The world righted itself with a shudder. Cassian lay sprawled on grimy concrete, breath ragged. Overhead, the sky was a bruised purple, streaked with veins of sickly green. A broken world, indeed. Her head throbbed. Every muscle screamed. But something else demanded attention. A translucent blue interface flickered at the edge of her vision, superimposed on the skeletal remains of a rusted-out skyscraper. `SYSTEM INITIALIZED.` `PRIMARY DIRECTIVE: SURVIVAL.` `STATUS: CRITICAL.` Critical? She felt it. Her ribs ached. A dull burn spread across her left arm. She pushed up, muscles protesting, a familiar grit setting in. The pain was just data now. `ERROR: BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED.` `INJURY: LACERATION, LEFT FOREARM.` `BLEEDING: MODERATE.` She glanced down. A jagged piece of rebar had torn her sleeve, leaving a crimson smear on her skin. It looked worse than it felt. Adrenaline was a hell of a drug. `SUGGESTION: LOCATE MEDKIT OR APPLY PRESSURE/BANDAGE.` "No kidding, system," she muttered, her voice raspy. She tore a strip from her now-ruined shirt, wrapping it tight around the wound. A crude but effective tourniquet. Just like the old days – patch it up, get back in the game. The system hummed, a low, almost imperceptible thrum against her consciousness. More data streamed: `PLAYER: CASSIAN THORNE` `LEVEL: 1` `CLASS: UNASSIGNED (DEFAULT: SURVIVOR)` `HEALTH: 60/100` `STAMINA: 70/100` `STRENGTH: 8` `DEXTERITY: 10` `CONSTITUTION: 7` `INTELLIGENCE: 6` `WISDOM: 5` She snorted. "Wisdom 5? What, did I forget how to tie my shoes?" A grimace pulled at her lips. This was a video game, apparently. A really, really messed-up one. She was standing in a street, or what remained of one. Towering structures of corroded metal and shattered glass loomed over her. Rust coated everything like a second skin. The air tasted of ozone and decay. A faint, guttural wheezing cut through the silence. It came from deeper in the urban graveyard. The Glitch. Her heart kicked into overdrive. Survival. Primary Directive. She scanned her immediate surroundings. An overturned transport vehicle, its hull ripped open like a tin can. A skeletal tree, its branches covered in a sickly orange fungus that pulsed faintly. Nothing that looked like a weapon. Her eyes settled on a loose piece of rebar sticking out of the concrete. It was heavy, jagged, but better than nothing. She gripped it, testing its weight. A good blunt instrument. Familiar. `WEAPON ACQUIRED: RUSTED REBAR` `DAMAGE: 5-8 (BLUNT/PIERCING)` `DURABILITY: LOW` "Alright, system," she said, a determined glint in her eyes. "Let's rumble." --- The wheezing grew louder. It wasn't human. Not anymore. She moved with caution, a low crouch, her weight balanced on the balls of her feet. Every shadow held potential threats. Every creak of metal, every whisper of wind, was scrutinized. The street opened into a wider plaza, choked with the skeletal remains of what might have been a market. Stalls lay overturned, their contents long since rotted away or assimilated. And there it was. A creature, hunched over something unidentifiable on the ground. It looked like a dog, but horrifically wrong. Its fur was patchy, slick with black ichor. Its limbs were distended, misshapen. A third, vestigial limb twitched from its back. Its head was a pulsating mass of raw flesh and too many teeth. `GLITCH-CORRUPTED CANINE.` `THREAT LEVEL: LOW.` `HUNTING INSTINCT: HIGH.` Low threat? Her gut clenched. This thing looked like it could rip her throat out. It turned its head, a slow, jerky motion. Two eyes, one milky white, the other a gaping red orifice, fixed on her. It snarled, a wet, rattling sound. Then it lunged. Cassian reacted on instinct. Years of dodging blockers, absorbing hits, and finding the gap. The rebar became an extension of her will. She didn't think; she *moved*. The creature was fast, but clumsy. Its corrupted form hindered more than helped. It snapped, foul breath hitting her face. She sidestepped, a blur of motion, letting the momentum carry her past its initial charge. Then, she swung. The rebar whistled through the air, connecting with a sickening thud against the creature's ribs. A high-pitched yelp, more mechanical than animal, tore from its throat. It stumbled. `HIT! GLITCH-CORRUPTED CANINE (HEALTH: 45/100)` Her arm vibrated from the impact. The system was a constant overlay, giving real-time feedback. She didn't need it to tell her the creature was hurt, but the numbers were… oddly motivating. The canine recovered, snarling again, a new ferocity in its eyes. It circled, lower now, ready to spring. Cassian tightened her grip on the rebar, her breathing deep and even. Roller derby taught her patience. Taught her to wait for the opening. It lunged again, but this time, it feinted right. Cassian didn't bite. She tracked its true movement, left. As it came within range, she didn't parry or block. She went for the kill. She ducked under its snapping jaws, driving the jagged end of the rebar straight into its exposed underbelly. A wet crunch. A gurgle. The canine thrashed, a convulsive spasm of corrupted muscle. Cassian pulled back, then hammered the rebar down again, this time into its skull. Once. Twice. The creature whimpered, then went limp, dissolving slowly into a foul-smelling black sludge that quickly evaporated. `ENEMY DEFEATED: GLITCH-CORRUPTED CANINE.` `XP GAINED: 10.` `LEVEL UP!` A flash of light, an almost physical surge of energy. The sting in her arm lessened slightly. Her breath came easier. `LEVEL: 2` `HEALTH: 70/100 (+10)` `STAMINA: 80/100 (+10)` `STRENGTH: 9 (+1)` `DEXTERITY: 11 (+1)` `CONSTITUTION: 8 (+1)` `INTELLIGENCE: 6` `WISDOM: 5` `SKILL POINT GAINED: 1` "Well, that's something," she muttered, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. She looked at her bandaged arm. The bleeding had slowed, but the wound was still raw. Getting hit here meant real consequences. The system then presented a new prompt: `SKILL TREE UNLOCKED.` `ALLOCATE SKILL POINT? (Y/N)` She chose 'Y'. A complex diagram unfurled itself, a web of interconnected nodes. `COMBAT SKILLS:` `[ ] BLUNT WEAPON PROFICIENCY (Rank 1): +5% Blunt Weapon Damage, +10% Stun Chance.` `[ ] LIGHT ARMOR MASTERY (Rank 1): +5% Damage Reduction from Light Armor.` `[ ] DODGE ROLL (Rank 1): Perform a quick evasive roll, consuming 5 Stamina.` `SURVIVAL SKILLS:` `[ ] SCAVENGING (Rank 1): +10% Chance to find useful items from debris.` `[ ] BASIC FIELD MEDICINE (Rank 1): +10% Healing from medical supplies.` `[ ] ENDURANCE (Rank 1): +5 Stamina, +1 Health Regeneration per minute.` Cassian considered her options. Blunt Weapon Proficiency felt right. The rebar was her first weapon. Dodge Roll would be useful. But the laceration on her arm, the 'critical status' warning… Basic Field Medicine seemed pragmatic. Her gaze fell on `ENDURANCE`. More health, more stamina, and regeneration. That was a long-term play. But what about the immediate fight? `BLUNT WEAPON PROFICIENCY` was direct. She knew how to swing a bat. This just formalized it. She tapped the node. `SKILL ACQUIRED: BLUNT WEAPON PROFICIENCY (Rank 1).` The system confirmed. Her grip on the rebar felt suddenly more natural, more potent. A subtle shift in her perception. Her priority now: find actual medical supplies. And maybe something that wasn't a half-rotted piece of construction material. --- The Glitch-corrupted canine had evaporated entirely. No loot. No resources. Just a faint greasy stain on the ground. This wasn't a world of convenient drops. This was a world of hard scavenging. She moved through the market square, her senses heightened. The sun, or whatever passed for it in this alien sky, was beginning to dip, casting long, distorted shadows. The purple and green streaks in the sky deepened, turning ominous. The ruins around her seemed to press in, their silence thick with unspoken threats. She pushed open a corroded door into what might have been an old convenience store. The air inside was stale, metallic. Shelves lay toppled, their contents scattered and indistinguishable. A faint glow caught her eye. At the back, behind a collapsed counter, a small first-aid kit, surprisingly intact. Dust-caked, but not corroded. `ITEM ACQUIRED: BASIC MEDKIT` `CONTENTS: 1x BANDAGE, 1x ANTISEPTIC WIPES, 1x PAIN RELIEVER.` "Jackpot," she whispered, her voice tight with relief. She ripped open the kit. The antiseptic stung like hell, but it cleaned the wound. The bandage was sterile, a stark contrast to her makeshift cloth. `HEALTH RESTORED: 15.` `LACERATION STATUS: MINOR.` `HEALTH: 85/100.` Much better. The system was a constant, almost comforting presence, even with its cold efficiency. It was giving her the tools to survive. She just had to learn how to use them. She picked through the rest of the store. Nothing else of immediate value. Old food wrappers, rusted tools, shattered screens. This world had been picked clean, or consumed. As she turned to leave, a low groan echoed from deeper within the building. Not the wheezing of the canine. This was heavier, slower. A dragging sound. Her breath hitched. She hadn't cleared the building. Her 'basic medkit' euphoria had made her careless. `WARNING: HOSTILE DETECTED.` `GLITCH-INFECTED HUMANOID.` `THREAT LEVEL: MODERATE.` A Glitch-infected *humanoid*. Not just animals. People. The horror of it clawed at her. She pressed herself against a toppled shelf, rebar gripped tight. The dragging grew louder. A shambling form emerged from the gloom, silhouetted against a gaping hole in the back wall. It was undeniably human in shape, but twisted, grotesque. Its skin was mottled, grey and green, covered in fungal growths. One arm ended in a blunted club of bone and biomass. Its head lolled to one side, mouth agape, emitting that terrible, rattling groan. It smelled of damp earth and something sickly sweet. Rot. The creature shuffled slowly, its dead eyes fixed on the entrance, the way she had come in. It hadn't seen her yet. Cassian's mind raced. This wasn't a nimble dog. This was slow, powerful. A brute. She needed a plan. The back exit. A gaping hole. Her best bet was to slip past it, use its slow speed against it. She took a deep breath, steeling herself. Her heart pounded a frantic rhythm against her ribs. This wasn't a game. This was life or death, every second. The creature groaned again, taking another dragging step. Its back was to her now, moving away from the entrance, towards the back hole. An opportunity. She crept forward, one silent step after another, her eyes never leaving the monstrosity. The adrenaline hummed, sharp and clear. Every nerve ending screamed caution. She was almost at the door, just a few more steps. The Glitch-infected humanoid was nearing the back exit, its attention still forward. Then, a small, metallic *clink*. Her foot had dislodged a rusted can. The sound was tiny in the vast, empty space, but it echoed like a gunshot. The Glitch-infected humanoid stopped. Its grotesque head slowly swiveled. Its dead eyes, framed by fungal growths, locked onto her. A primal scream, devoid of anything human, tore from its throat. It wasn't a groan anymore. It was a roar of pure, unadulterated hunger. It shambled, faster now, turning its bulk towards her, its bone-club arm rising. Cassian was caught. No time to escape. No cover. Just an empty, ruined store, and a nightmare charging at her. The rebar felt suddenly flimsy.

Chapter 3: The First Score