CHAP 1: Bohemian Rhapsody + Thriller

A man was currently in a helicopter, in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest, seeing explosions on the distance. He was smiling, with a sparkle on his eyes, while looking at the beautiful but morbid vision in front of him.

"Do you see that, Diego? That's the beauty that comes before the fallout."

The pilot laughed, responding to his boss.

"Only you could find that beautiful, Mr. Spider."

"I guess you lack an artistic vision, Diego. You do realize we are some of the only people alive on the planet at the moment, right?"

The man widened his eyes.

"I realize it now that you said it, Chefe. You know, i think we have received enough radiation from the blast for us to have been poisoned by it, considering how close we were, and i doubt there's any way to treat that now."

The other man on the helicopter sat on the co-pilot seat, besides Diego.

"You can just say we're dead, you know. How do you feel about that, dying for the ambition of a crazy man like me?"

Diego laughed.

"As crazy as you may be, i always found your tenacity admirable. Dying for you, for this, isn't a problem, it's not like i had anything before the Web, anyways."

Diego's boss pointed to a clearing in the forest.

"The hideout is there. you can lan-"

His phrase was cut by him coughing fiercely.

"Are you okay, Chefe?"

The man put his hand up, making Diego focus on landing the chopper. The man's coughing fit stopped, when he looked at his hand, he saw blood, and tsked.

'My time is almost up.'

They landed, and Diego helped the middle-aged man out of the helicopter.

"Don't go dying on me now, Mr. Spider. You did all this; you can't leave me to survive alone now."

They walked, with Spider being propped up by Diego. When they would enter the bunker, the man tapped on the younger one's shoulder.

"You can leave me here, Diego. We both know i was already dying before that fuckload of radiation hit me."

The middle-aged man dropped on his back.

"Don't be like that now, Chefe."

"I'll be like that, Diego. You'll die as well, there's no curing acute radiation poisoning now."

Diego dropped on his back besides his boss.

"Then i'll die besides you, Chefe."

"If you choose to do so, i won't stop you. Not like i have the strength to do so now."

"Is this how we'll go out? Some invisible bullshit?"

"It appears so."

The young Brazilian man pulled out his pistol, and pointed it at himself, but his boss stopped him putting a hand on his weapon.

"If you want to die, do it right. Give me the weapon, Diego, i'll do it."

Diego let his weapon go.

"Maybe if i don't kill myself, i still have a chance at getting to Heaven. It was an honor, Chefe."

A shot rang out on the silence of the Amazon. The old man sighed and closed his eyes.

"I hope you get to heaven, Diego. Because i'm for sure going to hell."

He relaxed, and his body finally gave in. He seemed a lot older than he truly was, a combination of heightened stress and bad habits. The man didn't have a name, he was just the Spider. The leader of the biggest crime organization on Earth, he was being hunted by the whole world, even if they didn't know his face. Their hunt, however, ended in nuclear warfare, and product of the Spider having revealed all of the information he had acquired, including his hunter's state secrets. The reason he did so? The Spider had discovered he would soon die because of terminal cancer.

The world died with him, as he intended.

That he would be capable of opening his eyes and find a white room, he did not intend.

'What's this? Hell?'

[No, Hell is a lot hotter, or not. It depends on where you exist.]

'So, is this heaven? If that's the case, you guys are lenient as fuck.'

[It's not heaven, nor purgatory.]

'So, tell me, unnamed voice in my head, who are you and why am i in wherever the fuck i am?'

[I'm the Game, and you are now under my jurisdiction on a little corner of existence itself. You are here because i want to offer you a new life.]

'And what is the price, "Game"?'

[The price is living, my friend. You won't be able to live peacefully ever again.]

'Funny you think i ever did, did you see my past life?'

[I did, it's just that you won't ever get the possibility again, there will be times of calm, but most of it will be storm.]

'But i get to live again. And i suppose i get a new body, right?'

[Not only a new body, but an improved one.]

There has to be a catch to this. But i don't think i have a choice here.

'I accept your offer.'

[Great. Get up, then. We have work to do.]

'Can't you give me a new body before that?'

[You don't want to customize it?]

'Just put me in my body when i was 25, and keep my gray hair, it would be strange looking in the mirror and seeing it being brown once again. I don't need anything more.'

[Understood. Close your eyes.]

I got a big feeling of vertigo, as if i had fallen from a tall place, until it suddenly ceased.

[You can open your eyes now.]

I did so, and i looked at my hands, there were no wrinkles, none of the flaccidity there was before. In front of me, i saw my old body, dead, finally. I took my things, took the gun out of my corpse's hand, and put it in a peaceful pose. I at least wanted to appear honorable in death.

[You ready?]

'Yes, i am.'

[Well then, start by preparing yourself for some pain.]

"UGH! Fuck!"

I knelt, forcing my knuckles white. It felt as if i was being ripped apart from the inside, until it clicked back, but i think there was something new as well. This something gave off the feeling of something ancient, but incomplete, like seeing the fossil of a T-Rex.

[It's done.]

'What, exactly?'

[I've connected to system to you and made some changes to your composition. Don't worry, they're all beneficial. Now, say "Status".]

"Status?"

|Name: INEXISTENT

Class: NONE

Level: 0

HP: 110/100

MP: 140/140

HP Regen: 1 per hour while awake, 10 per hour while sleeping. Can only regenerate wounds a normal human would.

MP Regen: Null

CON: 11

STR: 11

DEX: 13

INT: 14

WIS: 12

CHA: 15

LUK: ???|

'Hmm, i assume the average stat for an adult male is 10, right?'

[Yes, women are normally a 9 in STR and an 11 in CHA, but 10 on the rest.]

'I see, i can understand CON, STR and DEX, but how do you keep track on the rest?'

{INT is your capability to understand patterns, and quickness and correctness on logical and mathematical thinking.

WIS is your acquired knowledge, and the velocity of learning and memorizing things.

CHA is your overall emotional and social skill, based on looks, charm, argumentation and how persuasive you are.

LUK is an estimate considering your past life, and how existence reacts to you.}

'Yeah, what is it with my luck?'

|SYSTEM FAILURE|

'Huh?'

[The system can't process your past life, since your luck is all over the place. Even i can't really understand it, it's like two things are fighting, but they're the same? That's the only way i can explain it.]

'Any idea on what it could be?'

[I have no information on something of the likes. I think a friend of mine may know something, though.]

'And who's that?'

[Death. The Death. The most feared being in the whole Time.]

'Sure sounds scary. Is this "Death" willing to give up this information?'

[I'm not sure. But i know he's interested in you, so he may just give it to you. Who really knows.]

'Let's continue then, if there's something else?'

[There is.]

|A system mission has been given

{Getting to know yourself}

Objective 1: Give yourself a name.

Objective 2: Check the MENU

Objective 3: Open the Roulette

Rewards: CLASSES function unlocked, TRAVEL function unlocked, {Tutorial} world unlocked. |

'A name? Why do i need that?'

[Names are anchors to one's existence, it maintains them stable.]

'Is that so? How did i manage to live my first life than?'

[Titles can work as a placeholder for names, but there are negatives. The person is molded to that Title, they slowly become what it means for them.]

'That makes a surprising amount of sense.'

[It does. Now, what's your name?]

'Do names hold power against me? Like those old incantations?'

[Yes, some spells can only be used with someone's real name.]

'So i'll need something uncommon. Gray Fraudator, then.'

[Pleased to meet you, Gray.]

"Menu?"

|STATUS

CLASSES-{LOCKED}

TRAVEL-{LOCKED}

DUNGEON-{LOCKED}

WORKSHOP-{LOCKED}

RECORDS-{LOCKED}

RELATIONSHIPS-{LOCKED}

ACHIEVEMENTS-{LOCKED}

*Roulette*-{Temporary}|

'Hmm, this system has quite the amount of uses.'

[I worked on it for quite some time, it is my magnum opus. By the way, you don't need to give the commands vocally, doing so mentally works as well.]

'Thank god for that, saying "status" out loud every time i wanted to check them would get bothersome.'

'Open Roulette.'

[There's no physical roulette, but a power and a disadvantage will be chosen randomly if you choose to spin it.]

'Hmm, is there a way to null those disadvantages?'

[In the future. You'll be able to completely nullify them, with a chance of "upgrading" them, making them good for you.]

'So it's a setback until then. Are they really bad?'

[Depends on your luck.]

'Which i can't really depend on. What about the powers?'

[They're all reasonably powerful. I recommend spinning the wheel one time at least.]

'I guess the benefit is guaranteed. Spin the wheel.'

|The host has received a skill at the cost of a flaw.

{Copy} LVL 01/100

You can copy 1 thing out of anything or anyone. There is no limit in the copying, only the number of things you can copy. Leveling the skill up allows more copies by subject.

{Prey}

Every being will at first see you as weak, that prejudice will continue until you prove them wrong.

'I can work with that, and the power is a very good tool. I'm feeling lucky, spin the wheel again.'

|The host has received a skill at the cost of a flaw.

{Morality Empowerment} LVL 01/100

You become stronger, faster, more durable, etc. when in contact with the concept of morality, whether good, evil and/or neutral, of yourself and others, possibly unlocking abilities related to the affinity and enhancing already existing powers.

{Narcolepsy}

You can have abnormal drowsiness during the day, and insomnia during the night. Strong emotions may cause cataplexy, generating weakness on all muscles and slurred speech. Sleep paralysis is common, sometimes being accompanied with hallucinations. |

'Narcolepsy, huh? That can be quite dangerous at times, but i think i'll manage, atleast the power is quite powerful. Fuck it, roll the wheel again.'

|The host has received a perk at the cost of a flaw.

{Power Detection}

You can sense the presence of supernatural powers and gain detailed understanding about them, including their type, quality and intensity.

{Amnesia}

You will randomly not be able to remember specific things during a random amount of time. Multiple things can be forgotten. Looking at annotations or being told by others can nullify this effect. |

'And fuck it, it did. That's a very bad flaw, and the power is not enough to say i won the gamble. I'll stop here.'

[You rolled more times than i thought you would, i'm surprised.]

'I should've stopped at the second one. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk.'

|Mission {Getting to know yourself} has been completed.

The function CLASSES has been unlocked.

The function TRAVEL has been unlocked.

{Tutorial} world unlocked. |

'Open Menu.'

|STATUS

CLASSES

TRAVEL

DUNGEON-{LOCKED}

WORKSHOP-{LOCKED}

RECORDS-{LOCKED}

RELATIONSHIPS-{LOCKED}

ACHIEVEMENTS-{LOCKED}|

'What are those classes? I imagine it is similar to a RPG, as everything in this system seems to be, but what are the specifics?'

[They function as a specialization of sorts. I would recommend picking one, since what you will gain is quite good.]

'Sure. Open CLASSES.'

|{Fighter} {Mage} {Rogue}

A unique class has opened on the {Rogue} root. |

'Interesting. Check it.'

|The {Rogue} root grows into:

{Thief} {Assassin} {Bard} *{Charlatan}*|

|The Charlatan is specialized on deceiving and using their cunning in order to gain an advantage above others. They're charming, but dangerous people, ready to use everything in their capacities to gain power. This tree is unique to the host.

Taking this tree will give you one skill and one perk. Each level gives +5 CHA, +3 INT, +2 DEX. |

'Sounds good to me. Take it.'

|You have received a skill.

{Bamboozle} LVL 01/100

You can make a decoy of yourself, it is semi-material and will do exactly any action you want it to, but is easily destroyed.

You can "trick" the memories of anybody, making them forget something or giving them new memories, if you have a higher INT and WIS than the target. Leveling this skill up gives you more options.

You have received a perk.

{Silver Tongue}

receive a general bonus of 2x in all CHA gains. You gain negative REP/AFF more hardly and gain positive REP/AFF more easily. You can more easily control a narrative. |

'TRAVEL.'

There were a bunch of grayed out, blurred images and words, of which the first was visible, clearly the "reward" to the first "mission", the {Tutorial}.

'No other way but forward. Is there anything of note i need to know about this world, Game?'

[Nothing of note. A usual zombie world. You'll start out as an operative to a corporation, directly into the heart of the problem. A mission will be given by them, i would recommend completing it. You decide what to do from then, including moving on to the next world, if you feel confident. About that, tell me a pseudonym.]

'Jacob Greyston. A zombie world, huh?'

'Select the {Tutorial}.'

|World has been selected.

Commencing traversal. Prepare yourself. |

I was hit with an immediate sense of getting pushed rapidly through what appeared to be millions of kilometers, which made me fall and breathe hard when i "arrived". A memory appeared on my head, i was apparently a field agent for Global Relief Effort, a seemingly humanitarian organization which had dealt with multiple outbreaks around the world, which is, as you would expect, a bunch of made-up bullshit. They are no saviors; they aim only for money and power. Anyways, i've been assigned to a mission on Harran, a city suffering from an outbreak of a never-before-seen virus, which made the residents go feral.

"Jump in t-minus 10 seconds"

I got up, checked the ammunition on my pistol, and got ready to jump out of the carrier plane, i put on the mask as well.

"HUD activated. Commence briefing."

The cargo door opened, and the red light turned green.

"Jump authorized. Good luck, agent Jacob."

I jumped out. They had dropped me from quite the altitude, 5000 meters above the ground.

"Data on the subject. Kadir Suleiman. A local political figure hired to maintain order after the outbreak. His brother Hassan died in a disease-related incident before we were able to evacuate him. Suleiman blamed the GRE for Hassan's death. He stole a highly sensitive file which became his bargaining chip against the GRE. With instructions to publicize it if anything happened to him. Data on the subject. The stolen file. It details the incomplete process of synthesizing a cure for the virus. If implemented in its current state, the produced substance may be extremely toxic."

I hit 2000 meters and pulled the parachute. No problems there, at least.

"Also, the file contains a full description of the virion structure. Any attempt to use it would result in countless lives lost. It must be recovered. Further information. Current status. Suleiman sent the file to an associate unknown to us, with instructions to publicize it at his command at any time. To counter that, we instituted a city-wide communication jam, preventing him from publicizing the file. Your GRE-issued radio can overcome that jamming. It is your lifeline. Do not lose it. Suleiman has since gone underground and begun using a different name. We have reason to believe he now leads one of the two main factions operating within the city. You are to find Suleiman and locate the stolen file in order to save mankind from a disaster of unprecedented proportions."

They sure like to make themselves the good guys. So i keep my radio and i'm good, right? The intelligent approach to this is infiltrating Kadir's faction, taking the file from him, then silencing him for good. Thing is, i'm not aware if they are welcoming to strangers, but i'm sure i could prove myself useful to them. I was approaching the ground by now, so i got ready for anything. GRE is delivering airdrops full of the temporary cure for the zombie virus, Antizin, so the survivors will probably be attentive to what comes from the sky, so they probably are already waiting for me.

|A world mission has been given

{The mission}

Objective: Secure the stolen file.

Rewards: Next world unlocked, {Gamer's body} perk, {Gamer's mind} perk, WORKSHOP function unlocked. |

'I have no idea what those perks do.'

I arrived at the ground, or close enough, but my parachute got stuck on a light pole. I looked down to see some survivors holding makeshift weapons, they didn't seem to be friendly, and the fall would be quite bad, so i swung myself closer to the pole, holding it, and cut off the strings of the parachute. I slid on the pole, and landed safely, with my gun pointed at the men who tried to charge me.

"Don't use that, they are attracted by sound."

The one who seemed to be in charge said.

"Is that so? Fortunately, i'm quite fast, can you say the same?"

They were slowly approaching me. Do they think i didn't notice?

"We're all trying to survive here, foreigner. Since when does the GRE send people down, anyways?"

"If we are all survivors, why don't you guys let me go, and i don't have to use the gun? Doesn't that sound good?"

The men laughed.

"That won't do, foreigner."

And then they charged me. So, i shot one of them in the head. The fucker fell on me and dirtied my clothes with his blood.

"Dumb foreigner. Fall back, now!"

The man started running, and i could see why, there was a wave of fast zombies coming. Fortunately for me, i wasn't lying when i said i was quite fast. So i ran away but didn't follow the thugs. I used another road, jumping over cars, until i saw a man signaling me inside a building. I was still armed, so i didn't hesitate to enter the shop, to which i helped the man hold the door, until a woman locked the door with a piece of wood. I took my mask off and attached it to my belt.

"Come on, let's take the back door!"

The woman said to me and the man, to which he nodded and i just went along. She took a pipe and gave it to me.

"Just swing it with all the force you can muster."

"Yeah, i figured."

"We'll open the door and make a run for the nearest roof. Understood?"

I nodded. The man opened the door slowly, and the woman was the first to run through it, with me and the other closely behind, she seemed to know these parts, so she lead us to an quite easy to make jump to the top of an house, some zombies were behind us, and the man got his leg grabbed, i threw my pipe at one of the zombies who were almost reaching him and he kicked the one who had grabbed his leg, it appears his leg got hurt, though, since he now had an slight limp on his run.

I made the jump, but the man didn't quite do it, i held his hand so he didn't fall, and the woman helped me get him up, but a zombie jumped at him, making it impossible for us to pull the man up.

"AMIR!"

The other zombies arrived and pushed the man down, the woman almost fell together with him, but i dropped the man and held her.

"I'm sorry, there was no saving him there."

"And you're at fault!"

She said while pointing at me.

"I tried helping him as much as you did. You can't save everyone."

I shrugged, and she punched me in the face. She has got quite the punch, gotta hand it to her. I put my hand over it.

"I know you're mourning or something, but do that again and i'll hit back."

A zombie's hand appeared on the edge of the roof. So they are capable of climbing. She looked at it and then turned to me.

"Come, let's go back to the Tower."

"And what is that?"

"My home."

"Sure, let's go."

We then went at the direction of this "Tower", traversing through the roofs of Harran. I would've asked some things to the woman, but i get the feeling she doesn't like me that much, which isn't all that unexpected considering i kinda killed what i'll assume was her boyfriend. I didn't even have the chance to ask her name. When we get at her "home" i'll do it. We weren't that far from the tower, and as the name indicates, it is a tall building, there was no door, and the stairs that connected to the from the ground level had been destroyed, so you had to climb to the first floor, with a bunch of UV lights directed at the ledge. Apparently, the zombies don't like UV lights, so i believe the night will be a lot more dangerous than the day. I kinda recognize these details, there was a game, Dying Light, wasn't it? I remember people didn't quite like the sequel.

"Is this the survivor Amir wanted to rescue? Where's the man, talking about him?"

A guard spoke to the woman.

"He didn't make it."

"Damn, we lost a good one. Are you good, Jade?"

So her name is Jade.

"I'm managing."

The guard then turned to me.

"At least you didn't get bitten, so Amir's Antizin can go to someone else. Welcome to the Tower, pal, i hope you are worth the trouble."

"Don't worry, i won't cause more trouble for you all."

"I sure hope so, the last thing we need is more trouble."

He said while patting my shoulder. Jade passed by me and i just continued following her.

"I'll inform Brecken about your situation. Just wait here."

"Got it."

She went up the elevator. If this Brecken is Kadir, i'll make sure to befriend him, if not, i'll just leave to the other faction. I waited some good 5 minutes, until a guard approached me.

"The boss is calling you, room 190."

I entered the elevator and pressed the button to the nineteenth floor, there were 20 in total. I'm surprised the energy is still running, considering everything that happened. Maybe the military defended the power stations. I arrived at floor 19, and went down the corridor, where i saw a door with an arrow that indicated these were the headquarters. That certainly makes it easy.

I entered the apartment, and went inside, there i saw an fit, moderately tall man with brown hair and green eyes standing at me with an analyzing look, an boy with some goggles on his head sitting on an chair turned to me, and Jade, which is quite the pretty woman now that i take an good look at her, with the same look as the man. Every single one of them was using a headset, and i saw some comms equipment on one of the desks. That's how they communicate with each other, i assume the GRE's jam may be messing with their comms as well.

"So, this is the person we lost Amir for? At least he wasn't bitten."

The man said.

"Yeah, at least the Antizin won't be a problem."

The boy said.

"I think he could become a runner. He was pretty good in evading those things. Wouldn't have survived without us, though."

Jade said.

I was standing there, looking at them with an eyebrow raised.

"Finished assessing me? Look, i can manage surviving out there alone, so if you all want me to be gone, i'm good."

"Wanting you gone? No, the Tower always needs helping hands, and since you say you are capable of surviving out there, you can be quite the hand."

The man, who i assume is Brecken, said to me. They want me to repay my debt to them? Hmm, i don't think Kadir's faction is inviting, considering those goons who "welcomed" me to the city, so maybe i'll join this "Tower".

"And what would i be helping you with?"

"There's something always to do at the Tower."

"If i give you my gun, would you be willing to let me go?"

"No. But if you gave us that radio, i would consider."

"Brecken?!"

The woman looked quite angrily at the man i had now confirmed was Brecken.

"Fine, what do you want me to do?"

"First, go with Rahim to the Gym. We'll see from there."

The boy got up from his chair and went outside the apartment, Jade left as well shortly after. I was looking at Brecken.

"What are you standing there for, Rahim already left."

I stood quietly looking at him for a moment, until i left. I cogitated killing him then and there, but i think killing everybody on this building wouldn't be worth it. The boy, Rahim, was waiting for me on the stairs, and when he saw me, he went up and i followed behind. We arrived at the roof of the building, and the boy did quite the free running to get up to a crane.

"Think you can do that, old man?"

"Old man?"

"Your hair is gray, so you're old, no?"

He has no idea how right he is.

"I guess so."

I did what he did and got up to the crane as well.

"Impressive. For an old man."

"Yeah, yeah. Was that the "Gym"?"

"No, no."

He pointed to the other building.

"That's the Gym."

He said as he got up on the crane and started going to the other side.

"You should hope your shoes are not slippery, old man."

He said when he saw me getting on the crane as well.

"I could say the same for you, kid."

He laughed, and we got to the other side.

"Is this the first time you're doing this, old man?"

"I did something similar before, on the good old days. We're do we go from here?"

"Down."

I looked down. It was a fall of some good 15 meters, i don't think the pile of garbage at the bottom can save you from that.

"Getting cold feet, old man? Watch and learn."

Rahim jumped down. The impact was quite loud.

"See, old man? I'm fine. Come on."

I jumped in a position so that i would at most break a leg, but it surprisingly didn't break anything, just hurt a bit. I don't think the gravity on this world is any different.

'Game, what's going on?'

[Worlds have their own strange rules sometimes.]

'Just that?'

[Yes, i could give you the scientific mumbo-jumbo behind how exactly the worlds work differently from each other, but do you care enough for that?]

'To be honest, i kinda do. But i would prefer it on a written way.'

[When you unlock the RECORDS function, i'll provide it.]

'Right, thanks.'

"Old man, you alright?"

"Yeah. That was quite the rush."

"Exactly! You get it! There's nothing that surpasses the feeling of free falling for me."

"I can see why."

"Well then, let's continue. As you may know, surviving requires you to stay on the higher places, so the Gym is set up to let you experience the outside on a safe space. Now, lend me your radio, I'll connect you to our frequency."

I gave him my radio, and he ran off.

"Catch me if you can, old man!"

'That little shit.'

I ran down the corridor and went left. There was a barricade with a hole i could crouch or roll through, and roll i did. Next, there was a ledge i jumped over easily, then i went to some stairs of which one of the flights had been destroyed, so i had to jump to reach the other side. After that, i did some more running until there were two unconnected scaffolds, to which i had to jump from one to the other to get to the other side of the building, the jump was easy, though.

Then i ran to an elevator shaft, where i grabbed the edge to get up, on the "second" floor i had to make a jump to a small pillar, and this one was quite difficult, since the pillar was much higher than the point i would jump from, and quite small. I managed the jump, didn't fall off, and jumped to the scaffold in front of me, a much easier jump. From there, i had to get up by using some ledges on the wall, which would require quite the upper body strength. i got to the second one, from where i moved to the right, and had to jump from it to another one, i almost slipped on the "landing", but i didn't fall, and went up, where i had to jump to my left unto firm ground.

From then it was easier, i grabbed a ledge and went along it, jumped to a pile of sandbags, and from there jumped to a scaffold, then to a missing part of the wall. From there it was a direct run to the crane, just had to make a jump to grab on an edge and pull myself up. I grabbed on some stairs, grabbed another ledge, pulled myself up, got on the crane and went back to the Tower. Rahim was waiting on the door, i put out my hand, signaling him to hand the radio over.

"This radio you got is quite powerful, isn't it? Are you sure you can't give it to us?"

He said while playing with it.

"Very sure."

He put it in my open hand.

"Alright, alright. How was it, old man? Bet that got your back cracking now."

"No, but my blood is definitely pumping. Last time i did something of the likes was ages ago."

"You don't seem like such an old man, save for the hair, but you sure as hell speaks like one."

"I've seen much in my short life."

"Yeah, yeah, old man. Let's get back, Brecken wants to speak to you."

"Lead the way."

We both went down two flights of stairs and entered the headquarters. Brecken was speaking with some other guys about taking some airdrops. He saw me and Rahim enter.

"We'll speak later. So, how was he, Rahim?"

"The old man here is good. He was quite fast, there were some slip-ups here and there, but he didn't fall once."

"You didn't fall? Are you experienced?"

"The name's Jacob, and i wouldn't say experienced, but i did some similar things on the past."

"That's good, because we need more runners, so what do you say, Jacob, you up for the job?"

"I'll do anything for a price."

"I'm offering a place to sleep, shower, food, water, some weapons, and comradeship."

"I'll take it."

I don't think Kadir's faction is welcoming to strangers, and i could use the Tower.

"You're at room 194. Go there and change clothes."

"Anything wrong with mine?"

"They're dirty with blood."

"I forgot about that. Right, i'll go change."

I exited the headquarters and went to my room. There, i found a bag with some clothes inside, which i put on. They don't fit my taste, but they let me move freely, so it'll do. Brecken contacted me through the radio.

"If you changed your clothes, go down and talk to our quartermaster, he'll give you a weapon for you to defend yourself out there."

The elevator was directly outside my room, i just had to go around some railing. The guard let me go down. While i took the elevator, i checked the system.

|The system has been affected by the world rules.

Your level has been divided into two trees: Power and Agility.

Each tree will give specific skill points and allow you to receive skills related to them.

The system will return to normal once you exit the world. |

'Is that supposed to happen?'

[I'm just demonstrating what could possibly happen during your incursions. Remember what i said about worlds having their own weird rules? Sometimes they can affect the system. No need to worry, though, you'll receive the accumulated EXP when you exit the world.]

'Will i at least keep the skills?'

[Not exactly, but something similar to them. Sometimes going to this type of world can even be more beneficial than going to an "normal" world.]

The elevator arrived, and so i went to the exit of the Tower, where a man behind a desk signaled me to come over.

"Are you the quartermaster?"

"Yes, and i suppose you are our new runner."

He gave me the leg of a table and a medkit.

"If you find some care packages out there, bring them to me, we could make good use of it."

"Understood."

"Good luck out there."

I dropped down the exit and exited the building, where i pulled out my radio, contacting the headquarters.

"Is this what you call a weapon? A fucking table leg?"

"It's what we can most easily find."

Rahim was the one to respond me.

"You guys don't have knives, or machetes, even baseball bats?"

"We used to have them, but the people we gave them to never returned."

"I see. Where am I supposed to go now?"

"You're outside the Tower, right? Turn left and go straight until you see a RV, Spike will give you your first job."

I turned left and went straight, I jumped on the roof of a house, since I had seen there were some zombies on the streets. I saw the RV behind some grids, so I jumped over to a taller house, and then to the other side of the street, I wanted to kill the zombies beneath me, but I don't think the reward outweighs the risk.

I entered what I believe was a courtyard, and a guard came over to me.

"You're the new guy, right? Spike is waiting for you."

He guided me to a little building, where a black man was waiting for me, which I assume is Spike.

"You're the new blood, right? Alright, listen up, the GRE sends down two types of airdrops, filled with either Antizin, or food, first aid supplies, survival gear and the likes. They send us a one-way video feed which let us know which type it is and when they're coming down. Thing is, Rais's thugs keep getting the ones filled with Antizin, and without Antizin we're screwed. Of course, they only operate during the day, since going out at night is an elaborated way of committing suicide. There is one Antizin drop coming down at tonight's sunset, I have been setting up safe zones and traps, but no one is crazy enough to go hunting for that airdrop considering it is only one and we are uncertain if Rais's men will be there to take it from us."

"So, you want me to go there and take it?"

"If you're crazy enough to do it. If not, I just want you to set up some safe zones and some traps, since there will be two Antizin drops coming down in three days, and Brecken and his crew want to go out and get them."

"How do you expect me to set up a safe zone?"

"Everything is basically ready, we just need someone to clear the areas and tie up any loose ends, like pushing a locker on the door and putting on some fuses."

"Kill some zombies, activate some traps, light up some lights and get some Antizin. Got it. Anything else?"

"You don't need to get the drop, as I said before. I'll be talking you through on how to activate the traps. And take these firecrackers I made, the zombies will be attracted to the noise like moths to the light. Now go back to the Tower, you'll see a car with a red lamp on top of it."

|World Quest received.

{First assignment}

Objectives: Set up a safe zone and activate the traps.

Optional objective: Get the airdrop

Reward: {Inspect} perk.

Additional Reward: {Inventory} Skill.|

I nodded and exited the safe house. I was going back the way I arrived, until I looked at the zombies below. There was a barrel with some spikes, and some gasoline that had leaked out of one of the cars. From what I understand, the zombies are attracted to sound, so I took one of the firecrackers and threw it at the barrel, and it worked like a charm. The zombies headed mindlessly to it, so I threw another one on the gasoline, lighting it up. The zombies headed to the fire, burning up, and after two or three seconds, the car blew up.

|+500 Agility EXP, +500 Power EXP

In account of 1 past kill, you have received +100 Power EXP. |

Is this "past kill" that guy I killed when I came down? If so, humans give quite the amount of EXP. And receiving Agility EXP just by doing parkour is quite handy.

"Are you a complete idiot? You'll attract a horde with all that sound."

Spike said through the radio.

"I know."

I heard some loud howling, and felt the earth shaking, there was a high number of zombies coming, probably attracted by the explosion. A group of seven fast zombies were the first to arrive, and they were growling and huffing, looking around erratically. I took note of them, considering their agility could possibly be a problem. After some good ten seconds, which made me realize how much faster the first seven were, the rest of the horde came, there were at least 30 zombies on it.

There was no way I could do anything about that amount, so I threw a firecracker on top of the flaming car, and the fast zombies climbed it so quickly I raised their threat level on the list I was doing on my mind, but then I remembered about that flaw I received, so to lessen the risks of me forgetting my analysis of the zombie, I wrote it down on my trusty notebook, making a little sketch of what each zombie looked like. While I did this, the firecrackers had stopped popping, but several zombies had killed themselves in the fire, including all pf the fast ones.

|+790 Agility EXP, +790 Power EXP

You have leveled up on both trees.

You may now open the skill tree to allocate your skill points. |

|Current achievable skills.

Agility: Dodge.

Power: Stun. |

'Guess there's no real choice here, unlock Dodge and Stun?'

|Two new skills acquired.

{Dodge} LVL 01/01

Gain a sudden burst of speed in any direction minus up and down. Costs some stamina.

{Stun} LVL 01/03

Attacking an enemy on the head with blunt weapons give a 10% chance to apply the STUN effect. |

'I'll always accept passive effects. Does the system keep track of my stamina as well?'

|New stats have been added to the STATUS screen.

STA:110/110

STA Regen: 1.1 per minute. |

'That answers my question.'

I decided to test the Dodge skill to see how much stamina it costs. Willing myself to 'Dodge' to the right was quite the strange thing, but it worked out, each dodge costs 2 points of stamina, and sends me a meter in the chosen direction, it is not instantaneous, i jumped and 'Dodged' to the side, and it worked, but i couldn't use it as a way of flying, since i still fell during the movement. Either way, it is an effective way of repositioning myself in the air, and to dodge, obviously.

I continued my way to the Tower, using dodge to move faster, i arrived shortly, and saw the car Spike had told me about. I pulled out my radio.

"Spike, i found the car you told me about, what should i do?"

"Connect the battery."

"That's all? You could've said that in person."

I opened the hood of the car, connected the batteries and it worked.

"You couldn't do that while setting the traps?"

"The traps waste the battery a lot. I've set them up a week ago and they wouldn't work by now. From what I've seen, they last four days until we must change the batteries."

"I see. Where are the next traps?"

"All runners, there's one of us being attacked by the Infected in the safe house just north of the Tower, if there's anybody close by, please help him."

Jade intruded in our conversation. I guess i should clear this so-called safe house.

"I'm close by. I'll help."

I headed north through the rooftops until i saw "SAFE" graffitied on a wall, there was some bent fencing, through which i jumped over from one of the houses. There were two infected banging on the door of a little building. There was no way for me to kill them with the environment, so i would have to use the table leg i had. I sneaked behind one of the zombies, mustering all my strength, and hit it directly on the head. Sadly, those zombies can't be knocked out, but the hit did make him fall, giving me an opportunity to focus on his friend.

I hit the zombie on the head, but it didn't seem to bother him that much, he immediately tried to grapple me, so i dodged and hit him on the head again, the impact, added to his stumbling try to grab me, sent him directly to the ground. The other one was up, so i kicked his knees and started stomping his head, which took more time to splatter than normal. The thing about a mindless human is that they can't really defend themselves. His other friend finally stood up, but fighting against just one isn't really that hard, i hit him from overhead, kicked his face and once again started stomping. Sigh, now my shoes are dirty, thankfully brain matter and blood are easy to clean.

I pulled the door open, and what greeted me was one of those fast zombies trying to give me a 'hug', which i politely declined by dodging out of the way and hitting his back with a table leg, making him fall. I jumped to the top of the little building, since i was cautious against these fast ones. He tried climbing as well, but i kindly kicked him off the edge and dropped on him with my two feet together, breaking his ribcage. He then tried to bite me, so i kicked his jaw. These fuckers are durable, I'll give them that. I took my table leg and staked his heart with it. I got off him and watched as he twitched for about 5 seconds, finally dying. This encounter gave me quite the good information, so i wrote down their weaknesses and the strategies i used to deal with them on my notebook. I haven't suffered from {Amnesia} yet, but if i forget something about those zombies, i at least have these annotations.

"Jade, I've cleared the safe house, but your guy turned."

"Shit. We're dying off one by one, if we don't get antizin, we'll have to make a deal with Rais."

"I'll see what I can do."

I know what I will do. I'll hoard all the antizin for myself, and make them have to work with this 'Rais', so I can finish this mission. To be honest, I don't expect anything from Kadir, he seems to have lost his mind together with his brother. The crazy, tyrant types are predictable, you take them out their little throne and they become like cornered rats, trying to bite you with no plan.

"Alright, Spike, where are the next traps?"

"You're in the safe house, right? Just follow down the road and you'll see two other cars, after that, head to the train tracks next to the warehouse."

"Got it."

I got out of the safe house and went on to climb another building. When I got on top of it, I changed the frequency and heard a cold feminine voice.

"Report."

"I know who Kadir is, and I've infiltrated one of the factions, currently devising a plan to put both the factions against one another."

"Understood."

"If you don't mind me asking, what's really on these files?"

"Just do your job, Jacob."

"I'm doing it, cold mysterious woman."

She got off the frequency. Before I deliver those files, I'll have a little looksie at them. I can study a real zombie virus, so I'll take it. From what I've heard, the Harran virus is a strain of rabies, which is a very scary and very interesting disease. While you can survive if the symptoms start showing, the protocol is very complex. The number of people who survived after the symptoms hit was minimal. And here i am, seeing an even more radical version of this disease. I'm not a medic or a virologist, but medicine has always been an interest of mine, especially diseases.

I traversed through the rooftops till i found the other car traps, which were surrounded by a big horde of zombies. And when i say big, i mean hundreds big. I still had some firecrackers on me, i just need to find some alcohol, a bottle and a piece of cloth. I dropped down from the roof onto the balcony of the house, my lockpicking kit was still on me, so i opened the door and scavenged for what i needed. I found enough material to make 4 molotovs, and so i did.

I got up on the roof once again, and i threw one of the firecrackers, which attracted the zombies and generated a big pile of bodies, so i threw one of the molotovs. After a lot of notifications, i looked at what i had received.

|+50 Power EXPx30

+50 Agility EXPx30|

This time, i threw the firecracker in the face of one of the fast zombies. You can identify them easily because they're like hyperactive kids. I waited for the infected to cluster and threw another molotov.

|+50 Power EXPx30

+50 Agility EXPx30

+70 Power EXPx7

+70 Agility EXPx7

You have leveled up on both trees. |

'Open skill tree.'

|Agility: Grapple, Slide.

Power: Multi-throw, Kick Stun. |

'Unlock Slide and Multi-throw.'

|Skills unlocked.

{Slide} LVL 01/02

Allows you to slide on any solid surface.

{Multi-throw} LVL 01/03

When holding a throwable weapon, you can lock on an enemy. Maximum of three simultaneous lock-ons.|

Sliding anywhere does sound interesting, but i don't understand what this "lock-on" entails, if it means always hitting the throws, that's an actual cheat. I'll have to find or make some throwing knives to test it. I just need some pieces of metal and a sharpening stone. I threw a firecracker, setting up to another molotov.

|+50 Power EXPx26

+50 Agility EXPx26

+70 Power EXPx10

+70 Agility EXPx10

You have leveled up. |

|Agility: Grapple, Vault, Dropkick.

Power: Melee Throw, Kick Stun. |

'Unlock Dropkick and Melee Throw.'

|Skills unlocked.

{Dropkick} LVL 01/02

You can dropkick while running, without hurting yourself on the fall.

{Melee Throw} LVL 01/01

You can throw any weapon correctly. |

'Dropkicks anywhere without the possibility to hurt yourself? Sign me up.'

I took out the second-last firecracker, and the molotov. This little strategy managed to clear the surrounding of the cars, and the horde was thinned out by a considerable amount. I decided to save the last molotov. I got down from the house, and rapidly went to the closest car, plugging the battery, while i was going to the second car, some of the zombies noticed me and started heading my way, i opened the hood of the car and connected the battery, after which i proceeded to climb on top of another building, from where i got to a higher house and saw the warehouse, so i headed there.

"Spike, I've arrived at the train tracks, what am i doing here?"

"Get to the top of the light poles and turn on their voltage boxes."

There was a stopped train on the tracks, so i got on top of it and jumped to a piece of metal connected to the pole, i saw the voltage box and switched everything on. I jumped from this of metal to the warehouse, and ran to another of the posts, i jumped to the platform again and turned the trap on.

I jumped to the wagon once again, jumped to another platform connected to the pole and switched it on, i jumped over to the wagon and did the same to the last one, but when i turned it on the powerlines went out.

"Spike, the electricity stopped working."

"Fuck, i thought that could happen. Go to the top of the warehouse, you'll see a substation nearby, go there and redirect the power to the warehouse."

"Got it."

I jumped on the wagon one more time, then jumped to the light pole and over to the warehouse, i got to the higher point of it, and saw the substation. I used the rooftops to get there, and i saw one of the distributor boxes had a blinking red light. When i tried pulling it open, i heard some movement from the power station building, and then the entrance got busted open by a big motherfucker carrying a piece of rebar.

He tried to hit me with it, but i dodged out of the way. He seemed to be slow, so i got on top of the building. I took out my molotov and threw it at him, i waited to see if he would die, but the fire went out and i received no notification. But the fire did a number on him, because i could see parts of bone and pure flesh. I jumped on top of him and hit him on the head with all my strength, which led to him falling and dropping his weapon. I picked up the rebar and started smashing his head until the notification came.

|+200 Power EXP|

"Spike, can you please tell me what the fuck was that big piece of shit?"

"I take it you encountered a goon, they're very strong and durable, but slow and dumb zombies. Did you run from it?"

"No, i killed it."

"You managed to kill a goon? So you do have some skills."

"You could say that. Another question, what are those fast zombies?"

"Those are the virals, people who recently turned. They're better at hearing and can sometimes lead hordes to you."

"Virals, huh?"

I changed the name on my notes and added the new information, adding the goons as well. I redistributed some of the energy to the warehouse, fixing the power problem. I looked to the sun setting and pulled out my radio.

"I've fixed the power."

"Good, now head to a safe house, it's getting late."

While he said that, i saw an airplane flying over and releasing an airdrop. I checked my watch and saw it was 17:30.

"I'll get that airdrop."

"Are you an idiot? You'll die if you're out there at night."

"The reward outweighs the risk."

"If you want to die, so be it."

Spike stopped speaking. And i started heading to where i saw the drop fall. I didn't deactivate my radio.

"Old man! Are you aiming to kill yourself?"

I turned my radio off and continued. The drop had fallen near the highway, so i got on top of some scaffolding and entered the highway, looking down, i saw there was a safe house near the drop. So i headed to the safe house. I got off the highway and onto a building, the safe house was a three-story house, i used the nearest house to jump to a grated window, jumped from there to the AC and onto the balcony of the house, the door was opened and the lights were out, when i checked the power box, i saw the fuses were out, so i searched for replacement, which i luckily found inside the safe zone, i inserted the fuses and the UV lights turned on, i checked the time and i had ten minutes to get the drop. I headed outside the safe house, jumped to the building i had used to get there and went to the drop.

When i got there, i saw three other survivors, who i guessed were Rais's men, they had put the drop inside a wheelbarrow. I had to get this done fast, so i pulled out my gun, i hit one on the head, other on the shoulder and the last one on the leg, i threw my table leg at the one i hit on the shoulder, took the machete of the headshotted one and stomped the two other who were on the ground. The gunshots must've alerted the horde.

|+300 Power EXP|

I opened the box and saw everything was there. I used the wheelbarrow to get the box to a place closer to the safe house, i took one of the little boxes and brought it to the top of the building next to the safe house, doing the same with all the other ones. There was no way i could hold them and bring them to the safe house, though. I went down to the airdrop box and took the straps. I went up again, passed the two straps through the handles of the boxes, and connected them like a shoulder bag.

I did the jump and got on the safe house, unstrapping the boxes. I checked the insides and none of the bottles were broken, thankfully. I watched the horde below and saw some big white zombies jumping from roof to roof, one of them saw me and tried jumping at the safe house, but the UV light made him lose his stance and hit the wall. I activated my radio once again.

"Anyone know what's the name of these white motherfuckers?"

"He's alive! You gave us quite the scare, old man."

"I said i would manage. Care to answer my question?"

"Those are what makes the night so dangerous, the volatiles. They're very fast, can rip you apart bare-handed, and will not go down even when hit by explosives."

"Is the last one true?"

"Depends on how strong the explosion is."

"Any record of a dead one?"

"Before the military evacuated, they killed some of them. But they used heavy weapons, and even then, it took a lot of bullets."

"I see."

"So, did you get the drop?"

This time it was Brecken who was talking to me.

"I did, but i got only one box of antizin."

"Thank God! You don't know how much this will help us! When the morning comes, please bring it to the Tower asap."

"Will do, good night."

I deactivated the radio. I gave them one box so i can gain their trust, but i will hide the other three somewhere.

| {First Assignment} quest has been completed.

Rewards: {Inspect} perk, {Inventory} skill.

{Inspect}

You can see the status of other beings and objects.

{Inventory} LVL 1/20

You can carry 8 items in stacks of 64. |

I looked at the boxes and used {inspect} on them.

|A box containing 28 bottles of antizin|

I wished for the box to be stored, and nothing happened. I opened the box and tried wishing for the bottles to be stored, and it worked. You probably can't store containers inside, I'll have to test this skill more. I proceeded to store all the bottles. I tried storing the boxes while they were empty, and it worked this time. Maybe a procedure so you can't store more than you're supposed to. I opened the system's menu.

|STATUS

CLASSES

TRAVEL

INVENTORY

DUNGEON-{LOCKED}

WORKSHOP-{LOCKED}

RECORDS-{LOCKED}

RELATIONSHIPS-{LOCKED}

ACHIEVEMENTS-{LOCKED}|

I opened the inventory, which made me see a big rectangle with eight squares, of which one had an antizin bottle and a number 56 on the upper right corner. I tried taking one out, and it appeared on my hand, when i tried taking more out, they appeared on the floor right in front of me. I stored them all again. The two boxes were on one of the squares as well, i would keep them there till i find a place where i could discard them. With nothing more to do, i tried sleeping through the night, but that goddamned {Narcolepsy} didn't allow me to sleep. Sadly, i wouldn't take my chances out there while these 'volatiles' were roaming around, and i had no equipment to analyze the antizin i had. With nothing else to do, i passed the night testing my skills.