Night fell without warning.
There was no sunset in Helvetia's wasteland—only the slow erasure of light. One moment the sky was a dull gray, the next it was swallowed by black clouds and screaming wind. Snow thickened, turning the world into a shifting wall of white.
Leena moved steadily through it.
Her squad stumbled behind her.
Squad Seven had been reduced to four within the first hour.
Not by enemies.
By weakness.
The tall man with shaking hands—Evan—had slipped into a hidden ice fissure while panicking during the storm's first surge. His scream had echoed for less than three seconds before vanishing into the depths below.
No one had gone after him.
No one had been ordered to.
Leena had marked the sound, memorized the location, and kept moving.
Survival came first.
Now, hours later, the cold had grown vicious. Wind cut sideways, clawing through layers of fabric. Frost formed instantly on exposed skin. Every breath burned.
The remaining squad members huddled behind a jagged rock formation—a poor excuse for shelter, but the best available.
Leena crouched low, reinforcing a windbreak with scavenged metal panels torn from a half-buried wreckage they had found earlier.
A downed transport.
Old.
Military.
Someone had failed here before.
"Why… why is it so quiet?" whispered Mara, the woman who had tried too hard to look confident earlier.
Her teeth chattered violently.
Leena didn't answer.
Quiet meant predators.
Or watchers.
Across the wasteland, hidden cameras tracked everything.
Deep inside the Helvetia facility, Viktor Kane stood in a circular control room lined with holographic screens.
Each screen showed a squad.
Some already empty.
Others red-marked—casualties confirmed.
Viktor watched silently, hands clasped behind his back.
"Mortality rate?" he asked calmly.
Iris Vale glanced at her tablet. "Thirty-seven percent and rising. Hypothermia, panic, internal conflict."
"Acceptable," Viktor replied.
Ash leaned back in his chair, boots on the console. "You're thinning them fast this cycle."
Viktor's artificial eye glowed brighter.
"I'm not thinning them," he said. "I'm revealing them."
He gestured to one screen.
Leena.
"She's the anomaly."
Iris narrowed her eyes. "You think she's one of them?"
Viktor didn't answer immediately.
"James doesn't send ordinary people," he finally said. "And I don't waste Hell on ordinary survivors."
Ash smirked. "So this is still about your project."
Viktor turned.
"This place isn't a training ground," he said coldly. "It's a filter."
His gaze hardened.
"I'm building something that cannot afford weakness."
Back in the storm, Leena finished reinforcing the shelter.
She motioned the others inside the narrow pocket of space.
"Sit," she said. "Close. Preserve heat."
Her voice was calm.
Controlled.
It steadied them.
Jonah, the youngest of the group, looked at her with something close to gratitude. He had followed her closely since Evan's death, mirroring her movements, trusting her instincts without question.
"Thank you," he murmured.
Leena nodded once.
She checked their limited supplies.
One ration pack.
Half a canteen.
Three firearms.
Minimal ammo.
Enough for maybe a day—if they were careful.
She closed her eyes briefly.
"System," she whispered internally.
No response.
She frowned slightly.
Then—
Ding.
The interface flickered weakly.
WARNING: External Suppression ActiveSystem Functions Restricted
But beneath it, something else appeared.
Faint.
Hidden.
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED
Leena's breath caught.
The text shifted.
Hidden Trial AvailableTrigger Conditions Met: Extreme Environment + Lethal Threat + Independent Decision-Making
Her pulse quickened—but her face remained still.
Trial Name: Survivor's CoreObjective: Endure the First Night Without External AssistanceConditions: No System Guidance. No External Aid. Squad Loss Acceptable.Failure: DeathSuccess Reward: Passive Survival Enhancement (Tier 1)
Leena didn't hesitate.
"Accept," she whispered.
Ding.
Trial Accepted
At that exact moment—
A scream cut through the storm.
Close.
Too close.
Leena snapped her head up.
Movement.
Shapes shifting through the snow.
Not human.
Low.
Fast.
Silent.
Creatures emerged from the white—thin, elongated forms moving on all fours, their eyes reflecting pale blue light. Their skin looked frozen, cracked like ice stretched over bone.
Mara gasped.
"What—what are those?!"
Leena reached for her weapon.
"Quiet," she said sharply.
Too late.
One of the creatures lunged.
Chaos erupted.
Jonah fired wildly, shots disappearing into the storm. Another squad member—Reece—ran.
Ran.
The creature was faster.
Leena saw it clearly—the way it leapt, the precision, the inevitability.
Reece didn't even scream.
Blood sprayed across the snow.
The creatures fed quickly.
Efficiently.
Mara froze.
Jonah stumbled backward, eyes wide with terror.
"Leena—!"
She moved.
Fast.
Calculated.
Two shots.
Clean.
Controlled.
One creature dropped.
The other hissed and retreated into the storm, dragging part of Reece's body with it.
Silence returned—heavy and absolute.
Jonah stared at her.
"You… you killed it."
"Yes."
He was shaking violently.
Mara began to sob quietly.
Leena turned back to the shelter.
"Sit," she said again. "Now."
They obeyed.
Minutes passed.
Then—
Jonah's breathing changed.
Leena noticed instantly.
Too shallow.
Too slow.
Hypothermia.
She grabbed his arm.
His skin was ice-cold.
"Stay awake," she said.
"I'm… I'm tired," Jonah whispered. "Just for a second…"
"No."
She shook him hard.
"Jonah. Look at me."
His eyes met hers.
Fear.
Trust.
"Don't sleep."
He tried.
He really did.
But the cold was stronger.
His grip loosened.
His head slumped against her shoulder.
Leena held him there for several seconds.
Then she checked his pulse.
Nothing.
Mara let out a broken sound.
Leena closed Jonah's eyes gently.
She didn't cry.
She didn't speak.
She simply adjusted the shelter, conserving heat—for one less body now.
Inside her mind—
Ding.
Hidden Trial Progress: 87%
The storm howled louder.
Hours crawled by.
Leena remained awake the entire night.
Watching.
Listening.
Enduring.
By the time the storm began to thin and the sky lightened slightly—
Ding.
Hidden Trial Complete
Reward Unlocked: Passive Survival Enhancement (Tier 1)• Cold resistance increased• Stamina recovery improved• Environmental awareness heightened
Leena exhaled slowly.
She felt it immediately.
The cold no longer cut as deeply.
Her exhaustion eased—just enough.
She looked down at the two bodies beside her.
People who had trusted her.
People who hadn't been strong enough.
She stood.
Alone now.
As dawn crept weakly across the frozen wasteland, cameras deep inside Helvetia zoomed in on her.
Viktor Kane watched.
And smiled.
"She survived the first night," he said quietly.
Iris crossed her arms. "And the trial?"
Viktor nodded.
"She's begun."
Ash chuckled. "Looks like Hell found its favorite."
Leena stepped out into the light, snow crunching beneath her boots.
Her first night in Hell was over.
And she was still standing.