The first thing Fred London felt was pain.
Not the sharp, fleeting kind—the kind that slices skin or cracks bone—but a deeper, more existential agony. Like his very soul was being rewritten, torn apart and rebuilt from the ashes of what he once was. He screamed, but no sound came out. His throat wasn't even his anymore.
There were no stars. No sky. Only darkness folding in on itself, compressing and collapsing and birthing something new.
His limbs warped. Bones cracked and shifted. A second spine extended down his back. Claws erupted from his fingers—no, talons—thick and curved like black steel. Wings burst from his shoulder blades, slick with steaming ichor. His teeth grew long, serrated, bestial. His heart thundered with too many beats.
He wasn't just transforming.
He was becoming.
When the darkness finally peeled away like old skin, Fred landed hard on something wet, thick, and breathing.
---
He gasped—his lungs now vast and powerful, pulling in air that tasted of ash, blood, and ozone. The ground beneath him groaned. Massive roots, slick with mucus, pulsed like veins in a sleeping beast.
Above him, the sky churned. Not blue—never blue—but a swirling blend of crimson clouds and jagged lightning arcs. A shattered moon hung overhead, torn in half, glowing with a sickly white fire.
Fred rose—or tried to. His body was… heavy. Too heavy. He stumbled forward, claws gouging deep into the earth. The ground cracked beneath his weight.
And then he saw it.
In a still pool of black water, his reflection stared back.
Not a man. Not anymore.
He was at least three meters tall, his form a fusion of reptilian bulk and avian grace. Scales covered his arms and torso—deep obsidian lined with molten gold. His wings were leathery, batlike, and enormous. Two curved horns jutted from his skull, and his eyes… gods, his eyes glowed with burning amber, slitted and inhuman.
He was beautiful. Terrifying. Mythical.
He grinned, and rows of fangs greeted him in return.
> [SYSTEM INITIALIZED]
Species: ??? – Mythical Classification: Unknown Apex
Evolution Level: 0
Gacha Tokens: 3 (Starting Bonus)
Questline: [Devil's Gambit – Tier Unknown]
Main Objective: Survive
Hidden Objective: ???
"Holy sh—" His voice was a growl, rumbling and primal.
A sharp chime echoed in his mind.
> [NEW QUEST: SURVIVAL INSTINCT]
Description: You've been dropped into the most dangerous region of the pre-launch world, known as the Bleeding Wilds.
Objective: Survive 72 hours.
Reward: Access to Skill Tree & Evolution Menu
Failure: Permanent Death
Fred's heart pounded.
"Three days?" he muttered. "That's it? Sounds easy."
A scream echoed through the trees.
It was not human.
---
The Bleeding Wilds were alive.
And they were hunting him.
Fred hadn't even taken ten steps when the foliage split open and something massive charged him—a beast like a fusion between a gorilla and a centipede, all muscle and chitin, eyes glowing red.
> [Lurking Titanspine – LVL 12 – Elite Tier]
Fred's body moved on instinct.
He leapt sideways—farther and faster than any human could—and twisted in midair. His wings snapped open to steady him as the monster barreled past, crushing trees like twigs.
"Okay," he growled. "Let's dance."
He roared.
Not a human scream. A full, guttural, ancient bellow that shook the trees and made birds erupt from the canopy.
The Titanspine screeched and charged again.
Fred dug his claws into the earth, and this time, he didn't dodge. He met it head-on. Talons clashed with carapace. Fangs snapped. The impact sent shockwaves through the ground.
He bit into the creature's shoulder, and his jaws sank deep. It shrieked as Fred's teeth tore through armor and sinew, spraying black blood.
> [CRITICAL STRIKE: 219 DMG]
[Passive Ability Acquired: Predator's Instinct – Tier F]
He didn't stop. He clawed and bit and roared until the Titanspine lay twitching, torn and broken.
He was heaving, covered in gore, but something deep inside him surged.
Power. Hunger. Evolution.
> [LEVEL UP x3 – CURRENT LVL: 3]
[GACHA TOKEN +1]
[ESSENCE ABSORBED – EVOLUTION PROGRESS 6%]
Fred stood over the corpse, chest heaving.
"I like this world," he growled.
---
Hours passed.
Fred tore through the Wilds like a storm. He killed three more beasts—one a serpentine ambush predator, the other two ambushing him in packs. He bled. He roared. He adapted.
With each kill, his movements grew faster, his claws sharper. The System fed him rewards—passive traits, experience, evolution percentage.
> [LEVEL 5 REACHED – UNLOCK: Minor Skill Tree]
[Available Perk Points: 3]
[Choose One: Hardened Scales | Predator's Grace | Searing Breath (Locked)]
He chose Predator's Grace—boosting his agility and reflexes.
He didn't sleep. The Wilds wouldn't allow it. Predators came in waves. He had no den, no fire, no companions. Just instincts, power, and blood.
The night sky was chaos. Stars twisted and shifted like they were alive. A second moon rose—this one burning green. Fred watched it while panting over the body of a wolf-headed boar.
And in the stillness that followed, he whispered:
"What kind of god makes a world like this?"
> [GACHA AVAILABLE – Tokens: 4]
Roll Gacha?
[Y/N]
He hesitated.
Then smirked.
"Let's roll the dice."
> Spinning…
Click!
[Item Acquired: Soulbrand Ring – Rank B – Increases Essence Absorption +10%]
Click!
[Item Acquired: Flame Feather Mantle – Rank C – Minor Fire Resistance]
Click!
[Item Acquired: Void Howl (Skill) – Rank A – Sonic shockwave that disables enemies for 3 seconds]
Click!
[Item Acquired: Obsidian Crest – Rank ??? – Description: ???]
Fred stared at the last item.
> [Warning: Obsidian Crest is a Relic-Level Artifact. Power sealed. Requirements unmet.]
"Well, well…"
He looked down at his clawed hands. At the shattered forest. At the corpses behind him. He was no longer the confused, panicked soul screaming in divine judgment.
He was changing.
Evolving.
Becoming.
He cracked his neck, flexed his wings, and gazed toward the horizon—where flames lit the sky and the trees grew darker, older, cursed.
Three more days of this world. Then, maybe, he'd begin his hunt.
But even as he moved, something watched him from the trees.
Something ancient.
> [WARNING: Observer Detected – ??? Class Entity – Recommend Escape]
Fred smiled, eyes glowing.
"Let them watch."