I didn't sleep that night.
Not because I didn't want to.
But because I couldn't.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the quest text flashing in my head again.
[Secondary Quest: Kill the Villager in the Red Cloak.]
And every time, I saw myself doing it — the sword swinging, the red splash, the empty look in his eyes.
I'd wake up in my mind before it could finish, breathing hard, sweating, shaking.
It was like the System wanted me to see it, over and over, even though I'd refused.
The villager — whose name I now knew was Coren — sat at the small wooden table in the middle of the room. He didn't seem to be sleeping either. Instead, he was sketching something on a piece of yellowed paper, his candlelight making his shadow stretch across the wall like some giant, twisted thing.
"You're still awake," he said without looking up.
I nodded. "Can't sleep. It's… like the System's still in my head."
His pencil scratched against the paper. "It is. Once it marks you, it never stops watching. Even when you close your eyes."
I shivered. "That's… comforting."
He gave me a thin smile. "You'll get used to it. Or you'll stop caring. One of the two."
Silence. Just the sound of pencil against paper.
Finally, I asked the question I'd been avoiding all night.
"Why me?"
Coren looked up. His face was hard to read — calm, but not cold. "You're asking the wrong question. It's not 'why you.' It's 'why now.' The System doesn't waste its effort. If it's testing you, there's a reason. And whatever that reason is… it's coming soon."
Before I could reply, the air buzzed.
Not just a sound — it was like the room itself started vibrating, the walls trembling slightly. The candle flickered like it was about to die.
Then…
[Quest Completed: Secondary Quest — Kill the Villager in the Red Cloak.]
[Reward: 100 System Points.]
I froze. My mouth went dry. "What?!"
Coren's eyes widened. "What did you just say?"
I pointed at the floating text in front of me. "It's… it's saying I completed the quest. But… I didn't kill you!"
Coren's face darkened. "Then it killed someone else for you."
My stomach dropped. "What… what do you mean?!"
He didn't answer right away. He stood, grabbing his coat and motioning for me to follow. "If we're going to find out, we need to move. Now."
We burst out into the cold night air.
The village was quiet. Too quiet.
No laughter. No footsteps. No flicker of light in the windows.
Then I saw it.
In the center of the village, right where I'd first seen Coren, there was a body.
Not him.
But another villager — a woman — wearing a red cloak.
The ground around her was stained dark. Even in the moonlight, I could tell it was blood.
My legs felt weak. "No… no no no…"
Coren crouched beside her. His face was grim, but not surprised. "The System doesn't care which villager in a red cloak dies. It only cares that the quest is completed. It… found another way."
I felt my throat tighten. "That's… that's not fair!"
He looked up at me, his voice low. "The System doesn't play fair. It never did."
I wanted to scream. To throw my sword away. To tell the System I wanted nothing to do with it.
But then… another notification appeared.
[Reward: 100 System Points have been deposited.]
[Skill Unlock: Blood Ledger.]
"What… is that?" I asked.
Coren stood slowly. "I've only heard of it once. Blood Ledger… it's a cursed skill."
The name alone made my skin crawl. "Cursed? Like… cursed cursed?"
He nodded. "It tracks deaths. Ones you cause… and ones caused because of you. It's not a gift. It's a chain."
I shivered. "Why… why would the System give me this?"
He gave me a long, hard look. "Because it's trying to turn you into something you're not. Yet."
Before I could say anything, the sound of shuffling feet echoed behind us.
We turned.
The children from earlier — the blank-faced ones — were standing in a line at the edge of the square. Their eyes were wide and glassy, and their movements were slow, like puppets.
One of them stepped forward and spoke in a voice that didn't sound like a child at all.
"The System accepts your offering, User. The blood was sufficient. But more will be required."
My blood went cold. "Offering?!"
Coren moved in front of me. "Leave him alone."
The child tilted their head. "He is marked. He belongs to us now."
And just like that… they turned and walked away.
I stood frozen in place, my hands numb. My mind kept replaying the scene — the woman's body, the blood, the reward notification.
I hadn't killed her. But the System had decided her life was the same as my blade. And now… I had a cursed skill to prove it.
We went back to Coren's safe house. He didn't speak for a long time, and neither did I. Finally, he lit another candle and sat across from me.
"You need to understand something," he said quietly. "This isn't about you finishing quests. This is about the System shaping you. It's going to tempt you with rewards. Skills. Power. And every time you take them… there will be a price."
I stared at my hands. "So what do I do? Just… say no?"
He shook his head. "It's not that simple. If you ignore the System too long, it will kill you. If you obey it too much, it will own you. You have to find a third way. Something it won't expect."
A third way.
How was I supposed to find that, when the System was always watching?
The thought made my head spin. And just when I thought I couldn't take more for one night… another notification popped up.
[New Quest: Collect the Reward in Blood.]
[Objective: Use the Blood Ledger to claim your first entry.]
[Time Limit: 24 Hours.]
I slammed my hands on the table. "No! I'm not doing this!"
Coren's expression didn't change. "If you don't, it might kill someone else. Or… you."
I felt sick. "So it's… either I kill, or more people die?!"
He didn't answer. He didn't have to.
The clock in my vision was already counting down.
I didn't sleep. Again.
Instead, I stared at the flickering quest text, the timer ticking away like a bomb.
23:58… 23:57…
Somewhere deep down, I knew this was exactly what the System wanted — to make me desperate enough to act before I thought.
And maybe… that was the only way to beat it. By refusing to move on its timeline.
When the sun finally rose, I stood up.
"Coren," I said, my voice hoarse. "I'm going to finish this quest. But I'm not killing anyone."
He raised an eyebrow. "Then how do you plan to fill the Blood Ledger?"
I took a deep breath. "If it only cares about blood… it doesn't have to be human."
His lips curved into the faintest smile. "You might be smarter than I thought."
The forest was alive with sound that morning — birds, insects, the rustle of leaves in the wind. It felt almost normal, like nothing horrible had happened the night before.
But I wasn't here for peace.
I tightened my grip on my sword. "Show me something dangerous," I whispered.
The System obeyed.
[Tracking nearest hostile: Razorback Boar — Level 6.]
I found it near a shallow stream, drinking. It was massive, its tusks curved like ivory scythes, its hide scarred from countless battles.
The moment it saw me, it charged.
I waited until the last second, then rolled aside. My sword flashed in the sunlight, slicing across its flank. Blood sprayed the ground.
[Blood Ledger Updated: 1/1 Entries.]
[Quest Complete.]
[Reward: 200 System Points.]
I stood there, breathing hard, staring at the notification.
The blood dripped into the stream, curling red through the water.
And for the first time since I'd woken up here, I realized something.
The System didn't care about morality. It didn't care who lived or died.
It cared about rules. And if I could figure those out… maybe I could twist them.
When I returned to the village, Coren was waiting outside the safe house.
"You did it," he said simply.
"Yeah," I replied, still catching my breath. "And nobody had to die… not really."
He studied me for a moment, then nodded. "Good. But remember — the more you play its game, even on your terms… the more it learns about you. And the more dangerous it becomes."
I glanced at the Blood Ledger in my menu. The boar's name was there, in crimson letters. One entry. One proof that I'd found a loophole.
But I couldn't shake the feeling… that the System was smiling at me.