The smell of burnt corpses and smoke pervaded the air within the crashed trains.
The monsters vanished. The mission was finished.
He saw something move below the debris. It was Dan. Then he helped him move out of the rubble. Thankfully, Dan was alive but bleeding.
But the silence that came after it wasn't peace—it was the kind of silence that clung to the skin, thick with fear and the acrid odor of burnt vinyl and blood.
He knelt beside Dan, breathing shallowly and heavily but alive. There was a faint red streak dried along his side where that flying piece of metal had grazed him before. It hadn't entered—thankfully, it's only a scratch. Aron hadn't been able to move quickly enough this time.
He let his eyes drop. And sat down and leaned on a wall.
Dan groaned beside him. "Was that real?"
Aron said nothing. He had already known it was. The mission window had told him.
*---------------------------------------------------------*
[PRIMARY MISSION ACCOMPLISHED]
Status: SURVIVED
Bonus Item: Broken Gear Cog (Tier ???)
Achievement Unlocked: First Blood
*--------------------------------------------------------*
The words hung in the air before disappearing.
"First Blood."
That was what the system called it.
The monster had Aron and he had swung out of habit. He wasn't aiming to kill. He was sure he was going to miss.
But the blade slipped and went in. And the thing had collapsed, shuddering and thrashing until it dissolved into smoke.
It was accidental. He did not try to struggle. He was not skilled, not trained.
He just did not want to die.
Aron got up, wiped the knife on the seat next to him, and inhaled, which did not comfort him.
The other survivors were waking up at the car.
They whimpered. Others simply sat and stared.
There were three corpses in splintered aisles—those very individuals who panicked at the end. One was near the window. Another had turned the other direction and screamed until a claw ripped through her throat. The third had tried to escape out the back door.
Aron hadn't preserved them.
He couldn't.
He had made it through only because he remembered how they had walked—those things with elbows that stuck out and ribcages that were open, their empty eyes like hollow lanterns. When they screamed, it was like metal cutting through a speaker.
He hadn't even known where to shoot.
He'd just. survived.
There was a sharp system chime.
*-------------------------------------------------*
[INTERFACE UNLOCKED: ACHIEVEMENT]
Tutorial Note: New menus are opened by Progress.
*------------------------------------------------*
Soft gasps rippled through the cabin.
"Bro, I've got stats!" somebody shouted in the distance.
I have a sword in my inventory?" another grumbled.
What on earth is 'DEX' meant to be?
Aron ignored them. He tapped the air and brought up his own screen.
<------------------------------------->
[STATUS]
Name: Aron
Lv: 2
Exp: 10/500
HP: 100/100
STR: 4
DEX: 3
AGI: 5
DEF: 2
PER: 6
Points Available: 1
<----------------------------------->
He paused for an instant before inserting it in Perception again. Had he caught a glimpse of the monster's silhouette earlier, Dan would have faced the blow head-on.
<------------------------------------->
[STATUS]
Name: Aron
Lv: 2
Exp: 10/500
HP: 100/100
STR: 4
DEX: 3
AGI: 5
DEF: 2
PER: 7
Points Available: 0
<----------------------------------->
Then, he opened the Achievement window.
*---------------------------------------*
[Achievement: First Blood]
Description: Obtain the initial kill in a live operation.
*--------------------------------------*
Notes: The system is watching.
That final sentence twisted his stomach. He folded the menu at once.
And from the middle of the train, a voice shouted.
"Alright, listen up!"
It was a broad-shouldered figure in bandana and heavy boots—Greg, if Aron was not mistaken. He had tried to stand up to the tumult. His voice was loud with authority, but his eyes were apprehensive.
"Okay, let's get organized! We have things to collect, people to check in on. We don't even know what the hell that was, but we need some leadership."
Aron stayed put, shoved against the wall beside Dan.
Last time—no, this morning—he'd tried to help. Asked questions. Drawn attention.
This time, he had learned better.
Let Greg lead. Let someone else draw the fire.
He moved through the wreckage quietly, helping where he could—without being noticed.
Assisted Sarah in placing a dazed girl on a padded bench. Brought a bundle of food packets from the rear car. Indicated which door had sparks flashing around the frame.
Individuals started to realize.
Not loudly. Not with applause. But with glances. With silent nods.
And someone leaned over and whispered: "That man… I think he killed one of the monsters."
Aron turned away.
He did not want that narrative to expand.
The train creaked. Lights flashed. And then—a new alert appeared.
*-------------------------------------------------*
[SIDE MISSION UNLOCKED – OPTIONAL]
"Guard the Night"
Objective: Prevent loss of life during rest cycle.
Reward: EXP, Minor Equipment
Failure: None
*-----------------------------------------------*
Aron looked at it.
A covert side mission. No immediate price to pay. But it cost one thing:
They weren't done yet.
Something would come again.
He glanced about. People were trying to sleep—propped against walls, curled up in corners, arguing in whispers.
Nobody noticed the mission alert other than him.
He accepted it.
Then moved stealthily to the rear door of the train, crawling along behind a set of seats. He laid his stock down carefully, removing the Basic Sword and a metal shard he had acquired sometime earlier as a noise trap.
He did not want to fight.
If anything came… he'd run.
Or warn the others.
Or die.
But he was not sleeping.
Not after what he had seen.
Dan remained near, curled into a ball, sometimes talking to himself. Sarah slept by the opposite wall, eyes blinking with fatigue. Greg paced back and forth, attempting to appear important.
Aron crouched in the blackness and waited.
And behind him, on the edge of his vision, he could have sworn he saw a fleeting motion glide against the train window. No alert. No footsteps. No sound. Just the type of silence that preceded something worse. He breathed slowly. "I survived." But that doesn't mean they'll let me rest.