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SCENE 1 – HOSPITAL AWAKENING
> *???: System online… initializing protocol…*
> *Welcome, User: Dante Miller.*
> *Trial Clearance Detected… Activating Quest Chain [Crimson Path]*
Dante's eyes opened to white ceilings and fluorescent lights. His muscles screamed. Bandages wrapped his chest. His knuckles were raw. The taste of iron still sat on his tongue.
The soft beep of the hospital monitor echoed.
> [System Active]
> Quest Available: "Crimson Awakening – Phase 2"
> Objective: Clear the marked zone. Time Limit: 12 Hours.
He blinked, trying to make sense of the text in his vision. A nurse peeked in.
> Nurse: "You're awake? Don't try to move too fast. You need rest."
> Dante: (quietly) "No time…"
His hand clenched. The **Protocol** pulsed through his body like a second heartbeat. Something inside him had changed — and it was calling him.
He got up.
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SCENE 2 – THE ABANDONED HOTEL
By sunset, he arrived. The building was like a tomb — swallowed by vines, windows broken, doors rotted inward. The city avoided this place. So did the maps.
A single red marker hovered in his vision.
The Protocol led him here.
> [Quest Active]
> Objective: Clear the area. Survive. Time Limit: 12 Hours.
He walked in.
Ten steps later — the door slammed shut behind him.
The growling began.
---
SCENE 3 – THE BONEWALKERS & CRAWLERS
Ten bonewalkers staggered from the shadows, dragging rusted blades behind them. Their eyes hollow. Their faces grinning. Crawlers skittered down the cracked ceiling like rats, teeth snapping.
Dante didn't run.
He grabbed a metal pipe, planted his feet, and waited.
> CRIMSON SMASH.
His fist burned bright — and his body moved on instinct.
One swing. One explosion.
Bonewalker heads flew off. Crawlers slammed into walls. The room lit up with shockwaves and splinters.
But they kept coming.
Until nothing did.
---
SCENE 4 – ELEMENTAL FORSAKEN
He barely caught his breath when two shapes stepped forward. Not normal Forsaken.
One twitched with unnatural grace, emitting high-pitched distortion — every movement rippling with pressure. The other had a soundless walk, but the floor cracked beneath each step.
The first let out a pulse — Dante dropped to one knee, blood dripped from his ear. The walls rattled.
He closed his eyes.
Breathed in.
> CRIMSON SMASH.
He jumped — fist-first — into the scream.
The impact cracked the floor and silenced the monster for good.
The other rushed. He ducked, rolled under a swing, grabbed rubble, and uppercut it with full force.
> CRIMSON SMASH.
Boom. Its head exploded.
Silence again.
But something else was coming.
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SCENE 5 – COURTYARD SHADOWS
Dante burst through the emergency stairwell and landed in the back courtyard of the hotel.
Lightning struck.
He froze.
Across the field — **Emily**. The girl from his team. She fought alongside a new squad, cornered by a Golem-like beast with skin of living stone.
Dante ducked behind broken debris, hiding from view. He couldn't risk being seen.
He grabbed a rock, focused.
> CRIMSON SMASH.
He threw it.
The projectile split midair, glowing red — and one fragment tore through the monster's skull. It collapsed instantly.
Emily turned around. Shocked.
But Dante was already gone.
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SCENE 6 – RETURN TO HOSPITAL
> *3:44 AM*
Rain poured over the city streets.
Dante limped back through the hospital's automatic doors, his hoodie soaked, knuckles bloody, shirt torn.
The same nurse blinked.
> Nurse: "You… again? What happened?!"
> Dante: "I walked."
> Nurse: "You're bleeding! Sit down—"
> Dante: "I'm done bleeding."
He went back to his bed without another word. Collapsed face first. Slept in silence.
The system flickered faintly in the air.
> [Quest Complete – Crimson Awakening Phase 2]
> Reward: Passive Skill Unlock – Pending…
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END OF CHAPTER 3