The moon hung high like a blood-stained eye, casting its pale glow over the abandoned St. Haven Hospital.
Crumbling walls. Rotting ceilings. A smell that felt wrong—like something in the air had already died.
Arin adjusted the strap of his combat jacket and glanced at Kael and Liora. Behind them, Ayla and Rhett moved in silently, tension in their steps. Five shadows against the night.
> "This is it," Arin whispered, voice low. "The last quiet night."
They had scouted the hospital earlier that day. This was one of the first places overrun in their past lives—one of the earliest nests. Clearing it now would give them a rare advantage before the storm.
Liora knelt at the fence, slicing it open with a clean, practiced motion. Her green aura flickered faintly in the dark like a ghost's breath.
Inside, the silence was heavy. Every sound—the creak of a loose tile, the rustle of the wind through cracked windows—felt amplified.
Ayla's voice was calm but tight. "Motion sensors picking up multiple life forms ahead. First floor."
Kael cracked his knuckles, his crimson aura burning like low embers. "Good. I was starting to get bored."
---
The system flickered to life in their vision—cold blue screens dancing across their retinas.
> [Enemy Detected]
Name: Zombie (E Rank)
Type: Infected Human
Strength: 14
Agility: 9
Abilities: Bite Infection / Basic Undead Resilience
Weakness: Head / Fire
Fifteen red dots blinked on their minimap.
Rhett exhaled slowly. "Fifteen E-Ranks. That's… more than expected."
"Nothing we can't handle," Kael muttered.
They advanced through the shattered hallway. The zombies emerged in a wave—snarling, their pale skin stretched over bones, milky eyes fixed on the intruders.
Kael was the first to strike. Shadows coiled around his arms, and his blade carved through two skulls like wet paper. Liora slammed her palms on the floor, bone-like spikes erupting upward, impaling three more.
Rhett set the hallway ablaze with bursts of heat, driving the horde back.
But more were coming.
Ayla spun her icy spear, freezing the ground beneath the monsters, slowing their rush. Arin slipped through the chaos like a phantom, his purple aura trailing like smoke, striking with precise, lethal cuts.
Even so… they were faster than in the past.
"They're stronger," Liora hissed, ducking under a claw swipe.
"Adapt," Arin replied sharply.
---
The floorboards rattled. A new system prompt flashed.
> [Enemy Detected]
Name: Mutated Rabbit (D Rank) × 3
Strength: 28
Agility: 37
Abilities: Hyper Leap / Piercing Bite / Frenzy Mode
Weakness: Neck
> [Enemy Detected]
Name: Mutated Rat (D Rank) × 2
Strength: 31
Agility: 25
Abilities: Venom Fang / Pack Coordination / Night Vision
Weakness: Eyes / Fire
The air split with a high-pitched screech. Three massive, red-eyed rabbits leapt down from the ceiling, landing like shadows. Two hairless, slick-furred rats slithered from the vents, fangs glistening with venom.
Kael cursed. "D-Rank already?!"
"They shouldn't appear until day one," Ayla muttered.
"They didn't last time," Arin growled. "Something's changed."
The mutated beasts struck with blinding speed. One rabbit slammed into Rhett, nearly knocking him through the wall. A rat darted toward Liora, tail whipping like a blade.
The fight turned savage. Kael's shadow blade met claws midair. Ayla froze a rabbit mid-leap, shattering it with a kick. Liora summoned a bone shield to block venom spits. Rhett's flames roared through the hallway, turning shrieking zombies to ash.
Arin moved like a predator in his element—vanishing into the dark, reappearing behind enemies, cutting tendons and throats with surgical precision.
It wasn't clean. It wasn't easy. But it was real.
After ten long minutes, the last mutated rat twitched on the floor before Kael crushed its skull beneath his boot.
---
> [All Hostiles Eliminated]
[Battle Results]
E Rank Zombies ×15 — Cleared
D Rank Mutated Rabbits ×3 — Cleared
D Rank Mutated Rats ×2 — Cleared
Reward: EXP +3,850 | Cores Obtained: 20
A system map highlighted glowing cores inside the corpses. One by one, they carved the cores out — dark red, faintly pulsing.
"Still disgusting," Ayla muttered, wiping rabbit blood from her gloves.
"Still worth it," Kael grinned, tossing a core up and catching it.
They crush cores absorbing it. The glow sank into their skin, and the system chimed softly.
> [Core Absorbed]
[Level Up!]
New Stats Unlocked — Strength / Agility Increased.
The thrill of growth was intoxicating. Power, after so much loss in their previous lives, was something they would never take for granted again.
---
Hours later, they left the hospital behind. Five figures fading into the night. None of them said it aloud, but they all felt it.
This was the last night the world would still be theirs.
---
Morning sunlight spilled into the classroom, bright and cruel. Students laughed, gossiped, scrolled through their phones. For most of them, it was just another ordinary day.
But not for the five.
Arin sat at his desk, tapping his fingers slowly. Kael leaned against the window, eyes distant. Liora stared blankly at her notes. Ayla and Rhett exchanged brief glances.
They knew.
Today was the beginning of the end.
The air felt heavier. Louder. Every tick of the clock was a countdown they couldn't ignore.
At 10:42 AM, it began.
A scream ripped through the hallway. Then another. Then a chorus.
The door burst open as students ran inside, their faces pale with terror.
"Th-There's something—someone's—biting people!"
The sound of shattering glass echoed from below. More screams. Blood-curdling. Real.
And then—
> [ALERT]
[Global Outbreak Initiated]
[System Activation: Phase One]
"Survive."
Zombies flooded the school corridors, their roars drowning out the bell.
Kael stood, crimson aura already flaring around his hands. Liora's green eyes narrowed to slits. Arin clenched his blade so tightly his knuckles went white.
> "It's time," he said quietly.
Outside, the world was falling apart. Inside, the hunters were ready.