The Unknown Path

The road ahead seemed to stretch endlessly before Leo as he drives, the hum of the SUV's engine the only sound keeping him company. The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky in hues of orange and red, casting long shadows over the wreckage-strewn highway. The further he got from New York, the emptier the world seemed.

He gripped the steering wheel with a force from both determination and frustration, his thoughts drifting to the past few days.

Everything had gone to hell so fast.

Even in his previous life, New York had been one of the worst places to be when the world ended. The chaos, the fighting, the sheer brutality of human nature—it had all made the city a death zone within weeks. But at least then, people had a month where people could prepare before the true horrors began to emerge.

This time, that safety had lasted one day.

One.

That was impossible.

The "protection period" was supposed to give humanity time to adapt before the real threats—before the monsters and before dungeons before anything that might come. Every survivor from his past life had relied on that time to prepare, to gather resources, to form groups and establish territory.

Now?

All of that was gone, vanished like smoke in the wind.

The monsters weren't supposed to show up yet. Neither were those crimson-eyed freaks.

Leo's hands tightened around the wheel even more, his knuckles turning white. Was it just New York? Or had the entire world been thrown into chaos ahead of schedule?

He had no way of knowing.

The city was already cut off from the rest of the world—no working televisions, no phones, no internet. If he had stayed, he'd be trapped in an information blackout, blind to what was happening elsewhere.

That was why he had to leave.

Some people would call him a coward for running. Let them.

Leo wasn't trying to be a hero. He wasn't here to prove anything to anyone. His goal was survival, and right now, that meant figuring out what the hell had changed.

If other cities still had their protection period, then maybe whatever was happening in New York was an anomaly. But if the entire world had lost its protection period...

Then everything he knew might as well be useless.

He exhaled slowly through his nose, his breath loud in the quiet of the car. No—not useless. His knowledge was still valuable, even if the timeline had shifted dramatically.

And he still had his advantage.

The Diamond Chest was his greatest prize from New York. Staying any longer in that hellhole just for more chests was a waste—other survivors were bound to find them by now. The real reason he had stuck around was the protection period, to safely build strength. But if that was gone?

Then there was a better way.

Leo wasn't just relying on his old memories just to look for where loots were located. He knew the world itself. He knew where the best dungeons were, where the most valuable resources could be found. More importantly, he knew where the weakest zones were—the best places for efficient grinding.

Without a protection period, the best way to level up wasn't by hunting criminals. That was slow.

Fighting monsters and killing them would be much faster, why would he waste time looking for criminals when the monsters already arrived.

Of course, he could choose the darker path, killing civilians for experience points to level up just like those criminals, but that was not who he was, nor was it a path he would ever take.

His jaw clenched in resolve.

No, if he was going to get stronger, he'd do it the right way.

And that was why he was headed to Philadelphia.

The city wasn't as much of a death zone in his past life as New York had been, but it had its own dangers. More importantly, it had opportunities, it offered chances for growth—a weak monster zone just outside the city, a place where he could fight and level up without unnecessary risks.

He pressed the gas pedal a little harder, the engine responding with a louder hum, as if eager to reach their next destination.

One way or another, he was going to figure out what was happening to this world. And when he did?

He'd make sure he was strong enough to not just survive but thrive in whatever this apocalypse had in store.