I died. Right there, at that moment. Or so I thought. I was certain of it. The snarls, the tearing agony, the world dissolving into an inky blackness… life itself had seemed to cease. But then, then I opened my eyes. My clothes, somehow, were merely tattered. My skin, however, was WITHOUT A SINGLE BLEMISH. I pushed up, my limbs suddenly light, unburdened by the memory of pain. My mind reeled. How was I alive? My body hadn't just healed. My mind, too, was sharp, clear, as if cleansed by fire. WHAT WAS GOING ON?
Barf! Barf! A guttural, uncontrollable retch tore from my throat as vivid, horrifying flashes of my demise assaulted me—the snapping jaws, the blinding, agonizing pain. I tried to run, to scramble away from the phantom memory, but one of the wolf-creatures, as if sensing the tremor of my terror, noticed my movement. I could have sworn a smirk, a flicker of cruel amusement, played across its snout. A chilling thought, cold as grave dust, echoed in my mind: FEAST.
I scrambled to take flight, but again, the hungry wolves were upon me. This time, they played. They stalked, a predatory ballet, then circled, closing the noose. They brought me down, not to kill, but to maim, to wait. They watched, with ancient, cruel eyes, until I regenerated, before tearing me apart again. And again. I perished so many times I lost count. The cycle was a nightmare, each death a fresh agony, a new lesson in futility. The smell of my own blood, my own dissolving flesh, became a perverse perfume.
I WAS SICK OF DYING. This endless loop of pain and rebirth. I had to fight back.
I woke again, and this time, I knew. There was no hesitation, no wasted movement. Grrrrrrr! They rushed in once more, a dark tide of tooth and claw. NO WAY I'M LETTING YOU KILL ME! YOU HAVE JUST LET ME BE OR LET ME DIE! I screamed, a raw, primal sound, and threw myself at the nearest creature. I clenched onto it with all my might, a desperate, furious embrace. I didn't mind the damage I was taking. Yes, it was painful, but compared to the soul-crushing agony of repeated death, it was nothing. Gnaw! My teeth, suddenly sharper than I remembered, invaded its flesh. I fought like a madman, my instincts, long dormant, awakened. Then I died again, before I could truly end its life. The others got me first. But it was all part of the plan. I had learned their speed. Their attack patterns. The precise, infinitesimal moment I needed.
I woke again. And this time, I was ready. The nearest wolf-creature was the wounded one, its movements fractionally slower. I moved faster. I went straight for its neck, a desperate, focused lunge. Every part of my body was my weapon. The other two were instantly on me, tearing at my limbs, but I didn't mind. My focus was absolute. This one, the one in my clutches, HAD TO DIE.
With a final, desperate lunge, I tore out its lungs. A choked gurgle, a shuddering collapse, its life extinguishing in a wet cough. The moment its life ceased, a mark on my left hand – a strange symbol, -99% – flared with a searing white light. The dead wolf dissolved, not into blood and gore, but into shimmering black smoke that swirled, a morbid ballet, and was absorbed into my mark. The other two wolves, their eyes suddenly wide with something akin to terror, whimpered. They retreated, backing away, a step at a time.
A strange warmth spread through me. My tattered clothes were still ripped, but the wounds on my body, the deep gashes and raw tears, knitted themselves shut with incredible, sickening speed. I felt it – a surge of strength, a sharpening of my senses, a newfound speed coursing through my veins. This wasn't just survival. This was EVOLUTION.
HAHA HAHAHAHA!!! HAHA HAHAHAHA! I laughed like a madman, the sound echoing in the desolate city.
I turned to face the remaining two. The battle was long. Brutal. A dance of death and regeneration. DIE, YOU FILTH! I could feel it physically. I had gotten stronger. Fear enveloped the wolves now, a palpable scent in the dead air. It was a nasty battle. My organs gushed out, time and again, splattering the broken pavement. Still... I didn't stop. I enjoyed every moment of it. Crawwwwwwl... gnaw! Creek! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrr! It was a battle between beasts, a primal, gory symphony. But in the end, I emerged victorious. The same phenomenon occurred: the black smoke, the absorption into my mark, the surge of power. This time, my senses sharpened even further, allowing me to perceive beyond the ordinary, to sense the presence of life and energy in a way I never had.
I stood there over their corpses, fully regenerated. Naked. And covered with blood.
Ah..! Mmm! Heavy breaths escaped my lungs, a rhythm of survival. I looked around. Other wolf-like creatures now circled in the distance. And this time, their gaze was not that of hunger. It was the gaze of prey. They looked at me not as food, but as A PREDATOR. Too scared to approach.
Above my head, a colossal structure, stretching towards the very heavens, pierced the broken sky. I thought there couldn't be more surprises. The -99% mark on my hand shone again, blazing, and strange, alien knowledge invaded my mind. It slammed into me, a torrent of understanding. By the time I recovered from it, gasping for breath, the name was on my lips.
"Babel...." I blurted out, the word tasting ancient, weighty. A sinister aura skimmed all over me, not from outside, but from within. I knew. I had to head there. That tower, that impossible monolith, held my answers.
I walked into an empty, relatively intact store nearby. The air inside was stale, but the shelves, though overturned, offered refuge. I found some old clothes, clean and serviceable, and changed out of my blood-soaked rags. I checked for preserved food, finding enough to fill a small bag – dusty crackers, canned goods – and gathered a few formidable knives, their blades glinting dully in the weak light. My journey to the tower resumed, but this time, I was cautious. Every shadow held a potential threat, every gust of wind carried a whisper of danger.
Should I plunder these empty homes for money? A twisted smile played on my lips. HAHAHA. Maybe the banks in the main city will have some cash and gold bars, a couple of jewels, haha. I walked with these thoughts, trying to distract myself from the bizarre, terrifying, exhilarating reality that had just consumed me.
I stopped by an empty building, checking its perimeter with my newly sharpened senses. It was clear. I entered, taking a moment to organize my thoughts. What had happened? My newfound abilities: REGENERATION. APPARENT IMMORTALITY. And… plundering, yes. Somehow, I simply knew these abilities, without explanation, as if they'd always been a part of me, just waiting to be activated.
As I began to settle, to rest my head for a moment, something entered my newly expanded sensory "radar." More wolves. This time, they weren't just threats. They were EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS. All my life, the door to living a truly fulfilling life had seemed blurry, unreachable. But now, with these new abilities, I knew it. I could stand above all. I just had to move carefully, strategically.
I tore my newly acquired clothes, layering them with my own blood, then carefully hid them around the large, spacious building I had chosen – an ideal hunting spot. The wolves, relying on their acute sense of smell, went straight for the blood-soaked fabric. The more wolves I killed, the stronger I got, the sharper my senses became, and the thicker my killing intent grew. I thought I was in control. I thought I was the hunter. Until it stepped into my radar.
Grrrrrrrrr! A low yet powerful growl, a vibration that shook the very dust from the air.
My senses went into disarray. A chaotic storm of warning signals, an unbearable pressure on my nascent power. I knew, with absolute certainty, that I had to run or I'd die.
But, I knew what I had to do. Ever since I woke up, it had been a KILL OR BE KILLED WORLD. And I cannot be killed.
Keke kuku Kiki... Excitement, sharp and wild, mixed with a cold, thrilling fear filled my heart. I was immortal, wasn't I? I knew, somehow, something fundamental would change if I could kill this creature. But my knives would only be liabilities in this situation. It was just me and the huge wolf, five times my size, without any weapon. The wolf radiated pure rage; I had killed too many of its kin. Seeing its colossal form, its immense aura, I knew this was a king.
It stared at me, its eyes burning with primal fury. And in that moment, I knew there was no way I could take that down, even with all my knives. I stood, transfixed, as it ran towards me with full speed. After killing numerous wolves, my senses were at a level where they could follow its super-speed. It opened its cavernous mouth, a maw of razor-sharp teeth. I ran towards it, not away.
Ahhhhhhhhhh!
"CHOM!"
I was split in two. The first half, swallowed by its cavernous belly. The other half, tumbling to the floor. When fighting the first three wolves, I had experimented with my abilities, pushed their limits. I knew my regeneration stemmed from my blood, and that my consciousness didn't completely fade when I died; it scattered within the blood. My immortality was not yet perfect; things like fire that could evaporate blood, and ice that could freeze it, could still prove fatal.
Immediately, once inside the wolf king's mouth, I gathered my scattered consciousness within its very being and regenerated. No matter how strong, how monstrous it was, the wolf king was helpless against the rampage happening inside its own body. It gave a desperate, futile attempt to fight back. But failed. After a desperate, internal struggle, it died, its massive form dissolving into black smoke that was absorbed by my mark. I noticed the mark had changed to -98%, but I was too busy to truly process it; there was a more pressing matter at hand.
The bastard wolf, in its dying throes, knew it couldn't survive. So, it ran with me in its stomach to a more dangerous place, a vast, echoing cave surrounded by hundreds of wolves, ensuring my demise. I steeled my resolve.
"I'm really going to die a lot," I muttered to myself, a self-pitying smile twisting my lips.
As I prepared to fight, my mark lit up again. I'd gained a new ability. Somehow, without explanation, I knew what it could do. And that knowledge made me even more certain: the wolf king had made a col
ossal mistake bringing me here.