Kai sprinted.
His shoes pounded against the asphalt as the school gates grew closer.
The laughter behind him didn't stop.
If anything—
It became louder.
"WAIT!"
"COME BACK!"
"THE MOON HAS CHOSEN YOU!"
"The sacrifice must be completed!"
Kai glanced over his shoulder.
Behind him.
Four cultists were chasing.
Not sprinting.
Not normally.
Their bodies moved with unnatural bursts of speed.
Jerking.
Twitching.
Like puppets pulled by invisible strings.
The teacher led the group.
Her face twisted into an ecstatic smile.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Yet she never stopped laughing.
"Don't run!"
"Salvation awaits!"
Kai gritted his teeth.
"Crazy bitch!!!"
The school gate was only a hundred meters away.
Ninety.
Seventy.
Then—
A notification appeared.
[Analysis Complete]
Nightmare: Corrupt Human
Classification: Corrupt
Affiliation: Enlightened Moon
Rank: E
Description:
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Humans exposed to prolonged mental corruption.
Severe loss of sanity.
Highly susceptible to external influence.
Possess abnormal strength and pain tolerance.
Warning: Do not treat as human.
Kai's expression darkened.
"Not human."
"Monsters or something close to it."
Another notification appeared.
[Quest Generated]
Emergency Quest: Purge the Corrupt Human
Objective: Eliminate 0/4 Corrupt Humans
Reward: +200 Experience
Failure: -
"Fuck!"
"Of course the System wanted me to fight."
The nearest student suddenly lunged toward Kai."
Kai sidestepped instinctively.
The student crashed onto a metal bar.
The impact should been hurt.
Should have broken something.
Instead—
The boy immediately stood back up.
Smiling.
Laughing.
Blood flowed from his forehead.
Yet he seemed not notice.
"THE MOON LOVES US!"
Kai drew his knife.
The student charged again.
This time Kai struck.
The handle slammed into the boy's jaw.
CRACK.
Teeth fell from his mouth.
The student stumbled.
But didn't fall.
Didn't even cry.
The others continued advancing.
Slowly.
Relentlessly.
Like a madman.
Kai's pulse accelerated.
Their strength wasn't terrifying.
Their persistence was.
Normal human would hesitate.
Normal human would fear injury.
But these things didn't.
The teacher suddenly pointed at Kai.
"Bring him!"
The three students rushed forward simultaneously.
Kai moved.
One strike.
One dodge.
One desperate step after another.
The fight became chaos.
A student grabbed Kai's arm.
Kai twisted free.
Another seized Kai's vest.
He kicked him backward.
The third tackled Kai into the pavement.
Kai fell heavily.
Pain exploded through my shoulder.
The student climbed on top of him.
Laughing.
Crying.
Praying.
"The Moon sees you!"
Kai drove his knee upward.
The cultist rolled away.
Kai scrambled to his feet.
Breathing heavily.
"My body already ached."
Yet the Corrupt Humans kept coming.
Again.
And again.
Their minds were broken.
Their bodies followed only devotion.
Then Kai noticed something.
Their movements weren't coordinated.
Their attacks were reckless.
Fanatical.
Predictable.
"I'm not fighting trained enemies."
"More like wild animals."
The realization changed everything.
Kai baited the nearest student forward.
Sidestep.
Trip.
Slam!
The student hit the ground hard.
And Kai hold its head and cut its neck cleanly.
The second followed immediately.
Kai redirected his momentum into a fence.
Without it noticing its head pierced through the metal bars.
The third hesitated.
For the first time.
Fear flickered across the boy's eyes.
A fragment of humanity.
Only a fragment.
Then the smile returned.
The corruption consumed it.
Kai use the time to escape.
Minutes later—
Silence returned to the bridge.
The remaining Corrupt Humans no longer pursue Kai.
Kai leaned against the abandoned truck.
Exhausted.
Sweating.
Shaking.
"Something felt wrong."
"The quest is still ongoing."
Then—
The bridge began to tremble.
Kai turned.
Slowly.
The teacher.
She's at the bridge center.
Stood beside the man made ritual.
Neither dead nor defeated.
Her arms stretched toward the sky.
Her lips moved continuously.
Whispering prayers.
Whispering praise.
Then-
Blood.
Flesh.
And the remaining Corrupt Human began to shift.
Toward the ritual.
Laughing.
Devoted.
"Call the holy one!"
"Bring upon salvation!"
"In the name of the Enlightened Moon!"
Blood and flesh continue to merge.
As though alive.
Kai's eyes widened.
The ritual wasn't finished.
It had only begun.
A crimson cocoon formed.
Seemingly translucent.
It pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The remains of the ritual site.
Engulfed in a large mass flesh-like cocoon.
The silhouette at the center slowly rose.
A hand broke free from the cocoon.
One hand.
Two hand.
And full eight hand broke through like a blooming rose.
At the center of those hand a face appeared.
Stitched eye and forceful smile.
"That face!"
"It's the girl placed on the ritual."
A gore Nightmare emerged.
A long big slithered body like a serpent made of human carcass.
The arm surrounded its neck like petals.
A moment it spoked.
Ţ̴͍͙̱͉̥̻͚̥̠̊̿̂̉̈́́̽h̶͈͆͆͝ē̶͔̑͂̃ͅ ̴̡͉͍̞̼̯͇͌͑̀͌̓͋ͅE̶̪͆̉̉͝͝͠͠n̴̡̛̯̥̻͆͌͜ľ̶̛̛͈̘̩̎́̐̀̃̔̈i̵̲̰͛̈̃̂̂͋̓̓g̴̢̡̰̞̤̬͊̓̄̀̃͜ͅh̵̨̰͔̣͎̤́̇̓̽̊ṭ̵̛̙̱̘̅̽́̑͝e̸̘̥̭͌n̴̞̤̼̮̥͇̫͇̟̍͌̽͝ẹ̵̢̱̣͙̩̇̍̑ͅd̶̗̺͙̳͎̲̯̲̏̔̔̽̽̚ͅ ̸̨͇͕̦̺͐́͋̏́͐̀̈́͘M̴̧̫̈́̄ö̷̡͕́̍̄̆̅͆̓ó̷̦͚͇̈̋̃̎͝ͅn̷̥͉̠͍͛ ̷̗͓͇̗̺͒͜͠W̷̘̏̋̔̾͊̍̇̈́̚͠i̸̲̰̙͖͇̹̤͋̔̆̽̊̒̚l̸̡͕̠̰̔̀̀̐̂͌͒̈́ͅl̴̡͙̘͍̟̗͓̫̼̂̓͝͠ ̶̢̬̱̦̠̘͊̈́̓̎̔̿͝B̶̻̯̟̿̅̾͑͐́̈́̒̓̕͜r̷͙̯̺͎̗̼̹̫̝̐̈́̆̇̾̑̐͠ͅì̷̢̡̺͙̺̦̳̞̐͒̋͛̌̒ͅń̴̺̻̍̽̃̎̚͝g̵̢̪̖͕̪̺͒̋̌ ̶̪͑̈́Š̵̨̘̙̒͊́͑̽̋̋͝͠ͅạ̷̅̒̉̐̄̌̌̚͝l̶̡̪̠̗̠̥̅͌̅͛̉͝͝v̵̠̙̑̉̌̍͜͠a̸͇̎̊̋͂͗t̴̟͖̮̩̜͇̔̒̈͆̏͛̓i̵͙̦͚͍͝o̵̧̬̦͔̙̱̿̔́̃̓̇̎̀̉͜͠n̶̤̦̯̚.̷͓̅̐̽͌̅̏
The air grew heavy.
The System immediately reacted.
[WARNING]
Nightmare Detected
Nightmare: Evangeline
Classification: Child Of Corruption (juvenile), Blooming Human Carcass
Rank: B
The teacher laughed.
A broken laugh.
Tears streamed down her face.
"It answered."
"It finally answered."
Slowly the Nightmare opens its stitched eyes.
______
And somewhere within the mall—
Something opened its eyes.
"The Enlightened Moon had descended it's first Child."
To Be Continued...