When the first rays of sunlight began to appear, Daniel woke up to the mechanical and sarcastic voice of the System echoing inside his mind.
[Main Quest Completed: Survive the First Night]
Reward: 500 silver coins, 1 skill card, 3 attribute points, 5 skill points
[Look at that, you didn't die in your sleep. Pure talent or pure luck?]
------------------------------------------------------------
[New Quest Accepted]
Daily Quest: Do 50 push-ups and 100 sit-ups before 00:00
Difficulty: Easy
Reward: 1 skill point, 1 attribute point
[Nothing like a morning workout to forget you almost became dinner yesterday.]
Daniel sat up on the blanket, his body stiff. Before getting up, he noticed a new icon in his field of vision.
👁️🗨️ [New Skill Acquired: Appraisal Gaze – Level 1 (0/5)]
Type: Active
Uses: 2 times per day
Description: You can see basic information about physical entities or objects.
Effect: Allows visualization of name and approximate level.
[Congratulations. Now you can read name tags. What a devastating power... I'm shaking in fear.]
How did I get this skill? Daniel asked mentally.
[Didn't I tell you that repeatedly performing an action can grant you a skill? You've been observing your surroundings nonstop since you arrived yesterday. Congratulations, you learned it.]
Great. Now it's a headache, Daniel thought. I have several skills I want to level up and not enough points to spend. And I'm still going to get another one.
He tore open the skill card in his inventory and was met with an ability that genuinely made him happy.
⚠️ [New Skill Acquired: Predator's Senses – Level 1 (0/5)]
Type: Passive
Description: A primal instinct awakens within you. You can sense when you are about to be mortally attacked or severely injured by physical attacks.
Effect: A chill runs down your neck, and your heartbeat accelerates. The closer the attack, the stronger the sensation.
[Fantastic. Now you can die knowing you at least felt the danger coming. What an evolution.]
This skill changed everything. It was like a spider sense, but focused specifically on lethal danger.
Of course, he immediately invested his available points into it.
⚠️ [Predator's Senses – Level 2 (0/15)]
Type: Passive
Description: A primal instinct awakens within you. You can sense when you are about to be mortally attacked or severely injured by physical, magical, or spiritual attacks.
Effect: A chill runs down your neck, and your heartbeat accelerates. The closer the attack, the stronger the sensation.
Additional Effect: You can vaguely sense when someone has been watching you for an extended period of time.
[Knowing you're being watched doesn't stop the attack. It just prevents the surprise.]
Just like the first time he leveled up a skill, Daniel received instinctive knowledge about its uses and limitations.
It's a good bonus effect, he thought. Too bad it doesn't tell me whether the person watching has hostile intent, or even the direction they're in.
He took off his jacket and quietly stood up to complete the daily quest. Kenny's father seemed awake, but he didn't move when he saw everyone else still sleeping.
Daniel stepped a little farther away and started doing push-ups. A set of fifteen, then twenty sit-ups. The last push-up sets were ten reps, and by then his body was shaking violently. His arms protested, and on the final push-up, he collapsed onto the floor, exhausted.
I thought this would be easier, considering my twelve points in Strength and Endurance.
After a while, as he finished the last twenty sit-ups, Boyd woke up and began stirring everyone. "We've got a long day ahead of us."
As soon as he completed the daily quest, Daniel invested his attribute points. Three into Endurance and one into Speed. The effect was instantaneous. A wave of intense heat surged through his muscle fibers, healing fatigue and renewing his breath. It felt like he had just woken up from a twelve-hour sleep.
He felt like he could run a marathon.
[HUNTER MENU]
Status: Alive [For now]
Life Level: 1 – Peak Human
Strength: 12
Endurance: 12 → 15 (MAX)
Intelligence: 11
Speed: 13 → 14
Finally, maxed out an attribute at this level. Speed is next.
He went over to his blanket and folded it.
"Good morning, everyone." Daniel greeted the Matthews family. His tone was light, contrasting sharply with the weight of the night they had just survived.
"Good morning," Jim, Tabitha, and Julie replied. Dark circles under their eyes betrayed a sleepless night.
"Good morning, Daniel!" Ethan said with much more energy. Youth had its advantages. Fast recovery, even after hell.
"So this is what you're like in the morning," Daniel commented, watching Julie struggle to tame her messy hair with her fingers. His smile carried that familiar hint of mischief.
Julie ran her hand through her hair more forcefully. "And you wake up exercising? Seriously?" There was admiration in her voice. "And don't tease me this early."
"I've got to stay in shape," Daniel shrugged. "In case I need to run from the smiling monsters again. Cardio is essential."
She let out a short laugh, shaking her head; he always managed to make everything feel lighter. "You're impossible."
"Impossible to resist?" He raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying provoking her, especially in front of her parents.
Julie turned red instantly, her fingers automatically fiddling with the bracelet she always touched when nervous. "Impossible to take seriously."
Tabitha glanced at Jim, her look clearly saying, Do something. Jim caught the hint and stepped closer to Daniel, clearing his throat.
"Daniel, I... wanted to thank you," he said seriously. "For calming Ethan after the accident. And for helping Julie last night."
"No problem," Daniel replied lightly. "I'm glad I could help."
Boyd cut in, his voice slicing through the moment. "We need to talk about the next steps."
Exhaustion was etched into the lines around his eyes, but his posture remained upright, military.
Jade was still lying in the corner, staring at the ceiling as if he were miles away. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse and empty. "I need to see Tobey."
"I don't recommend that," Boyd said, crossing his arms. Firm, but respectful. "It's better if we take him and bury him."
"No." Jade sat up, eyes red but sharpening with focus. He stood with difficulty, hands trembling slightly. Anger was beginning to replace grief. "I need to see with my own eyes what those bastards did to him."
"All right," Boyd conceded, understanding the need. He turned to Kenny. "Take him there. And see if there are any clues."
Jade left with Kenny without looking at anyone, shoulders hunched under an invisible weight. Kristi followed, casting Boyd a worried glance before leaving.
The door closed with a click that echoed in the silence.
Ethan looked up. "Is he going to be okay?"
Boyd crouched to the boy's level, hands on his knees. "It'll take time. But yes, he'll be okay."
A merciful lie. No one was ever truly "okay" after losing someone here. They just learned how to live with the hole.
The sheriff returned to the subject, rubbing his face. A gesture Daniel was starting to recognize as stress.
"Father Khatri will take you to the mechanic, Mike," Boyd said. "He'll see if Daniel's motorhome and the trailer can be fixed. If not, come back and get your things."
"Let's start with that. Afterward, I'll explain more about the town and answer questions. But first..." He gestured toward the door. "I think it's best if you all take a shower. Then we'll have breakfast at the diner."
Just as they were about to leave the basement, Kenny returned with Kristi, nearly stumbling in his haste. Jade followed behind them, tense but silent.
Kenny was holding a large stone. Rough. Jagged. The same one Sara had used.
"Sheriff, I found this in the room where they died."
Boyd took the stone. Its weight was undeniable. His jaw clenched, muscles jumping beneath his skin.
"Then we need to find out whether this was done by a human... or if those monsters have learned how to break glass."
The silence thickened, almost tangible.
Jim looked at Tabitha, who instinctively pulled Ethan closer. Julie crossed her arms tighter, her nails pressing into her skin.
Everyone left the basement with heavy expressions after seeing the stone. Jim went to retrieve the bags they had left in the truck after the attack the night before.
Julie was the first to shower, since she had her backpack with clothes. There were two bathrooms, so the line moved quickly.
Daniel took the opportunity to retrieve the clothes he had left behind the day before, before everything had turned into chaos.
After showering, he changed into a simple white shirt and black pants. The leather jacket went into his bag. The temperature was already rising, promising a hot day.
It was strange how normal the world could look in the morning. Sunlight. A shower. Clean clothes. As if the night before had never happened.
---
Daniel and the Matthews family followed Boyd down the main street. Jade had stayed behind with Kenny, insisting on helping with Tobey's remains. He still seemed displeased with Boyd.
Morning sunlight bathed the fronts of the houses, but no one seemed relaxed. Julie walked close to Daniel, arms crossed as if shielding herself from something unseen. Ethan clutched Tabitha's hand tightly.
Jim observed everything with the expression of someone trying to solve an impossible puzzle. An engineer to the core, searching for logic where there was none.
Some residents waved at Boyd, but looked at the newcomers with something between pity and recognition. Ah, more newcomers. Let's see how long they last.
"There's a diner in town," Boyd explained as they walked. "That's where we eat breakfast and lunch. We also store part of the food we distribute weekly."
"And the food, how do you get it if you're trapped here?" Jim asked, studying his surroundings for clues.
"We grow some of it. And we find animals in the forest. They just... appear. But you have to be careful going into the forest, even during the day. There are things out there. Not the monsters that come out at night, but... they're not normal."
"What kind of things?" Daniel asked, alert. This was new to him.
"Sometimes we hear strange sounds. See tracks. Shadows moving between the trees," Boyd chose his words carefully, like stepping on thin ice. "Kenny and I have seen animals. Bears. Wolves. Boars. But they don't behave as they should."
"What do you mean?" Daniel leaned forward, intrigued.
"Their eyes are wrong. Too fixed. Too... empty." Boyd rubbed the back of his neck. "And they move in ways that aren't natural. Like something is controlling them."
"Controlling them?" Jim stared toward the distant trees.
"Or possessing them. I don't know," Boyd shrugged, tension evident in his shoulders. "All I know is when we see one, we run. We don't try to find out if it's friendly."
That made Daniel feel both excited and uneasy. Excited because, with the hunter's memories, he was itching for a hunt. Uneasy because it proved this world wasn't exactly the same as the series.
"You can't go into the forest at all," Tabitha said, fixing her children with a protective stare.
"No need to panic too much about that," Boyd replied. "Those things have never entered the town or the forest edge. They only appear if we go too deep. There's an ancient stone with strange symbols."
"The same symbols that are on the talismans. We discovered that whatever's out there can't pass that stone toward the town."
"And how did you find that out?" Jim asked, skeptical.
"The worst way possible. I was chased by a wolf once. Nearly died that day. But it wasn't a normal wolf." He rubbed his neck again. "When I crossed the stone, it stopped. Like it hit an invisible wall."
"Kenny confirmed the same thing happened when he was chased by boars."
"So the symbols protect you?" Tabitha asked.
"From the animals, yes. From the night creatures... only with talismans," Boyd sighed. "We still don't understand how it works."
"Even so, just because those things never entered the town before doesn't mean they can't now. Just like the stone at the clinic," Tabitha countered. "You yourself said that had never happened."
After Tabitha spoke, a heavy silence settled over them. Boyd had no way to argue with her logic. If the clinic's protection had failed, there was no guarantee the others wouldn't fail as well. He let out a weary sigh, rubbing the back of his neck, something he had been doing a lot these past few days.
"You're right," the sheriff admitted, his voice low. "Nothing here is guaranteed."
========================================
If you want to support the continuation of the story and read chapters in advance, you can become a supporter for just $5 and get access to 5 early chapters.
patreon.com/Northmann