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Ascension Protocol

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Chapter 2- The Hunger Clock

The message hung in the air like a death sentence.

Not spoken, not written — but etched into his very soul.

He could feel it, a subtle ticking.

Not from a clock.

From his body.

> [24:00:00] – Time until HP drain begins.

His breath steamed in the cold forest air. The corpse of the Horned Wolf still bled onto the dirt, a deep metallic scent filling his nose. And with every passing second, something inside him urged him to move — hunt again.

It wasn’t fear exactly. It was hunger.

Primal. Relentless. Alien.

“Damn it…” His hands trembled, and not from exhaustion. The blood on them wasn’t even cold yet, and already his mind was scanning for the next target.

The System had given him power, but now…

Now it had leashed him.

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The First Kill After the Curse

The forest seemed quieter now. Too quiet.

He didn’t trust it.

He crouched low, remembering the Horned Wolf’s attack patterns. His weapon — still a crudely sharpened stick reinforced with stone — felt inadequate now. It wouldn’t be enough if something bigger came. And something would come. This world didn’t allow weakness.

A rustle.

Three shapes darting between trees.

Small. Quick.

[New Target Detected: Forest Jackals – Lv. 2]

Three against one. His instincts screamed too risky. But another voice — sharper, more dangerous — hissed:

> You don’t have the luxury to wait.

The jackals had already scented the wolf’s corpse. They were approaching cautiously, teeth bared, eyes hungry.

Perfect.

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The Fight

He didn’t wait for them to strike. He charged.

The first jackal didn’t expect a prey animal to run towards it. His sharpened spear rammed straight into its chest.

> [Critical Hit!] – 54 Damage

[Target Killed]

[+EXP]

The voice in his head purred with approval.

Two more to go.

The second jackal lunged, teeth snapping near his arm. He twisted, letting it overcommit, and drove his weapon into its flank. It yelped, but didn’t fall. The third circled around, going for his legs.

Pain exploded in his calf.

He roared and smashed the butt of his spear into the attacker’s skull.

It wasn’t clean. It wasn’t graceful.

It was survival.

When it was over, three broken bodies lay at his feet. Blood on his hands, his arms, dripping from his chin. He didn’t remember biting — but his mouth tasted of iron.

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The System’s Reward

> [Kill Streak Bonus!]

[EXP Multiplied x3]

[Level Up!] → Level 4

The warmth flooded through him again — that addictive rush of strength filling every muscle. It made the pain fade. It made his wounds itch instead of bleed. It made him feel… invincible.

And that was the most dangerous feeling of all.

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Realization

He dragged the jackal corpses together, covering them with leaves. Meat. He needed meat — not just for food, but for bait. If the System demanded kills, then every hour without one was wasted.

> [23:15:42] – Time until HP drain begins.]

The ticking hadn’t stopped.

The kills didn’t reset it to 24 hours. They just… bought him more time. The countdown never paused.

Which meant…

This was permanent.

The only way to live was to hunt. Every day. Forever.

His chest tightened. It wasn’t just about survival anymore. It was about feeding the curse.

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Nightfall in the Predator’s World

The forest changed when the sun began to fall.

Shadows lengthened into claws. The wind carried whispers instead of leaves. Eyes gleamed in the dark — some curious, some hungry.

He found a hollow in the roots of an enormous tree and crawled inside. He didn’t dare make a fire. The warmth would comfort him, yes… but it would comfort every predator within miles, too.

He sharpened his weapon in the dark. The scraping sound was oddly soothing. He thought of the village he had seen from the cliff earlier that day. If there were people there, maybe… maybe he could find a way to remove this curse.

But the voice inside him laughed.

> Why remove it? Look how strong you’re becoming.

He hated that it was right.

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Dreams of Blood

Sleep came in fits.

Every time his eyes closed, he dreamed of running through the forest, claws on his hands instead of fingers, teeth in his mouth sharp enough to pierce bone.

In the dreams, he never felt tired.

He never felt afraid.

He only felt… satisfied.

When he woke, his stomach growled, and his body ached for another fight. The countdown burned in his mind.

> [16:03:27] – Time until HP drain begins.]

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Hunting at Dawn

By morning, the forest was alive again — but it wasn’t the gentle, beautiful kind of alive. Every sound was a warning.

He moved with purpose now. His steps were quieter. His grip on his weapon firmer. Every animal he spotted became a calculation — can I kill it? how much time will it buy me?

It wasn’t long before he saw movement in the ferns. A rabbit. Small. Harmless.

Too harmless.

He crouched, letting it hop closer… and closer… until something larger — much larger — lunged from the side, snapping the rabbit in half in one bite.

The predator was sleek, black-furred, with a tail that lashed like a whip. Its yellow eyes locked on him.

> [New Target Detected: Shadow Lynx – Lv. 5]

The gap in their levels made his skin crawl. But running… running would mean wasting time.

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The Lynx Battle

It moved first.

A blur of muscle and claws, silent except for the impact when it hit him. The breath whooshed from his lungs. His spear barely came up in time, catching it in the shoulder before its jaws could close on his neck.

> [Hit Landed – 17 Damage]

It didn’t even flinch.

They rolled in the dirt, his weapon wrenched from his grip. He grabbed for anything — a rock, a stick, even its fur — and drove his thumb into its eye.

That made it scream.

It backed off just enough for him to snatch his weapon and drive it deep into its chest.

Once. Twice. Three times.

It shuddered… and collapsed.

> [Target Killed]

[EXP Gained]

[Level Up!] → Level 5

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Aftermath

He was panting, blood soaking his shirt — not all of it his own. The lynx’s corpse lay at his feet, sleek and beautiful even in death.

He hated killing it.

But he loved what it gave him.