The rain was pattering as Drake Miller ran through the walkway, hurrying to go home to his girlfriend, Regina Adams.
"Regina is going to kill me. I can't believe I'm late," he murmured upon arriving at the door to his apartment.
Panting, he contemplated, "But it wasn't like I planned to come home late. I had to get her the birthday gift from the store. I hope she likes it."
Drake stared at the bracelet box in his left hand. In his right hand, there was another box, much smaller, bearing something other than a birthday gift—an engagement ring.
"I can't wait to see the smile on her face when she says yes to me. Then we would be finally official. This is going to be the best night of my life," he breathed, his eyes gleaming with joy. One more nervous breath, and he turned the doorknob.
The moment he pushed the door open, he was careful not to raise attention to himself. A mischievous smile formed on his face as he planned to sneak up behind Regina, grab her by the waist, and playfully frighten her.
He walked into the sitting room, but it was as dark as the corridors.
"What happened to the light?" Drake murmured in a low voice. He used the dim light from his phone's screen to flash at the light switch, and he flicked it on.
His eyes widened at what was happening on the wider sofa, far from where he stood.
There was a man on top of his girlfriend, their naked bodies gliding against each other.
Eyes narrowed, Drake gripped his chest in pain at the reality before his eyes.
They stopped and separated quickly, the man putting on his pants, and Regina wrapping the duvet around herself.
"Dra- Drake, please, I can explain..." Regina gulped. Her eyes widened.
Drake Miller, still frozen in shock, the engagement ring case slipping from his hand, crashed hard on the floor.
"Drake, it is not what you think. I just—" Regina couldn't finish her statement before Drake clenched his fists.
"It is not what I think? Is that what you take me for? A fool? How could you be so shameless, Regina?" He yelled, and Regina trembled.
The rage boiling in Drake made him vibrate as he struggled to maintain his anger.
"You brought a guy to my house to satisfy your sexual needs? How could you be so heartless to do this to me? I went through hell to get a ring, so that I could propose to you tonight, and coming back home I see you letting another guy have sex with you?"
His heart throbbed uncontrollably as the rage became more difficult to control with every passing moment.
"Talk to me, you cheat!" Drake yelled, and she sprang up from the sofa in anger.
"Okay, fine! You caught me having sex with another man, so what?" She yelled back at him.
"I do not even wear your ring yet, so why do I have to explain myself to a loser like you?" Regina blurted, her words cutting deep into Drake like a kick to the gut.
"So what, is that what you're saying? You cheat on me, and you're telling me you do not owe me any explanation?"
Drake's anger now transforming into genuine confusion. Regina woke up every day to tell him how blessed she was to have him. Even in the early morning of that same day before Drake went to work.
"Yes, you heard me right. I do not owe you any explanation. After all, you're not my husband; I have the right to give myself to anyone I want. Besides, this is not just anyone," Regina said, a smile crossing her face as she turned to the guy sitting on the sofa.
"This is Leo, the best thing that has ever happened to me. In case you don't know, I'll let you know the truth. Leo is my husband; we've been married for 3 years now," Regina said, as she kissed Leo on the lip.
Shock gripped Drake harder, and his mouth fell open as an unexplainable pain coursed through his vulnerable heart.
"You were always too desperate for love, so you were just the right fool for me. I never loved you, not even for a minute of all the times we spent together," she said, a wicked smile on her face.
"Leo here lost his job, and we were having a hard time, so we came up with the plan to make you fall for me. Thanks to your desperation for love, I took all your money to invest in Leo's businesses," she said.
Leo, enjoying the show beyond doubt, stood to his feet and walked to stand beside Regina, wrapping his hands around her waist.
"So, if anyone is supposed to be happy here, it is you. I bet any real girl would never like you anyway, but my wife gave you herself just for her love for me. You should be happy for the privilege, fool," Leo said, and they both erupted in loud laughter.
"You fooled me, all this time, you were married. You only used me to get money, two of my companies went bankrupt because of you, and the last one is just at the verge of collapsing," Drake said, his heart aching.
"Well, Drake Miller, I think you got it wrong there. You no longer have any company left, not even the crumbling one you mentioned," Regina said, and she then shared a knowing smile with Leo.
"What do you mean by that?" Drake asked, uncertainty clouding his voice.
"Well, remember that night I insisted we both get drunk? I made you sign off all your properties to Leo. I would have left you that day, but I still wanted to stick around long enough to take this house from you too," Regina revealed, and Drake's heart stopped for a few seconds.
"That's a lie!" Drake yelled, his heart echoing in his ear.
"I can never do that, not even if I'm drunk," Drake screamed, refusing to believe the cruel reality.
"You may also check your account balances; I swept both accounts clean and left the last one with a little money in it. I bet it was the account you used in purchasing this ring," Regina said.
Drake could not bring himself to believe that the wealth he had amassed for over 15 years had been swept out in a single day.
His hands were shivering violently as he grabbed his phone from his pocket and tried to check his account balances. His phone slipped from his hand when he saw a 0.00 reading in his account.
He raised his head, shivering in shock and rage that coursed through his body, and then he lunged forward at them.
Slap!!
Slapping Regina in the face, Regina quickly retaliated, slapping back. And then Leo quickly kicked him in the gut and pushed him to the floor.
Before Drake could get up, Leo rushed over and laid brutal punches all over his face.
"How dare you lay a finger on my wife?!" Leo screamed as he continued to beat him.
Regina pulled him off Drake.
"You're lucky my wife stopped me," Leo said. At this time, Drake could barely hear his voice; there was blood all over his face, and he was drowning in immeasurable pain.
"I will report this to the police; you'll regret everything you've done to me," Drake coughed those words out, blood flowing from his mouth.
"That is if you live to tell the story," Leo said, and before Drake could comprehend what he meant...
Bam!!
Leo pulled out a gun from nowhere and shot a bullet into his chest.
"Leo, No!!!" Regina screamed in fear.
Drake's neck weakened instantly, and his head fell to the side. He gasped one last breath, and he was gone.
"We have to get out of here, now!" Leo yelled.
+ + + + +
It was only about 30 minutes after Regina and Leo had left that the blood from Drake's open bullet wound on the chest started to mingle with the heirloom locket he was wearing around his neck.
Drip, Drip!
The blood seeped into the locket, and suddenly, a tiny light emitted from its center, and it burst open.
Gasp!
Drake jolted his back up from the floor, his heartbeat returning. His eyes widened as he saw the bullet wound sealing up.
"What's happening? I should be dead," he murmured.
Suddenly, he heard a loud noise from outside, people screaming on top of their voices, and he ran to the window to check.
When he got to the window, his mouth dropped open at the first sight he saw—hundreds of dead humans raiding the streets, killing people.
"Zombies? Impossible…" He muttered in shock as fear gripped him.
In the midst of the confusion, he heard a female robotic voice call out from nowhere.
"SYSTEM ACTIVATED!"
UPGRADE COMPLETE
STRENGTH: 20%
SPEED: 30%
DEATH CHEAT: 3 LIFE PACKS
INFORMATION: Earth has taken a drastic turn in the minutes you were laying dead. An apocalypse has broken out on earth. The world is at the verge of its end.
GOAL 1: SURVIVE!
"Who are you?" Drake murmured, shock gripping him. He turned around to see where the voice was coming from but saw no one."I'm supposed to be dead; I was shot in the heart, I saw myself die!""Is this hell? I can only think that with everything happening outside," he panted, freaking out.His attention now turned away from the glass window, his back turned against it."Welcome back to life, Drake Miller. The order of things has changed. The world has evolved, so have you," the robotic voice sounded in his ear."Who are you? Please, I need to know," Drake said, raising his voice in panic.As he spoke, he still could hear cries of people in the distance, the growls of zombies overshadowing the sound of the pattering rain."Not who, but what. I'm the Skill Invoker System," the voice said, and Drake's heart throbbed in confusion."System, what's a system?" Drake said."Consider it to be the new set of rules governing you and your new abilities in this changed world," the voice said."I d
After saving Regina and Leo as the system requested, Drake Miller's mind was scattered.The only thing on his mind was how to get across to his mother, the only family he had left. She lived outside that town."I really hope you're okay, mother. Why isn't the government doing anything about this outbreak of zombies anyway?"As it was deep into the night and he couldn't make it out of town, he hoped to call her."A phone booth, finally!"In the deserted street, accompanied by a dim and flickering light from the streetlights, a broken phone booth stood."I hope it still works."Drake prayed it connected as he dialed his mother's number.Beep! Beep! Beep!Waiting for 10 seconds, there was no answer from the other end, even though the phone was ringing."Mom, please pick up..." He murmured, panic clawing at his sense of resolve.He looked around, and in some corners, he could see blood splashed on the walkways."How did the world turn to this? The system won't explain anything to me, leav
10:05 AM[DAY 2 OF APOCALYPSE]Drake Miller woke up hungry. It seemed like Zeus not only electrocuted him but also drained every nutrient from his body."Damn! I haven't eaten anything since the apocalypse started," Drake murmured as he crawled."Zeus. I never knew someone like him existed in this apocalypse. Zombies are not my only problem in this world; people like Zeus and his followers are a major cause for worry," Drake murmured.He reflected on how powerless he was in the encounter with Zeus, and it gnawed at his pride."I swear I'll never be found in such situations again. Now I know, for me to get stronger in this world and survive, I need to level up," Drake murmured, reflecting on some video games and books he read in his teenage years."It's just like the book by Alpha-Pen Original, titled the My Superhero System. Just like Jack, the protagonist, I probably have to seek opportunities to level up," he muttered, and with a push, he stood to his feet."The next time Zeus meets
"Why do you sound that way? Is anything wrong with me or my system?" Drake said, curiosity and worry showing on his face."No, no, there's nothing wrong. It is just that I've seen a little information about your system," Elisa said. Drake's eyes narrowed. He felt naked now. Could Elisa actually access the information he was trying to withhold from her about his system?"How's that even possible? I don't think anyone can access other people's systems," Drake mentioned.Elisa spoke, "Well, that may be true about others, but my system is called 'Knowledge Beast System'. It's like having the entire internet stored in my head, allowing me to access vast information about this apocalyptic world and every single system."Drake's eyes widened with curiosity as he absorbed Elisa's words."What?" Drake was shocked. His heart throbbed. He wondered how much she already knew about him."Not only that," Elisa continued, "I can conjure virtual weapons and even shoot lasers from my eyes. Pretty nea
[4:21 PM]The tension was high in the car as Drake pondered what his life would turn into."What do I do?" Drake murmured, worry creeping in."It takes time to actually turn into one of those. It takes at least 4-5 hours. It isn't as fast as they make it look in the movies," Elisa said, trying her best to make Drake concentrate on the mission ahead.Drake's heart raced as fast as the car through the road laid in ruin.The road was lonely, and as Drake drove, he avoided large cracks from an earthquake."We've seen hundreds of innocent people lying dead on the road ever since we left town, Elisa," Drake panted, his eyes reddening."I don't want to be part of what's causing this chaos. I can't bear to see myself turn into one of them," Drake murmured, his eyes focused on the road ahead."Nobody said you'll turn into them yet; it's just a theory from what I've researched," Elisa said, and Drake banged the steering wheel."But you've been right about every other research!" Drake said, slig
ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL [5:00 PM] "What do we do? There are over 12 of them," Elisa said, and Drake sighed. Thud!! Thud!! Drake could see the zombies hitting the front door of the hospital. "I don't know, but we can't let them break in. You and I need this task down to level up," Drake said, assessing the risks. "The most important thing is we have families in there," he said, and Elisa nodded. "We go out there and take on the zombies," Drake suggested, and Elisa gasped. "What?" Elisa asked in shock. She couldn't believe what he was suggesting. Drake's eyes were set on the door that was being banged by the zombies. And he saw the door was about to yield. "We must hurry," Drake said. He weighed the consequences, but not going was worse. "Wait!" Elisa said as she noticed Drake trying to open the door. Drake paused and turned to her. "I don't know if you realize this, but these things can't be killed. I tried to kill a lot of them, but they get back up in a few minutes," Elisa s
"So, you're going to accept my challenge or not?" he said, and Drake sighed.Drake thought about the benefits and realized that pulling out wasn't an option. However, he wondered why it was this way, why he didn't have a say."Why would the system impose a challenge on me?" he complained."The clock is ticking, the faster you fight me and I win, the faster you'll go save your mommy," the Radiator mocked.Drake clenched his fists in anger and looked into his eyes."Challenge Accepted!" Drake exclaimed, and in his head, he heard a bell.Ding!BEEP!NOTIFICATION: Challenge Accepted.GOAL 5: Try not to lose.CHALLENGE CONDITION: Loser Loses His System and returns to his original state.RULE: Win by killing the opponent or decapitating him until the count of 1 minute.REWARD: Zombie Pre-Transformation Cure.SYSTEM UPDATE:STRENGTH: 13%SPEED: 5%LIFE PACKS: 2Swap!Drake was very aware that he had used up 7% of his strength by lifting that iron box and casting it towards those zombies."Le
2ND DAY OF THE APOCALYPSE MARY’S HOSPITAL[8:00 PM]“Drake!”“Drake! Hey!” Elisa called out, shaking Drake’s shoulder as he still lay on the floor.Suddenly, Drake jolted up and then saw Elisa looming over him. Drake clasped his head quickly, his head spinning from the electric shock.“Is it this late?” Drake asked as his eyes widened. He saw through the cracks in the wall that it was night.“Oh no! Zeus must have gone really far. I didn’t come this far to find my mother, then lose her,” Drake said through clenched teeth.“I know, but you were taken by surprise,” Elisa said, and Drake nodded.BEEP!SYSTEM NOTIFICATION:GOAL 6: There is a temporary safe zone at the underground warehouse 3 kilometers north. To complete Goal 4 and earn your reward, you must take the survivors to the safe zone. Remember, you have the chance to invoke a new skill, gain a 50% strength boost, and a 20% speed boost.GOOD LUCK!Swap!It was only then that Drake realized the survivors had been there, watching