A New World, Not So Bad

"Candy, or the whip."

The words cut through the air like ice. Claude stayed on his knees, crushed under the impossible weight pressing down on him, but his eyes never left the Dark Angel floating above. Something weird was happening to him—his curiosity was actually stronger than his fear. He'd already been beaten down by life so many times. What else could this thing possibly do to him? And that 'candy' it mentioned... was it just another cruel joke, or maybe—just maybe—his ticket out of this nightmare?

The Dark Angel's lips curved into a cold smile, those golden eyes seeming to read every desperate thought racing through Claude's mind. "Your panic is truly... boring. Let me introduce myself."

He spread his black wings a little wider, the dark feathers rustling with a sound that made everyone's skin crawl. The blue glow around him got thicker, sending out waves of energy that felt like cold fingers touching their faces.

"My name is Julius. I'm a messenger from those who rule above, who have been watching you humans from behind the curtain of reality." Julius's voice boomed across the crowd. No more games, no more teasing. Just raw, terrifying truth. "We're not here to destroy you. We're here to change you."

Change? The word rippled through the crowd like wildfire. People started whispering, their voices shaking. Change could mean hope... or it could mean something far worse than death.

Claude's forehead creased as he tried to understand. What kind of change could a monster like this possibly offer?

"Your world is broken," Julius continued, his voice echoing off the buildings around them. "You're all trapped in a cycle of weakness. Too pathetic to handle what's coming. The cosmic storms that will tear through reality itself. So we're offering you a way out. Evolution. Power. Awakening."

"We will give you strength," Julius declared, raising his hand toward the sky. A pulsing blue orb appeared in his palm, throbbing with light so bright it made everyone's eyes water. "Power beyond anything you've ever dreamed of. Power that will lift you out of the mud of your miserable existence and make you something greater."

"We call it... Awekend."

Claude's heart hammered against his ribs. Awekend. Awakening. Something deep inside him was screaming, a wild instinct telling him this was what he'd been waiting for his entire life. All those years of being stepped on, beaten down, powerless to change anything. Was this finally his chance? His chance to stop being a victim and become someone who could control his own destiny?

The crowd around him was getting restless too. The whispers turned into doubtful mutters. "Power? Evolution? What kind of bullshit is this?" someone yelled. "It's obviously a trap! Don't listen to him!"

"A trap?" Julius chuckled, the sound completely devoid of warmth. "You call this generous offer a trap? That just proves how pathetically limited your understanding is. Think of it as an investment. A test. Because real power never comes free, you insects."

He lowered his hand, and the blue orb dimmed, though the overwhelming pressure of his presence remained. "To become Awekend, you have to prove you're worthy. That you have the survival instinct to take what you want and rise above your weak peers."

A bone-chilling smile spread across Julius's pale face. "The requirement is simple. Anyone who wants to achieve Awekend must kill at least one human within the time limit we're setting."

The world went silent. Every single person crushed under that gravitational force stopped breathing. Those words—"kill at least one human"—hit them like a sledgehammer to the chest. Eyes went wide with horror. The idea was insane, evil, impossible to comprehend. Kill another person just for power?

"No way!" a woman screamed, tears streaming down her face. "This is insane! You're telling us to murder people?!"

"Insane?" Julius raised an eyebrow, looking almost amused. "Or realistic? Isn't your world already drowning in murder, oppression, and suffering? You kill for power, for money, even for fun. How is this any different? The only difference is that this time, there's actually a reward. An evolutionary leap. A chance to become superior instead of staying insects."

"You're a demon!" an old man with a white beard shouted. "You're trying to damn us all!"

"Demon?" Julius laughed again, louder this time, a sound that made everyone's blood run cold. "You call us demons, but you're already living in hell—a hell you created yourselves. We're just holding up a mirror, showing you the true potential that's been hiding inside you all along. The primitive instinct you try to bury under your fake civilization."

Claude felt Julius's words hit him like a punch to the gut. Primitive instinct. Hadn't he been fighting that instinct his whole life? Doing whatever it took to survive, even if it meant stealing? This world really was hell. And this Dark Angel... maybe he wasn't lying. Maybe this was an opportunity. A way to climb out of the mud, even if he had to get blood on his hands.

The crowd started stirring again, but this time it wasn't just panic. It was debate, despair, and fear all mixed together. Some people were still cursing Julius, rejecting everything he said. But others were starting to think, their eyes growing dark with possibility. Claude could hear whispers of "just one person?" starting to spread through the crowd. Would anyone actually do it?

Julius watched them all with a flat, emotionless expression. "Time is running out. We won't wait forever."

With a slow snap of his fingers, the crushing gravitational pressure suddenly vanished. People stumbled and fell, gasping for air as their compressed lungs finally got relief. Their legs were still shaking, but at least they could move again.

And then it appeared.

In front of each person, floating in the air, a transparent blue panel materialized out of nowhere. The panel glowed with a faint light, with text that looked like it was carved from pure energy.

[ KILL 1 HUMAN ]

[ REWARD = AWEKEND ]

[ TIME = 15:00 ]