Zombie

[The world has reached the end of the 1st Cataclysm: Survival.]

[It moves to the 2nd Cataclysm: Evolution.]

[The restriction on the mana of the world has been lifted.]

[The world will undergo expansion.]

[The intelligent dominant race of the world, as a reward for coming first on the 1st Cataclysm, is blessed by the System.]

Dave had heard the same words before, yet at that time, he was too panicked to mind the words of the heavenly voice.

'Evolution...Well, it's the right word to describe all the madness that'll happen in the future.' With such thoughts, he lost his consciousness as the blue ocean light washed over his eyes.

[Due to Regression ability, you'll...]

At the same time, the blue mist descended all over the planet. People were falling unconscious right after the blue mist washed over them. They were fainting in various places starting from the streets and ending with their workplaces. Somewhere in the ocean, the plane was crashing down to the ocean.

And, only Dave knew that after waking up, the world won't be the same as before.

***

After an unknown time, a groan sounded in the silent room. Dave hardly opened his eyelids as they had grown together with each other. Lifting his head from the desk, Dave felt a strong headache like he had slept all day. First, Dave decided to check his stats.

'Status'

[David Murckly

Level: 0

Survival coins: 0

Class: None

Mana: 0

Strength: 8

Agility: 7

Stamina: 9

Intelligence: 11

Spirit: 0

Free points: 0

Innate ability: Regression

Skills: Elementary Cooking (LVL 2), Gaming (LVL 8), Mathematics (LVL 7), Leadership (LVL 1)]

Magically, a blue screen floated before his eyes. His status contained basic information about him and game-like stats with skills. Even though his status had a striking resemblance to games, people still had only one life. And, it was easier to die rather than to survive in a new world.

'Tsk...As expected, my stats are too low for a beginner. Only my intelligence is higher than of an average human.' Dave's heart bled when his eyes fell on the one-digit values of his stats.

All the stats, except for spirit that was zero from the beginning, had an average value of 10 for a human. Considering that some strong people had 15 points in strength stat right from the start, his stats differed in a bad way from others.

Dave had weak stature and short height, so it was unsurprising that his stats were lower than average. Due to damage to his nervous system that affected his reaction speed, his agility was the lowest stat among others.

Dave was taken aback by his innate ability because in his previous life he had no ability at all. Every innate ability gave people physical or magical powers boosting their chances to survive. Owing to the lack of innate ability, he was weak in the past. Perhaps, he was one of the weakest Enhancers at that time.

Slightly confused, he focused his gaze on his innate ability as a new information window popped out right before his eyes.

[Regression

Status: Active

Level: None

Description: Allows the user to go back in time before the start of the Cataclysm. It activates automatically after the user's death. This innate ability can be used only once. In the beginning, it is hidden due to safety precautions. Nobody can see it except the user.]

'So this is how it is. I've never thought that I had an innate ability in my previous life.' Dave was happy and sad at the same time. Happy for getting a second chance and sad for wasting his first life. If he had known it before, perhaps, he would have prepared for the second life more thoroughly.

'I should equip myself with the weapon and go find Adam.' Dave swiftly packed some fresh clothes, food and other necessary items in his bag. Then, he pressed something with his finger.

[You have a Beginner's Survival Pack.]

[Do you want to open it?]

"Yes"

[Wooden club was claimed.]

[Wooden club

Attack: 5-7

Durability: 6

Description: Unpolished club of poor quality.]

The wooden club had appeared in his hands. At the first glance, it was a barbaric and useless weapon. It was too heavy for him to carry, so in the past, he had lost it while he escaped from a zombie. However, it was the only weapon from the System for beginners. In the past, he deeply regretted it since you could level up only by using a weapon from the System.

"AHHHHHHHH!" The scream could be heard from the corridor.

He quickly grabbed his backpack, in which he packed basic necessities, and left the room, sprinting through the corridor in the direction of the scream. Then he saw it. One student was tearing the body of another one. Blood and guts were lying on the floor while the student ate the flesh of the fallen student.

Dave smiled slightly as he saw the familiar scene. Right! Such flesh-eating creatures or zombies were the first to appear in the world, terrorizing humanity for several months before they gave birth to other monsters. Stealthily approaching it, Dave raised his barbaric club higher into the air and slammed it on the head of a zombie.

"...Eeeeeergh!" Getting hit to the head, the zombie stopped eating and creepily turned its head in a bent angle. Noticing Dave, it growled madly clattering with its jaws.

'Shit. I forgot that I need higher stats to break its skull' He intended to finish him in one swift move, yet he was too weak for it. Soon, the hit zombie quickly rose from the floor and leapt in his direction. Zombies weren't slower than humans, hence, they were deadly for ordinary people.

However, Dave had already dealt with much stronger zombies in his past. He lived in a much scarier world for 5 years and can be regarded as a veteran for his current situation.

With a small step to the right, Dave dodged its attack and struck the head of a flesh-eating monster, crashing it to the floor. Then, he quickly finished it off with consecutive hits to its head. As a monster had died, a blue orb of light entered his body.

[You have reached level 1.]

[You have earned 2 free points.]

'Allocate 2 points into strength.'

Dave decided to put his points in strength so he can one-shot ordinary zombies. Usually, it requires 12 points of strength to kill them in one movement yet with the right technique and application of force Dave kill them by smashing their heads.

Considering that zombies were humans before, their bones were less robust than human bones since they were rotten. Without the right body regulation, their bones were less resilient. Dave quickly collected the black coin that dropped from the dead monster. As Dave picked the black coin, it disappeared in a flash, and his indicator for Survival Coins went by 1.

[You have collected 1 Survival Coin.]

However, Dave still thought that a zombie had appeared earlier than he had expected. It would have taken several hours for them to spread the virus through the university. Dave found it strange, so he decided to check the time on his phone. Fortunately, it still had some charge before dying off.

'Hmm...Did I sleep for 24 hours? But if I remember it right, I didn't sleep that long in the past. Yeah right, when I woke up in the previous time, it was deep at night, not in the noon.' Dave thought as his face grew uglier with each second. 'Dammit, I need to hurry and go after Adam.'

"Screw you! I would truly open the door now! Just leave me alone. Let me watch porn in peace. What madman would try to break into someone's room?" An angry voice snapped Dave from his contemplations.

Then, he headed in the direction of the stairs. However, Dave learned that the madman shouting at the zombie was right next to the stairs.

'Stupid, he will only attract more zombies from other rooms.' At the end of the corridor, another zombie was hitting the door of the room. Seeing Dave on the way, the eyes of the zombie flashed with savage glint. It rushed towards him as it saw a new prey.

Dave glanced indifferently at it, reading its trajectory and sidestepping from its path at the last moment. He struck the head of a zombie in one swift movement smashing its head into a bloody mess.

Another orb of light entered his body as the dead zombie dropped a black coin. It wasn't a game-like scene because the corpse didn't disappear magically. Survival Coin just materialized close to its dead body.

"Hey, open up! You are safe now." The door of the room opened with a creak revealing a plump university student. He wore round glasses, jeans, and a loose T-shirt with a superhero on it. He had dishevelled hazel hair and light brown pupils.

"Thanks, pal! I thought that he would really barge into my room. And where did the insane breaking into my room go?" It seemed that fatty was still frightened by the aggressive behaviour of a fellow student.

"Him? He is lying there on the floor" Dave showed the corpse of the defeated zombie to him. When fatty saw the body with a smashed head, he turned pale as a sheet of paper.

"Murderer! He is going to kill me! Help!" As fatty screamed with all his might, Dave shushed him by covering his mouth with his hands.

"Lower your voice, you idiot!" Silencing the frightened fatty, Dave pushed him into his room closing the door. It was a normal dormitory room with one bed, a desk and a toilet room. Deciding that it is safe, Dave relaxed his grip on fatty.

"Don't kill me! I still haven't found a girlfriend, so I can't die yet." Fatty said with teary eyes.

"Who wants to kill you, damn fatty? Girlfriend, my ass." Dave was kept aback by the last words of a fatty kicking his butt quite hardly. Poor fatty wasn't even able to dodge the kick powered up by the strength of 10 points.