Becoming the Dark Lord

Christopher and his group moved quickly through the trees toward the glow of a campfire. Luck had put a few members of his old gang on the same island as him, and along the way they’d picked up others willing to follow their lead.

As they reached the clearing, the fire burned bright. Early afternoon sunlight filtered through the canopy. A lone figure sat beside the flames. Christopher motioned silently, and his people spread out, forming a loose semicircle. He raised his crossbow and gave the signal. They fired in unison. Bolts struck the seated figure, who toppled without resistance.

Christopher lowered his weapon.

“Who’s got the confirmation?” one of his men asked.

“Check his stuff and see if he’s wearing the bracelet. Move,” Christopher snapped.

Idiot shouldn’t have lit a fire. Signed his own death warrant.

One of his men pulled back the stranger’s cloak, then froze. “Boss… he’s already dead. His throat’s been cut.”

“Dead?” Christopher started to react, but something moved behind him.

A cold sensation slid across his neck. A shadow streaked past, slamming into another man. A knife flashed. Someone screamed. The attacker yanked the crossbow from the dying man’s hands and fired at a second target. Another leap, another body went down. The figure darted through branches and dropped back into the clearing, a blur of controlled violence.

In seconds, Christopher’s entire group hit the dirt, some silent, others barely hanging on. The stranger stepped toward Christopher and pinned his hand to the ground with a boot as he tried to raise his weapon.

“Thanks for the gear,” the man said.

One eye was deep brown. The other, an icy blue. He leveled Christopher’s own crossbow at him and pulled the trigger.

***

Luke gathered whatever equipment had survived the fight. He now had a better pair of boots, a weatherproof cloak, sturdier pants, a shirt, and a backpack. He emptied the backpacks taken from the group, sorting through canteens, dried fruit, scraps of cloth. Anything useless went to the dirt. He had put significant distance between himself and the campfire before sorting his haul.

The crossbows he collected were wrapped in a cloth and buried beneath loose soil. He couldn’t risk leaving extra weapons out in the open.

“Three throwing knives, thirty-eight bolts, and a spare blade.”

That was everything he had managed to scavenge over the past few days. Three days had passed since his arrival on the island. He’d only been able to drink water twice; the stream had gone dry afterward. Someone upstream had likely blocked it.

His only weapon until now had been the dagger from the first-day chest.

[Iron Dagger (Common)]: A dagger forged from simple iron, with a short blade slightly worn from use. Balanced well enough for close-quarters combat or quick throws, it’s often the first blade wielded by mercenaries, thieves, and wandering travelers.

Now, at least, he’d expanded his arsenal with a crossbow. Chests could contain anything, basic gear, rare tools, even skills, but they were scarce. In the forest, he had found only four, all already looted.

Losing his abilities had gutted his performance. His knife-throwing skills felt amateur again, the muscle memory dulled. Even his footsteps betrayed him; without his stealth skill, every move made noise. His precious [Demonic Perception] was gone too, leaving him half-blind in the dark.

He had only a handful of days to complete this stage of the challenge.

First Bracelet: Yellow Bracelet

Scattered throughout the island’s forest, there are 1500 yellow bracelets. Find yours… or take one from someone who already has it.

[Time Remaining: 3 Days : 9 Hours : 37 Minutes : 23 Seconds]

Luke adjusted the crossbow-shaped pistol in his hand.

If Artemis saw me using this, she’d call me every name she knows.

[Arm Bracer Quiver (Common)]: A compact forearm quiver designed to hold up to 12 bolts. It straps securely to the arm, allowing for quick and easy access during combat.

Unlike a normal quiver, this one strapped directly onto his arm. He loaded it with bolts and stuffed the extras into his pack. He had zero intention of wasting three months here. So the first thing he tried was leaving the island entirely. When he reached the outer edge, he hit something solid. The coastline shimmered, a perfect illusion. The barrier was a wall dressed up as ocean. If this was truly an island, then it was also a cage. And the sky overhead was probably fake too. A giant box disguised as wilderness.

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He continued running through the forest, searching for water and anything edible. Staying alive meant managing both. Hours passed before he spotted a serpent, eight meters long at least. Luke realized this place wasn’t just dangerous because of the other participants. The wildlife alone could kill half the island.

He raised the crossbow and fired. The bolt punched into the creature’s body. It hissed violently and surged toward him. Luke clicked his tongue, drew a throwing knife, and hurled it. An instant later he leapt onto the serpent’s head, driving the blade into its skull while the beast thrashed beneath him. It slammed into a tree trying to crush him, then finally went limp.

[You have slain a Green Predator: Lvl 53]

Luke stepped off the corpse and began carving into it.

“You’ve got venom,” he muttered, examining a cracked fang.

He pulled out one of his leather pouches, crouched near the serpent’s head, and squeezed the sides. Venom oozed from the damaged gland, dripping through the hollow fang. He collected what little he could in a canteen.

Once he finished trimming off the meat he wanted, he built a small fire and left a large chunk roasting over it. The smell alone would draw the starving and the reckless, and the flames would help too. Luke kept only what he needed and retreated into the treetops to eat.

He remained hidden for a few hours before spotting three men approaching the camp. They moved like cats, shoulder to shoulder, slow and silent, observing the fire.

“I don’t see anyone,” one whispered.

“Me neither.”

“But there’s food.”

Luke raised his crossbow and aimed at one of them. He was far, higher than he preferred.

Not exactly my best weapon.

He slipped quietly to another tree, shadowing them as they crept closer.

“What do you think? We take the meat?”

“Yeah. Before the bastard who killed the snake comes back.”

Luke fired.

[You have slain a human…]

“What the—” The second man didn’t finish. A knife buried itself in his face.

[You have slain a human…]

Luke landed behind them, drew another bolt, and fired it straight into the third.

[You have slain a human…]

He yanked the bolts from their bodies, wiped them clean, and continued on his way.

***

Night had fallen. Every time darkness settled over the island, yellow glimmers appeared across the forest, moving slowly between the trees. They were unmistakable: the bracelets. The challenge was broadcasting their locations. Luke spotted three of them within his range. The night before, there had been five. And he wasn’t the only one tracking them. People as dangerous as he was would be hunting the same targets.

By morning, he had reached the top of a hill and noticed a column of blue smoke rising deeper in the woods. It didn’t stop, not once. He watched it for an hour before deciding to move. Sliding down the slope, he kept a dagger ready. He leapt between roots and branches until the clearing came into view. The blue smoke bled out from a single point.

A chest.

Luke scanned the surroundings, then advanced carefully. As he approached, he noticed a woman sitting beside the chest, clutching her leg. She looked up with watery eyes.

“Please… don’t hurt me,” she said. “I think I twisted my knee.”

He didn’t answer. Just studied her.

“I’m tired of this island,” she whispered. “These days have been hell. I can’t keep running.”

Luke stepped back.

“Please, don’t leave me here. Listen, I just want to survive as long as I can. If you let me come with you and protect me, I’ll give you whatever you want.” She tugged on her shirt as if to make a point. “I’ll sleep with you. I don’t care. I’ll do whatever you ask, just don’t leave me.”

Luke lowered the dagger a few inches.

“I’ll eat little, I won’t make noise. I can keep you warm at night, in any way you want,” she added, voice trembling but calculated.

He drew his crossbow.

“Go to hell,” he said, and fired into her leg.

She screamed, fury breaking through her desperation. “You bastard! I should’ve killed you the moment you got close!”

Her jaw opened wider than it should, and a thin strand of web shot toward him. Luke dodged and sprinted behind a tree. The woman pushed herself upright, rage twisting her features. She yanked a spear from the dirt.

“You little worm!” she shouted. “You worthless piece of trash!”

“Now your leg is actually hurt,” he said.

Even limping, she circled him and spat more globes of sticky webbing. Luke dodged each one and closed the distance. He threw a knife; she twisted out of the way. Her spear thrust forward, and he knocked it aside with his dagger.

“Pathetic!” she screamed, firing another thread of web.

Luke caught the strand midair, yanked her forward, and struck her across the face. She hit the ground hard. He stepped on the spear, breaking it in half.

“My face! You ruined my beautiful face!” she wailed, trying to rise.

“No one is stopping me from leaving this place.” Luke moved in and finished the fight.

[You have slain a human…]

He exhaled, steadied himself, and walked to the chest. The moment he opened it, a mechanical jingle echoed, like a casino reel.

[Skill Chest Found!]

A notification lit up in his interface.

[Three skills will be randomly selected from your skill history. You may choose one of the options shown.]

He tapped to continue.

The names of skills flickered past like spinning slot-machine icons.

[Skills selected! You may only hold two skills during this island zone. Choose wisely!]

“So that’s why she refused to open it,” Luke murmured. “She already had her two skills.”

A problem. Over the next three months, he would have access to very few abilities to survive the entire event.

[Three skills available. Choose one.]

Three of Luke’s old skills appeared before him.