in the moment Arya whispered, "Let's begin..."
It wasn't ordinary silence. It was a taut silence, as if the whole corridor was holding its breath, waiting for the first spark to ignite.
The red eyes at the end of the corridor didn't blink.
Then—it moved.
It wasn't a normal charge. The animal monster's body dropped low for a heartbeat, its fur bristling as if an invisible current had passed through it. A faint crackle rose around it—tiny sparks dancing at the tips of its claws.
And in that moment—
Arya's pupils dilated. Not because of the speed. Because of what she saw.
Electricity...?
The thought didn't even finish—
It vanished.
A short sonic burst split the silence, and a pale line of light flashed down the corridor. Arya's body moved on instinct. She twisted aside—
But—zap.
The spark struck her shoulder. Pain detonated inside her arm, sharp and sudden. Her body jolted. A brutal numbness locked part of her movement, and her balance stumbled back a step.
The monster landed smoothly, turning slowly. Its eyes stayed fixed on her—no hesitation. No distraction.
Arya clenched her teeth, her eyes narrowing with fierce focus.
...Ability.
Not a whisper of fear—a correction.
The Shadow Cat didn't wait. It split away like a black arrow, driving straight for the monster's throat—
But before it could reach—
A flash.
A lightning spark erupted from the monster's body and slammed into the Shadow. The cat's form warped for an instant, recoiling in midair as if something had struck it with tremendous force.
And in the same breath—
The monster surged again. The floor under its claws shrieked with sharp friction. It moved at a speed the eye couldn't track, leaving a trail of trembling light.
"Wolf."
Arya didn't raise her voice.
Behind her, the shadow rippled. The Shadow Wolf emerged from the darkness—massive body, bared fangs, a low growl vibrating deep in its chest. It didn't wait for the attack. It intercepted.
The two bodies collided. A violent impact boomed through the corridor. Claws against fangs. Lightning sparks burst at the moment of contact, crawling across the wolf's fur.
The wolf snarled—but its body slid back half a step. The monster's power... wasn't ordinary.
And in that moment—
Arya's mind began to work.
Every rush... was preceded by a tension in the body. A charge. A fraction of a second... but it was there.
Not just speed. Timing.
She breathed in slowly. She ignored the numbness in her arm. She focused.
The monster withdrew half a step... its hind muscles contracting again.141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3AiOaON9j
Now...
She whispered it inside herself.
It launched. But this time—she was waiting for it.
In the moment its body tensed—she moved before it could explode. She dropped low, slid sideways, and the spark passed along the plane of her face, its heat grazing her skin without striking.
"Cat."
The Shadow moved again. It didn't attack directly—it circled. A distraction.141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEv4KLAWD9L
The wolf drove in from the front, forcing the monster to face the threat. The cat came from the side, cutting through its line of sight.
One moment. That was all she needed.
Arya surged forward. One step only—but it was enough. Her Rusty Dagger gleamed in the darkness—and pierced. From beneath the jaw... upward toward the brain.
The monster's body went rigid. One final spark shivered across its fur—then a short flash erupted—
The blade cracked.
A sharp snapping sound—then it shattered. The metal scattered into small fragments between Arya's fingers, as if the electric current that had inhabited the monster's body had devoured it from within.
But she didn't retreat. She held her hand steady until the end—until the body went completely still.
Then—the sparks died.
And the monster began to dissolve. Black ash rose slowly, as if its very existence was being erased from this world... leaving behind remains that glowed with a faint light on the floor.
The system panel bloomed before her eyes, clearer than usual.141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9rEsJvkSNS
---
[Target Eliminated: Animal Monster — Lightning Cat | Rank D]
[Experience Gained: +40 XP]
[Reward: 30 Bronze Coins]
[Equipment Drop: Bow — Rank D]
[Material Drop: Lightning Cat Fur ×1]
[Material Drop: Lightning Core Shard ×1]
---
Arya stood still for a moment. Her eyes fixed on the notifications—then on the scattered loot before her.
...More.
She whispered it quietly. She bent down slowly, picking up the Lightning Core Shard first. The moment she touched it—she felt a faint prickling... different from the Spirit energy she was used to. A sharp energy. Active. Unstable.
...Natural.
She looked toward the remaining ash. Stronger... and it had an ability.
She shifted her gaze to the bow. She didn't touch it immediately. She was thinking. The humanoid monsters had given less. Limited Experience... rewards that couldn't compare. But this... was a clear leap.
Arya closed her hand around the Core Shard, then stood slowly. Despite her steady breathing, her body still held the trace of the shock—a faint numbness... reminding her.
...The risk is higher.
She lifted her eyes toward the depths of the floor. The silence returned. But this time... it wasn't just quiet. It was a complete void.
She was still for a moment. Then she understood.
This floor... hadn't been full of monsters. It had had only one owner.
She returned the cat to her shadow, and the wolf dissolved behind her in silence. Then she finally picked up the bow.
...Worth it.
She secured her bag and began moving toward the stairs—and her eyes this time... weren't just cold. They were alert... as if they had truly begun to understand this world.
---
The tension didn't last long on the first floor.
Arya moved through the corridor with calm, pushing the doors open one by one—no roar... no movement... nothing.
Only—traces. Scratched walls. Dried blood. Remnants of shattered furniture.
It was clear. This floor... had been cleared before she arrived.
She didn't stop. She turned toward the stairs and climbed.
The second floor. She knocked on the first door. A roar. She opened it—and everything ended within seconds.
The third floor... then the fourth.
Repetition. But not random. Every movement calculated. Every strike shorter. Every hesitation... gone.
Four humanoid monsters of Rank F. Two of Rank E. None of them posed a real threat—the Shadow Cat and Shadow Wolf were stronger now.
The system notifications appeared in succession before her eyes.
[Multiple Targets Eliminated]
[Experience Gained: +...]
[Rewards: ...]
She didn't focus on the details. They weren't worth it.
What caught her attention... was the bow. After several encounters, additional items appeared among the loot.
[Material Drop: Wooden Arrows ×20]
[Material Drop: Solid Bone Arrows ×5]
Arya stopped for a second. She looked at the arrows in her hands... then at the bow hanging across her back.
...Connected.
She whispered it quietly. It wasn't random. The monsters she had faced... had begun to drop what supported her new weapon.
She reorganized her bag quickly. The arrows in a separate section. The bone ones preserved.
---
With the last room on the fifth floor—
Arya's instincts went cold.
Something... wasn't right. The rooms were empty after the corpses, and no new threat had appeared—except for a faint sensation of eyes watching her.
She lifted her head for a moment, toward a rooftop opposite the building. And there—a quick glimpse: a human-shaped silhouette, watching her from above.
It wasn't a random monster. It didn't growl or move with violence or rush. Just... watching.
And directly after her eyes met its gaze, the silhouette vanished as if it had never existed.
Arya stood for a second, her eyes fixed on the empty space, trying to process the scene.
This... isn't normal.
The Shadow had moved its head or body slightly, as if it had received a distant command—then disappeared completely.
Arya understood in that moment. There's something... controlling them.
But she didn't yet know who. Or how strong they were. Or what they were planning.141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBx5uxUy8w
Silence returned to the floors, but her heart was crawling with a new sensation—the feeling of being watched, and a deeper power on the verge of surfacing.
---
Arya closed the door behind her slowly. The click of it shutting was faint... but it felt decisive.
She had finally settled in this apartment on the fifth floor, chosen carefully to be her temporary fortress. She stepped two paces inside, her eyes moving slowly, sweeping the space with precision.
The apartment was still. Clean. No corpses... no traces of battle... not even the smell of blood.
Only quiet dust dancing in the pale sunlight.
A simple living room. A wide window overlooking the street directly... and the shop. She stopped at it and looked down.
The street was still as it had been—empty... dead... silent. The shop across the way like a chessboard piece beneath her feet.
A good position... she whispered quietly. High ground... clear vision... and only one exit to control.141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEyR2CUDYq
She turned slowly. ...Safe. For now.
With a faint gesture of her hand, the dark auras dissolved—the wolf first, its massive body unraveling into black shadow. Then the cat, melting into silence as if it had never been.
The shadows slipped quietly back into her own, stretched across the wooden floor.
She was alone.
Arya sat behind the window, her back resting against the cold wall. And the moment her body relaxed—her shoulders dropped suddenly.
The exhaustion. It hadn't been visible during the fighting, but now it hit all at once.
Her body ached under the weight of the withdrawing adrenaline. She reached slowly toward her injured shoulder—the mark of the Lightning Cat's shock was still there. A light numbness, with a deep pain beneath the skin.
...Annoying.
She felt the weight in her muscles, now denser after the leveling. She breathed in slowly. A long exhale.
She pulled a can of preserved meat from her bag and opened it with a faint metallic sound. The smell wasn't appetizing... but it was enough.
She began eating slowly, mechanically. She wasn't tasting the food—she was refueling.
One bite. Then another. Without hurry.
With each mouthful, she felt the warmth returning to her limbs, and the stillness replacing the clamor of battle in her head.
After that, she took out a piece of dried candy she had looted earlier. She stared at it for a second. She didn't know why she had chosen to keep it in the first place.
...Something small.
But she remembered Maryam. Not her face this time—just a simple gesture. Maryam used to stand in front of the store aisles longer than necessary, scanning every corner and looking at the shelves in silence—but in the end, she would pick the same kind of candy and place it in the bag without ever changing it.
Arya went quiet. She pressed the candy between her fingers for a moment before lifting it to her mouth.
...It doesn't matter.
She said it in a voice so low she barely heard it herself. Then she closed the thought before it could finish. The way she always did.
The sugar... her body responded to it immediately.
...Better.
The clock read just past two in the afternoon. The midday sun had begun its tilt, marking the passing of the first day and a half in this new hell.
She closed her eyes for a moment. Not to sleep. Just... to settle.
---141Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKN00TRKFR
and then Add to home screen.