[Current survivors: 10]

  This time the number finally matched the headcount in the room.

  So Ethan hadn’t stabbed the wrong “person.” Good.

  He stood up, flicked away the blood-knife, and watched the cuts on his hand and back knit shut like time was rewinding. That was Sovereign Bloodline—absurd healing, absurd endurance.

  “Stop staring,” Ethan said. “I’m just cautious.”

  Someone swallowed. “Safe house has ten minutes left…”

  Another guy tried to sound friendly. “Uh… what should we call you?”

  “Parker,” Ethan said, not bothering with first names.

  “Parker—Boss, you’re Unit 749, and you just flushed out a hidden demon. When the safe house drops, you’re our leader. We’ll follow you.”

  Ethan shook his head. “No. I’m not running with you.”

  Across the table, Lola Keane looked disappointed. She’d been hoping to stick close to a real 749 investigator—learn, watch how it’s done, maybe figure out how to join one day.

  Also… she was a teenager in a nightmare world and still had time to be a little starry-eyed. Ethan was cool, sharp, and terrifying in the way younger girls thought was “hot.”

  The others started planning without him.

  “We don’t know what’s outside. The moment the safe house ends, we find cover and hide.”

  “Yeah—no noise. If we draw attention, we’re dead.”

  “Too many people moving together gets messy. The nine of us split into two groups.”

  “We survive eight hours. That’s the mission. Stay alive, get the reward. Let’s go.”

  They split into two teams and left Ethan out of it.

  Finally—

  The safe house countdown hit zero.

  Cracks spread across the floor and walls like spiderwebs.

  Then the whole room shattered—

  BOOM—!

  —and collapsed into rubble.

  Ethan’s eyes snapped up instantly.

  Dark sky. Heavy clouds. Red lightning rolling inside the cloudbank.

  Exactly like what he’d seen when the campus nightmare started.

  They were standing in the middle of a street now. Buildings lined both sides. A dead city block.

  “Scatter—get inside!” the two groups hissed, rushing into buildings on either side.

  Hands over mouths, breathing shallow, eyes wide.

  Ethan slipped into an apartment building and looked out through a hallway window.

  The eight-hour survival timer had started.

  And the energy here—

  was thick.

  At least three times denser than the real world.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  No wonder people leveled faster in the Reverse World. Even if you did nothing but hide for eight hours, you’d absorb a ton.

  Then—

  “GAAK!”

  A harsh cry cut across the sky.

  Ethan looked up.

  Two massive black birds swept overhead, circling the district like patrol drones.

  “Aimee,” Ethan murmured. “Scan.”

  [No network. Offline mode enabled. Accessing database…]

  [Man-Eating Black Raven — lv21 — Standard-class]

  Rank Two, normal-tier.

  For Ethan—who’d already killed a DISASTER-class ghost infant—this wasn’t a problem.

  For the other rookies?

  This was a nightmare with wings.

  Ethan frowned. “That’s it? Two?”

  It felt like starving for three days, bursting into a buffet, and finding two breadsticks on the table.

  So he went higher.

  Ethan moved up to the top floor and climbed out onto the roof.

  From there, he saw more.

  Things crawling through the streets. Shapes clinging to walls. Movement inside buildings—predators hiding like it was a jungle.

  Ethan’s smile finally returned.

  “Good. Now we’re talking.”

  He hoped clearing this area would push him closer to a realm breakthrough.

  First priority: the two ravens. Flying scouts with wide vision were a threat if they stayed alive.

  …

  Back inside, the other rookies whispered in the dark.

  “Why’s Parker moving alone?”

  “No idea. Strength in numbers, right?”

  “Maybe he thinks a smaller target is safer…”

  “Wait—what the hell—he’s out on the rooftops!”

  Someone peeked through a crack and nearly had a heart attack.

  Ethan was literally hopping roofs—jumping from one building to another like he was filming an action trailer.

  “The patrol birds are coming back—does he want to die?!”

  “My god… this is the Reverse World!”

  “He’s insane!”

  “Everyone stay hidden,” someone hissed. “No noise. Don’t even breathe loud.”

  “Aw man… I suddenly have to pee…”

  “Pee in your pants, idiot. A little pee. Don’t splash, don’t make a sound.”

  Nobody dared watch anymore.

  Their only thought was: Please don’t get us killed with you.

  …

  Ethan stood on a high rooftop, night wind lifting his hair.

  He’d watched the ravens’ flight path. They circled and passed close—within ten meters at their nearest point.

  He scanned targets like a hunter: a spider-like thing clinging to a distant wall, and a gorilla-shaped demon prowling the street below.

  Ethan’s lips curled.

  Now it’s my turn to hunt.

  Here they came.

  Two black dots expanded rapidly in his vision as the ravens swept in.

  Ethan took a running start—

  and launched himself off the eighteen-story rooftop.

  At the same time, blood whips shot from his hands, snapping out like living tentacles and wrapping the first raven mid-flight.

  “GAAK!”

  Ethan used the momentum to swing, his blood shifting midair into a long crimson blade.

  As he passed the raven—

  slash.

  Fast as a thunderclap.

  CRACK.

  The raven’s neck severed cleanly. Its head tumbled away, blood spraying into the night.

  No pause.

  The second raven was right behind it.

  Ethan collided with it head-on. Blood tentacles grabbed it again, he used the recoil to swing upward—

  slash.

  A crescent of red light.

  Another head dropped.

  Two Rank-Two flyers, killed in midair.

  Ethan’s body kept moving, inertia carrying him straight toward the next building.

  On that wall—clinging there like a living nightmare—was a black spider nearly two meters long.

  BOOM—!!

  Ethan slammed into the wall.

  Blood formed a protective barrier automatically.

  The spider didn’t get to react.

  It was crushed into paste.

  Ethan slid down the wall and hit the ground in a low, controlled landing—knees bent, center dropped.

  Then he launched forward like a cannon shot.

  Finisher: Sky-Sundering Dragon.

  Twenty meters away, the ape-like demon barely had time to register movement—

  before its head separated from its body.

  Blood sprayed up in a violent fountain.

  Ethan already had his blood umbrella open.

  Not a single drop touched his clothes.

  He walked away without even looking back.

  [“Hunting Thirst” triggered. Blood Strength permanently +2%.]

  [Blood Strength permanently +…]

  …

  Inside the building, the others were still holding their breath.

  They’d heard impacts outside—heavy ones—and assumed Ethan had been spotted. If they went out now, they could get dragged into a fight and die.

  But Lola couldn’t stand it.

  She wanted to join Unit 749 someday. That made her a “future recruit” in her own head. Ethan was basically her senior—her goal. Her chance to learn.

  And… yeah, she kind of admired him.

  “I’m going to check,” she whispered.

  A guy snapped at her, furious but trying not to raise his voice. “What are you doing?!”

  “I just want to see if Parker’s okay—”

  “See my ass!” he hissed. “If he wants to die, that’s his problem. Our job is to survive. If you go out, you drag all of us with you!”

  Lola flinched, then nodded. “Okay… fine.”

  Then—

  THUD. THUD.

  Two heavy drops outside.

  Every heart in the room jumped into someone’s throat.

  Hands clamped over mouths. No one breathed.

  “It’s here… it’s here…” someone mouthed, sweating.

  But after the impacts…

  There was nothing.

  No footsteps. No scratching. No breathing.

  What?

  After a long minute, someone finally couldn’t take it. They cracked the door and peeked out.

  And froze.

  Two raven heads sat on the street—

  still bleeding.