Chapter 11: Echoes of the Apocalypse

The air inside the train station was thick with dust and tension. Zhao Yue stood beside me, her shotgun still smoking from the earlier fight. The bloodstains on the cracked tile floor were the only reminders of the short but decisive battle. Lu Chen lay in the corner, groaning in pain. His once-pristine suit was now dirtied with his own blood, a fitting sight for a man who thought the world still revolved around status.

I looked at the system notifications again, confirming my rewards.

[Special Reward: B-Rank Skill – Shadow Step]

[Weapon Acquired: Cursed Katana]

[+10 Stat Points Earned]

Not bad.

Shadow Step would make my movements even deadlier in combat, and the Cursed Katana was leagues above the rusted blade I had been using. As for the stat points… I needed to allocate them carefully.

I pulled up my system interface and assigned them:

+5 Strength – Every fight demanded more raw power. Zombies were evolving, and I needed to be ahead of the curve.

+3 Agility – Dodging and quick reflexes saved my life more than once. I wasn't going to let some mutant zombie out-speed me.

+2 Constitution – If I took a hit, I needed to survive. Simple as that.

As the points settled into my body, a familiar surge of warmth spread through my veins. My muscles felt stronger, my reflexes sharper. This was what true power felt like—earned, not given.

The Recording's Warning

Zhao Yue was still staring at the flickering screen that had shown the news report.

"They came from the sky," she murmured. "Not from a lab, not from a disease. But from somewhere else."

I exhaled. "This was never just a virus."

I replayed the last moments of the recording in my mind—the desperate reporter, the glowing rift in the sky, the monstrous creatures emerging from it.

Zombies weren't just evolving.

They were never meant to be zombies in the first place.

"Then what are they?" Zhao Yue asked, her voice quieter than before.

I met her gaze. "The beginning of the end."

A heavy silence settled between us. Even though the station was clear for now, I could feel the weight of something bigger pressing down on us.

Then, a sound—a low, guttural growl from deeper inside the station.

A New Threat Emerges

I tightened my grip on the Cursed Katana and took a step forward. Zhao Yue followed, her breathing controlled but wary.

The growling grew louder. Then, from the shadows near the far end of the platform, something moved.

At first, it looked like another mutant zombie. Its hunched form, elongated limbs, and pale, peeling flesh were all too familiar.

But then it turned its head—and I felt an icy chill crawl up my spine.

Its eyes were glowing.

Not the empty, lifeless gaze of a mindless corpse.

These eyes… held intelligence.

It snarled and moved. Faster than anything we had faced before.

Zhao Yue fired. The bullet struck true, but instead of staggering back, the creature dodged.

"What the hell?!" she cursed.

I activated Shadow Step. My vision blurred for a moment, and suddenly, I was behind the creature, my katana already in motion.

The blade cut deep into its back. Black, putrid blood sprayed from the wound, but it didn't collapse like the others.

Instead, it laughed.

A horrible, wet, rasping sound that sent my instincts screaming.

[New Enemy Discovered: Revenant Class]

[Warning: These creatures are highly resistant to conventional damage and capable of strategic movement.]

Shit.

The Revenant turned toward me, its mouth splitting into a grotesque grin. Then, it attacked.

Fighting Smarter, Not Harder

The battle was different from anything before. Mutant zombies were fast, but this? This was on a whole other level.

Every time I swung, it dodged. Every bullet Zhao Yue fired, it twisted its body just enough to avoid a fatal hit.

If brute force wasn't enough… then I needed to be smarter.

I switched tactics, using Shadow Step to appear and disappear unpredictably, forcing it to react to me instead of the other way around. Zhao Yue caught on fast and started aiming at its legs instead of its torso.

Finally, an opening.

The Revenant shifted to dodge a bullet, exposing its side. I activated Phantom Slash, my katana becoming a blur of deadly steel.

The blade tore through its midsection.

The creature let out a screech of pain. Before it could recover, I twisted my grip and beheaded it in one clean motion.

Its head hit the ground. A second later, its body collapsed.

[You have defeated a Revenant Class Zombie!]

[EXP +500]

[Level Up! +4 Stat Points Earned]

[Loot Drop: Unknown Crystal (???) Acquired]

Breathing heavily, I took a step back.

That was too close.

Zhao Yue exhaled sharply. "What the hell was that thing?"

"A sign," I said grimly. "That things are only going to get worse."

She didn't argue.

The Unknown Crystal

I crouched down and picked up the glowing crystal that had dropped from the Revenant's corpse.

As soon as my fingers touched it, my system reacted.

[??? Detected. Would you like to analyze?]

I hesitated only a moment before selecting Yes.

A new screen appeared:

[Item: Dimensional Fragment]

[Description: A fragment of the rift's energy. It holds traces of power beyond human understanding.]

Dimensional Fragment.

So the creatures really were from another world.

I pocketed the crystal, my mind racing. If I could figure out how to use this power…

It might be the key to surviving the apocalypse.

Zhao Yue stepped closer, looking at me. "What now?"

I exhaled. "Now, we keep moving."

She nodded, gripping her shotgun. "Lead the way."

With one last glance at the abandoned train station, I turned and stepped forward.

The end of the world wasn't just coming.

It had already begun.