The rain hadn't stopped.
If anything, it had gotten heavier.
Drops slammed against the pavement, bouncing off the neon-lit streets as the city blurred into streaks of red, blue, and white, but Damián didn't focus on any of that anymore. His attention was locked forward, following the faint guiding line of the system as it pulsed at the edge of his vision, leading him deeper into territory he didn't know, alongside people he didn't trust.
That alone should have been a problem.
But right now… it wasn't.
Because the system had made one thing very clear.
Standing still meant falling behind.
And falling behind… meant dying.
[Contract Synchronized]
[Participants: 3]
[Objective: Interception]
[Distance: 0.6 km]
The two players moved ahead of him without hesitation, their pace steady but controlled, not sprinting, not rushing, but efficient, like they had done this dozens of times before, like this wasn't dangerous… just routine.
Damián followed.
Not blindly.
Never blindly.
His eyes tracked everything—their spacing, their movement patterns, how neither of them ever fully exposed their backs, how even while moving, they remained ready.
That told him enough.
*They're not relaxed… they're prepared.*
Good.
That meant the threat was real.
The one on the left—the sharper one, the one who had spoken first inside—glanced back briefly.
"Try to keep up."
Damián didn't respond.
He didn't need to.
Instead, he adjusted his breathing, pushing through the lingering pain in his body, forcing his muscles to cooperate, to move faster, smoother, more efficiently.
[END in effect]
[Fatigue reduced]
It wasn't much.
But it helped.
The second player finally spoke, his voice calmer, more measured.
"Target isn't random."
Damián narrowed his eyes slightly.
"What do you mean?"
The man didn't slow down.
"System flagged it for a reason. That usually means one of two things."
A short pause.
"Either it's valuable… or it's dangerous."
Damián let out a quiet breath.
*…or both.*
The system flickered.
[Warning: Hostile Activity Increasing]
[ETA: 00:02:10]
That was fast.
Too fast.
The first player raised a hand slightly.
They slowed down.
Not stopping.
But shifting.
From movement…
To approach.
The street ahead narrowed into an alleyway, darker than the rest, with only a single broken light flickering overhead, casting inconsistent shadows that made it harder to track movement.
Damián felt it immediately.
That same pressure.
That same tension in the air.
[Zone Active]
[Interference Detected]
The first player spoke quietly.
"Stay sharp."
Damián's jaw tightened slightly.
*I was already planning to.*
They entered.
Slowly.
Carefully.
And then they saw it.
A figure stood at the far end of the alley, barely visible at first, motionless, like it had been waiting long before they arrived, its silhouette distorted by the flickering light, making it hard to tell where its body began… and where it ended.
Damián's instincts screamed.
Not normal.
Not a player.
Something else.
The system reacted instantly.
[Target Identified]
[Classification: UNKNOWN]
[Threat Level: HIGH]
That alone was enough to shift everything.
The second player muttered under his breath.
"…that's not standard."
The first didn't answer.
Because he already knew.
Damián took a slow step forward.
Then stopped.
Because the figure moved.
Not forward.
Not back.
But… wrong.
Like its motion skipped frames, like it wasn't bound by the same physical rules, its head tilting slightly as if observing them, analyzing them the same way players analyzed each other.
And then it spoke.
Its voice… distorted.
Layered.
Like multiple tones overlapping.
"You… are not the assigned ones."
Silence.
Heavy.
Sharp.
Damián felt his pulse rise, but his expression didn't change.
The first player stepped forward slightly.
"We're here for the contract."
The figure didn't react immediately.
Its head tilted further.
Almost curious.
"Incorrect."
The word echoed unnaturally.
[Warning: Contract Deviation Detected]
[Unknown Variable Introduced]
Damián's eyes sharpened.
*…this isn't normal.*
The second player shifted his stance.
"We abort?"
A dangerous question.
The first didn't answer right away.
Because the system spoke first.
[Abort Penalty: HIGH]
Of course.
There was always a price.
Damián exhaled slowly.
*…so running isn't free either.*
The figure moved again.
Closer.
Without sound.
Without transition.
Just… closer.
And now they could see it.
Not clearly.
But enough.
Its body wasn't stable.
Edges flickering.
Form shifting slightly, like something trying—and failing—to maintain a human shape.
Damián felt it then.
A cold realization.
*…this is what he meant.*
Monsters.
The word echoed in his mind.
And the system confirmed it.
[Keyword Match: "Monsters"]
[Classification Updated]
[Entity Type: Corrupted Player]
Everything clicked.
Players… who became something else.
Something worse.
The first player's voice dropped.
"…we finish this."
No hesitation.
No doubt.
Because now they understood the same thing.
This wasn't just a contract.
This was a test.
Damián adjusted his stance, his breathing steady, his mind sharp despite the tension building in his chest.
Because this…
This was different from fighting another player.
This was something unpredictable.
Something unstable.
Something that didn't follow the same rules.
And that made it…
More dangerous than anything he had faced so far.
The creature's head snapped slightly to the side.
Then back.
Locking onto Damián.
"You…"
A pause.
Longer this time.
"…are incomplete."
Damián didn't respond.
But his eyes didn't waver.
Because incomplete or not…
He was still standing.
And that meant one thing.
He could still fight.
The rain intensified.
The alley darkened.
And in that moment…
All three players moved.
Because the real battle…
Had just begun.