Chapter 001: Deadly Game, Zombie Invasion!

Company Diamond Valley.

"You fool, you worthless scum, don't you know how to act like a decent human being?"

Memphis Jackman stood in front of the director's desk, his head bowed, eyes fixed on his shoes, silently enduring the stream of vulgar curses. If it weren't for the 3000 USD monthly salary, he would have long since stormed up and kicked that idiotic fat man.

His director, Lionel Hester, was a hybrid between a hippopotamus and a wild boar. Clearly, Diamond Valley was a scam company, yet he demanded that Memphis Jackman do upright and legitimate work.

Like a brothel forcing its prostitutes to build a temple for chastity.

Of course, Memphis could do it, but the righteous tasks he performed were just to cover up for the other idiots in the company, allowing them to reap the benefits.

If those idiots were also only getting 3000 USD like Memphis, he wouldn't have cared. But they were getting 10,000 USD. Wasn't this a blatant exploitation of him? Clearly, their skills were equal, so why was he receiving such a low compensation?

Because of the income disparity, he decided to trick a lucrative contract. He thought he would be rewarded with a commission, but the fat and foolish director scolded him so harshly that he couldn't even wipe his face.

The scolding had already lasted over 10 minutes.

'It's because you all are oppressing me...' Memphis gritted his teeth and cursed silently in his heart, but he didn't dare say those words out loud.

This scam company had some very strong security guards, and he had suffered a few times already, which made him a bit fearful.

The fat director vented for a while longer, then panted heavily from exhaustion. He reached out to press the red button on the desk, and immediately there was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

The director spoke gently to the person outside, then immediately changed his attitude, growling at Memphis:

"Get out and go revise the contract for me."

Memphis hurriedly bowed, putting on a servile face, quickly agreeing and then turning to leave.

"The boss called for me..."

At that moment, the door opened wide, and a soft, supple figure walked in. It was the director's secretary, Amanda Owens. As Memphis and she passed by each other, he caught a whiff of her enchanting fragrance, mixed with an indescribable allure. This made him swallow a bit of saliva involuntarily, but he didn't dare lift his head to look at her, just holding his breath to suppress the reaction in his groin, and quickly walked out.

The secretary belonged to the director; if he dared to harbor any thoughts, especially right here, he would surely get beaten up.

"Damn it, if only I had some power too..."

Memphis could only feel envious in his heart. As he stepped out and closed the door behind him, he caught a glimpse of the director's hand reaching under Amanda Owens' skirt, accompanied by her coquettish voice.

That woman's moans were enough to make one's bones melt. Ha ha, Amanda wasn't anything special. That haughty look she gave him just now—she ought to look at herself in the mirror first.

As Memphis walked back to his office, fantasizing about obscene scenes, a harsh voice suddenly rang out beside him:

"Memphis, have you gathered enough money yet?"

Memphis hurriedly turned to the side, unaware of when two burly men had been standing ready for him in the hallway.

Memphis, his face pale, suddenly softened his voice to plead:

"Mr. Leyton, I just made a payment a few days ago. You know, my company doesn't pay salaries for another three days. Can you possibly give me a little more time?"

Kieron Leyton was a security guard at Diamond Valley. Memphis had borrowed 10,000 from him, or rather, borrowed it for his best friend to do business. As it turned out, this so-called best friend gambled away all the money and then disappeared, leaving Memphis to bear the debt alone. Memphis had been paying 1,500 a month, but after four months, the principal amount remained the same.

Furthermore, he had to pay interest with slaps.

Kieron cracked his knuckles, his large frame pressing forward as he growled:

"Don't mess around. This month, you pay me 2,000."

Memphis nearly fainted at this. 2,000? How could he manage his expenses with only 1,000 left?

But fearing the other man's imposing strength, he could only exhale and say:

"Yes, Mr. Leyton, I understand."

Kieron glared at Memphis, his voice low and cold:

"Don't think you can fool me. If you don't pay in full, I'll make your life worse than death."

Memphis felt a chill in his heart but didn't dare to retort. He could only nod repeatedly and hastily return to his office.

He opened his computer, intending to tidy up some work. Just then, a voice of doubt sounded beside him:

"Memphis, what are you doing?"

The sudden arrival of the speaker startled Memphis. Seeing that it was Jonny Byrne, his colleague from the next desk, he angrily replied:

"Of course, I'm working. What's the matter?"

Jonny Byrne scratched his head slowly, saying:

"I don't understand some points in the contract. I wanted to ask you about them."

Memphis gritted his teeth. This guy had asked several times already and still forgot. He irritably glanced at Jonny and slowly said:

"I'm busy with work from the director. I'll help you later."

Jonny, seeing Memphis's unpleasant attitude, didn't mind too much. He nodded in thanks and turned back to his desk.

Memphis muttered a few curses. This company was full of idiots.

He returned to his seat, opened a message, and sent a text to his cousin:

"Don't wait me for dinner."

His cousin, Jarred Lawton, was the son of Ishmael Lawton - his big uncle on his mother's side. Jarred had just turned 18 this year and had come to the city to prepare for university exams, aiming for the military school of the third military zone. He was staying at Memphis's apartment.

At that moment, the sky outside the window suddenly darkened, and a storm, along with thunder, erupted, causing the windows to shake. Memphis was first stunned, then, feeling a premonition, looked up at the sky.

There, a gigantic skull had appeared from nowhere. The skull, surrounded by swirling black clouds and lightning, seemed to stretch from a distant void, taking up half the sky.

Memphis's face froze in terror. What... what the hell was that?

Before he could think further, the skull opened its enormous mouth and spoke in a booming voice that seemed to pierce through his eardrums:

"Lowly ants, your days of leisure are over. From today, I will make you taste my wrath. Get ready to face my fury, join my game, and make me pleased, ha ha ha ha..."

As soon as the skull finished speaking, countless beams of light shot out from its eye sockets, entering the atmosphere from different angles. Memphis's eyes widened as he watched one beam head straight for him, hitting the top of his head with no chance to dodge.

Immediately after, a mechanical, emotionless voice echoed in his mind:

"Countdown 3… 2… 1… The game begins!"

With the end of the countdown, Memphis's entire body suddenly trembled, and in the next moment, a vast amount of information was crammed into his head.

"Host Memphis Jackman - Purebred Human.

Occupation: Commoner.

Level: 1 (Exp 0/5)

Strength: 7/10

Agility: 6/10

Stamina: 7/10

Intelligence: 9/10

Recovery: 7/10

Resilience: 7/10

Burst: 2%

Active skills: None

Passive skills: None

Skill points: 0

Potential points: 0

Equipment: Baseball bat"

Memphis finally regained his train of thought. At first, he was stunned, and then a surge of fear quickly rose within him.

What the hell just happened, and what are these pieces of information?

He looked at his hands, and somehow, a heavy black baseball bat had appeared, with a blood-red skull pattern on its tip.

What kind of freakish object is this?

"Kheeze... Heh heh..."

Before Memphis could think further, a chilling hissing sound echoed beside him. He quickly turned to see a rotten, pus-filled face with a mouthful of slimy white teeth slowly biting towards him.

"Damn it! Hughie, what's wrong with you? Get away from me."

Memphis recognized the owner of the rotten face. It was Hughie Kyle, his colleague, just a few seconds ago!

However, this colleague seemed to have lost all sense, moving instinctively towards him, trying to bite Memphis's neck with his white teeth.

Terrified and horrified, Memphis kicked out, sending Hughie Kyle sprawling to the floor.

But the person seemed to feel no pain, clambering back up to continue the attack, with no trace of clarity in his dull eyes.

Seeing this, a word involuntarily appeared in Memphis's mind: Zombie!

Hughie had turned into a zombie.

A zombie just like in the movies and novels.

"Aah... Help..."

A cry for help came from Memphis's right. He glanced over to see his colleague Jonny, also holding a black baseball bat, using it to block a bloodied mouth.

Jonny was being attacked by Hector Duffy, who had also turned into a zombie.

Without time to think too much, Memphis quickly recalled the zombie novels he often read, making a swift decision: Kill the zombie Hughie. And above all, don't let him bite.

Even though he had never witnessed it in real life, the consequences of being bitten by a zombie were clear. That outcome was extremely dangerous and could even result in him turning into a zombie.

"Hughie, I'm sorry, I want to live."

Whack!

Memphis swung the baseball bat forward, hitting zombie Hughie's chest. Hughie's body, seemingly long decayed, collapsed inward at the chest, flying against a wall.

Despite such damage, the zombie felt no pain, quickly bouncing back and charging at Memphis like a maniac.

"Maybe the head is their weak point!"

Memphis quickly came to a conclusion, the baseball bat whooshed once more, striking the zombie's temple.

Thud!

A horrific cracking sound echoed. The zombie Hughie, hit by that swing, had its forehead shattered, revealing a dark, sticky substance oozing out from the inside. With its skull broken, Hughie immediately collapsed like a robot out of battery, falling to the floor, utterly lifeless.

As soon as he fell, two more zombies appeared from behind: Gustavo Cramer and Miley Cramer, the twin siblings with rotting, pus-dripping faces who, just half a minute ago, had been Memphis's colleagues.

His eyes widened, forgetting the fatigue in his arm, he stepped forward and swung the bat at Gustavo Cramer's skull, smashing it to pieces.

"Kheezee..."

Miley Cramer, seeing her brother being killed, felt no sorrow and still instinctively lunged to bite. Memphis, having just struck a blow, didn't have time to retreat, and could only bend down to dodge, getting hit in the back by Miley Cramer's hand.

Ugh!

He groaned in pain; the zombie's monstrous strength was comparable to a punch from an adult human.

Suppressing the nauseating pain, Memphis jabbed the baseball bat upwards from below, with a thud, shattering the zombie's jaw.

But such an injury was not enough to kill it, only exposing a maw filled with half-red, half-black mushy flesh, its tongue grotesquely mutated, bristling with flesh and teeth. Memphis stifled his nausea and swung the bat, smashing Miley Cramer's head.

"Aaahhhh..."

Just as he finished off the three zombies, a painful, agonized scream from Jonny rang out from the table beside him.

Memphis hurriedly looked over, only to see the zombie Hector Duffy grabbing Jonny's arm, its sharp teeth biting off a piece of flesh, chewing and swallowing it.

Without thinking much, he quickly grabbed the baseball bat, leapt onto the table, and swung down from above, smashing the zombie's head, sending blood and flesh flying.

Hector Duffy was dead too.

"Aaaah. Hurts... hurts so much, Memphis, save me."

Jonny collapsed to one side, clutching his arm, his face pale with pain, tears and snot streaming down.

Memphis was about to rush over to help him but felt a shiver in his heart, turning to run towards the door.

Click... Click...