Something wants in

Emily, sitting across from Adam, let out a shaky exhale. "You see it too, right?" she asked, rubbing her temples as though trying to clear a bad headache.

Adam turned to her, nodding. "Yeah."

She swallowed hard, her fingers twitching against the fabric of her torn jeans. "I have a trait too."

Adam shifted forward, narrowing his eyes. "What is it?"

She hesitated, "It says Instinctual Survivor - it helps me react faster and heightens my senses in dangerous situations."

Adam leaned back against the couch, his mind racing. This wasn't some hallucination or panic-induced delusion. If they both saw it, then it was real.

His eyes drifted back to the status screen. Gambler's Mind. The name alone made him uneasy. A skill centered around high-risk decisions? That wasn't exactly comforting in a world now overrun by goddamn zombies.

Emily watched him carefully. "Your trait… what does it do?"

Adam hesitated before speaking, "It's called Gambler's Mind. Apparently, I can stay calm in dangerous situations and… make the best possible bets on survival."

She tilted her head. "That… sounds useful?"

"Or reckless," he answered, rubbing his face. "It means my best choices might come with risks I wouldn't normally take."

Emily gave a chuckle. "Well, considering the world's gone to hell, we're already playing a losing game. Might as well bet on something."

Adam smirked despite himself. "Sounds like something a gambler would say."

She nudged him playfully with her knee. "Maybe I just trust your odds."

His chest tightened slightly at the subtle warmth in her words, but he quickly brushed it aside. Now wasn't the time to be distracted.

He pulled up the rest of the system stats, scanning for anything useful.

[Status]

Name: Adam WrightTrait: Gambler's MindCondition: HealthySkills: [Locked]

No inventory, no weapons, no instructions on how to actually use any of this. Just a label and the implication that he'd have to figure it out on his own.

Emily was still reading hers when she suddenly froze. "Wait… look at this."

Adam turned toward her, noticing the way her face had gone pale. She swallowed hard and pointed at a small, blinking notification at the bottom of the interface.

[Tutorial: Time Remaining – 12 Hours]

A cold chill ran down Adam's spine.

"Doesn't say what happens when the time runs out," Emily murmured.

"Doesn't need to," Adam replied grimly.

They had to survive for 12 more hours.

And whatever was coming next… wasn't going to be easy.

The glowing interface remained in Adam's vision, a constant reminder that this was real, no dream, no hallucination. He swiped his fingers through the air instinctively, and to his surprise, the screen responded, expanding into a more detailed Status Window.

[Status]

Name: Adam WrightTrait: Gambler's MindStrength: 3Agility: 4Durability: 3Mind: 8Condition: Healthy

Adam frowned. His physical stats weren't impressive. Strength, Agility, and Durability all hovered between 3 and 4, which sounded decent, but without any real context, he had no idea what they actually meant. The Mind stat, though… that was 8, which was significantly higher than the rest.

"What do your stats look like?" he asked, glancing at Emily.

She hesitated before sighing. "Alright, let's compare." She pulled up her own Status Window, but since they couldn't actually see each other's stats, they had to share them verbally.

"My Strength is 3," she started.

Adam blinked. "Mine too."

Emily raised a brow. "So that's not exactly impressive then, huh?"

"I guess not." Adam had thought 3 sounded decent, but if Emily had the same score, it probably just meant average human strength.

"My Agility is 5," Emily continued.

"Huh. Mine's 4," Adam muttered. That made sense. She was more athletic than him. Maybe her Instinctual Survivor trait had something to do with that.

"My Durability is 3," she added.

"Same," Adam replied. "So, we're equally tough… or equally weak."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Way to stay positive."

Adam smirked, but his expression faltered when he saw his final stat. "My Mind stat is only 8."

Emily glanced at hers and sighed. "Mine's just 3."

That made him pause. A huge gap.

"So," he mused aloud, "Strength is likely raw power, Agility is speed and reflexes, Durability is stamina or toughness… and Mind?"

Emily thought for a while and then answered, "Maybe intelligence? Or perception?"

Adam hummed in thought. "Could also be related to willpower. My trait - Gambler's Mind, lets me stay calm and make high-risk decisions. That probably means my Mind stat plays into it."

Emily leaned back. "I guess my Instinctual Survivor must be tied to Agility. It explains why I have a higher Agility stat than you."

Adam scratched his chin. "So, your Mind stat being 3 is still normal. But mine being 8… it might be abnormal."

Emily studied him for a moment. "Maybe that's why you're so damn calm even with all this happening."

He exhaled slowly. Maybe. Or maybe he was just good at faking it.

Emily crossed her arms. "Still, we have no idea if 3 in Strength is good or pathetic. Like, is 10 the max? Or can someone have 100?"

Adam shook his head. "No clue. But if we both have 3 Strength, and we're normal… then that probably means 3 is just regular human level."

Emily nodded in agreement. "Which means we're not exactly strong. If someone has 7 or 8 in Strength… we probably wouldn't stand a chance."

Adam clenched his fists. He didn't like feeling weak.

They had 12 hours to survive, and right now, they were still figuring out the basics.

Emily exhaled and stretched out her arms. "Well, at least we know we're not completely useless."

Adam chuckled dryly. "We're not useful either."

She nudged his shoulder. "Hey, don't sell yourself short, Mr. High-Mind-Stat. You can be our strategist."

Adam rolled his eyes, but deep down, he appreciated the small attempt at lightening the mood.

For now, they had to focus on survival.

And the first step was understanding exactly how this system worked.

Adam barely had time to process everything when a sudden, violent banging shattered the tense silence of the room.

Thud. Thud. THUD.

The deep, heavy sound echoed through the air, each impact sending a shiver down his spine. His breath caught as his head snapped toward the door, heart pounding in his chest.

Beside him, Emily stiffened, gripping the armrest of her chair so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but the fear in it was unmistakable. "That's… more than one person."

It wasn't just a single knock. It was multiple. A chaotic, unrelenting pounding that made the walls seem smaller, the room more suffocating.

And instead of fading, it was getting louder. More forceful. More desperate.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

Adam's pulse quickened, a cold sweat forming at the back of his neck. His Gambler's Mind kept his panic from completely taking over, but it couldn't erase the growing unease twisting in his gut.

Something - or someone, was out there.

And it wasn't leaving.

Emily's hand instinctively darted toward her pocket, but she froze. Empty. No weapon. No protection. Nothing but the sheer terror that gripped her.

Adam clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on his knife. It wasn't much, but it was all he had. His fingers trembled slightly, the weight of the blade reassuring but nowhere near comforting. He had no idea if it would be enough.

Then, the door shook.

A deep, rattling tremor ran through the wood, as if something massive was pressing against it. The handle jiggled. The hinges groaned.

It wasn't just knocking anymore.

It was trying to force its way in.

Emily swallowed hard, her breath uneven. "Adam… we might have a problem."

Adam didn't answer.

He already knew.

The real question was:

How long before that door gave in?