping right on top of him.
He flung himself sideways just in the nick of time, barely escaping being crushed. The whole place shook when it landed. Seth lost his footing and crashed to the floor, pain shooting through his side.
Before he could even catch his breath, the monster was already on the move—crazy fast for something so massive. Its razor-sharp claws pulled back, catching what little light there was.
It took a swipe.
Seth tried scrambling up—way too late.
He twisted his body, the beast's claws slicing through nothing but air, missing his chest by mere inches.
God, he was getting exhausted. Breathing hard now, muscles shaking from pure adrenaline. Meanwhile, the Moon Beast? Not even breaking a sweat. It pounced again, those deadly claws gleaming.
Then out of nowhere, a different voice cut through the chaos.
"Well done."
Not like the first one at all.
This voice had an edge to it. Malicious. Mean.
All of a sudden, the light around them started acting weird, getting sucked toward the Moon Beast. A blinding brightness built up inside the creature, growing stronger—
And then the beast just exploded.
Bits and pieces flew everywhere. A crystal ball thumped down next to Seth with a heavy clink, still glowing and vibrating. Blood splattered all over his face and chest—hot and sticky.
Seth just stared, completely dumbfounded.
What the actual hell?
That voice spoke again.
"Congratulations on defeating the Moon Beast. You're... different from the others. Now... get ready for what's next."
***
Seth took a minute to adjust to what is happening.
The world fell silent. Seth took his time thinking about his current dilemma. He's in a flat world, that makes his presence easily detectable, but that also applies for enemies. Then, he thought about that "voice" he heard.
He thought about it for a while, every time the voice had saved his life. All it had done for him to get here. Then, he concluded. It's not a voice, it's his instinct.
After a moment, Seth got up and started walking westward, away from the Moon Beast's remains.
Suddenly, from the distance, he saw the same blue light.
At first he thought that it was just Moon Beasts being torn apart by that light. But then the idea of there being another human there was also possible.
He rushed towards where he'd seen the light.
He got closer to where it was, finding another Moon Beast's remains scattered. Some distance over, a shadowed figure was standing, holding something that resembled a sword. The figure looked at him directly. Its eyes were blue.
Then it took off its mask, it was a girl. Seth's eyes grew wide.
'A human!'
He approached her. Then the girl suddenly drew her sword. Her stance was that of a fighter, her hair was ponytailed.
Seth and the girl just stood there.
Then, the girl spoke.
"Who are you?"
She sounded calm, it was like this world wasn't unusual to her.
Seth paused for a moment, then hesitantly spoke.
"I'm a human."
The girl's expression flattened. She sheathed her sword.
"Why are you here?" She said.
Seth gave an hesitant look.
"I was infected."
The girl's face looked surprised.
"You're from the real world?!"
Seth, feeling confused, simply nodded.
The girl's face lit up, like she had experienced something good.
Up until now, Seth was still powerless.
"I'm Nirea. I've been here for a long time."
'Oh, that's why.' Seth thought.
Still he was hesitant to trust the girl. Besides, she drew her sword immediately after he got close to her.
"Seth. My name's Seth."
Nirea stretched out her bruised arm and said.
"Handshake?"
Seth shook her hand.
"How long have you been here Nirea?"
Her face saddened a little.
"About.. 3 weeks now?"
Seth's face paled.
'Is she that girl from the news report?' He thought.
Then he realized, with how long Nirea had been in the realm, she might know some extent about it.
Seth looked at her and then asked:
"Given the amount of time you've been here, can you tell me how much you know about this world?"
Nirea gave a confused look. Then, she sighed.
"I thought you've been here for a while too. Seems I was wrong. Allow me to explain once we settle somewhere."
The two quickly found somewhere to sit down, a tiny crevasse on a cliff.
Wait.. A CLIFF?!
Seth was surprised that they were on a cliff this whole time.
"I.. didn't know that this was a cliff." He said.
"Yeah, my goal is to get down to the Shadow Realm. Well, that's the whole point of this 'trial' part." Nirea said confidently.
After a short while, she added.
"Anyway, allow me to explain how this realm works, or at least what I know about it. This world we're in isn't just a world. It's like a living entity. It has a system where there's a random chance that you get something from the orbs of each monster you slay. That's all I know about it."
Seth paused, then asked:
"What can you get with the orbs?"
"I don't know, something random I guess." She answered.
Then a loud bang was heard from up top. Followed by another, then another at a constant pace.
Seth tried to focus his attention to where it was coming from but he felt his blood stream become faster, then, he saw runes.