"You're Evelyn Holloway."
Evelyn stared at the man. For one absurd moment, she considered correcting him.
Emma. My name is Emma.
But the look on his face told her that wouldn't work. Whatever his Identification skill had shown him, he was certain. His hand moved toward the short blade at his waist.
Evelyn ran.
She didn't wait for him to draw it. She turned and sprinted toward the intersection, nearly colliding with a woman carrying shopping bags.
Behind her, the man shouted.
"FOUND HER! HOLLOWAY'S HERE!"
Heads turned. Someone yelled, "Where?"
A second voice answered from farther down the street.
"By the junction!"
Evelyn ran faster.
A sharp crack split the air. Something flashed past her face and struck the wall ahead.
Bricks exploded outward.
She stumbled, throwing an arm over her head as fragments scattered across the pavement. A long metal spear was buried in the wall, its shaft vibrating from the impact.
Someone had thrown that at her.
Not to frighten her.
Not to stop her.
To kill her.
She scrambled around the corner. A glowing blue projectile struck the pavement where she'd been standing a heartbeat earlier. The explosion shattered a garden wall and sent chunks of stone bouncing across the road.
Evelyn screamed and kept running.
There was no time to think. No time to decide which direction was safest. Every instinct she possessed had narrowed to a single command.
Run.
The street ahead was crowded. People were still gathering near her parents' house, unaware that the person everyone was looking for had just been discovered less than a hundred metres away.
Evelyn pushed past two pedestrians.
"Sorry!"
One of them shouted after her. She didn't turn.
A man in leather armor stepped out from between two parked vehicles. He looked directly at her, smiled, and raised his hand.
"Got you."
Three thin lines of green light shot from his fingers. Evelyn ducked instinctively.
One passed over her shoulder. Another struck a streetlamp, slicing through the metal with a shriek. The third cut across the side of a parked car.
The vehicle's windows shattered. Evelyn threw herself behind it.
A second later, something heavy crashed into the man who'd attacked her. She heard a grunt, a metallic impact, and the sound of someone being thrown against a wall.
"She's mine!"
"Not anymore!"
Evelyn didn't stay to see who won. She crawled around the rear bumper, stood, and ran into the road.
A horn blared.
Headlights.
An engine roaring.
She turned.
A black car was accelerating straight toward her. For half a second, Evelyn simply stared.
The driver wasn't braking.
He was aiming.
She jumped sideways.
The car missed her by inches, clipped the pavement, and slammed into a parked delivery van. Metal folded with a deafening crash.
Evelyn hit the ground hard.
Before she could get up, the driver's door flew open. A man stumbled out, blood running down his forehead. He looked at her, then reached inside his coat.
A pistol.
Evelyn scrambled backward. The man raised it.
A tremendous impact struck the car. The entire vehicle lurched sideways, knocking the gunman off his feet. Something enormous and metallic had smashed into the bonnet, crushing the engine compartment.
Evelyn stared.
A hammer.
A hammer nearly as large as she was.
It rose into the air. Then flew back toward a heavily armored adventurer standing at the far end of the street.
The man caught it with one hand.
"Back off!" he roared.
Someone answered with a blast of fire. The armored man vanished behind a wall of flames.
Evelyn got up and ran.
The next few minutes were a nightmare of noise and movement.
She turned down a side street, only for the pavement ahead to erupt into jagged stone spikes. She barely stopped in time. One spike tore through the sleeve of her hoodie, missing her arm by a fraction.
She spun around.
A woman stood behind her, one hand pressed against the ground.
"Earth Spear."
The woman raised her other hand.
Evelyn screamed.
A figure dropped from a rooftop and struck the woman from above. The impact cracked the pavement, and both disappeared into a cloud of dust.
Evelyn staggered away.
A translucent red circle appeared beneath her feet. She didn't know what it meant. She didn't intend to find out.
She jumped toward a garden gate.
The circle detonated.
A column of fire erupted behind her, close enough that the heat scorched the back of her hoodie. She crashed through the gate and landed in someone's front garden.
An elderly man stood at his doorway, staring at her. For a moment, neither spoke.
Then a glowing arrow punched through his front window.
He shouted something Evelyn couldn't hear. She scrambled over a low fence into the neighboring garden.
Behind her, another explosion shook the houses. Glass rained onto the grass.
She stumbled toward the pavement.
A man in dark armor appeared at the end of the garden path. He drew a sword.
Evelyn stopped.
He looked almost pleased.
Then a chain of blue light wrapped around his neck and yanked him backward. He disappeared around the corner with a strangled cry.
Evelyn stood there, shaking.
People were trying to kill her from every direction. And other people were stopping them.
Not because they wanted to save her.
Because they wanted to kill her themselves.
A hundred thousand gold.
Legendary equipment.
Some mysterious additional reward.
Apparently, that was enough to turn an ordinary residential neighborhood into a war zone.
She forced her legs to move.
By the time Evelyn reached the next intersection, the fighting had spread across several streets. She could hear explosions in every direction.
A man in silver armor crashed through a garden wall, rolled across the pavement, and staggered upright. Before he could regain his balance, three glowing arrows struck his chest.
He fell.
He didn't get up.
Evelyn stared at him for half a second too long.
Someone grabbed her hoodie.
She screamed.
A broad-shouldered adventurer hauled her backward with one hand.
"Got her!"
He drew a dagger. Evelyn clawed at his wrist.
"Please!"
He didn't hesitate.
The blade flashed toward her throat. A metallic projectile struck his shoulder. His grip loosened as he staggered sideways, and Evelyn fell onto the pavement.
Another adventurer rushed past her and tackled him. They collided with enough force to crack the road beneath them.
Evelyn crawled away, then forced herself upright. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could barely breathe.
A woman on a rooftop raised a bow. Evelyn saw the arrow forming between her fingers.
It wasn't made of wood or metal.
It was pure white light.
The woman released it. Evelyn ducked behind a parked car.
The arrow struck the vehicle.
For an instant, everything turned white.
Then the car exploded.
Evelyn was thrown across the pavement. She landed on her shoulder, rolled, and struck a low wall.
Pain shot through her side. Her ears rang.
She tried to stand. Her left knee buckled.
"Come on," she whispered.
She pushed herself upright.
"Come on!"
She could still move. That was all that mattered.
Across the street, two adventurers were fighting with weapons that left glowing trails in the air. One swung an axe, and a crescent of energy tore through a parked vehicle.
The other ducked.
The attack struck a building behind him. Masonry collapsed onto the pavement.
Someone screamed.
Evelyn turned away.
She couldn't watch.
She couldn't help.
She could barely keep herself alive.
A police siren sounded somewhere nearby. For one desperate moment, Evelyn felt relief.
The police.
Surely they could stop this.
Then she rounded the corner and saw two police vehicles abandoned in the middle of the road. One had its windows shattered. The other was burning.
Several officers were helping civilians retreat behind a barricade. One of them shouted at a group of adventurers.
Nobody listened.
A blast of violet energy passed over the barricade and struck the road behind them. The officers ducked.
Evelyn pressed herself against a wall.
A man in a dark coat appeared farther down the street. He raised one hand toward her, and a pale circle of light formed around his wrist.
"Binding Lance."
Evelyn had no idea what the Skill did. She wasn't waiting to find out.
She tried to run.
The circle brightened.
Something struck the man from above. He vanished beneath a descending figure in black armor, and the unfinished spell exploded harmlessly into the sky.
The shockwave knocked Evelyn sideways. She landed against a garden fence.
The two adventurers were already fighting. One drew a glowing blade. The other summoned a shield.
Neither paid her any attention.
Evelyn pushed herself away from the fence. Her legs were shaking.
She couldn't keep this up.
She wasn't an adventurer.
She didn't have combat Skills.
She didn't even have a weapon.
She was a university student who'd spent most of her morning attending a lecture. Now people were throwing magic at her.
Trying to run her over.
Shooting at her.
And somehow, impossibly, she was still alive.
A familiar vibration interrupted her thoughts.
Her phone.
She almost ignored it. Then she saw the name.
Lucy.
Evelyn answered.
"Lucy?"
"EVIE!"
Her sister was crying. Evelyn ducked behind a low wall.
"Lucy, listen to me—"
"What's happening? There's explosions! Mum says someone's fighting outside and Dad—"
"Are you inside?"
"Yes!"
"Stay there! Don't go near the windows!"
"Are you here?"
Evelyn closed her eyes.
"Lucy—"
"Evie, are you outside?"
She couldn't answer. Her sister made a small, frightened sound.
"Oh my God. You are."
"Listen to me. Stay with Mum and Dad, okay? Don't come outside."
"Where are you?"
"Don't worry about me."
"How am I supposed to not worry about you?"
A tremendous crash sounded nearby. Evelyn flinched.
"Lucy, I have to go."
"No! Wait!"
"I love you."
"Evie—"
"I love you, okay?"
She ended the call.
Her hands were shaking so badly that she almost dropped the phone. Then she switched it off.
If Lucy called again, Evelyn knew she'd answer. And she couldn't afford to be distracted.
Not now.
She slipped the phone into her pocket and forced herself to stand.
Her legs felt weak.
Her throat hurt.
She wanted to go home.
She wanted her mother.
She wanted to wake up in her own bed and discover that the entire day had been some absurd nightmare.
Instead, a sharp flash streaked across the street.
Evelyn barely noticed it.
A thin line of violet light, moving too fast for her eyes to follow.
Then the world exploded.
There was no warning.
No time to duck.
No chance to scream.
Something struck the pavement behind her, and a violent force lifted her off her feet.
She hit the ground hard.
For several seconds, nothing made sense.
The street was sideways. Dust drifted through the air. Her ears were filled with a high, continuous ringing.
She could see people moving in the distance, their mouths opening and closing without making a sound.
Evelyn blinked.
Something was lying on the pavement in front of her.
An arm.
She stared at it.
That was horrible.
Someone had lost an arm.
She wondered whose it was.
The sleeve looked familiar.
Grey.
Just like her hoodie.
Evelyn frowned.
That was strange.
She tried to push herself up.
Her right hand found the pavement.
Her left didn't.
She looked down.
For a moment, her mind simply refused to understand.
There was nothing below her left elbow. Nothing except torn fabric and blood.
She looked at the arm on the pavement.
Then at her shoulder.
Then back at the arm.
No.
Her stomach dropped.
No, that's not—
The pain arrived.
Not gradually.
Not gently.
It crashed through her, so overwhelming that every thought vanished.
Evelyn screamed.
She twisted against the pavement, reaching instinctively for the place where her arm should have been. Her remaining hand found torn fabric, blood, and something she couldn't bear to look at.
She pressed against the wound.
It didn't help.
Nothing helped.
"HELP!"
Her voice broke.
"Somebody, please!"
Two adventurers ran past her.
Neither stopped.
A third glanced down, recognized her, and reached for his weapon. Before he could draw it, an arrow struck him in the throat.
He collapsed beside her.
Evelyn screamed again.
She tried to move. Her right hand scraped against the pavement as she dragged herself forward.
A few inches.
Then a little more.
Her vision swam.
The street tilted.
She managed perhaps half a metre before her remaining arm gave way. She collapsed onto her side.
The pain was unbearable.
She couldn't breathe properly.
Couldn't think.
She was bleeding.
Far too much.
Undying.
The thought surfaced through the agony.
Her Skill.
It would bring her back.
Wouldn't it?
But she wasn't dead.
Not yet.
And it wasn't healing her.
Her arm wasn't growing back. New chapters come out on g.com first.
The bleeding wasn't stopping.
She was just lying there, horribly injured, waiting for something worse to happen.
Another explosion shook the street. Evelyn curled against the broken pavement.
"Please," she whispered.
She wasn't sure who she was speaking to.
"Please, stop."
Nobody listened.
Someone grabbed her hoodie. Evelyn cried out as she was hauled partly upright.
"Got her!"
The voice belonged to a large man wearing dark red armor. Blood covered one side of his face, although Evelyn couldn't tell whether it was his.
He looked down at her.
Then at her missing arm.
"Still alive."
He drew a sword.
Evelyn tried to pull away.
She couldn't.
"Please—"
A tremendous impact struck the man in the chest. His armor crumpled inward, and he flew backward across the street, crashing through the remains of a parked car.
Evelyn fell to the pavement.
A massive figure stepped through the dust. He carried a broad shield and a hammer that glowed with dull blue light.
Another adventurer charged him. They collided with enough force to shake the ground.
Evelyn lay between them.
She couldn't move.
Every impact sent vibrations through the pavement and fresh pain through her body.
She tried once more to push herself away.
Her hand slipped.
She stopped trying.
A boot landed beside her head.
"Well, well."
A new voice.
Female.
Amused.
Evelyn looked up.
A woman wearing black leather armor crouched beside her, examining her with an expression that might have been curiosity.
"You're having a terrible day, aren't you?"
Evelyn couldn't answer.
The woman glanced at her missing arm.
"That's unfortunate."
She reached toward Evelyn's neck.
A blue-white blade flashed through the air. The woman jerked backward, narrowly avoiding it.
"Oh, for God's sake!"
She sprang to her feet.
"Can none of you wait your turn?"
Another fight erupted.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
She wanted them to stop.
She wanted everyone to stop.
But the fighting continued, and the street around her became a blur of boots, weapons, shattered stone, and flashes of light.
She no longer knew how many people were trying to kill her. She didn't know how many had already died. She wasn't even sure how much time had passed.
Her body was growing cold.
That frightened her more than the pain.
She remembered the knife.
Daniel's face.
The darkness that had followed.
She didn't want to go through that again.
Not here.
Not surrounded by strangers fighting over who got to do it.
She forced her eyes open.
There had to be something she could do.
Anything.
She tried to summon her System interface, but the letters swam before her eyes.
StatusNameEvelyn HollowayUnique SkillUndying
The familiar words offered no comfort. She dismissed the window.
A shadow fell across her.
Evelyn looked up.
An adventurer stood above her, his face hidden behind a helmet. He held a short spear in one hand.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then he raised the weapon.
Evelyn stared at its point.
She couldn't run.
Couldn't fight.
Couldn't even lift herself off the ground.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
A metallic crash rang out.
The spear never struck.
When she opened her eyes, the adventurer was on the ground, struggling beneath a second fighter. They rolled across the pavement, shouting at each other.
Evelyn started crying again.
She couldn't help it.
She was alive because the people trying to kill her couldn't agree on who should get the reward.
That was the only reason.
The fighting spread farther down the street. Someone shouted for reinforcements. Another voice demanded that a guild withdraw its personnel immediately.
A fireball sailed over the rooftops and detonated somewhere out of sight. The shockwave rattled windows along the entire road.
Evelyn could hear sirens now.
Lots of them.
But none seemed to be getting any closer.
A man in a torn uniform staggered past, supporting an injured woman. They disappeared around the corner without noticing Evelyn lying beside the fence.
She tried to call out.
Only a faint sound escaped her throat.
Her vision dimmed.
She could feel her heartbeat.
Fast.
Then strangely slow.
She wondered whether Lucy was still inside the house. Whether her parents were hiding somewhere away from the windows. Whether they could hear all of this.
She hoped they couldn't.
A distant roar rose above the fighting. At first, Evelyn thought it was another explosion. Then she realized it was coming from the adventurers.
People were shouting.
Not at her.
At one another.
"Fall back!"
"Are you insane? We're not leaving!"
"Look at the road!"
"Someone get the wounded out!"
A violent gust of hot air swept through the street.
Evelyn flinched.
For a moment, she thought another attack was coming.
But nothing struck her.
Instead, the fighting seemed to hesitate.
Not stop.
Not yet.
Just hesitate.
Somewhere beyond the dust and smoke, a voice shouted something Evelyn couldn't make out.
Another voice answered.
Then someone nearby said, very quietly:
"No way."
Evelyn turned her head.
A young adventurer stood several metres away, staring toward the far end of the street. His sword hung forgotten at his side.
The expression on his face was unmistakable.
Fear.
And unlike everyone else she'd encountered today, he wasn't looking at her.
He was looking past her.
Evelyn tried to follow his gaze.
Through the smoke, she could make out a figure approaching.
Just one person.
Walking.
Not running.
Not fighting.
Walking straight toward the chaos as though none of it concerned him.
The young adventurer took a step backward.
"Oh, shit," he whispered.
Evelyn's vision blurred again.
She couldn't make out the newcomer's face.
But she could feel the heat.
And for the first time since the fighting began, the people around her were starting to fall silent.