Eastern

Chapter 14

Surprisingly, when I woke the next morning, I didn’t feel the usual weight pressing down on my chest. Accepting what had happened had helped. For the first time since the rift, my thoughts weren’t just noise. I had a direction now.

Find out more about cultivation. Test my stats. Complete the quest. Figure out what the system can really...

Chapter 13

I followed Wei Lin along one of the raised paths through the paddies. We didn’t speak much—neither of us really needed to. My thoughts were still a mess, too jumbled to sort through.

Eventually, we veered off from the main road and came to a small house set apart from the others. It was simple: one level, a sloped roof, and a sagging w...

Chapter 12

I looked over at the small, cat-like creature. Now it lay there, unmoving.

I felt… bad. Its body was peaceful in death. Calm and quiet. But I shoved that feeling down. It had attacked me with the intent to kill. I just matched it.

As I watched, the air around its striped body shimmered faintly. A strange golden light drifted from i...

Chapter 11

The river weaved through the trees, its steady trickle the only sound besides my footsteps. It should’ve been peaceful. A quiet, calming walk through untouched nature. But my thoughts wouldn’t stop.

I must’ve checked my phone a hundred times, but the result never changed—no signal. No connection to anything. Every time the screen l...

Chapter 10

I woke up.

Which surprised me more than anything.

Softness beneath me. The sensation was so foreign, so utterly out of place after what felt like an eternity of stone crushing my body, that I almost didn’t believe it. My mind was slow, fighting through a fog of exhaustion and pain. I pushed the lingering feelings of being crushed a...

Chapter 9

“Claire, we have breaking news regarding the B-rank rift in Circular Quay.” The news anchor’s voice was steady, but there was an unmistakable tension beneath it. “The rift has officially been closed… but as of this moment, not a single hunter has been reported exiting.”

The words barely registered.

Elise sat frozen, her f...

Chapter 8

Despite myself, fear coiled deep in my chest, suffocating and cold.

“What are you?” I whispered, barely audible, my grip tightening around the useless remains of my dagger.

The thing that had worn Bert’s face smiled, sharp teeth glinting in the dim light. Its pupils, vertical slits, like a predator’s, studied me with amused d...

Chapter 7

I woke covered in dried blood, my body aching as if I’d been trampled beneath a stampede. The room was dim, illuminated only by the faint, flickering glow of dying runes. Across the chamber, the grinding stone had revealed an open doorway. Relief surged through me, but it was short-lived. The tunnel ahead was cloaked in darkness, silent and fo...

Chapter 6

I limped through the darkness, every step sending waves of pain through my battered body. My mind was a haze, numb from exhaustion and grief. Alex’s death replayed endlessly in my head, each haunting detail etched deep into memory.

But I kept moving.

The tunnels seemed endless, an oppressive maze of stone and shadow. My dagger felt...

Chapter 5

Everything was silent.

We moved carefully, footsteps echoing faintly off damp stone walls. Every sound felt too loud, like a beacon that would draw whatever lurked unseen toward us.

John sent one of the remaining hunters ahead to scout, a wiry man whose name I didn’t catch. He moved with practiced caution, eyes sweeping methodicall...

Chapter 4

“Eth—Ethan, can you hear me?”

Someone was calling my name.

The voice felt far away, distorted, like hearing it underwater.

“How bad is he?” Asked another voice, deep, rough, filled with tension.

“Bad,” a woman’s voice responded coolly. “His skill is fighting, but it won’t last. His skull’s cracked. B...

Chapter 3

The undead barreled straight at me.

Me, the weakest hunter here. Why? I had no clue, and definitely no time to figure it out.

Its clicking filled the cavern, sharp and relentless, echoing painfully in my ears. My body locked up, heart slamming painfully against my ribs.

Shouts erupted around me, weapons drawn, hunters scramblin...

Chapter 2

A split second of darkness and then my boots landed firmly on solid ground.

I opened my eyes, scanning the cavern around us. Cold, damp stone walls glistened beneath the faint torchlight left behind by Alpha Team. The air hung thick, stale with rot and moisture. Ahead, a wide tunnel twisted deeper into darkness, illuminated only by dying e...

Chapter 1

The old door slammed open, hitting the wall with a dull bang. Elise stood in the doorway, eyes blazing with anger but I saw the fear underneath clearly enough.

“Ethan, don’t do this!” she snapped, her small fists clenched tightly at her sides. Her voice trembled slightly, betraying her real feelings.

I swallowed, keeping my gaz...