^POV: Tony Miguel^
"Hey Tony, am I imagining it, or do these lectures get more boring every time?"
A tall young man with tanned skin and brown hair rubbed his temple in annoyance after the lecture ended.
"You're just too stupid to understand, that's why you're bored, Liam." I mocked him while gathering my things. There was no one left in the hall except us, the lecturer, and five other students.
{Transformation complete. Awaken, consciousness of the continent.}
[Mana integration in progress… Mana integration complete. The consciousness of the continent wishes you good luck.]
"Huh? What is this now?"
These floating words appeared in front of me before I suddenly lost consciousness and fell onto the desk.
"Help me!!"
I woke up to screams and crying all around. As soon as I raised my head, I saw the source.
The lecturer was lying on top of a student, biting his face while blood sprayed everywhere.
"Tony, hit the head! Don't hesitate."
It seemed Liam had woken up before me. He threw a metal rod toward me,I think he broke it off one of the desks.
"What is this??"
I grabbed the metal rod, then turned behind me to see a student sliding between the seats toward me. His eyes were completely white, and flesh was falling off his body as if something had exploded inside him.
{Zombie: Humans whose bodies failed to adapt to mana became corrupted and turned into grotesque zombie creatures that feel no fear or pain.The only way to kill them is by destroying the head.}
I panicked for a moment. My brain tried to process everything as fast as possible, but it wasn't fast enough.
I found myself moving instinctively and smashing the metal rod into that poor student's head.
[You have killed a Level 1 Zombie +5 XP][Congratulations, you have reached Level 1. You have 3 free stat points.]
I put my disgust and fear aside and started observing my surroundings. It took me a few moments to form a basic idea of our situation.
"Liam, let's go finish those down there first."
I decided to go along with the crazy idea forming in my head. There were three zombies left fighting another student below, so I headed toward them.
"Haaah… haaah…"
Liam grabbed a table and threw it at the zombies, causing them to fall under it before we went and crushed their heads.
I heard the notifications again but didn't pay attention to them. What caught my attention instead was the small wooden chest lying near the zombies.
[Wooden Treasure Chest: A chest containing equipment and Rank 0 skill books with a small chance to obtain Rank 1 items.]
[Do you wish to open this chest?][Yes] [No]
"Yes."
When I opened the chest, it disappeared suddenly, and in its place appeared a long wooden bow with a full quiver of arrows.
{Wooden Bow Rank-1A failed magical bow made from mana-conductive ebony wood, but unfortunately crafted by an incompetent blacksmith.}
[Quality: Common][Effects: +5 Agility]
"Hah… this is getting crazier every second, Liam."
I couldn't find any explanation for how such a large bow fit inside that small chest or how the chest disappeared as if it never existed.
Things got even stranger when Liam found what were called skill books.
"Liam, let's see what's outside."
After learning one of those skills, I couldn't hold myself back from trying it. Liam and I went out into the corridor to help the survivors.
Back to the present — Day 7 since the transformation
"Damn it… how did this grass get this tall?"
I cut through the grass, which had already reached my chest, using a sword Michael took out from his bracelet.
"Stop complaining already, we haven't even reached the park yet." I heard Liam's mocking voice behind me. This bastard could make jokes now.
"Enough messing around, both of you. We've arrived."Michael interrupted and pointed to the park ahead.
Honestly, I don't know if it's still correct to call it a park anymore. This place looked more like a cursed rainforest.
"Be careful."
The grass surrounded us from all directions. I heard a rustling sound from ahead, so I activated my skill immediately just in case.
{Hawk Eye – Rank-0By focusing mana around the eyes, the user gains dynamic vision of the surroundings, with the ability to zoom in and see farther than normal. A basic skill for scouts.}
[Quality: Rare][Mana Cost: 1 MP / 2 min][Cooldown: N/A]
"There's a mutated field rat hiding in the grass ahead."
I warned the others, put the sword aside, took out my bow, and slowly placed the arrow.
I pulled the string with all my strength, held my breath, and aimed—
Whoosh
With the sound of the arrow cutting through the air, it struck the rat directly in the eye, entering its brain and turning it into mush. A kill notification appeared, but I ignored it and distributed my points without hesitation.
Name: Tony MiguelLevel: 5 {50/200 XP}[Class: N/A][Mana: 26][Strength: 14][Endurance: 10][Vitality: 10][Agility: 16 (+5)][Intelligence: 14][Skills: Basic Archery (Lvl 2), Hawk Eye (Lvl 1)]
"Good job, Tony. You didn't give the poor rat any chance to scream or express its pain."
Michael praised my shot. Honestly, I couldn't understand this man. Sometimes he was easygoing and pleasant, and other times he became cold and authoritarian, refusing any questioning of his authority.
Honestly… I don't know why, but I like that. I guess he has what people call a leader's aura or something.
"Hey, come over here."
I checked the rat's body for loot. The corpse was about one and a half meters long and around one meter tall, but the notable thing about it was its claws—they were blood-red.
"What the hell is this?"
When the others arrived, they were shocked by the condition of the body. Aside from my arrow stuck in its eye, the corpse had no tail and no hind legs, and the claw marks at the cuts matched its own claws.
"This rat had already reached Rank 1. If we had met it before it was injured, it would've been a big problem to fight." Michael said.
When he said that, I remembered the notification I had ignored earlier:
[You have killed Blood Rat Tier-1 Level 12 +120 XP]
"What made this Blood Rat reach this state?" Sean muttered, making everyone uneasy.
"No use thinking about that now. All we need to do is cross the forest."
Michael broke the tension and brought the team back on track. I nodded in agreement and handed him the metal chest that dropped from the rat, and he stored it in his bracelet.
"Finally… no more of this damn grass."
I muttered out loud when we finally reached the forest. Trees four meters tall were common here.
"The surroundings are quiet… no, too quiet. Something is wrong."
Even after fifteen minutes of moving deeper into the forest, we didn't encounter anything. The only sounds were the wind and rustling leaves.
"How long do you think it'll take us to cross this forest?" Liam asked.
"To reach the other side, we need to cross about one kilometer in this direction, then we'll reach the mechanical engineering building directly." Michael pointed.
"Where did all that silence go?"
With every step forward, the sound of fighting grew louder.
"Michael, should we continue?"
With my skill activated, I could see a terrifying black snake at least eight meters long and three meters wide wrapped around a massive red pitbull.
The snake was strangling the dog, while the dog struggled desperately to escape. Bite and burn marks were clearly visible on the snake.
"Let's wait and see. If they're heavily injured after the fight, we can finish both and be the final winners." Yu-Min suggested.
I liked his idea, so I agreed.
Michael accepted the plan, and we moved closer until the scene became clear.
"Both are Rank 1. A Burmese python, Level 13, and a fire-type pitbull, Level 11." Michael used his skill to analyze them.
"Let's wait until the dog is exhausted, then Tony shoots both of the snake's eyes, and we all attack with everything we have." Michael explained the plan, making a few adjustments until it became almost perfect.
"Tony, now."
As soon as the dog stopped resisting, I released the arrow already prepared and shot the snake's right eye, then quickly loaded another and shot the left. The snake started thrashing violently.
"Nice job, Tony."
Michael gave me a thumbs-up before everyone rushed forward. Sean and Yu-Min charged the snake, while Liam and Jean went for the pitbull. Michael and I supported from a distance.
"Tony, focus on the pitbull. I'll help them with the snake."
Michael started throwing fireballs while Yu-Min performed a strange sword dance, releasing a mana blade that almost split the snake in half. Sean coated his axe with mana and finished it, cutting the snake cleanly in two.
On the other side, the pitbull was in an even worse condition and was already on its last breath when Jin finished it quickly.
"Tsk… good job. You guys made this look easy."
Unfortunately, the dog didn't drop anything. The only loot was a metal chest from the snake.
"Don't you think something feels strange?" Jin finally spoke.
"What do you mean?" Sean asked.
"Look here… and then there. Do you see the difference?" Jean pointed.
The contrast was clear. One side looked like heaven—peaceful and beautiful—while the other looked like hell, with broken trees, blood everywhere, and the sounds of monsters from all directions.
"This is strange… it's like something is preventing creatures from fighting over there." Michael said.
"Do you want to go back and investigate?" I asked, curiosity burning inside me.
"No. Like they say, curiosity killed the cat. We stick to the plan." Michael refused immediately.
"Fine… are you going to open this or not?"
I changed the topic and pointed at the metal chest.
"Not now. We need to leave first. The smell of blood might attract monsters."
He stored it, and we continued moving.
"Wait… do you hear that?"
After half an hour of walking, I heard rustling leaves. I turned to warn the team
And suddenly
A burning pain struck my neck…