Seth’s phone in his hand lit up in a familiar futuristic blue.Dong![1 infectore detected within 30 feet radius.]It was typed in a simple font. Nothing fancy about it. However, the news it brought could have been more useful.Seth looked up, turning his head to the one on the passenger seat. The chain smoker was still drooling, staring at him with uncoordinated eyes. His hands folded awkwardly, trying to free himself from the seatbelt with clumsy fingers. Wade was no more.Curling his fist, Seth prepared himself to punch the hell out of the newly-turned infectore.“Help him!” Amy yelled in his ear, stopping his good intention of bravely fighting a zombie-like man.It was a good thing that he already pulled over on the side of the road, stopping the car for the time being. Of course, they needed to get out of the city as fast as they could, but they couldn’t do shit if they were dead from collidi

A vase of blue and purple flowers was on the table, complementing the pink tablecloth of the kitchen they were in. Besides that, only a little decoration was in sight.Unless, of course, Seth didn’t count the whiteboard displayed there.“Ah, that’s the mind map for my WIPs.” The Asian girl, who introduced herself as Izuka, said after noticing Seth’s odd look towards her prized possession. “I should have hide it first.”Seth looked critically, “Yes, maybe you should.” The sales girl kicked his shin under the table. “What? It looks like a murder plot to me.”Amy sent an apologetic face to Izuka, “I’m sorry. He’s very rude when he’s hungry.”“Understandable,” the Asian girl motioned towards the eggs and bacon she just brought from the pan. “I’m an aspiring author writing a fantasy sci-fi novel, you see. Being called freak is nothing

Amy was back to driving her second-hand car, leaving Seth slumped on his passenger seat, looking out the window where green trees passed by. After hours of driving, they finally arrived at Cold Spring. They just have to find someplace to stay. It would be better if they found an empty building for themselves. “What was that?” He knew what the blonde meant, but nothing came to mind, so he merely shrugged his shoulders in answer. “She called you Jet Lynx,” she said again, repeating in case he needed clearance. “I know. I heard her.” Seth exhaled noisily, tapping the window glass with the back of his forefinger. “It just doesn’t make sense.” “Why don’t you ask your dear System?” Huffing again, Seth picked up his phone. It was uncharacteristically silent. However, given their remote location from the big cities, he figured this piece was only because there was no infectore in sight. Well, except for the one locked inside the trunk.

By ‘farming,’ of course, Seth meant killing the newly-turned infectores.It was not as funny as Seth thought, but Amy would also benefit from his murder in the end. So, she had to shut her mouth unless she wanted to annoy him and make him leave her behind. And for the record, she didn’t have an abandonment issue, no matter what Seth had said.For now, she’d have to suck it and hide behind the abandoned van with Marnie. Seth, on the other hand, was busy with his hands.There were seven infectores there, including her cousin-turned-infectore, Wade. Seth said he had to kill the infectores to get his cells back. Having zero balance in the System was no fun; she knew that much. But, she didn’t think that one time thoroughly out of desperation, so Seth had to forgive her.So, with his leveled-up ‘Strength’ in the System and a knife, or dagger, to be precise, that he got from Izuka’s store, he was confident he could take all of them at the same time. However, for his big talk, Seth didn’t lo

As Amy stopped the car and ensured that Marnie was okay, Seth poured all his scrutinies into the lit-up phone in his hand. “Mind sharing with the class what Ally is?”It didn’t take long for the System to reply.[The word is pretty explanatory.]He heard the blonde girl’s snickers from his left. “It’s not funny.”“Sure it is,” she said, not sensing the dire situation.“I got nothing from it, after killing five infectores,” Seth argued.[No kill detected.]He read the words again. “Are you blind?”[Only Systemist and registered Ally can earn from killing infectore.]The System showed the same message.Seth grumbled, “Fine, I’m a Systemist, I get it. But the car I am in just killed a bunch of infectores, doesn’t that count?”[No.][Only Systemist and registered Ally can earn from killing infectore.]“Damn it,” he rubbed his forehead. “Then, what do you mean by Ally?”[Ally is a Systemist’s registered partner.][Invite 3 people to be Ally and get 9.000 cells for free.]“Huh?” Seth rerea