The forest fell silent.
Not the natural kind—
but the suffocating, crushing silence that came when reality itself held its breath.
Jason Wu froze mid-step.
Longwu Sword trembled on his back.
*["Boy… something is coming."]*
Jason swallowed. "Yeah. I feel it."
Behind him, the Observer Prime lifted her head sharply—
like a predator sensing another predator.
Her silver eyes narrowed.
**"They are early."**
Jason stiffened. "The Riftbound?"
**"Correct."**
Jason opened his mouth to ask *how close*—
—But the answer ripped open the world before he could speak.
A vertical gash tore through the air thirty meters ahead.
No sound.
No color.
Just a void—like a wound slicing through the forest.
Trees bent inward, pulled by an invisible force.
Leaves floated upward instead of falling.
The air thinned, warping like heated metal.
Jason stepped back instinctively.
"…That's not normal."
Longwu muttered:
*["Jason, nothing about your life is normal anymore."]*
The rift widened, splitting the forest into two distorted halves.
And then—
A foot emerged.
Clawed.
Metallic.
Dripping with ink-black liquid that sizzled when it touched the ground.
Jason felt his heart spike.
"Okay. That looks like a problem."
**"Incorrect,"** the Observer Prime said.
Jason blinked at her.
"…What? How is that *not* a problem?"
**"That is only the beginning."**
The rift pulsed.
Then they came out.
One.
Two.
Seven.
Fifteen.
NO—
they didn't walk out.
They poured out.
Like shadows given shape.
Bodies humanoid, but wrong.
Limbs too long.
Faces smooth where eyes should be.
Cracks along their skin leaking neon red light.
Jason shivered.
"…Those are Riftbound?"
Longwu's voice lowered.
*["No. Those are Riftbound HUNTERS."]*
Jason froze.
"We're being hunted?"
*["Oh yes."]*
Jason gripped Longwu's hilt.
"Perfect. This day can absolutely get worse."
**"It will,"** the Observer Prime answered calmly.
Jason glared.
"Can you not do that?"
"Do what?"
"Predict doom so casually!"
The Observer Prime didn't respond.
Her attention was fixed solely on the largest Riftbound Hunter stepping forward—
a towering figure twice Jason's height, with a spine that curved unnaturally upward like a hooked blade.
It sniffed the air.
Then its featureless face turned toward Jason.
The red cracks along its body blazed.
Jason whispered, "It's… looking at me."
Longwu grumbled:
*["Of course it is! You're the walking glitch they've been chasing across worlds!"]*
Jason's voice cracked. "Can someone else be the walking glitch for a day?!"
Too late.
The ground shook as the creature lunged.
Jason's instincts kicked in.
He sprinted left, dodging as claws carved through the air where he had stood a heartbeat earlier.
*BOOM*
The impact cratered the forest floor.
Jason landed hard, rolling to a stop.
The other Riftbound Hunters screeched—
a high-pitched static sound that rattled inside his skull.
Jason clutched his head. "Ah—damn, that hurts!"
The Observer Prime raised her hand.
A distortion wave rippled outward, silencing them instantly.
Jason looked at her in disbelief.
"…You can shut them up?"
**"It is one of my functions."**
"THEN PLEASE USE YOUR FUNCTIONS!"
**"I will not interfere beyond threshold."**
Jason's jaw dropped.
"You're seriously doing bureaucracy right now—?!"
Another Riftbound Hunter lunged.
Jason drew Longwu in a flash.
"Block!"
*["Already on it!"]*
Metal clashed with twisted bone.
Sparks burst outward.
Jason pushed back, sliding across the dirt.
These things were stronger than the Butcher.
Faster than the Silverwood beasts.
He ducked another swipe, countered with a slash that cut through half of its torso.
The creature convulsed—
but instead of dying, its body reshaped around the wound.
Jason's eyes widened.
"…They regenerate?!"
*["Not exactly regeneration,"]* Longwu corrected.
*["They adapt to damage. Each strike you land makes them harder to kill."]*
Jason stared at the monster reforming mid-air.
"THAT IS WAY WORSE."
He pivoted and slashed again.
A clean cut.
The Riftbound Hunter froze—
then split into **two** smaller versions.
Jason staggered back.
"…ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
Longwu was disturbingly cheerful.
*["Oh, this is delightful chaos."]*
Jason yelled,
"DELIGHTFUL FOR WHO?!"
*["Me."]*
The two smaller Hunters leapt at him simultaneously.
Jason rolled under one, kicking upward to knock it away while slicing through the other—only for the pieces to twist and recombine into a new shape.
Jason screamed internally.
"OBSERRRRVEEERRRRRR!!"
She didn't move.
**"Jason Wu.
You must learn."**
"LEARN WHAT?! HOW TO DIE?!"
**"Learn how to survive without expectation."**
Jason's breath hitched.
"What does that even MEAN?!"
The Observer Prime didn't blink.
**"The Riftbound Hunters track predictability.
Move predictably—they catch you.
Think predictably—they corner you.
Act predictably—they kill you."**
Jason's chest tightened.
"So I need to…"
He swallowed.
"…be unpredictable."
**"Correct."**
Jason looked at the pack closing in.
Fifteen Hunters.
Shifting.
Mutating.
Adapting.
Sharpening.
He could die here.
No—
he *should* die here.
But something in him snapped.
A stubborn, reckless spark.
Jason lowered his stance.
"…Fine."
He exhaled slowly.
"I'll do it."
Longwu went silent.
The Observer Prime tilted her head slightly.
The Hunters lunged all at once.
And Jason—
smiled.
Then he moved.
Not like a cultivator.
Not like a swordsman.
Not like a warrior trained by masters.
He moved like someone who had learned combat in alleyways...
who had watched Leon fight dirty…
who had been taught unpredictable footwork by Lily…
who had survived Silverwood's beasts…
who had fought the Butcher…
who had survived the Void…
**He moved like Jason Wu.**
He darted left—then abruptly backward.
Jumped—then dropped low mid-air.
Slashed—then used the recoil to redirect himself sideways.
The Hunters screeched.
Their movements faltered.
Jason's smile widened.
"Yeah. Try predicting THIS!"
He somersaulted, dodging three claw strikes, planting a foot on one Hunter's shoulder and flipping behind it.
Longwu tore through its spine in an upward arc.
It split—
—and this time did NOT adapt.
Longwu hissed.
*["YES, BOY! NOW YOU'RE GETTING IT!"]*
Jason's blood pumped.
A second Hunter dove.
Jason angled his body unnaturally, letting the claw graze his ribs while he sliced its elbow joint.
It collapsed, twitching.
A third tried to flank him.
Jason ducked so abruptly he practically fell on purpose.
The creature's swipe missed cleanly.
Jason stabbed upward, severing its throat.
Sparks of red light scattered like dying stars.
The Observer Prime finally spoke.
**"…Your divergence increases."**
Jason didn't hear her.
He was already moving again.
Fighting.
Breathing.
Surviving.
Ten Hunters left.
Seven.
Four.
Two.
One.
The last Hunter screeched—
Jason hurled Longwu like a spear.
*SHINK*
Clean through the skull.
The creature collapsed.
Silence returned.
Jason dropped to one knee, panting violently.
Longwu materialized back in his hand with a smug hum.
*["We should do that again."]*
"Absolutely not," Jason wheezed.
The Observer Prime approached.
For once—
her expression shifted a fraction.
Barely noticeable.
But Jason saw it.
**Surprise.**
**"You adapted beyond expectation,"** she said quietly.
Jason forced a weak smirk.
"Yeah… I'm full of surprises."
The Observer Prime studied the corpses.
**"This was only the first wave."**
Jason fainted.
---