[All life is equal.]
'Is it really?'
'Doesn't the value of a life change from person to person?'
'So is the life of a stray dog equivalent to the life of your loved one?'
'Oh well, what does it matter to me anyways.' A young man mentally shrugged, as he took a picture of the page he was reading, before uploading it into an AI engine.
'Summarize this appropriately for a research paper.'
As the screen held a buffering symbol, the young man Lu Zhang looked around the almost empty library.
It was expected, since no one else except slackers like him would be finishing a project this late, merely a few hours before its submission time.
[Ding!]
[Loading World Mana Resurgence]
Lu Zhang's drooping head snapped back up at the sound, looking around.
'Did I imagine it?'
'I should stop reading so many novels... I'm even hearing things like this when sleepy.'
He looked at his phone, hoping to see his project finished and waiting for him, just to find a strange glitch on his screen, graying it out entirely.
"..elp! Help! AHHH-" A sudden shout erupted outside the library, before being silenced abruptly, as dozens more began in its place.
Lu Zhang shot up, the chair falling out from under him.
He knew this wasn't a figment of his imagination any longer.
He ran towards the floor exit, before pausing. One of the people close to him wasn't moving from their chair.
'Damn it, is he asleep?!'
He ran towards him, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him, "Hey get up! Something's going on outsi...de..."
His words trailed off as he looked at the man looking back at him.
A thin man who's skin and gristle was in various states of decay. His hair fell out in patches from Lu Zhang's shaking, leaving his scalp exposed.
"H-Help me..."
He lunged towards Lu Zhang, jaw unhinged as his bloodshot eyes rolled about in his head.
On instinct, Lu Zhang punched him in the face, a wet squelch ringing out as an eye flew out from the man's skull.
"Ah..."
Both the man and Lu Zhang exhaled at once.
"AHHHH!" The dying man roared, and Lu Zhang screamed, as the man lunged at him again.
[Zombie]
[Lv 3]
A small translucent screen popped up above the zombie's head, as Lu Zhang slammed a chair into the man's head.
"Die! Die! Die!"
He kept slamming the chair into the man's head, crushing it into a fine paste, even as his arms kept flailing towards him.
Only after a dozen more hits, did the man stop moving entirely.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations on being the first in the world to kill a beast!]
[Your first reward has been upgraded by one level.]
[Level Up!]
"What... is going on..." Lu Zhang mumbled, yet as he prodded the screen mentally, it unfolded into a larger sreen.
[Name: Lu Zhang]
[Level: 2]
[Skills: Inspect Lv 1]
[Strength: 3 -> 5]
[Speed: 5 -> 6]
[Intelligence: 5 -> 6]
[Endurance: 4 -> 5]
[Stat Points: 5]
"A game?" Lu Zhang could swear he was losing his mind.
And yet the screams coming from outside the library didn't stop.
He didn't wake up from a dream, or in a mental hospital.
His wandering eyes caught a small glint, a red crystal that emerged from the zombie's crushed head.
[Skill Crystal Detected! Reward upgraded by one level!]
Almost absently, he picked it up.
The gore in front of him didn't seem to register at all.
"Game... I'm good at games..."
[Use Upgraded Skill Crystal?]
With a mental agreement, the crystal shattered in his hand.
[Skill: Fang-> Empty Fang Lv 1]
[Empty Fang Lv1]
[A beast-like strike that drains a portion of the target's energy and channels it into the user.]
A roar rang out close to the library's entrance, as Lu Zhang was grabbed and pulled behind a bookshelf.
His first instinct was to swing at the one pulling him, fearing another zombie, but paused when he saw it was a living girl, and a familiar one at that.
She had straight long black hair, and was taller than most other girls. Lu Zhang only remembered her because his roommate often told him about the college gossip.
'What was her name? Su Yao?'
She was often in the discussion for being the campus belle.
The screen confirmed his guess.
[Su Yao]
[Level 1]
"Su Yao, where are we going?" Lu Zhang whispered.
'Can she see this screen too?'
All around the library, more and more zombies were gathering, drawn to the sound near the entrance.
The two of them were naturally spotted.
Before the zombie could alert the rest, Su Yao leapt into a room and Lu Zhang followed, slamming the door shut behind him as the zombie clawed aimlessly against the wood.
As Lu Zhang looked back within the room, he saw a few more survivors, along with barricaded windows. It seemed like an office, it's chairs and tables repurposed for the barricade. It had walls thick enough to be soundproof, and hopefully monster proof.
'Was she out trying to save people? Tsk tsk, this never works out in any novel.'
'If I'm right...'
On cue, one of the survivors began convulsing, a fat balding old man. The people near him scrambled away, as he lunged at a stunned Su Yao.
[Zombie]
[Level 2]
[Empty Fang]
Lu Zhang's fist slammed into his head midair, already prepared.
A thin, shimmering beast's fang seemed to slice along the path of his fist, as it punched a hole through the fat zombie's head.
Evidently not finished yet, Lu Zhang broke off a chair leg from the barricade, and began crushing the already dying zombie.
'More exp...'
[Zombie Lv 2 killed!]
He finally rose, panting slightly.
"So. Let's continue on to our first meeting, led by me."
"I believe there's no one else who wants to protest?" Lu Zhang asked, looking pointedly at Su Yao.
Immediately, Su Yao looked down and uttered a faint, "Y-Yes."
'Whoa, what's this villain sounding situation? I'm a good guy you know?' Lu Zhang complained internally.
"Now, let us all introduce ourselves, yes?" He rested the bloodstained makeshift club over his shoulder.
"My name is Lu Zhang, from the design department."
"Pleased to meet you. Let's have a good time surviving together."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Name: Lu Zhang]
[Level: 2]
[Skills: Inspect Lv 1, Empty Fang Lv 1]
[Strength: 5]
[Speed: 6]
[Intelligence: 6]
[Endurance: 5]
[Stat Points: 5]
[New Category discovered!]
[Mana Pool: 60/60 -> 50/60 ->52/60 ] (Empty Fang)