| Chapter 004 | Prologue - You Want Me To Do What?

"It has been a while..."

Strolling through the hushed streets of New York riddled with neon signboards flickering with vibrant color under the cover of dawn's shade, Everest nonchalantly remarked while the cold breeze of wind muffled alongside his crisped, cherry-tinted ears. 

The flamboyant tone of the metropolis evoke a rare feeling of nostalgia.

It has been a long time since he had laid upon a vast city unfettered by destruction and uncorrupted by the monstrous abominations that consumed humanity. 

Even the renowned fortress cities, known as Bastions, couldn't imposed the liberating sentiments exuded by the expansive cities of the modern era. There were no walls dividing them from the vicious outside world.

And no apocalypse threatened their extinction. 

The world hasn't fallen into ruins yet, perhaps I should enjoy what little time we have left to experience the world for what it is before the collapse. 

He couldn't help but entertained a frivolous thought. It wasn't an invalid demeanor, to say the least. This would be the last time where his eyes could gaze upon the skylines untouched by the tendrils of the apocalypse. 

Everest sauntered along the pavement, surrendering himself to the relaxing atmosphere of New York. It was the first time he had loosen himself to the soothing atmosphere and lowered his guard down. 

To be honest, it was somewhat enjoyable.

Hm? 

In the distance were shadowy silhouettes dawdling beneath the towering concrete buildings piercing through the gloomy, morning skies. His gaze steadily narrowed as he subconsciously reached out to a holster that didn't exist. 

Discerning that he wasn't equipped with a firearm, Everest realized that the world hasn't fallen into the clutches of the outbreak. The monstrous abominations of the apocalyptic era hadn't yet roamed the world. 

Damn...

Although he salvaged himself from becoming insane unlike the others. The apocalypse deeply affected his psyche, cursing him with post-traumatic stress disorder.

I thought they were aberrants.

The apocalyptic era molded two kinds of monstrous abominations that had consumed the world. These horrors originated from an unknown pathogen that required biological matter to actuate its plot of spreading the infection.

It was never known whether or not the pathogen was intelligent or merely followed the biological instincts embedded into its very being. However, there was one thing that was clear. It defeated humanity, the most intelligent species of earth.

The first stage of the infection was the aberrant-syndrome. When infected by the pathogen, the contagion would have their DNA altered and blended with it. These infected individuals would become monsters capable of hunting and infecting healthy hosts.

The critical factor that made them dangerous was the simple and crucial aspect of them acting like predators. These infected monsters weren't mindless beasts who hunted through sound or perception. 

The aberrants understood when to withdraw from engagements and would consistently stalked their targeted prey. These monstrous bastards wouldn't pounce on a group of survivors and would instead wait for them to separate.

Their predatory instincts made them effective in hunting pockets of survivors that had survived the first days of the outbreak. Even the military had a difficult time handling them.

Fortunately, the aberrant-syndrome had a considerable flaw. When integrated into a massive horde of 50 aberrants. The infected monsters would lose their predatory aptitude, replaced by a herd-like mentality.

Otherwise, if there was a horde of over a hundred thousand aberrants that retained their predatory features. Humanity wouldn't have lasted a few decades against these monstrous bastards.

The second stage of the infection was the mutation phase of the pathogen. When individuals infected with the aberrant syndrome bonded with each other. These amalgamated horrors would mutate to become the monstrous abominations called Mutants.

These horrifying monsters was the facet of the apocalyptic era that had brought the extinction of humanity. The mutations were random, but the mutants could be categorized into various differing types.

The classified types were armored, mobile, ordnance, aerial, and strategic.

Just from the designations alone, one can see the difficulties that the mutants have brought to what remained of humanity. It was through these monstrous abominations that even massive fortress cities known as the Bastions collapsed. 

It was no wonder humanity questioned the possibility of the pathogen housing an intelligence of some kind. 

I should clear my mind from these bothersome thoughts.

Everest sighed, shaking his head and calming his pounding heart. But as he continued his pacifying walk through the streets of New York, he walked passed a gathering of problematic individuals.

He ignored them, uncaring of their activities amidst the darkness of the morning shade. The convenience store was a few blocks away, so it might take some time for him to reach it. 

"Hey! What the fuck are you doing here?"

Before he could engrossed himself of what he may purchased in the store, a rowdy thug belonging to the group he strolled passed by, called out to him. The haughty and snarky voice attracted the attention of the gathered ruffians. 

Everest didn't pay them any heed and continued walking. Pretending that these group of trash, belonging to a bin in an alleyway, does not exist was an adequate strategy to stay out of trouble.

However, if the ruffians started approaching from behind, intending an escalation. Running was the best option to avoid harm and an interview with the cops.

But can anyone run from a gun?

"Stop walking you bitch! Or you'll eat some of my lead!"

One of the thugs took out a handgun from his sagging pants and pointed its barrel at the so-called bitch. Everest stopped moving and glanced at the group of ruffians tramping towards him.

A Glock 17 9mm Pistol, huh? Not bad...

He was someone who'd rather avoid trouble than confront it. If the other party could give him something of value, perhaps he would be willing to tackle an adversary. But if otherwise, it wasn't worth it.

Although, if his life was threatened in any way. They would have to pay the consequences of their actions. Be it a crippling beating, or death. As someone who had survived through the apocalypse, his hands had long been dirtied by the blood of others.

There's a dozen of them, two of which are equipped with a firearm of some sort. Other than firearms, the group are also be fitted with sharpened weapons such as knives.

Gazing at them with a scrutinizing gaze, Everest analyzed the group with eerie calm. Usually, he would have aimed to disarm and knock them out. Sadly, whether it'd be in arsenal and quantity. He was outnumbered.

He wasn't in the circumstance where he could dispense mercy at will. One wrong move, and he would be the one bloodied on the ground. After all, no matter how strong and experienced he was. 

Being encircled by a dozen of thugs armed with knives and firearms wasn't an effortless challenge, even for someone like him.

[ Apocalypse Quest Established! ]

Everest raised his eyebrows, swiftly understanding what the notification was all about. To think that a quest would materialized before the apocalypse, it made him wonder about endeavors he could enact prior to the outbreak.

Intrigued, he started reading the following bluish and translucent digital screen. 

[ One Versus A Dozen ]

-[ Cornered by a group of thugs armed with an adequate weaponry, the user must eliminate them to ensure his survival before the upcoming apocalypse. Required for quest completion is the termination of twelve armed thugs. ( 0/12 Armed Thugs ) ]-

-[ Rewards : 50 AXP, random skill card, 1x supply crate ]-

You want me to do what?

Even though he planned to take care of them before the emergence of the quest, it was astounding for the system directive to issue a task that would require him to murder a group of people. For now, it might be the armed thugs, but what about in the future?

System, can I decline the quest?

He inquired, wanting to know about what punishments may occur if he had rejected a quest issued by the system directive. It was better to be knowledgeable of the penalties than otherwise.

[ Sir Everest can reject any apocalypse quests issued by the system directive without any punishments or penalties of some kind. The system directive promotes the freedom of the user to ensure their survival remains an utmost priority. ]

I see... That makes sense.

The Apocalypse Leveling System was initialized to assist the survival of its user within the apocalyptic era. Punishments and penalties for quest rejections that might be too risky would undermine its main directive.

Everest recognized that he might have been too paranoid. Though, it was preferable to be cautious than not. His cautiousness was what saved him from death along with his unnatural luck.

[ Does Sir Everest wish to reject the quest? ]

Another notification materialized before him, questioning whether or not he desired to reject the quest. Since the system directive wasn't against rejection an issued quest, the answer was pretty obvious.

No, don't reject the issued quest.

I'll complete it as required.

Since he had already planned to deal with the group of thugs, the apocalypse quest recently issued by the system directive was merely an excellent bonus. 

[ Understood, Apocalypse Quest - One Versus A Dozen has been sustained! ]

The following notification of the system directive made his lips curl up. It really was great to have a system behind your back. It made him somewhat calmer than before.

Meanwhile, the thugs that encircled from all sides, smirked as they thought that he had become maddened from his unfortunate situation. It was always satisfying to see their victims break before being broken even further. 

"How about we take this to an alleyway?"

Everest suggested to the group of ruffians, who glanced at one another. They wondered if the young man went insane, but it was an acceptable suggestion. All of them were currently standing in the streets, and breaking him would attract attention. 

The thugs nodded at one another, agreeing to the proposal of the insane young man. They opened the encirclement, and led him to an obscured alleyway hidden within the metropolis that was New York. 

As they arrived within the narrow and dirty alleyway, one of the thugs pushed him into the corner and yelled at him with a crude smile.

"You crazy bastard! I'll beat you to a pulp." 

The crude bastard toyed with a broken pipe while fiercely glaring at the young man before him. It has been a while since he had beaten someone, and life has started to become boring. It appears that an opportunity has presented itself for him.

"Hey, don't kill him immediately! Save some bones for us."

A bald ruffian remarked as the others chuckled upon hearing him. The only way out from the narrow and dirty alleyway was blocked by the group of bastards. But it also made it easier for Everest.

After all, he didn't need to worry about his rear. With his back cornered into a brick wall, it was practically impossible for someone to strike him from behind. And this was enough for someone like him.

Everest leaned over the wall behind him and took a deep breath. It hasn't been long since he had returned to his past life, and he was already intending to dispose of some trashes from the world.

I guess I romanticized the modern world a bit too much.

"Huh? Are you already giving up? Here I was thinking you would give me a good time..." 

The crude bastard uttered his disappointment while looking down upon the defenseless young man. The circumstance of the poor fella was no different than an execution. But it was the cost for bothering them.

"Don't worry, I'll only cripple your arms. At the very least, you'll be able to walk right? Hehehe-"

Before he could continue chuckling, the bastard felt the cold surface of the suppressor pressing onto his forehead. Cold sweat dripped as he chocked from his own saliva. The handgun just appeared out of nowhere. He was certain that the young man didn't have any firearm.

How?

"P-Please, I- I was wro-"

The crude thug felt a slight tingle between his forehead as Everest already pulled the trigger of the suppressed Ruger. The sound, akin to a distant chime and whistle, resounded within the alleyway.

Toppling back into the ground, the crude bastard landed as a corpse, dead on arrival.