The System lied not directly but by mission.
It said three minutes.It didn't say what those minutes would feel like.I crouched beneath the rusted truck, fingers digging into wet gravel, counting each breath like it was a lifeline. The Demogorgon's shadow stretched across the ground, warped and twitching as it moved.One… two…The smell hit me next rotting meat copper something sweet and wrong.My stomach twisted.The creature clicked, low and curious, its claws scraping against metal. The sound vibrated through the truck's frame and straight into my bones.
[Sanity -1]
"Don't panic," I whispered silently "Don't" the Demogorgon slammed its hand onto the hood.Metal screamed i bit my sleeve to stop myself from making a sound.The System window flickered weakly at the edge of my vision.
[ Quest Progress: 47%]
Not even halfway my lungs burned. My chest ached from holding in each breath too long. I forced myself to inhale slowly through my nose, shallow enough that it barely moved my ribs.The vines beneath me shifted.
My heart nearly stopped.One of them slid across my wrist, cold and slick like a living thing. I froze completely, muscles locking up as if I were prey playing dead—which, honestly, I was.
[Sanity -2]
The Demogorgon tilted its head i could feel it listening waiting seconds dragged on like hours. The System timer ticked down mercilessly, each number a reminder of how fragile my situation was.
[Quest Progress: 71%]
The creature finally stepped away.Its footsteps retreated slowly, reluctantly, as if it knew I was still there but couldn't quite prove it.Only when the sound vanished completely did I dare breathe normally again.
[Quest Complete.
Reward Granted.]
I didn't move immediately.My body shook uncontrollably, adrenaline crashing through me like a wave. Tears burned behind my eyes not from fear alone, but from the realization that if the System hadn't existed, I would already be dead."Okay," I whispered hoarsely. "Okay… what now?"The reward window appeared.
[Skill Acquired: Presence Suppression – Rank D]
A subtle warmth spread through my chest, like something clicking into place. I didn't feel stronger—but I felt quieter, like the world noticed me just a little less.That might've been the most valuable thing I could've gotten.I didn't stay in one place after that.
Staying still was how you died.I moved through the Upside Down like a ghost, avoiding open streets, slipping through buildings that mirrored places I barely remembered from watching the show. The school the library houses frozen in time.
Everything felt wrong.
Time didn't move properly here. My watch was dead, but even my sense of hunger and exhaustion came in waves instead of steadily sometimes minutes felt endless. Other times, I blinked and hours were gone.The System tracked it better than I could.
[Stamina: 63 / 100
Sanity: 68 / 100]
That number worried me more than anything else every strange noise chipped at it. Every distant roar. Every moment I remembered how many ways I could die in this place.I kept thinking the same thing this world isn't meant for humans then I felt it.A pressure not physical more like a headache that wrapped around my skull and pulled. The System reacted instantly.
[Spatial Distortion Detected
Reality Overlap Probability: Increasing]
My heart skipped."Gate," I whispered.Not all gates were stable some were temporarily dangerous but dangerous was better than nothing.I followed the pull carefully, using Presence Suppression sparingly. Each activation drained stamina faster and the cooldown felt eternal when something moved nearby.That's when I saw it.Hawkins National Laboratory.
Even in the Upside Down, it stood out.the building looked like diseased walls cracked and blackened, vines crawling through windows like veins bursting under skin. The air around it shimmered faintly, like heat over asphalt.
[Warning: High Threat Zone]
"No kidding."but if there was a way out, this was it.
Inside, the building felt closer walls pressed in. Sounds echoed too sharply. The System flickered repeatedly, as if struggling to maintain a connection.
I moved down hallways that didn't exist in the real world, following the distortion deeper until i stopped.
The wall ahead rippled light bled through like a wound refusing to close.
On the other side, I could hear human voices.
[Exit Point Identified
Stability: Low]
"Better than none," I muttered.I took one step forward
and the building shook a roar echoed behind me,closer than it had any right to be.I turned.the Demogorgon burst through a side corridor, blood streaking its chest, one arm twisted at an unnatural angle but still moving still hunting.
[Threat Level: Critical]
My body moved before my brain did i ran.The creature screamed, rage-filled and deafening, claws tearing chunks from the floor as it charged. I felt its breath at my back, hot and wet.
[Sanity -5]
"MOVE—MOVE"I dove toward the tear as claws grazed my shoulder, pain exploding down my arm.
I didn't think i didn't hesitate i pushed through.
A cold tile slammed into my chest.The world snapped into focus violently, like reality slamming shut behind me alarms blared. Red lights spun across white walls.
I rolled, coughing violently as clean air burned my lungs."HEY—!"Shouts echoed down the corridor boots thundered.
I scrambled to my feet, pain screaming through my shoulder, and ran again this time through a world that was painfully, blessedly real.The tear behind me sealed with a wet, snapping sound.I didn't look back.
I didn't stop running until trees swallowed the building whole and the alarms faded into nothing.When I finally collapsed, hidden deep in the forest, the System chimed softly.
[Level Up
Level: 2]
I lay there staring up at the stars, chest heaving, body shaking from shock and exhaustion."I lived," I whispered.The woods didn't answer.But for the first time since arriving
I believed it.