The growl came again, closer this time. I scrambled behind a chunk of broken wall, my heart hammering against my ribs. Whatever made that sound, it wasn't human.

  For a moment, I stayed perfectly still, barely breathing. The silence stretched, broken only by the occasional settling of debris and a scraping sound – like claws on stone – moving steadily closer.

  I needed a weapon. Anything. My eyes darted around the rubble surrounding me. A piece of metal rebar jutted from a concrete slab nearby. I inched toward it, wincing as small stones shifted under my weight.

  The growling stopped.

  I froze, straining to hear. Nothing. Had it gone?

  Then a scrabbling sound directly above me.

  I looked up just as a small, twisted figure leaped from the top of the broken wall.

  A blue rectangle of light suddenly appeared in my vision – hovering in the air like some impossible hologram:

  [Goblin, Level 1]

  My brain barely registered this impossibility before the creature slammed into me.

  It was smaller than I'd expected – maybe waist-high – but dense with wiry muscle. Its skin was a sickly greenish-gray, stretched tight over a bony frame. The face was the worst part: bulbous yellow eyes, a wide mouth filled with needle-sharp teeth, ears that came to jagged points.

  Those teeth snapped inches from my face as I instinctively raised my arms to protect myself. Its breath was fetid, like rotting meat. Clawed hands scratched at my jacket, seeking flesh.

  "Get off!" I yelled, more from shock than any expectation it would listen.

  I shoved hard, trying to push it back. The creature was surprisingly heavy for its size, its density making it hard to budge. It snarled, those yellow teeth snapping at my neck. I twisted away, feeling them graze my skin.

  This can't be real. This can't be happening.

  But the pain in my wrist was real. The stinging scratches on my forearms were real. And the creature – the goblin – was definitely real as it pinned me down, yellow eyes never blinking.

  I thrashed, panic giving me strength I didn't know I had. With a desperate heave, I managed to throw it off balance enough to roll away. My fingers clawed at the ground, searching for anything I could use.

  They closed around the rebar. I yanked it free from the concrete, the motion sending pain shooting through my sprained wrist. But I held on, gripping the metal like a lifeline.

  The goblin chittered, a sound between a laugh and a snarl. It seemed to be... enjoying this.

  "Stay back," I warned, as if reasoning with this thing were possible. My voice shook, betraying my fear.

  It charged again, faster than I could track, ducking under my clumsy swing and raking claws across my thigh. Pain flared, hot and sharp. I stumbled back, feeling warm blood soaking through my jeans.

  This is really happening. I'm fighting a monster.

  The thought was so absurd I almost laughed. What would Marcus do? What would Sofia say if she could see me now?

  The goblin pressed its advantage, darting in for another attack. This time I swung wildly, more in panic than with any real aim. By sheer luck, the rebar caught the creature on the shoulder. It yowled, tumbling backward.

  But it recovered quickly, circling again, more cautious now. Its yellow eyes assessed me with an intelligence that was deeply unsettling. This wasn't just some animal – it was thinking, planning.

  We circled each other in the eerie light cast by the impossible sky. My breathing came in short gasps, my legs trembling with adrenaline and fear. The goblin seemed tireless, moving with a predator's fluid grace.

  It feinted left, then sprang right. I pivoted too slowly, missing entirely. Claws raked across my back as it darted past. I cried out, the burning sensation intense and immediate.

  I'm going to die here, I realized with strange clarity. Killed by something that shouldn't exist.

  The goblin gathered itself for another attack, yellow teeth bared in what almost looked like a grin. As it leaped, time seemed to slow. I could see every detail – the dirt embedded in its gnarled skin, the tattered rags it wore as clothing, the glint of hungry anticipation in those unblinking eyes.

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  Something shifted inside me. Fear gave way to a primal anger. I was not going to die here. Not like this.

  I let the goblin's momentum carry it forward, stepping aside at the last moment while bringing the rebar down with all the strength my skinny arms could muster. Metal connected with the creature's head with a wet crack that turned my stomach. It dropped to the ground, twitching.

  But it wasn't dead. It writhed, trying to regain its feet, those yellow eyes now glazed with pain but still fixed on me with murderous intent.

  My hands shook as I raised the rebar again. I'd never hurt anything in my life. Had never wanted to. Even now, looking at the injured creature, I felt sick.

  But when those yellow eyes locked on mine, I knew one of us wasn't walking away from this.

  I brought the metal down again. And again. Until the twitching stopped.

  I stumbled back from the small, broken body, dropping the bloodied rebar. My breaths came in ragged gasps. Nausea rolled through me in waves. I'd killed something. With my own hands, I'd taken a life.

  That it had tried to kill me first seemed suddenly irrelevant in the face of what I'd done.

  I sank to my knees in the dirt, shaking uncontrollably. Blood – mine and the goblin's – smeared my hands, sticky and warm. A strange, keening sound filled the air, and it took me a moment to realize it was coming from me.

  Then, as if this nightmare couldn't get any more surreal, another blue rectangle appeared in my vision:

  [First Kill Achieved!] [+50 Experience Points] [Character Level Increased: 1 → 2] [You have unlocked your Character Sheet. Say or think "Status" to view]

  I stared at the floating text, uncomprehending. Experience points? Character level? This couldn't be happening.

  "What the hell is this?" I whispered, my voice cracking.

  No answer came except the soft hiss of wind through the broken landscape.

  The pain from my injuries began to assert itself – the gash on my thigh, the scratches on my back and arms. Nothing immediately life-threatening, but they needed cleaning. Infection would be a real danger in... whatever this place was.

  I looked back at the goblin's body. Already, it was beginning to... shimmer? The edges of its form became translucent, dissolving into particles of light that drifted upward before vanishing completely. Within moments, there was nothing left but a small pile of rags and a curved, yellow tooth.

  My stomach lurched again. This was too much. All of it.

  "Status," I whispered, not expecting anything.

  Immediately, a larger blue window appeared before me:

  [Character Sheet: Erik Persson] [Level: 2] [Experience: 50/500] [Health: 58/100] [Mana: 70/70] [Stamina: 42/60]

  [Attributes:] [Strength: 8] [Agility: 11] [Vitality: 8] [Intelligence: 16] [Wisdom: 11] [Charisma: 9]

  [Unique Talent: Mormor's Prodigy]

  [Inventory:] [Empty]

  I stared at the glowing information, trying to process what I was seeing. It was like something from one of the video games Jonas was always talking about. But this was real – as real as the blood drying on my skin, as real as the pain throbbing through my body.

  My eyes caught on the words "Mormor's Prodigy." Seeing her name there, in this impossible context, made my throat tighten. What did it mean? I didn't have the emotional energy to investigate further. Not now.

  The blue lines beneath my skin pulsed again, brighter this time, spreading in intricate patterns up my arms. They lingered longer before fading back to near-invisibility.

  I looked around at the devastated landscape, at the alien sky, at where the goblin's body had been. The implications slowly crystalized into a single, impossible thought:

  The world had become a game. And somehow, I was a player.

  My legs gave out, and I sat heavily on the broken ground. Everything I knew – my home, my friends, the orderly reality I'd taken for granted – was gone. Replaced by... what? A nightmare world of monsters and magic and floating status screens?

  "What happens now?" I asked the empty air, not expecting an answer.

  Sure enough, silence was my only reply. Whatever had done this – whatever "The System" was – it wasn't interested in explanations.

  I forced myself to think practically. Night was falling, if the darkening of the strange aurora above was any indication. I needed shelter. Medical supplies if possible. Water. Food. Basic survival came first; existential crises could wait.

  And Sofia and Marcus... they had to be out there somewhere. The thought of them alone in this transformed world, possibly hurt, possibly facing their own goblins, was unbearable.

  I would find them. Whatever it took.

  But first, I had to survive the night.

  With shaking legs, I stood up, wincing at the pain from my injuries. The status window had shown my health at 58 out of 100. More than half, but not by much. How close had I come to dying?

  "Close window," I muttered, and was mildly surprised when the blue screen actually disappeared.

  I looked down at my torn clothes, at the blood drying in patches on my skin. At the curved yellow tooth lying among the rags where the goblin had been.

  After a moment's hesitation, I picked it up. A trophy? Evidence? I wasn't sure why I wanted it, but it seemed important somehow – proof that what had happened was real.

  The sky continued to darken, strange constellations becoming visible between the ribbons of colored light. In the distance, more growls echoed through the ruined landscape.

  More goblins. Or worse.

  I tightened my grip on the bloodied rebar and began moving toward what looked like a partially intact building in the distance. Each step was a declaration.

  I would survive. I would find my friends. I would understand what had happened.

  And then, somehow, I would fix it.