The Expert  

[Eva]

The mansion in the southern mountain was eerily quiet despite what was happening in the world right now.

Eva took a bath to freshen her body and lower down her temperature. There were small blisters forming in her arms, and if she didn't cool her body right now, they would spread and itch, and she would have to scratch herself until it bleeds if that happened.

It was a problem for her in the past as well as many others. It was just a stroke of luck that there was water in her bag, and she decided to pour it on her blisters, at that time, were bleeding raw. The itching stopped, and not long after, she knew that if she cooled her body, the blisters would stop spreading on her skin and the itch would somewhat disappear.

When she evolves and acquires the passive skill [BODY RESILIENCE], she wouldn't be having difficulty with any weather and diseases by then. In the meantime, she had to make do with this body of hers while hastening her evolution.

After putting on a simple sleeveless shirt, cargo shorts, and military boots, Eva took her bath water and put it inside a tank for use in her vegetable garden.

Despite the ten-wheeler trucks worth of food inside the mansion, she only ate a piece of hotdog and two pieces of slice bread. And that was the end of her dinner.

The first stage of the Apocalypse was always the longest. About a year or more, and she had to make sure that she was alive until that time. She consumed the meat first, the once that were easy to rot, while she reserved a lot of her canned goods for future consumption.

She went to the armory next and armed herself with two knives on her boots. Two guns on her holsters and hundred of bullets in her pockets as well as four grenades and two explosives. After making sure that she was ready, she snatched her long sniper rifle case and went up to the rooftop of the mansion.

Though the mansion was gated and barbed, Eva didn't want to be complacent. There were worse than the undead, and that was her fellow human beings. Desperate times would require them to make drastic measures just to live.

Laws were broken in this broken world. Humans could do everything. Nothing could stop them now.

The mansion was dark and silent. If Eva didn't need to, she wouldn't turn on the lights. She wanted to conserve as much fuel as she could, reserving the generators only for the refrigeration of food. And some cases, the AC if Eva was getting delirious from the heat.

Besides, turning off the lights wouldn't attract unwanted attention. She wouldn't know if someone had already run in this far south in the mountain and chanced upon this house just because she was careless.

There were residential houses in these parts too, so she didn't want to be complacent in staying in here.

Back to the matters at hand, the heat wasn't getting to her, unlike before. Her extensive workout every day was boring fruit. Her body was adapting rapidly to the temperature, and it wouldn't be long until she evolved. She could feel it.

That would be the first step. Eva thought bitterly. Not feeling the heat or cold would be a huge help to survive this Apocalypse.

As Eva climbed the stairs to the rooftop, she felt the sweat rolling down her back. It hadn't been ten minutes since she got out of her room, and she was sweating already.

The city was eerily quiet except for the occasional growl of the undead in the distance. Eva couldn't let her guard down, not even for a moment.

As she stepped out onto the rooftop, Eva felt the warm breeze brushing against her face. She quickly scanned the area, looking for any signs of movement. Her eyes settled on a group of undead milling about in the distance, their ragged clothes flapping in the wind. They must have been those few who hunt the forest.

The undead were once humans whose body couldn't adapt and evolve. It wasn't a virus. It was simply the result if the world was near explosion. Everyone could turn into an undead, it depended really on the person if he could evolve on time or not.

Stress, desperation, strong emotions and pushing yourself to the edge could either make you, or break you.

Eva took a deep breath and lowered herself into position, her rifle at the ready. She carefully assembled the weapon, attaching the scope and double-checking the magazine. This was no ordinary rifle – it was designed for sniping and could hit a target several kilometers away with deadly accuracy.

This wasn't a big deal to her. In her past life, when she successfully survived her first Apocalypse and got transported to Nexus, she gained access to high technological weapons that no human was capable of creating.

Like a Molecular Disruptor, a weapon that uses intense energy to destabilize and disintegrate the molecular structure of its target. A Gravity Cannon, a device that can manipulate gravitational forces to create a powerful beam that pushes or pulls objects with extreme force. Plasma Launcher, a weapon that fired superheated plasma projectiles capable of melting through solid materials. Chrono-Blaster, a weapon that can manipulate time, allowing the user to slow down or speed up their opponents – among many others.

Between the fabric of space and time lies the impossible city of NEXUS — a metropolis of cosmic proportions where science and magic flow like water and epic creatures were found drinking in every tavern.

Nestled in an extradimensional pocket between universes, Nexus served as an interdimensional crossroads linking the many multiverses. Countless beings from a thousand different worlds have made their way to the City of Legends, sharing their knowledge, power, and magic with their residents.

It was a safe haven. However, staying there forever was prohibited. The maximum allowable was one week until you set off to your next apocalyptic world. You have no choice. You simply didn't have anywhere to go but there after you acquired the [GREEN CARD].

It was a cycle, and Eva didn't know when it would end and what the ending was.

However, one thing that she was sure was that staying in Nexus and acquiring those weapons was not cheap. Paper money wasn't accepted, and neither was gold and silver.

The only currency in Nexus was [CREDITS]. And the only way to acquire these credits was through killing undead and FALLENs. The more powerful a FALLEN, the higher the points.

Points were usually given after you got transported to NEXUS. Eva was clueless about the specifics, and she didn't care to know as long as she received her points by the end of her time here.

Who knows, maybe she could get a [GREEN CARD] early. This card would allow her to get into NEXUS Train Station, the only way to reach the city of NEXUS. Or if she died, it would serve as a guaranteed item that would store all her memories when she reincarnated to her COPYs body.

Eva was an ORIGINAL, so she could do that. However, COPIES didn't have that option. They simply disappear once their world explodes.

Based on what she knew. Apart from this universe, there were an infinite number of parallel universes. Every behavior and every single choice would create a parallel dimension. If you decide to choose the path to the left, then the other you will choose the path to the right.

And in this new dimension, everyone would create decisions that would constantly create another parallel dimension. Another new universe. If we took this into account, these parallel worlds were so many that they were uncountable.

Another thing — time in this universe was inconsequential. It could be present here, but it could be future or past there. And the people we meet here, we might not meet there. Behaviors were different as well. If you were a good person here, then you might be a bad person there.

Based on what Eva knew. There were so many parallel universes that existed, and if these worlds weren't destroyed, it would significantly endanger all of the multiverses.

This was the reason why numerous words were undergoing apocalyptic events, and eventually, they would explode to give way to another world.

That was the cycle that Eva was told and had known.

As long as she had a COPY living in a parallel dimension somewhere, she could reincarnate in her COPYs body. However, unlimited life was non-existent. They may be numerous parallel dimensions, but only a few COPIES survive.

And Eva knew that her COPIES continued to perish with each passing day. Numerous worlds were ending. If her COPIES survive the Apocalypse, then death by accident or sickness would surely claim them.

There was a shop in NEXUS that showed how many COPIES you have left in the multiverse, but it wasn't constant. It could change by the next day, either up or down – mostly down.

Evan didn't bother to waste 100 000 Credit Points (CP) for it. It simply wasn't worth it. And knowing how many lives you have left would make you complacent.

It was better to not know and be on constant alert like it was your last life to live. That kind of mindset had saved her numerous times before.

As Eva peered through the scope, she felt a surge of adrenaline. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and her hands were steady despite the heat. She lined up her shot, adjusting for wind and distance.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still. Eva held her breath and squeezed the trigger. There was a sharp crack as the bullet flew through the air, hitting its mark with deadly precision. One of the undead dropped to the ground, its lifeless body still.

Their head was their weakness. Burning their body and chopping off their head was another.

Eva didn't have time to celebrate. She quickly reloaded her rifle and scanned the area for more targets. She knew that the undead were relentless, night and day, exhaustion and sleep didn't have meaning to them. She had to stay focused if she wanted those points.

1 undead = 1 CP

1 FALLEN = 1000 CP minimum. It could go higher depending on how powerful the FALLEN was.

The night was long, and the gunfire was silent as it hit mark after mark. But Eva remained vigilant, her eyes scanning the darkness for any signs of movement. She was a survivor, and she would do whatever it took to stay alive.