Kai woke to the low hum of machines.
For a moment, he didn't remember where he was.
Then the broken ceiling of the subway came into focus, and the cold, bitter smell of metal filled lungs.
The events of yesterday crashed back into his mind like a tidal wave.
He sat up quickly.
Across the small camp , lune was already awake, sharpening a strange looking blade
With mechanical precision.
Her silver hair shimmered faintly under the dying glow of the energy core.
" You're awake," she said without looking at him .
Good. Your system fully initialized overnight.
Kai blinked , confused .
My what?
In response a screen materialized in front of him transparent glowing, filled with unfamiliar symbols and stats.
[ Survival system: Active]
° host: kai
° level: 1
° health: 100/100
° stamina: 80/100
° strength: 9
° Agility: 11
° intelligence: 12
Beneath it, another notification popped up:
[ Skill Tree Unlocked]
Choose your first path : combat ,
Engineering , or Adaptation.
Kai stared, feeling the weight of the choice settle heavily on his shoulders.
Each path represented survival but also what kind of person he would become in this strange , dying world.
Lune stood and approached her mechanical hand tapping the air to dismiss her own screen.
" You need to decide now" she said. The world won't wait.
Kai took a deep breath.
Combat: meant fighting head on mastering
The blade, the gun, direct battles.
Engineering: hinted at rebuilding, creating
Weapon, machine even defenses .
Adaptation: sounded mysterious perhaps stealth, hacking, maybe even controlling part of the mechas themselves.
All three were tempting.
All three were dangerous.
Finally , kai reached out and touched the
Glowing word:
Combat.
The screen ripped like water.
[ Combat path selected.]
[ Skill: energy blade mastery Lv. 1 Acquired.]
[ Bonus: strength+2 , Agility +1]
Lune gave a small nod of approval.
Good choice. you'll need every advantage
You can get.
Before kai could ask what she meant the ground trembled.
Dust rained from the cracked ceiling.
Lune expression hardened .
They've found us
From deep within the tunnel , the screen of metal against stone echoed louder closer relentless.
Kai blade hilt vibrated against his hip almost eager .
His heart pounded , but this time it wasn't just fear.
It was readiness .
He stool up activation the energy blade with a sharp snap hiss .
Lune weapon shifted into rifle mode with a
Mechanical whine.
She smiled grimly.
Welcome to your first real fight transmigratory.
And together, the faced the darkness.