The Visceral Kill

Jax tried to stand, but his legs were jelly. The creature loomed over him, dripping acidic saliva onto the linoleum floor. The acid hissed, eating into the tile.

**[WARNING: HEALTH CRITICAL.]**

**[ADRENALINE SURGE AVAILABLE.]**

**[ACTIVATE?]**

"Yes!" Jax screamed. "Activate! Do it!"

Pain ripped through him. It felt like someone had injected liquid fire into his veins. His heart rate tripled. The world slowed down. The grey edges of his vision sharpened into crystal clarity.

The creature lunged, its serrated forelimbs aiming for Jax’s chest.

Jax moved. He didn't just dodge; he blurred. He rolled to the side, feeling a strength in his muscles that didn't belong to a malnourished nineteen-year-old.

He came up in a crouch behind the creature.

**[WEAK POINT DETECTED: THROAT SAC.]**

A red reticle appeared on the back of the creature’s neck, where a pulsating, translucent sac pumped yellow fluid into its brain.

Jax jumped. He landed on the creature’s back, wrapping his legs around its segmented torso. The creature thrashed, slamming Jax against the doorframe, but the System’s adrenaline kept him locked on.

"Die!" Jax screamed.

He raised the dagger with both hands and drove it down.

* SQUELCH.*

The blade sank to the hilt.

Jax twisted the knife.

The throat sac detonated.

It wasn't a splash; it was a deluge. Visceral slime exploded outward, coating the hallway, the walls, and Jax in a layer of reeking alien gore.

The creature went rigid. It let out one final, gurgling clicking sound, and then collapsed.

Jax rode it down to the floor.

He lay there on top of the carcass, chest heaving, covered in yellow slime. The adrenaline faded, leaving him trembling and cold despite the heat.

**[TARGET ELIMINATED.]**

**[MISSION COMPLETE.]**

The carcass began to dissolve. It steamed, breaking down into black ash, leaving nothing behind but the stained carpet and the smell.

Jax crawled backward, wiping the gore from his eyes. He checked his hands. Ten fingers. No deep cuts. Just slime.

* Ping.*