Aiden fought to stay awake, but the sharp pain from the creature's metallic tube seemed to bore deeper into his flesh with each passing second.
Everything around him started to blur. The darkness began to feel… welcoming. Like an escape from constant agony. His eyelids, impossibly heavy, finally gave in. Just before everything went black, he caught a glimpse of the hunters getting closer.
******
Aiden had no idea how long he'd been out. Time didn't mean much in that strange, empty space where he floated—silent, still, like drifting in deep water.
Gradually, as if surfacing from a nightmare, he began to rise back. It wasn't easy. Every thought felt like dragging himself through wet concrete.
The first thing Aiden noticed was a deep, throbbing ache that seemed to pulse through his whole body.
His brain felt foggy, disconnected. Bits and pieces of what had happened flickered at the edge of his mind, just out of reach.
Then… a massive black butterfly hovered inches from his face, its antennae twitching with almost comical curiosity.
The shock jolted him. Despite the searing pain that flared with every twitch, he scrambled back, putting precious distance between himself and the bizarre insect.
"Isn't she gorgeous?" a woman's voice cut through the silence. "Like a piece of night sky, spun from silk."
The voice made him freeze.
He turned his head and spotted the two hunters sitting by a small fire, casually chewing on strips of meat.
"You must be starving," the woman said slyly, tossing a piece of meat onto a flat stone near him. "After lying there like a corpse for more than two days… I imagine your stomach's screaming."
Aiden blinked. Two days?
He quickly accessed his status screen with a single thought. A soft chime echoed in his mind as a faint blue panel appeared in front of his eyes.
[King Version, Day 6/30]
Aiden took a deep breath.
It wasn't the fact that he'd been unconscious for over two days that truly unsettled him—it was that the hunters had kept him alive. They had protected his body. Watched over it. He knew it wasn't out of mercy or concern. There had to be a reason.
They should have seen something in him—something valuable. Maybe even rare. That was the only reason they hadn't let him rot in that dirt. The only reason they'd waited.
They didn't want him dead… not until there was nothing left to take.
The woman still stared at him across the fire, eyes glinting with a strange hunger.
"Who would've thought," she murmured, her voice low and drawn, "that even after that thing pierced your skull clean through... you'd survive. And not just survive—heal it completely." Her lips curled into a slow smile. "Truly... a fascinating body you've got there."
Aiden didn't respond. He avoided her gaze and reached for the piece of meat lying on the stone nearby.
There was no room for pride—not when his body was burning with hunger. Every bit of energy he had had been drained by the healing process, leaving him hollow and weak.
His stomach twisted as he tore into the food. It didn't matter where it came from. Right now, all that mattered was feeding the thing inside him that refused to die.
Aiden didn't know why… but this hunger felt different—deeper. Like something buried inside him had snapped awake. As if, left starving any longer, his own body might've turned on itself just to survive
Within seconds, the meat was gone. Torn, chewed, swallowed. He couldn't remember doing it. His mind drifted, suspended somewhere between waking and unconsciousness
His eyes moved on instinct, locking onto the hunters across the fire.
"Good boy," the woman chuckled, like she was praising a trained pet.
She tossed more meat his way. Before he could think—before shame or hesitation caught up—his body lunged forward. His hands moved on their own, dragging the chunks close, stuffing them into his mouth.
"Haha!"
A short laugh cracked the air. Then another.
The laughter… pulled him out of the fog. Not enough to bring him fully back, but enough to stir something inside.
His jaw clenched around the meat.
His hands trembled mid-bite. Not from fear. Not from humiliation. But from restraint.
If he were stronger.
No.
If he were free.
He wouldn't be eating scraps.
He'd be feasting on them.
The thought didn't come from Aiden—not exactly. It came from something buried within him.
Aiden didn't fully understand it. Not yet.
But he felt it.
A predator's instinct. Inherited from a bloodline that once ruled the food chain. Still alive inside him—starving, waiting.
He forced the feeling down, for now. But deep inside, the hunger purred.
Not just for food.
For dominance. For flesh. For vengeance.
With the gnawing hunger finally subdued, Aiden's awareness sharpened. His thoughts, once drowned in instinct, began to thread together.
He sat up slowly, every muscle sore but responsive. Pain still pulsed through his limbs, but it was manageable—far better than before.
Aiden scanned his surroundings, his heightened senses reaching out. This place felt unfamiliar, the subtle energies of the environment is different. He couldn't sense the comforting, ancient presence of the large mysterious tree with his ability, a place that had become his only place for resting. They were far from it now.
His thoughts drifted to the hunters. Their strength was undeniable, their abilities far beyond anything he had encountered in his brief time in this brutal world. He had initially speculated they might be among the few 400 people who had broken through level 10 within the first four days.
Even if they hadn't then… they likely had now.
Staying alive and becoming stronger was his top priority now. Because one day soon… his sister would arrive.
And he wouldn't let her face the hell he had.
He wouldn't let her suffer.
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