That afternoon, Carter closed his convenience store early, feeling a little bit unwell. His house was a one bedroom apartment with kitchen and toilet situated in the suburbs of the city.
He was doing quite well himself, having gotten a Toyota Corolla a week ago and planning to move into a larger house.
Click!
Closing the door to his bedroom, he sprawled on the bed. A relaxed smile spreading across his face.
As he slowly succumbed to sleep, a slow chilly sensation jolted him awake. To his horror, his room had turned blood red due to the change in the clouds.
An oppressive feeling pressed down on him as he felt his heart struggling to beat.
"Haah...Haah" Panting heavily, he watched in stunned silence as the redness retreated.
'W—what was that?' He thought.
His mind shifted, trying to make sense of what that was. But all he could piece out was that this was the start. And he was right.
Skreee!
A wailing shriek tore through the silent neighborhood, sending goosebumps through Carter's body.
Gathering courage, he peeked through the window and witnessed the chaos lounging outside.
People were screaming and running about, their faces full of horror. At least the same ones were screaming. Soon he noticed that among them a few had long nails and hollow white eyes while hopping on the sane humans around them.
A man stumbled to the ground and immediately jumped to his feet despite his sprained ankle to flee from his pursuers. Unfortunately, he was too slow.
Bam!
A Zombie jumped on him and viciously bit off a sizable chunk of his neck. Together, they collapsed onto the ground as more Zombies gathered until they fully covered him. By the time they moved away, what was left was mangled flesh dripping with blood attached to a human skeleton.
Carter watched in horror as several of these scenes were playing out with those unfortunate souls on the road.
'Zombies'
'Sister'
'No...'
A quiet whisper echoed in his mind and suddenly, his trembling eyes and arms calmed. His face now had a cold expression as he regarded them silently.
Now completely rational, or perhaps not, he walked to his kitchen and picked a long knife. Sheathing it in a leather pouch, he tied it to his thigh before grabbing at a few materials like a wooden baton and a police bulletproof from the old resident's store room.
Now ready, he looked himself up in the mirror. His hair was jet black and neatly combed, something he earned from his mother. It was the same as his characteristic purple eyes.
'Sister... I have to find her. She schools at the third sector in the next city.' He thought. 'If I go by car, it would take me a few hours but-'
His car had turned into a load of crap from all the chaos. Two other cars had crashed into it, making it looked like a deformed chewing gum.
Bzzz
Suddenly, a soft buzzing sound entered his ears and his muscles tensed involuntarily.
Crash!
A wasp the size of a dog broke through the window and charged at him with its stinger poised like a warrior's spear.
Carter's eyes widened and his body moved before he could think, rolling out of it's range by a hair's breath.
'Holy! Now a giant wasp?'
His calm face cracked slightly as he narrowly dodged another attack by a desperate backflip. Seeing an opening, he whacked his baton against the beast's neck.
Unsurprisingly, he was thrown back violently as his arm muscles cramped.
'Damm the hard shell!'
Hurling a curse internally, he fell to his knee. Luckily, he had successfully dodged the beast's deadly strike, barely escaping the maw of death.
Skreee!
The wasp shrieked in anger as it's first prey was annoyingly persistent at staying alive. It flew around his body and then dived straight with it's stinger ready to stab and it's maw poised to cut the head from the neck.
Slice!
Thud!
...
...
...
...
"Haah, haah, haah"
Carter's rough breathing reverberated through the room as he sank into the soft rug. The wasp's carcass lay beside him with a knife lodged in it's throat. Black blood kept flowing from the wound and staining Carter's clothes. He had gambled on pure luck as he had thrown himself forward before it could reach him and lodged his knife into the neck.
'I killed it'
He was extremely delighted. Having realized he had a chance at killing these new species on earth. Even if it was less than 1%. But all that mattered was that he had survived.
For now.
Only later did he notice the gold translucent screen at the edge of his vision.
[Lucky Kill Acquired: Mutated Wasp]
[Rewards: A Skill Scroll and a Level One Evolved Crystal]
[Please check the Corpse for the Evolved Crystal and Scroll]
He blinked slowly, making sure he wasn't hallucinating. Seeing that the Screen was still there, he raised his hand to touch it only for it to pass through without any contact or change.
'This is... quite an unsettling surprise'
He thought. Unlike others who would have jumped in joy at the thought of having a 'system', he was quite rational and knew that all what was happening must have been a result of someone's work. And he hated being manipulated.
Very.
'But, I must use it if I want to have a chance at fighting back. For my sister. And for myself.'
The thought made him sick yet it strengthened his resolve.
"Now let's check this out.."
He got up from the floor, dragging the wasp's carcass beside him. Its body twitched faintly as he dug into its tough exoskeleton, aiming for the head. Eventually, buried just beneath the surface of its forehead, he uncovered a thumb-sized white crystal—perfectly smooth, untouched by the viscous black blood around it.
[Level One Evolved Crystal]
[Use: Spinning a Crystal Wheel]
'Okay… what the hell is a crystal wheel?'
He stared at it for a long moment, uncertainty clawing at his gut. Whatever was going on… this wasn't just random events. Someone—or something—had planned this.