Kill to Evolve: The system that demands blood

Chapter 4

Beep.

A sharp, rhythmic sound pulled Ronan from the darkness.

His eyelids felt heavy, his body weighed down as if buried under a ton of bricks. Everything around him was a dull haze—white walls, faint movement, the scent of antiseptic.

A hospital.

His senses sharpened, and he braced himself for the pain that should have followed. But… nothing. No searing wounds, no fractured bones, no aching bullet holes. Just a deep soreness in his muscles, like he'd been through an intense workout.

His breath hitched.

The system.

Memories rushed back—the blood, the chaos, the sheer agony of dying. He had been cut, shot, suffocated. He had felt death itself creeping in.But now… his body was whole. Strong.

He flexed his fingers, expecting stiffness, but his hands obeyed effortlessly. His skin—completely unscathed. Even the bruises he should have had were gone. So, everything happened for real, he was completely healed.

What the hell?

"You're awake."

Ronan's head snapped toward the voice.

Dean sat beside his bed, arms crossed over his chest, his wrist wrapped tightly in a cast. His face was bruised, his lip split, and dark bags hung under his eyes like he hadn't slept in days.

For a long second, neither of them spoke.

Then Dean exhaled, shaking his head. "What the hell, man?"

Ronan swallowed, his throat dry. "How… how long was I out?"

"Three days."

Three days? Ronan's stomach twisted.

Memories of the fight in Lab-06 slammed into him. The gunshots. The blood. The system forcing him to kill.

His breathing turned uneven.

It felt like a nightmare, but it wasn't.

Dean must have noticed his reaction because his expression softened—only slightly. "Ronan, listen… I need to know the truth. I saw you die. I saw you die. And then you got up like nothing happened. The way you moved, the way you fought… that wasn't normal."

Ronan hesitated.

How the hell was he supposed to explain this?

But Dean deserved to know.

So Ronan told him.

Everything.

From his death to his awakening. From the kill-or-die rule to the missions the system shoved in his head.

Dean sat still, staring at him, his face unreadable.

Then—"You're shitting me."

Ronan sighed, rubbing his temples. "I wish I was."

Dean leaned forward, voice dropping. "So you're telling me some system brought you back to life and forces you to kill? And if you don't, you die?"

Ronan nodded. "But… it's gone now."

Dean's brow furrowed. "Gone?"

"It seems like it only activates when my life is in danger." Ronan clenched his fists. "Now that I'm not being hunted, it's completely silent. No missions, no voices in my head. It's like it doesn't exist anymore."

Dean exhaled, dragging a hand down his face. "Damn...just when I thought shit couldn't get crazier."

Ronan frowned. "Speaking of crazy… what the hell happened after I went down? How did we get out of there?"

Dean sat back, his gaze darkening. "We got lucky. Right after you collapsed, government agents stormed the lab."

Ronan's jaw tightened. "The government?"

"Yeah. Turns out, they were already monitoring the facility. Apparently, Lab-06 was being used for some illegal experiments—human enhancement projects, black market biotech, you name it. They've been after the people funding it for a while now."

Ronan's stomach churned. Illegal experiments? He had worked there for years. Sure, the security clearance was tight, and some research was classified, but he never imagined it was something that serious.

"Wait," he said slowly. "The people who attacked us… were they part of this?"

Dean's expression turned grim. "Yeah. The masked bastards who came for us were hired mercenaries. Professionals. Their job was to clean up the mess—meaning kill everyone inside before the government could get their hands on any evidence."

Ronan's blood ran cold.

If that was true, then he and Dean were never meant to leave that lab alive.

"Then why did they leave us alive?" Ronan asked.

"They didn't," Dean said flatly. "They thought we were already dead. You went down. I was barely conscious. If the agents hadn't arrived when they did, they would've burned the entire place to the ground."

Ronan sat in silence, processing it all.

The mercenaries. The experiments. The government.

Had everything that happened to him—his awakening, the system—been connected to that lab? Or was it just a coincidence?

A sharp knock at the door snapped him out of his thoughts.

Dean stood up immediately, shoulders tensing.

The door creaked open, and a security officer stepped in. His uniform was crisp, his expression blank. But behind him, two more guards stood at attention, their presence sending a clear message.

"Ronan Vale," the officer said, voice firm. "You need to come with us."

Ronan's heart pounded. "What? Why?"

The officer didn't answer immediately. Then—

"Someone important wants to see you."

Dean stepped between them, scowling. "Whoa, hold on—he just woke up. What's this about?"

The officer's expression didn't change. "That information is classified."

Ronan felt a pit form in his stomach.

Someone wanted to see him? Why?

Had they already found out about his awakening? Did they know what he had done?

His mind raced through possibilities.

Were they going to arrest him? Experiment on him? Kill him to cover it up?

Dean turned to him, jaw clenched. "Ronan… you don't have to go."

But Ronan knew that wasn't true.

If these people were government, if they had the power to storm a lab and shut it down, then they wouldn't take no for an answer.

And if they knew something about his awakening, then he needed to hear it.

He exhaled sharply, forcing himself to stay calm.

"I'll go," he said.

Dean cursed under his breath but didn't stop him.

The officer nodded. "Then come with us."

Ronan swung his legs over the side of the bed, standing without hesitation. His body still felt weird—stronger than before, yet strangely light. There was no dizziness, no pain.

The guards led him out of the hospital room, through a maze of hallways, until they reached an elevator. No one spoke.

His pulse quickened.

The doors slid open, they headed out of the building, Ronan following closely behind them, they led him to a limo parked outside and opened the door for Ronan to enter, inside sat a man exuding an air of authority that made Ronan tense.

Nathaniel Graves.

Director of the Paranormal Defense Bureau.

The man who handled the country's most classified supernatural cases.

Ronan's throat went dry.

This wasn't just some interrogation.

These people knew for sure, they had found out about his awakening.