[System Notification]
Side Mission Activated: Protect Claire Redfield at all costs.
Reward: Permanent increase in affinity with the "Instinct of Protection" skill. Penalty for failure: Severe psychological damage.
Erick blinked as the panel appeared in his vision for a second while walking beside Claire through a narrow, dimly lit hallway reeking of rot. The weight of the mission wasn't just digital — it was real. He looked at her, smiling softly, unaware of the ominous warning he had just received.
"You're unusually quiet," Claire said, glancing at him. "Thinking about the apocalypse or just trying not to trip again?"
Erick forced a smile. "A bit of both… but mostly the apocalypse, to be honest."
Claire raised an eyebrow. "That's new. Usually you joke even about the zombies."
He took a deep breath, fingers gripping the pocket knife tighter. "It's just... some things have been coming back to my mind. I trained with some ex-military guys for a while. Nothing professional, just to try and be... stronger. So I wouldn't repeat the same mistakes."
"Mistake?"
He hesitated, eyes growing distant. "My sister died in front of me… during a robbery. I couldn't do anything. I froze. Since then, I swore I'd never be weak again."
Claire looked surprised, but before she could say anything, a scream cut through the silence like a blade.
They ran. What they found would freeze anyone's blood.
Leon Kennedy was fighting a monstrous Licker, much larger than normal. Bullets bounced off it uselessly, and the sound of claws scraping metal made bones tremble.
Erick, Claire, and Leon attacked together. Claire fired with precision. Erick moved as best he could, slashing when an opening appeared. Leon shouted orders, trying to coordinate.
But the Licker was fast, strong, and ruthless.
Claire was thrown to the ground by a blow that knocked the air from her lungs. And the Licker, like a starving beast, lunged toward her, mouth open, ready to rip her head off.
Erick didn't think — he threw himself in front of her.
The impact slammed him into the wall. His shoulder dislocated with a sickening pop. Blood poured from a deep gash in his side. But Claire was alive.
Erick collapsed. Motionless. Watching the Licker turn back to her.
And then… the world faded away.
FLASHBACK — 14 years ago
The street was quiet that night.
Nine-year-old Erick walked hand in hand with his older sister, Marina, coming back from the bakery. She laughed, teasing him about the lollipop the cashier had given him.
Then a man in a hoodie appeared from an alley.
A gun.
Screaming.
"Hand it over!"
Marina stepped in front of Erick. Tried to calm the man.
"It's okay, Erick, stay behind me."
She handed him her purse. But the thief was trembling, panicked. Something snapped in him.
A gunshot. Then another.
Erick froze, watching his sister get shot in the chest — then point-blank in the face. Blood splashed across his own.
She collapsed in his arms. Eyes wide open. Dead.
He didn't scream. Didn't run.
Just stood there, shaking.
The thief fled.
And Erick stayed, hugging her body, until the police arrived.
Back to the present
"Not again."
[Mission at Risk: Penalty Activated – Reactive Trauma]
[Condition Fulfilled – Activating Berserk Mode: Badger Instinct]
Erick let out an animalistic roar. His eyes glowed yellow. His body ignored the pain. Muscles responded as if possessed by a primal force.
He ripped the Licker off Claire with brute strength, and the fight began again — fierce, balanced, brutal.
Claws versus blades. Strength versus fury. They moved like predators at their peak, tearing through walls, cracking the floor, exchanging blows that made the air vibrate.
Erick was bleeding from deep wounds. Bitten on the shoulder, stabbed in the thigh. But he kept going. Not like a man — but like a beast determined to kill or die trying.
The Licker tried to pin him, but Erick used its force against it, driving his knife into its throat and, with a final cry, shoving it through the base of the skull into the brain.
The creature spasmed. Dead.
Erick stayed on his feet for a few seconds, panting, covered in blood. Then, as if the world lost its color, he collapsed.
Claire rushed to him, crying. Leon approached, wide-eyed and breathless.
"He… threw himself in front of the monster," Claire said, clutching Erick's bloody hand.
Leon looked at them both, shaking his head, still stunned.
"What the hell is this guy?"