The maintenance room was no longer a sanctuary; it was a cage. As the clock struck the two-hour mark since the world had fractured, the royal blue of the System interface turned a violent, bruised purple. The terminal began to emit a high-pitched whine that set my teeth on edge—even with the Draugr's Cold Heart numbing my nerves.
[NOTIFICATION: GRACE PERIOD CONCLUDED]
[EVENT INITIATED: THE FIRST NIGHT – THE WILD HUNT]
[LOI N°3: The darkness belongs to the predators. The light belongs to the dead.]
A deep, resonant horn sounded throughout the tunnels. It was a sound that didn't belong in the 21st century. It was ancient, primal, and it vibrated in the very marrow of my bones. It was the call of the Hunt.
I stood up, gripping the iron pipe I had taken from Jacques. My body felt heavy, yet strangely tireless. I didn't feel the need to stretch or yawn. I was just... ready.
Outside the door, the screaming started again. But these weren't the screams of people fighting over Essence. These were the screams of people being harvested.
— "Elias! Open the door! For the love of God, open the door!"
Jacques was back. He was pounding on the steel with his one good arm, his voice pitched in a register of pure, unadulterated terror. Through the cracks in the hinges, I saw a flash of silver. Something was moving in the tunnel—something fast, lean, and draped in tattered, spectral rags.
[TARGET DETECTED: HOUND OF THE HUNT (RANK E)]
[DESCRIPTION: THE EYES AND EARS OF THE ALL-FATHER. THEY DO NOT KILL; THEY MARK THE PREY.]
I hesitated for a fraction of a second. My humanity—the 12% that remained—told me to let him in. The Cold Heart told me he was a distraction, a shield, or bait.
I pulled the door open.
Jacques tumbled in, smelling of sweat and copper. Right behind him, a creature that looked like a wolf made of shadows and starlight skidded across the concrete floor. It had no eyes, but its snout was elongated, ending in a mouth of glowing blue mist. It didn't bark. It hissed like a snake.
The Hound didn't attack us. It circled the room with terrifying speed, leaving a trail of shimmering silver frost on the walls. Then, it stopped, looked directly at me, and let out a sound like a funeral bell.
[NOTIFICATION: YOU HAVE BEEN MARKED]
[STATUS: PREY OF THE FIRST NIGHT]
[REWARD FOR ELIMINATING YOU: 500 ESSENCE]
The Hound dissolved into smoke, leaving a silver rune burning on my forehead. I could feel it—a beacon in the dark, signaling my exact location to everything that was currently crawling out of the Nine Realms.
— "What did it do?" Jacques gasped, clutching his broken ribs. "What was that thing?"
— "It just put a price on my head," I said, my voice as flat as a tombstone.
I looked at Jacques. He was useless. A wounded animal. But as I stared at him, the terminal flickered one last time before going dark.
[HINT: THE HUNT PREFERS DENSE VIBRATIONS. RUNNING TOGETHER INCREASES THE SIGNAL. RUNNING ALONE INCREASES THE SPEED.]
The System was playing with us. If I stayed with Jacques, the Hunt would find us faster because of our combined "vibration." If I left him, I might be faster, but I'd have no one to trip in front of the monsters.
— "Get up," I ordered.
— "Where are we going?"
— "To the surface," I said. "If we stay in these tunnels, we're cornered. In the city, there are more targets. More people to hide behind."
It was a cold thought, a Draugr's thought. Jacques didn't argue. He saw the look in my eyes—the lack of warmth, the grey tint to my skin—and he realized I wasn't the man he used to know.
We stepped out into the tunnel. The transformation was complete. The subway was gone. We were walking through the throat of a beast. The walls were wet and pulsing. Far down the tracks, I could see lanterns—pale, green fire swinging in the dark. The Hunters were coming. They rode on horses that had eight legs and moved without a sound.
— "Don't look at the lights," I whispered. "Just run."
We began to sprint toward the emergency exit of Iéna station. My Cold Heart allowed me to run without losing breath, my stride mechanical and efficient. Jacques struggled, his breath coming in ragged gulps, his boots splashing through the dark fluid that now covered the tracks.
Behind us, the horn sounded again, much closer this time. The Hunt had begun, and the city of Paris was about to become the largest graveyard in human history.
13 DAYS : 21 HOURS : 55 MINUTES.