[Detecting Host has successfully saved team member Simon Riley (Ghost) from lethal infection.]
[Reward: 5 Assignable Skill Points. Please use them wisely.]
"Skill points?"
Dominik was momentarily stunned by the sudden notification, so he quickly thought, What's going on? Why are you giving me skill points now?
[This system has many hidden missions. Host successfully rescued a team member in a moment of crisis, completing the hidden mission 'First Teammate Rescue'.]
[We hope the Host will strive to earn more hidden mission rewards and stop being timid.]
"Oh, so that's how it is..." However, when Dominik heard the last sentence, his brows furrowed, and he grumbled inwardly, You, System, shouldn't have emotions, right? What do you mean I'm timid? My priority is to stay alive. What good are points if I'm dead?
However, the System ignored his complaints. Perhaps the System couldn't understand nuance, or perhaps it simply didn't want to bother with Dominik's excuses.
Dominik stopped grumbling and opened his personal panel, finding a plus sign after each number...
[Dominik Corvinus]
Shooting: 40 [+]
Reaction: 70 [+]
Combat: 45 [+]
Luck: 95 [+]
Special Ability: None
...Dominik pondered for a moment while steering the Hilux around a burning wreck. He decided to put all five points into Luck. Now his Luck value was 100.
He was not in a hurry to improve his combat skills manually. Shooting, Combat, and Reaction could all be taught by Simon through training and the "Instruction" skill. But Luck? Luck could not be taught.
Luck cannot be explained by science, but it truly exists.
For example, before he transmigrated, Dominik had read a news report about a man who survived seven lightning strikes. Or the soldier in World War I who was saved by a coin in his pocket.
Therefore, what Dominik needed most now was Luck. The difficulty of a mission to rescue his sister in a city of over a million people—now infested with zombies—was unimaginable.
Although Luck cannot guarantee survival, it can tip the scales. It can be the difference between a jam at the worst moment and a clean shot.
Zombies only need to be aimed at properly; within twenty meters, Dominik could handle them with Simon's help...
"Alright, all the magazines are topped off."
Just as Dominik finished upgrading himself, Simon snapped the last magazine into place.
"Hmm." Dominik closed his personal panel mentally and asked, "How much ammo do we have left? We burned through a lot at the service area."
"Sigh..." Simon sighed softly. "We have 27 loose rounds left. I have 4 full magazines for the SCAR. You have 6 for the Type-56. All together, that's just over 300 rounds."
"Is that so? Why don't you use the Type-56? Ammo is easier to find. I can take the SCAR," Dominik suggested.
"No need." Simon waved his hand, adjusting his sitting posture. "I'm used to the SCAR. Muscle memory. Though, an ACR would be even better."
"ACR?" Dominik looked at Simon in confusion, then refocused on the road. "Is that also a rifle?"
"Yes." Simon took the duffel bag from the back seat, pulled out a frag grenade, tucked it into his tactical belt, and continued, "ACR stands for Adaptive Combat Rifle. It's modular, reliable. A concept from 2006 that never really saw mass adoption, but the 141 loved it."
"2006?!" Dominik's eyes widened. "That's ancient history. Why are we using relics?"
However, Dominik calmed down again.
Weren't the Type-56 he used and the SCAR-L Simon was using both essentially 20th/21st-century designs?
"What's the big deal?" Simon took out two PVS-14 night vision monoculars, then put the bag back.
"The M1911 pistol was used for over a hundred years. The AK platform has been around since 1947. Kinetic weapons peaked a long time ago. If it kills, it works."
"I see..." Dominik nodded. But he then questioned, "Um... what about railguns? Lasers? I saw them in the movies."
"Lasers?" Simon was startled at first, then couldn't hold back a dry laugh. "Hahahaha, are you stupid? Practical man-portable laser weapons are still science fiction or massive prototypes. Even the latest railguns are only found on naval destroyers, and they require a nuclear reactor to fire."
"Alright..."
Now Dominik knew what it meant to be uneducated in military tech. It seemed his video game knowledge was a bit too optimistic.
Two hours later.
Dominik and Simon, driving the battered Hilux, were approaching the outskirts of Mandalay.
The highway exit was a graveyard of vehicles. Cars were piled up against concrete barriers, evidence of a panicked mass exodus that had failed.
Looking out through the windshield, one could see the city skyline against the night sky. But it wasn't the Mandalay of postcards.
The city was ablaze. Fires raged uncontrolled in the downtown districts, casting an eerie orange glow against the low clouds, illuminating the 2 AM darkness as if it were twilight.
Simon sat in the passenger seat, looking at the distant flames reflecting in his eyes. He sighed, "I never thought... the Cultural Capital, would become like this..."
"Cultural Capital... huh?" Dominik gripped the wheel tighter.
Mandalay looked devastated. The ancient pagodas and the modern hotels were all shrouded in smoke.
The outskirts were a maze of shanty towns and new construction projects that had been abandoned halfway. The famous Mandalay Hill was a silhouette against the fire.
But even a major city was ruined by the virus in days.
"It looks like the city's power grid is down," Simon said in a deep voice. He handed Dominik a helmet mount and one of the PVS-14 night vision devices.
"Put this on. Although the fire looks bright, the streets and the interiors of the hotels will be pitch black. We own the night."
"Okay." Dominik took the device. He slowed the truck to a crawl to fiddle with the mounting straps.
This was dangerous driving, but there were no traffic police left to give him a ticket.
Because at the first major intersection, a figure in a traffic police uniform was lying on the asphalt, gnawing on something.
Upon closer inspection as they rolled past, it was a survivor who had tried to flee on a motorbike. The dedicated police officer had succumbed to the virus, turning from a guardian into a predator.