The sky was cloudy as the day darkened. There was a distant hoot from an owl as the soft evening breeze rustled the leaves of the trees in the forest. Gentle ripples formed over the lake which laid at the opening of the forest. At that moment, everything was calm and mysteriously beautiful. Then, the peace was broken. "Please! Don't一 mmph!" a terrified girl screamed but her mouth was covered by a big calloused hand. As she struggled to break free, a hard, muscled arm wrapped around her body. The petite girl was no match to the man's strength. Tears streamed down her face as the group of men held her firmly immobile and dragged an unwilling lanky man towards the lake. As the girl continued to struggle, the bald man leaned in and whispered into her ear, "Shush! You know it has to be done. Adam is already doomed. No one can save him now." "Yeah, Clara. Hush now. Unless you want to doom us all!" another man growled lowly at the girl as he helped a tan-looking middle-aged man drag the

The light was blinding and it felt like Jared’s body was floating, or rather, it felt as if his body had been swaying or moving. He felt drained, and his legs ached slightly as his body continued to sway.‘Am I in water? Why do I feel so weightless? How long have I been here?’ Jared thought.Then, after what seemed like an eternity, the bright, white light began to fade, and visuals set in. Fallen leaves crunched under his black sneakers as he sauntered along a pathway.Jared looked around and saw that he was in a park that was very close to the local shopping mall. It was about a thirty minutes walk from his house. Although it was fairly close, Jared had not been to the park in ages due to the pandemic that had started late in the year 2019. As Jared walked, he noticed that the terrain and the cherry-colored benches were exactly as he remembered.Just seeing the jogging pathways and man-made pond brought many fond memories of the fun times Jared had had with his friends and schoolmat

[A couple of days later一 12th June 2021, Saturday...]“Hello, everyone. It’s Jared and welcome back to World Crafter! Whoa! The super chat is already going like crazy here when I have not even entered the game. Thank you so much for the support and let’s get into it.”Jared adjusted his headphones and checked on the audio settings.“Can you guys hear me and the game sounds clearly?” Jared asked and read the upcoming messages. It was difficult for him to read a single sentence as the messages kept flooding in.“Okay, hold up. I can’t read any of the messages here. Let me activate the slow mode for the chat… Ah, there we go,” Jared said as he began to read the messages that were slowly popping in.“Ah, so you guys can hear me. Okay, say hello to Clara from… Nation 3…?” Jared tilted his head at that message in mild confusion and read on only to realize that many of the viewers were saying almost the same thing.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[A little more than three months later--- 19th September 2021, Sunday…]Despite the quiet early morning, the recreational area was fairly noisy. The few patients who did come were either suffering from insomnia or boredom. None of the nurses and doctors were up and about yet. There were only a couple of orderlies who bore the burden of monitoring the interactions amongst patients- in case there was ever a brawl though it was quite unlikely in most cases as everyone seem to be entirely in their own world.‘Then again, only the non-destructive patients are allowed to roam about the facility during most hours of the day,’ Jared thought to himself as he turned to face the barred windows that were about six feet away.‘When will I ever get out of here?’ Jared wondered and sighed as he saw a bird glide effortlessly across the clear blue sky.“Hey! Are you going to daydream over there? We’re in the middle of a game here, you know!” “Ah… Right… I’m sorry, Louis…” Jared answered sheepishly as

Warning:This chapter contains slightly disturbing descriptions of violence and gore that might be uncomfortable for certain readers. Please read at your own discretion.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Is that man... I mean... Look at his injuries... He can't be alive, right?" Samatha asked. "This is not normal..." Jared mumbled in disbelief as he backed away from the window. "He is the undead," Louis replied solemnly. Feeling a wall behind him, Jared leaned against it and slide down onto the cold, tiled floor. "You mean a zombie? That's a joke, right?" Samatha asked. "Unfortunately, that's the reality of our situation. That's a zombie and the apocalypse is upon us."“I… Hah…” Samantha looked outside the window toward the zombie-- who was now joined by a couple of others that were of similar