Chapter 4 THE HUNTING FOG
The monster outside the alley lowered its massive head slowly.
Rain still hung frozen in the air around Whitechapel like shattered glass suspended in time. Burning vehicles illuminated the street in flashes of orange and red while smoke crawled upward beneath the cracked crimson sky.
And standing in the middle of the destruction
was death itself.
Anderson Jones could feel it instinctively.
The creature wasn’t like the smaller monsters rampaging across London.
This thing radiated intelligence.
Its pale armor-like flesh shifted unnaturally across its body while black veins pulsed beneath the surface like something alive was trapped inside its skin. Long claws scraped against the pavement as glowing white eyes scanned the ruined street.
Searching, Hunting.
The Hollow Man’s expression darkened slightly.
That’s not supposed to be here this early.
Anderson swallowed hard.
What is it?
For the first time since meeting him, the Hollow Man hesitated.
Then he answered quietly.
A Floor Hunter.
The title alone sounded wrong.
Outside, the creature suddenly stopped moving.
Its head tilted slowly toward the alley entrance.
Toward Anderson.
DING.
A blood-red notification exploded before his eyes.
WARNING.
HIGH-RANK ENTITY HAS IDENTIFIED PLAYER: ANDERSON JONES.
SURVIVAL CHANCE: 0.03%
Anderson’s stomach dropped.
The monster smiled.
Not metaphorically.
Its face literally split open wider, exposing rows of vibrating teeth beneath the pale armor covering its skull.
Then it stepped forward.
BOOM.
The pavement cracked beneath its weight.
The Hollow Man cursed softly.
Run.
Anderson didn’t argue.
The Hunter moved first.
One second it stood outside the alley.
The next the wall beside Anderson exploded inward violently.
Brick and concrete erupted across the narrow passage as the creature tore through the building itself instead of using the entrance.
Anderson threw himself sideways barely in time.
A claw larger than his torso slammed into the ground where he had been standing.
CRASH.
The alley floor shattered instantly.
Dust filled the air.
The creature lunged again.
Fast.
Far too fast.
The Hollow Man intercepted it suddenly.
Black distortion exploded around his arm as he grabbed the Hunter’s wrist mid-attack.
The entire alley trembled violently from the impact.
For the first time, the monster looked surprised.
The Hollow Man’s empty black eye expanded unnaturally.
Leave.
His voice no longer sounded human.
The Hunter shrieked and swung its free arm downward.
The Hollow Man caught that too.
Anderson stared in shock.
Impossible.
The force from the collision alone was enough to crack nearby walls apart.
Who—or what—the hell was this man?
The Hollow Man looked toward Anderson sharply.
MOVE!
That snapped him out of it.
Anderson sprinted deeper through the alley as the battle behind him erupted into chaos.
The sounds were horrifying.
Concrete collapsing. Metal twisting. Inhuman screams echoing through the darkness.
He risked one glance backward.
Huge mistake.
The Hunter had slammed the Hollow Man through an entire building wall.
Dust exploded outward across the street.
The creature immediately turned its glowing eyes back toward Anderson.
It ignored the Hollow Man completely now.
No...
It wanted him.
Fear surged through Anderson’s chest as he burst from the alley onto a larger street near Aldgate.
The city had become hell.
Bodies littered the roads. Buildings burned uncontrollably. Players fought desperately against creatures emerging from Underground stations and shattered sewer tunnels.
Above everything towered the enormous black structures rising across London.
The Towers.
Even through the chaos, Anderson could see one clearly now.
It stretched endlessly into the clouds beyond the crimson fracture in the sky while strange glowing symbols rotated around its surface.
Watching it made his head hurt.
Like reality itself rejected its existence.
A woman suddenly grabbed Anderson’s arm.
Please help my son
Before she could finish
something burst from her stomach.
Blood sprayed across Anderson’s face.
A small pale creature crawled from inside her body shrieking violently while the woman collapsed dead at his feet.
Anderson stumbled backward in horror.
The thing launched toward him immediately.
He swung the bent metal sign instinctively.
CRACK.
The creature smashed against a nearby car hard enough to cave in the door.
DING.
ENEMY DEFEATED.
+12 EXP
LEVEL REQUIREMENT NOT MET.
Anderson froze briefly.
Requirement?
Before he could think further—
SCREEEEEECH.
The Hunter erupted from the alley behind him.
People screamed and scattered instantly.
The massive creature landed atop an overturned bus while its glowing eyes locked onto Anderson through the smoke and flames.
Why me?!
The answer appeared instantly.
WARNING.
LEVEL ZERO DETECTED.
PURGE PROTOCOL ACTIVE.
Anderson’s blood turned cold.
Purge?
The Hunter roared.
Every smaller creature nearby immediately stopped attacking civilians.
Then they all turned toward Anderson simultaneously.
Hundreds of glowing eyes filled the street.
No
No no no
The monsters charged.
Chaos exploded instantly.
Anderson ran.
His lungs burned as he sprinted through wrecked vehicles and panicked crowds while creatures flooded after him from every direction.
A businessman got dragged screaming beneath abandoned taxis. A player in glowing armor exploded apart after something tore through his chest. Gunfire echoed somewhere nearby before cutting off abruptly.
London was dying.
And the System wanted Anderson buried with it.
DING.
NEW SKILL AWAKENING AVAILABLE.
Anderson almost missed the notification while running.What?
Another screen appeared.
CONDITION MET: PLAYER HAS SURVIVED IMPOSSIBLE HOSTILITY.
UNLOCK HIDDEN SKILL?
YES / NO
A creature lunged from the side street.
Anderson slammed it away with the road sign before selecting YES instinctively.
The world froze.
Everything stopped.
The monsters. The flames. The falling debris.
Even the Hunter froze motionless atop the overturned bus.
Darkness swallowed the street completely.
Anderson’s breathing echoed loudly around him.
Then footsteps approached slowly through the void.Not the Hollow Man.
Someone else.
A figure emerged from the darkness wearing an old-fashioned suit stained with blood. His face remained hidden beneath flickering shadows while strange symbols moved across his skin like living insects.
When he spoke
his voice sounded layered.
Like multiple people talking at once.
Interesting.
Anderson backed away immediately.
Who are you now?!
The stranger ignored the question.
Level Zero has awakened earlier than expected.
Earlier than expected?
The man tilted his head slightly.
You are becoming unstable faster than the others.
Others?
Fear crawled through Anderson’s chest.
The stranger raised one hand calmly.
A glowing screen appeared between them.
Not blue.
Black.
PLAYER FILE: SUBJECT — ANDERSON JONES
STATUS: ACTIVE RESET CANDIDATE
Anderson’s pulse stopped.
Reset candidate?
The stranger finally smiled.
A cold smile.
The kind that belonged to something pretending to be human.
Then he said the words that shattered everything Anderson thought he understood.
“You are not the first Anderson Jones.”
