The impact was dull.
Thud.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Just flesh meeting steel.
The car rolled a few feet forward… then stopped.
Sophia's voice broke the silence.
"Master—someone—what… what was that?"
Arien didn't answer immediately.
He turned off the engine.
Opened the door.
Stepped out.
The man lay on the road.
Twisted.
Broken.
Then—
He moved.
Not like someone in pain.
Like someone… remembering how to move.
A wet sound—
crrk…
His neck shifted at the wrong angle.
Blood slipped from his mouth.
His fingers dragged across the asphalt.
Scraping.
Pulling.
Trying to stand.
No scream.
No fear.
Just—
Hunger.
Sophia's voice trembled.
"M—Arien… that's not normal…"
"Stay back," Arien said calmly.
"Watch."
The man's jaw snapped open.
krrk—
Too wide.
Too wrong.
A low sound crawled out of his throat.
"Ghhh…"
A blue screen appeared.
⚠ Zombie Detected
Status: Early Reanimation
Threat Level: Low
Arien moved.
No hesitation.
The machete flashed.
SHHK—
One strike.
The skull split.
The body dropped.
Still.
✔ Zombie Eliminated
Progress: 1 / 100
Silence returned.
Sophia stared.
"…It… it was alive…"
Arien wiped the blade on the corpse's clothes.
"It was," he said.
"Now it's not."
He paused for a moment.
Looked at his hands.
"…Different," he murmured.
"Doing it for real."
Another window appeared.
SYSTEM STATUS
Player: Arien
Level: 1
EXP: 0 / 200
Attribute Points: 1
Attributes:
Strength: 10
Agility: 8
Endurance: 9
Perception: 10
Intelligence: 10
He didn't hesitate.
"Agility."
Agility: 9
Movement mattered more than strength.
Always.
Sophia swallowed.
"You… didn't even hesitate."
"You won't either," Arien said.
She looked at him.
Silent.
Waiting.
"You'll kill one," he continued.
"Then you'll understand."
A beat.
"I will," she said quietly.
They drove again.
The city had changed.
Not completely.
Not yet.
But something—
Was wrong.
Traffic lights flickered.
Sirens screamed in the distance—
Then cut off.
One by one.
Like something choking the world.
"Stop here," Arien said.
A supermarket.
Sophia frowned.
"…Crowded places are dangerous."
"Exactly."
He stepped out.
Drew the bow.
Inside—
Movement.
Bodies staggered between shelves.
Some dragged their legs.
Some crawled.
Some stood still…
Heads twitching.
Listening.
Arien took aim.
Thud.
Arrow through the eye.
✔ Zombie Eliminated
2 / 100
Another.
Thud.
3 / 100
"Sophia," he said.
"Shoot."
She stepped forward.
Hands steady.
Too steady.
She fired.
Thk—
The arrow struck.
The zombie collapsed.
A blue screen appeared in front of her.
FIRST KILL REGISTERED
Human Player Activated
She froze for half a second.
Reading.
Processing.
"…So this is it," she whispered.
"Focus," Arien said.
"Kill."
She nodded.
And moved.
Another shot.
Clean.
Progress increased.
She didn't smile.
Didn't react.
She just—
Adapted.
They moved through the store.
Step.
Aim.
Kill.
No wasted motion.
When one got too close—
Arien stepped in.
Slash.
Down.
Again.
Again.
✔ Multiple Eliminations Registered
Progress: 19 / 100
The store fell silent.
Bodies lay scattered.
Blood pooling across tiles.
Broken shelves.
Fallen carts.
Arien stood near the entrance.
Breathing steady.
Outside—
The city groaned.
Distant.
Endless.
Not dead.
Not alive.
Something in between.
He stepped forward.
Raised his weapon again—
Then—
"…Help…"
A voice.
Human.
Arien stopped.
Not surprised.
But—
Interested.
To be continued…