While Earth was only two days into the bizarre upheaval brought on by the Dawn of the Game, a neighboring world had already plunged far deeper into its own dire circumstances.
The skies of that distant realm hung in perpetual hues of deep red and blackish blue, lit by a dim sun that burned the color of fresh blood and cast everything below in a perpetual, sickly twilight.
The whole world was one massive supercontinent, its vast surface made up of forests where towering trees pierced the low-hanging clouds with their shadowy canopies…
Mountain ranges with peaks capped in black ice and endless snow, and immense plains stretching thousands of kilometers without so much as a pause in their emptiness.
Well…
That was the beauty of this world known as Raeth, before the Existential Game arrived.
Now, the most disturbing thing was the blood—it was everywhere.
Rivers of it wound through valleys that had once held clear water.
Dried patches stained the soil in dark, cracked patterns that stretched for miles.
Rotten corpses lay scattered across open ground and tangled in the roots of fallen trees.
Entire mountainsides had been shattered into rubble, and once-mighty forests now stood as skeletal graveyards of splintered trunks.
From the highest point, the world seemed less like a place for the living and more like an endless battlefield—and anyone thinking that wouldn’t be far from the truth.
Amid the ruin, only one true forest remained whole and complete, its canopy still dense enough to blot out most of the bloody sun.
Deep within its core, a small camp of humans had gathered, the last traces of something much greater that had long since fallen from grace.
Some lay on makeshift bedrolls with arms flung over their faces, others sat cross-legged with eyes closed in exhausted meditation, and a few leaned against the massive trunks and stared at nothing.
Every face was pale and ashen, the skin stretched tight over bone as though half the life had already been drained from them.
Only one figure by the low fire seemed to hold onto a trace of vitality.
A woman with long black hair and strikingly pale skin sat with her eyes closed, the faint heat of the flames barely easing the weariness that lingered in her posture.
Above them all, yet seated in quiet authority at the edge of the firelight, was another woman.
She wore a sleek black battle dress, the fabric clinging to her frame and accentuating her slender curves.
Her short black hair framed a face of smooth, pale skin, and her deep purple eyes held a cold, unyielding glint, as if every trace of emotion had long since been taken from her.
She sat cross-legged on a tree branch, her posture relaxed yet unyielding, and her status screen hovered before her.
—- [Nyx Osmos Age: 19/1,000 Years Old Race: Human (Bloodline: Lesser Human) Evolution Rank: Awakened (Stage One Life Form) Existential Path: The Eternal Daughter (Mythic) Path Manifestation: The Eternal Garden Sub Path: Chain Blade Combat (Master (1,000/50,000)) Essence: 4,800 Authority: 2,300/100,000 Titles: Daughter of the Fallen (Heroic), The Unyielding (Heroic), Clan Survivor (Legendary), Night Walker Slayer (Heroic), The Last Light (Legendary) Traits: Unforgotten (Passive), Claimed By Eternity (Passive), Refusal Of The End (Passive) Abilities: Eternal Inheritance (Mythic), Unforgotten Lines (Mythic), Seal of Still Breath (Mythic) Inheritances: Shadow Moment (Legendary (Path Ability)), Eye of the Walker (Legendary (Path Ability)), Bloody Reconstruction (Legendary (Heroic (Bloodline Ability))] — As she reviewed her progress, those deep purple irises flashed not with anger, but with a quiet, hardened acceptance of sorrow as she studied the information displayed.
To those who recognized the weight of her status, it spoke of extraordinary talent and power, especially for someone just nineteen.
But for Nyx, these were nothing more than stark reminders of the harsh reality that had defined her life since the very moment she took her first breath.
“How many clans are left in the world?” she murmured, letting out a slow sigh as if speaking to the empty air.
Yet, the question wasn’t meant for her own ears.
Almost instantly, a status notification flickered into view before her eyes.
[10,006 Clans remain in the world of Raeth] The response was nothing more than a notification.
Yet, every being in Existence did it, for the Existential Game was a phenomenon that differed from world to world and even extended beyond them.
Once someone understood the rules of the Game in their own inhabited world, they could start asking simple, almost ordinary questions about it.
On Raeth, however, things were far from ordinary.
An unyielding rule gripped the entire world: only one clan could survive.
And…
In a world populated entirely by stage one beings, unable to venture beyond the limits of their own world, this rule left only one path forward—kill or be killed.
“So… none of the other major clans have fallen in recent years,” Nyx murmured under her breath, giving a small shake of her head as the status screen dissolved from sight.
Almost instantly, her gaze snapped toward a specific direction—not due to any sound reaching her ears, but triggered by the sudden awakening of one of her titles.
[Night Walker Slayer (Heroic) (Passive)] Titles weren’t something you just stumbled upon by chance—they were like seals of approval from Existence, earned only through accumulated experience.
These titles, however, didn’t grant abilities outright; instead, they offered a single effect, one that the bearer could choose upon receiving it—whether it was something always active or triggered under certain conditions.
And now, in this moment, her title had been triggered….
One that was born solely from the ruthless continuous annihilation of beings belonging to a single race.
The Night Walkers.
In that moment, the world in her vision shifted into something almost thermal, heat and cold resolving into stark contrasts that revealed two tall, slender figures moving through the forest’s deeper shadows.
They possessed no mouths, only pairs of piercing white eyes that glowed with cold intelligence.
The moment her gaze locked on them, Nyx sprang to her feet in one smooth motion, the chain blade uncoiling from her arm as it dropped free and poised for action.
Realizing they’d been spotted, the Night Walkers wasted no time, their tall, sinewy figures twisting sharply before breaking into a quick, soundless sprint.
CRRAACKKK!!!
WHOOOOSHHH!!!
“You bastards…
are dead,” Nyx muttered with a frown before propelling herself off the branch.
The dark canopy split apart around her as she streaked after them through the blood-tinted air.
As she gave chase, she activated one of her inheritances.
[Eye of the Walker (Legendary)] HUMMMMM!!!!
Nyx was not just…
Nyx of the Osmos Clan.
Once someone stepped onto the path of Evolution, their given name became something only friends and family would use.
From the moment they awakened and accepted who they were meant to be, they became exactly that.
Nyx was the Eternal Daughter—not of her Clan, but of Existence.
Her path granted her the ability called ‘Eternal Inheritance,’ allowing her to claim any inheritance from any corpse.
At her current stage, however, this was limited to other path abilities or bloodline abilities.
In the moment she activated one of her inheritances, her vision expanded in every direction, awareness sharpening until the forest itself seemed to open hidden pathways and unseen routes only she could perceive.
In an instant, her movements turned fluid yet unstoppable, each subtle change in direction seeming to glide her along unseen currents that pulled her closer with uncanny precision.
SWWOOOSHHH!!!!
The second the fleeing creatures crossed into the four-hundred-and-eighty-kilometer range, her gaze hardened, and with one smooth, unhesitating sweep of her hand, she sent the chain blade snapping forward.
The chain sliced effortlessly through the air, shifting its course on its own until it lined up with a flawless strike point.
SHHHKKKK!!!!!
One of the Night Walkers caught the danger in time to try and twist away, but the blade still hit true, piercing straight through the creature’s skull.
Without losing momentum, Nyx triggered a second inheritance, her body still soaring forward at full speed.
[Shadow Moment (Legendary)] Her form dissolved into a swirl of black mist that vanished from one point in space and reappeared an instant later directly beside the second Night Walker.
SHKKKK!!!!!
The chain blade was already in motion as her form coalesced, its razor edge driving through the remaining creature’s skull with unerring precision and irrevocable finality, striking before either of the Night Walkers could muster a sound or complete another step.