Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Seth’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 colliding with a lamp post, now was it?
“Are you out of your mind? Do you want him to eat your brain?”
“But you can’t kill him! You have to promise me!”
“And why would I?”
“Rrrraaaaawwwhh!”
Their bickering was cut short, and heads turned to the source of that disturbing sound. Wade had completely lost all of his consciousness. Now, he was nothing more than a rotten shell of himself. Seth sent a look at Amy, “See that?”
The home décor sales girl smiled sheepishly. “What are we going to do then?”
“Grrrrr!”
Wade, the infectore, shot his hand, almost hitting Seth in the face. Fortunately, he got a pretty good reflex that enabled him to escape the assault.
In retaliation, he pulled a fist and punched Wade straight in his nose. The infected chain smoker groaned but didn’t deter his will to claw Seth’s face off. Amy’s panicked scream became a background he didn’t want. However, Marnie’s uncharacteristically silence was a little bit worrying.
He glanced at the back seat and found that the six-year-old kid was pressing herself against Amy’s body, trying to bury her face in her armpit. At least she was no longer crying her lungs out.
“Seth!”
Amy’s call startled him. He didn’t see Wade’s follow-up attack, but the sales girl was quick enough to stop the newest infectore from whacking his head.
“Do something!” She said hurriedly, still holding Wade’s flailing hand in her grasp.
Seth fiddled with his phone. He had punched an infectore, kicking him until he was nothing more than a dead body, unmoving through his beating. However, he couldn’t risk that with Wade. Amy had asked him to not kill her cousin.
However, it wasn’t an order he would obey because he wanted to. He didn’t want to be on the car owner’s bad side. Frankly, walking for a hundred miles was on his agenda any time near.
So, while Amy was using all her might to keep Wade in his seat, Seth went to browse the System’s shop. The buyable items were categorised on one page, while the unbuyable items were on the other, displayed in faded fonts as it showed the requirement levels and how many cells they cost.
“Damn it, you used all the cells I got. I can’t find anything of use.”
[Shop]
[Dummy Mask: A fashionable mask of fine fabrics and medicated layers. Protect the user from air pollution, airborne viruses, and unwanted displays of ugliness.
Side Effect: Extreme dryness for the user’s face.
Required Level: 1
Cost: 280 cells.]
[Baby’s Knife: Small butcher knife that can easily cut bones.
Side Effect: Due to its slippy hold, the probability of the user cutting is 35%.
Required: 1
Cost: 290 cells.]
[Sleeping Bug: A sleeping bag that guarantees the user to get the equivalent of 1 hour of rest within 15 minutes of usage.
Side Effect: 50% probability of having a wet dream.
Required Level: 1
Cost: 300 cells.]
[Hot Spray: A spray from pepper-infused water and a secret ingredient to expel annoying coworkers or pesky bugs.
Side Effect: It can cause sharp pain in the eyes and respiratory organs and cause an involuntary napping time for half an hour.
Required Level: 1
Cost: 300 cells.]
Any other items in the System’s shop were off-limits. Seth clicked his tongue in annoyance. Nevertheless, he decided that he could use one of the items to get full advantage.
[Purchase Hot Spray for the cost of 300 cells?]
Clicking on the icon, he sacrificed his last cells for it. What else could he do? It was this or close fighting with an infectore. For all of his nonchalance to death just earlier at noon, he didn’t fancy an event where he was turned into a zombie-like creature that craves brains.
[Purchase succeeded.]
[Balance: 70 cells.]
The same space vagina – the Goury Hole – appeared again. This time it hovered in front of him. Not wanting the same bad experience to happen again, Seth quickly shoved his hand through the dark abyssal hole.
It didn’t take more than a second for his fingers to touch something. Upon pulling it back, he saw that a bottle of what appeared like pepper spray was in his hand.
[Thank you for your purchase.]
[Please enjoy the discount of 10% for your next purchase by using the code ‘thankyouuou’.]
“Graaaaaagh!”
With renewed energy, Wade swatted Amy’s hands away. Somehow, he managed to snap the seat belt off and turned around to strike at his cousin. Amy managed to duck but forgot about the little girl sticking to her body.
Marnie shrieked when blunt nails clawed at her cheek. She cried again out of horror and terror.
Seth’s eyes widened at the realisation. He quickly figured out how to open the spray and directed it at Wade, the infectore.
“Ghrrooooaaarrghh!”
All hell broke loose, but it didn’t last long.
Promised by the System’s promotion, it was true that with only one direct spray to Wade, the infector’s face caused an immediate effect. Wade’s scream was full of agony, but within one minute of flailing, wild arms and uncontrolled need for a bite, he slumped down on his seat. Sleeping sound.
“That was easy,” Amy commented.
Seth raised an eyebrow. “Can we dispose of the body now?”
“No!”
Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
100 Systems Invasion 12. What Trap?
Seth tightened his long fingers around the steering wheel of Amy’s second-hand car and breathed deeply through his nose.Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-dooBaby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-dooBaby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-dooBaby SharkHe would have closed his eyes and banged his head against the wheel just to make the song end, but that would mean he had to sport a bump on his handsome forehead. Not that anyone agreed to it, but he was particularly confident that he was, at least, handsome enough to get a girlfriend.Ex, now. Sarah Dickson was nothing but a former lover. Hopefully, she was turned into an infectore, so he had a reason to kill – maim her. He wanted to get payback for that punch.There was no traffic, but the road was full of turns and hills. He had never visited Cold Spring, but he figured depending on the one and only maps he found in his phone was good enough. Hopefully, they didn’t go in the
100 Systems Invasion 13. Cheat Sheet
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
100 Systems Invasion 14. The Looming Death
Seth didn’t always spend time watching TV; he was more of an outdoor boy. He liked to play, pretending to be a hunter in the wild, flaunting his slingshot at everyone he passed.His late father had made it for him, saying he had to train with it first before he’d take Seth on a real hunt when he was in high school. Sadly, he passed away before that.After that, Seth spent his day lazying about. Sleeping late and waking up at noon. Then he plays a puzzle game on his phone or watches cat videos online.So, when Amy said, “It’s like we’re in a game where participants are given big money to spend on a limited time,” Seth didn’t know what she meant.All he knew was that the infection was spreading and the infectore could be anywhere close. They had to get their supplies and move fast.“Shit, what do you want? Fanta or Sprite?”Seth halted dumbfoundedly on his step. “Serious
100 Systems Invasion 15. Feeding Zombie-likes
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.
100 Systems Invasion 16. The Witness of A Killing Spree
She saw them.She saw them get killed while she did nothing.She saw the life drained out of his eyes, and her eyes, and their eyes all over the short course of five minutes.She heard the footsteps of the murderer as he stumbled on his uncoordinated feet; only one ragged Converse covered the ashen feet.She felt a tight knot form in her chest, witnessing this mass murder done by her very own dear cousin. Something she knew he could do but never thought of seeing it with her own two eyes.Wade killed six innocent people, and he didn’t even stop to consider that this was wrong. That he was wrong, and they were not. He moved on, cracking their skulls open and eating their brains out.He ate their brains like nothing had happened.But she knew it had happened. Her eyes couldn’t betray her. She wasn’t dreaming, nor was she hallucinating. The rasping of the heavy metal-loving man’s final breath and the crimson blood
100 Systems Invasion 17. Farming Corpse
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
100 Systems Invasion 18. The More Brains He Ate…
Seth was about to get his hand on a signed, limited edition CD album of Queen when he heard loud footsteps from the front.He turned to see Marnie hiding between one of the seats and a questionable furry blanket. “Where’s Amy?”“She’s out,” the six years old said, showing her missing teeth to him. “The strange man is here too.”Fingers wrapped around his metal baseball bat, Seth carefully went to the front, seeing that Amy was far too close to Wade, the infectore. He didn’t know that the blonde salesgirl was this suicidal. Though, he should be picking the signs up from the night they spent together.After all, it wasn’t like she offered a ride and tagged along with him just to win a bet, was it?Oh. She did that, alright.“What are you doing?” Seth stalked behind her, knuckle-white hold around the metal bat.The blonde turned her body to face him, standing between him and her infectore cousin. “It’s not like what you’re thinking.”“What do you think I think?”“I didn’t release him fro
100 Systems Invasion 19. Careless Alliance
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
Latest Chapter
- 100 Systems Invasion
79. Table Turned
The raid was a bust.The lieutenant didn't even wait until they were in the privacy of his office before chewing him like useless gum. He demanded, "What is this, Monroe?"Mark bit back the urge to say, 'What did I tell you about raiding it yesterday, Sir?' He waited quietly and avoided any eye contact from the many people in bulletproof vests with bold 'PPD' on their back, strapping their gun back into safety and rounding up their failed attempt. "Why did I spend three hours of driving to the middle of nowhere with a full squad to take down a drug lab and slavery den while there's nothing here?"Again, instead of pointing out that the raid should have been done as quickly as he had suggested, Mark waited."Tell me, Monroe, why are you even screwing up this bad after the rookie slip up with that fake journalist in the warehouse?"'This is not my fault,' he thought. "We are too late, Sir," he said."Too late? Are you saying I'm too slow to act?" Madsen retorted angrily. "Do you even k
- 100 Systems Invasion
78. Make a Move
"You're so annoying, do I have to remind you every hour?" Rhea grumbled from the passenger seat, watching the dark-haired man behind the steering wheel as the car drove itself to the hill house. "Old news," Lucian commented and then glared at her. "But I already said not to let him into this again."Of course. "Mikhal's right. You do sounds like a jealous secret boyfriend.""Ha. Ha." There was no humor behind that. "First, I am not your boyfriend, I'm your fiance. Second, you're the one keeping this a secret, not me."Rhea grinned, "You didn't deny the first one? Are you jealous?""So what?" She frowned but didn't say anything else. She still couldn't figure out why he was jealous of that tall coworker of hers. No matter how many times she asked him, Lucian wouldn't tell.'Or you just never believe his answer,' a small voice at the back of her head supplied helpfully. She brushed it off because it was total drivel. There was no way Lucian actually felt jealous just because he liked
- 100 Systems Invasion
77. Running for Life
She was not as reckless as Lucian sometimes said to her. But she was still new in this espionage thing, and Mikhal suddenly pushed her down to the ground. Her heart raced, pounding noisily along with the blood in her ears. Mikhal's tall figure was equally low by her side. Confidence may fool many people, but she had none of it right now. Especially not after a burly man in a tank top suddenly pointed his long firearm in her direction, right before she took another shot of the drug lab with her phone. Breathing quietly, they waited in suspenseful silence until the man turned his weapon away from their direction. Another man came out of the drug lab's door, probably exchanging words before both of them went inside again. Rhea exhaled in relief, shoulders slumping down as both Mikhal and her shared a look. They moved closer, trying to get more proof from the small window at the side of the building now known as the drug lab. Not only from the chemical glasses with some colored liquid
- 100 Systems Invasion
76. Into Hidden View
After four days of work, Rhea finally got her day off again. Mikhal texted her, 'Meet you at East Station in twenty.' Smiling to herself, Rhea texted back an affirmation. "So…" Liz glanced at her from behind the steering wheel, "If I may ask, where are you going, Miss Rhea?""Out," she merely said."Any specific place in mind?"Rhea locked her phone, "Not really."The bespectacled girl looked uncomfortable for a second before she asked again. "Do you have any companions?""Yes.""Oh. Who is that?"Rhea narrowed her eyes, not liking where the bespectacled girl was going with this. "Is this an interrogation?""No, of course, not." Liz hastily said, topping it with an awkward laugh that she tried to make it sound natural. "I'm sorry if it came out like that, Miss Rhea. I didn't mean to."She sighed, turning to the sturdy houses that came into view as they finally reached the town's area. "It's fine. Lucian ordered you to do that, right?" Liz stayed silent, so she'd take that as a yes.
- 100 Systems Invasion
75. Coping Mechanism
The cafeteria was full of cola and burgers. "Free dinner for everyone!" one of the senior staff called out as they entered it. Rhea grinned – almost jumped in excitement – as her favorite food was served in front of her for free. Emi, on the other hand, chimed in a loud voice, "We don't pay to eat here!"She stuffed her face with the burger. She sat surrounded by a white shirt and blue vest-wearing staff, finally having a nice break out of the craziness of the afternoon shift. "I can't believe I was so excited about it before."Emi smiled broadly, munching on her mouthful bite of burger. She looked funny. "Didn't I tell you that it's crazy?""Yes, but you carefully left out the fact that it is precisely like that oddball group all over again, except, it happens continuously. Marching in a group in the lobby, then shoving each other to get in the elevator. Why do we only have four elevators, anyway?""But it only happens in the afternoon. After that, it's pretty slow, isn't it?"Rhea h
- 100 Systems Invasion
74. Unwritten Law
Lucian had been at the scene of serious diplomacy once, ages ago as he was still ten, where his father was showing him how to negotiate with a foreign mafia boss from another country. Earl would sign an agreement of letting said mafia boss move into Livingard and give him a little territory on the border to set up whatever operation they had planned. Earl would get back his prized butler slash right-hand man safely in one piece in exchange. He was fond of that man, his favorite butler. A middle-aged friendly guy who had a penchant for cutting apples into beautiful figures and dragging Lucian out of bed before dawn for a morning run. So, hearing that his favorite butler would be back after missing – he was captivated by the foreign mafia after accidentally crashing his motorbike to the mafia's daughter on the road – for three days, Lucian was eager when his father wanted him to tag along. It was supposed to be a valuable learning experience for him.One of the foreign mafia subordinat
- 100 Systems Invasion
73. At Least We Try
'Let him be, don't talk to him, whatever, just ignore him.'She didn't even want to see him. But bottling her overflowing emotions? It was a ridiculous idea.Then a notification chimed in, breaking into her bubble of thought, pulling her from the suffocating underwater feeling. 'How's' your girl's day out with Emi?' Mikhal texted her, oblivious to the chaos she made herself. 'She was great.' She texted back.'Cool. No more outings today?' His reply came seconds later, followed by three dots, signifying he was typing now. 'Imma starts the afternoon shift today. Dunno what to expect.''Expect the worst.''Never know u'r such a pessimist.'She wasn't. Fine, maybe she was. Just at the moment, though. Rhea responded with a laughing emoticon. Followed by a string of crying yellow faces.'What was that?' She bit her bottom lip, 'I want to go out.' Her thumb sent it before she even read the line. She considered deleting it. No use, Mikhal already typed again.'I'm free, if you were asking
- 100 Systems Invasion
72. The Walk Down
Sprinting to the beach, Rhea suddenly stopped before her sneakers touched the wet sand. Quickly taking them off, Rhea looked around for a place to put them without getting worried that the wave would sweep on them or someone take them away. Not that she was suspicious of some people enjoying the beach there, or that her shoes were extremely pricey – they were, not that Rhea knew about that, because it was Lucian who paid – but Rhea didn't want to lose her only pair of sneakers.She looked back to Lucian's parked car on the edge of the beach, where the dry ground met with green patches of grass. Squinting her blue eyes, Rhea calculated how much force she needed to get her shoes to the car's side. The light brown-haired girl got into a stance as if she would throw a slider with her sneaker as the ball. Then, Rhea let go of one of her sneakers in a powerful side swing. It flew in a bent trajectory and landed safely on the dry sand, though still a little far away from the car."Ah, I need
- 100 Systems Invasion
71. Wolf in the Flesh
It was the first time Rhea saw a wolf in real life.The wolf looked like how a wolf would in a book or movie. Nothing special, unlike the jet-black wild wolf she saw in a show. Or the majestic white wolf in legends. The animal in front of her looked just like the usual wolf. Short, triangular ears. Broad snout. A long tail. Looking slender yet seems powerful in its built. Its back was grey, so was its upper head. While the rest of its fur was light brown, and the underside was white.Rhea could not believe it."Should we continue?" Jo asked, stepping slowly on the gas pedal.As Jo drove the car past the watchful gaze of the wolf, Rhea felt a shudder run through her body. Either it was a creepy coincidence, or Lucian somehow controlled the wolf to appear there and failed Rhea's escape. Which sounded impossible. Both of them.It was some minutes later that Jo stopped the car. They were near the first building in the outskirt of Stradfield's little town. "Are you sure you want to get off
