Grab one of the burning logs—the smallest one! Pierce it through them!" Tristan's voice rang out, fast and urgent, the panic in his chest barely contained.
The fire was weakening by the second. Any delay could cost them their lives. If the flames died out completely, the surrounding darkness would swallow them whole.
"Got it!" Emma's response was sharp and focused.
Without hesitation, she darted toward the edge of the dying campfire, snatching up a burning piece of wood no thicker than a forearm. Her grip tightened. Her crimson eyes, once warm and teasing, had gone cold—razor-sharp with determination. Her heart pounded like a war drum, but she pushed the fear down.
The shadowy entity crept closer. Its form was not solid—more like a smear of darkness, featureless and vaguely humanoid. Emma moved instinctively. As it slithered forward, she stepped into range and drove the flaming plank straight into its chest.
There was no shriek. No sound.
Just smoke and silence.
The shadow dissolved into wisps the moment the fire touched it.
Emma's chest rose and fell rapidly, but she didn't freeze.
"Good! One more, Emma!" Tristan shouted, his eyes fixed on the enemy ahead.
His theory had been right—thankfully. It wasn't even some grand deduction, just common sense the monsters feared light. Fire could destroy them. Perhaps only fire.
"You were right…" Emma muttered, her voice breathless but filled with awe. "It really worked. You're a genius."
Then came a sound.
[+5 Points]
"Huh?" Emma blinked, and a new notification appeared on her system window.
[You have earned 5 Points.]
[Camp Upgrade unlocked at 100 Points.]
"I… I just got points," she whispered, looking at the glowing notification with dawning understanding.
She wasn't dumb. Far from it. Her mind was already connecting the pieces. If killing those things gave her points, and if points upgraded the camp, then…
"They're the currency," she murmured. "Those monsters… We have to kill them."
Before Tristan could reply, Emma had already dashed forward and skewered the second entity. Her movement was clean, efficient. Though the creature moved slowly, its presence was suffocating. But it still fell just as easily to the flame.
Tristan, meanwhile, reached for a small chunk of burning wood nearby. Their camp wasn't large—just a few meters in radius—and space was tight. The fire was getting smaller, more unstable.
He gripped the wooden stick in both hands.
Suddenly, a strange prompt echoed inside his mind:
> {Do you want to enhance this item? 10 seconds remaining...}
His breath caught in his throat. "What the—?"
But he didn't hesitate. "Yes," he said aloud.
The world went still.
A low hum filled his ears as the wood in his hands began to shimmer faintly. The grain darkened. The fire wrapped tighter around it, almost refusing to flicker away. And then—
The countdown ended.
The log changed.
It grew longer, stretching unnaturally into a flaming, blade-like form. Its handle shaped itself to fit his grip, and the fire coating it burned hotter, brighter, without consuming the wood.
The darkness shrank back. The shadows hissed and retreated.
Tristan didn't need more confirmation.
The last shadow lunged at them, but Tristan stepped forward, fire-blade in hand, and struck cleanly through the middle. The entity vanished into mist. Gone.
[+5 Points]
Only silence remained.
Then Tristan looked down.
There, lying in the ashen remains of the creature, was a scrap of fabric. No, not just any scrap—this was silk. Smooth, glossy, and unnaturally flawless.
"Eh?" Emma leaned closer, eyes wide with curiosity. "How did you do that?" she asked, half in awe and half in disbelief, looking at the elegant flaming sword and the mysterious cloth in his hand.
"I… I don't know," Tristan admitted, his gaze fixed on the silk. "Something asked me in my head if I wanted to 'enhance' the wood. I said yes. Then it… changed. As for this silk—" He frowned. "It's weird. Way too perfect. I don't think it's ordinary."
He turned the fabric over. It shimmered faintly, and he felt a slight hum beneath his fingertips. Almost like…
Energy.
---
Elsewhere in the Nightmare World…
Screams echoed through the land.
In every corner of the Nightmare World, people were being slaughtered. Chaos spread like a plague.
Some fought back.
Most didn't.
"F-Fuck! The light—use the fire!" someone screamed in desperation as monstrous shapes closed in.
But not everyone could fight. Many were too old. Too young. Too slow.
And so, on the first night, over five percent of humanity fell.
The elderly. The children. The unprepared.
Their camps were consumed. Their lights extinguished.
Then the next message came.
> [System: For those who survived the first night, you are rewarded 1kg of edible meat.]
[Tip: Each person occupies a unique territory. Some live in forests. Others in deserts. Some under endless storms. Some in freezing cold. Prepare accordingly.]
Every survivor received their rations.
Some cheered. Some wept.
But none were truly relieved.
Because the Nightmare World was adapting.
In forest territories, fog crept in. Creatures whispered from the trees.
In deserts, survivors baked under a night sun, while their blue campfires offered cold instead of heat.
In storm zones, lightning lashed across the sky endlessly, and rain fell sideways, stinging like needles.
And in Tristan and Emma's camp…
It was morning.
Or what passed for morning in the Nightmare World.
There was no sun—only a gray mist that rolled over the trees like a living blanket. The campfire flickered faintly. Though the two had survived, it didn't feel like victory.
"We're in a forest," Emma whispered, looking at the dense black trees surrounding them. "There's still something out there."
"I know," Tristan said. He could feel it. Something stronger. Something worse than last night's shadows.
Looking at The Meat of Food not cooked Emma sighed they need more Fire cooking it with this two upgraded Wood was useless.
He'd already enhanced four more sticks from the fire.
Two of them—enhanced three times—now resembled proper weapons, almost like machetes with flaming, pointed tips. The other two had been extended twice each, giving them better reach. They weren't perfect, but they were far from useless.
Emma held one of the triple-enhanced weapons now. She spun it experimentally in her hand, getting used to the weight.
"Tristan… are you sure we should hunt more of them?" Her voice was firm—not fearful, but protective.
She didn't care about the points. Not like Tristan did.
If it meant her brother would be safe, she would burn this world to ash herself.
But Tristan had other plans.
He held out something.
The silk.
Except… it was no longer silk.
He had enhanced it multiple times. It had become round, dense, slightly warm to the touch. It gave off an odd vibration.
"I think… it's a bomb," he said quietly.
Emma's eyes widened. "What?"
"There's uranium traces," Tristan continued. "And some kind of stored kinetic force. I think, if thrown or activated, it could blow. Big."
"You enhanced a bomb?" she said, half in shock, half in admiration.
"I enhanced fabric. It became a bomb." He gave her a tired grin. "Welcome to our new lives."
Emma exhaled slowly, gripping her weapon tighter. "So what's the plan, oh wise little brother?"
"We scout a little. Clear some of the area. We need more materials. Points. If we're going to survive long-term, we need to secure this camp."
Emma nodded, still staring at the weapon in her hand. "Then I'm with you. Just… stay behind me, okay?"
"Not happening," Tristan replied, his voice resolute. "We protect each other."
Emma Sighed Frustrated "Well if you insist" She faintly smile her face blushing a bit amused by her brother Determination.