Safe Zone Alpha was a shopping mall.
Ethan stared at the familiar architecture—the food court atrium, the escalators, the storefronts—and felt reality twist sideways. Twelve hours ago, this had probably been a normal mall in a normal city, full of normal people buying normal things.
Now it was the last bastion of civilization for three thousand survivors.
[WELCOME TO SAFE ZONE ALPHA]
[PvP: DISABLED within zone boundaries]
[Services Available: Shop, Auction, Guild Registry, Quest Board, Respawn Point]
[Current Population: 2,847]
The population counter updated in real-time, ticking down as people left through the exits and up as new survivors teleported in. The Tutorial had dumped all 189 of their sector's survivors here, but they weren't alone—other sectors had completed their own Tutorials, and their survivors had been funneled to the same location.
Three thousand people. Maybe more on the way. All of them desperate, scared, and dangerous.
"It's smaller than I expected," Maya said. She'd stuck with him after the Tutorial, though Ethan wasn't sure if that was gratitude, curiosity, or something else. Her phone was finally connected again—the safe zone had some kind of network infrastructure—and she was alternating between filming and texting. "I mean, not the building. The population. Seven billion people on Earth, and this zone has three thousand?"
Ethan did the math. Sector 447-A had started with 247 participants. 189 survived. That was a 76% survival rate for the Tutorial alone. If similar numbers applied globally...
"The Tutorial killed a lot of people," he said quietly. "And that was before the actual monsters started spawning."
Maya's phone-hand trembled slightly. "You think the numbers get worse?"
"I think this is natural selection with extra steps." He looked around the atrium, where survivors had begun to cluster into obvious factions. Victor Kane's Apex Dominion occupied the second floor, claiming the largest retail space as their "headquarters." Other groups had staked out smaller territories—a makeshift medical tent near the food court, an information exchange by the escalators, a black market already forming in the old jewelry store. "And I think the people who figure that out first are going to have a significant advantage."
Before Maya could respond, Ethan's status window pinged:
[SKILL BOOK RECEIVED: Random allocation from Tutorial Rewards]
[Skill Book: ???]
[Would you like to learn this skill?]
He'd forgotten about the skill book. With everything that had happened—the boss fight, the level ups, Victor Kane—it had slipped his mind.
"Give me a second." He focused on the skill book, willing more information to appear. His Glitch Vision flickered, trying to see past the "???" designation.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then:
[Skill Book: Structural Analysis]
[Rarity: Rare]
[Effect: Analyze the structural integrity of objects and creatures, revealing hidden weaknesses and stress points.]
[Synergy detected: [Glitch Vision] compatibility = 94%]
[Learn this skill?]
94% compatibility with Glitch Vision. That wasn't just useful—that was a force multiplier. Structural Analysis would show physical weak points; Glitch Vision showed code-level exploits. Combined, he'd be able to see every vulnerability a target had.
He learned the skill immediately.
[Skill Learned: Structural Analysis]
[New skill slot occupied: 4/10]
The knowledge settled into his brain like water soaking into a sponge. Suddenly he could see the structural composition of everything around him—the weight distribution of the escalators, the stress fractures in the old tile floor, the weak points in the support columns. It layered over his existing Glitch Vision, creating a combined perception that was almost overwhelming.
"Okay," he breathed. "That's going to take some getting used to."
The shop was disappointing.
Ethan had hoped for some kind of exploit—items priced wrong, inventory glitches, maybe a duplication bug in the transaction code. But whoever had designed the System's economy had clearly learned from real-world games. Prices were tied to player level, adjusted for zone inflation, and protected by what looked like enterprise-grade security.
[SYSTEM SHOP - SAFE ZONE ALPHA]
[Currency: Bronze Coins (B), Silver Coins (S), Gold Coins (G)]
[Exchange Rate: 100B = 1S, 100S = 1G]
The items on offer ranged from basic supplies (water, food, bandages) to low-tier equipment (iron swords, leather armor, simple potions). Everything was priced in bronze coins—affordable for Tutorial survivors who'd collected drops, but expensive enough to create scarcity.
And then there was the Premium section.
[PREMIUM SHOP - Cash Purchase Required]
[Payment Methods: Linked Credit Card, Cryptocurrency, Soul Points]
"Soul Points?" Ethan read the last option aloud.
[SOUL POINTS]
[Conversion Rate: 1 Year of Lifespan = 10,000 Soul Points]
[Note: This transaction is irreversible.]
Someone could literally sell years of their life for in-game currency. And judging by the "Out of Stock" tags on several premium items, someone already had.
"That's dark," Maya said, reading over his shoulder. "Even for a dystopian apocalypse."
"It's efficient." Ethan's voice was flat. He'd seen similar mechanics in mobile games—the kind that preyed on gambling addiction and desperation. But he'd never seen one that could actually kill you. "The System values player engagement over player welfare. Classic Nexus Interactive design philosophy."
Maya caught the reference. "You keep mentioning Nexus Interactive. That's where you worked, right? The game company?"
Ethan didn't answer. His attention had been caught by something else—a commotion near the guild registry, where Victor Kane was holding court.
"—Server First achievement in the Tutorial," Kane was saying, his voice carrying across the atrium. "The ANOMALY class. Skills that let him see things others can't." He smiled his shark smile. "Dangerous, wouldn't you say? The kind of person who could destabilize our entire community if he chose to?"
Around him, his guild members nodded like trained dogs. But it was the reactions of the other survivors that worried Ethan. Fear. Suspicion. The kind of mob mentality that formed when scared people needed someone to blame.
"He's poisoning the well," Maya said quietly. "Making you look like a threat."
"Because I am a threat. To him." Ethan watched Kane work the crowd with practiced ease. The man had been rich before the apocalypse—tech billionaire, probably—and he'd brought all those social skills into the System with him. "He can't recruit me, so he's making sure no one else can either."
"What are you going to do about it?"
That was the question, wasn't it? In the old world, Ethan would have ignored this kind of drama. Office politics, social hierarchies, reputation games—none of it had ever mattered to him. He'd found bugs, he'd written reports, and he'd let the extroverts handle the rest.
But this wasn't the old world. Here, reputation could be the difference between survival and death. Between finding a party for a dungeon and dying alone. Between having allies and having enemies.
"I need to level faster than him," Ethan said finally. "Get strong enough that his opinion doesn't matter."
"And how do you plan to do that? The hunting grounds are already picked clean by guild parties. Solo players can't compete."
Ethan's Glitch Vision flickered, scanning the safe zone's boundaries. Outside the mall, through the reinforced doors and emergency exits, he could see the monster-infested city. And beyond that, visible as a faint purple shimmer on the edge of his perception...
A dungeon.
[DUNGEON DETECTED: Subway Station Omega]
[Rank: D]
[Status: UNDISCOVERED]
[Server First bonus available]
Undiscovered. Which meant no one had found it yet. No one had claimed the Server First rewards. No one had mapped its exploits.
"I have a lead," he said. "But I'm going to need a party. And I'm going to need them to trust me enough to follow my lead, even when it looks insane."
Maya considered this. "I know a few people. Kevin and Linda, from our original survivor group—they've been looking for you. And there's a guy who calls himself Tank. Former military. He's not with any guild, and he's been asking around about the 'Anomaly player' who saved the Tutorial."
Tank. Derek Morrison. Ethan vaguely remembered seeing the name in his character profiles during the boss fight.
"Set up a meeting," he said. "Tonight. Somewhere private."
"And if Victor Kane finds out?"
"Then we'll deal with it." Ethan pulled up his stats, allocating the points he'd been saving. Ten into AGI, five into PER. Speed and awareness. If he was going to solo-scout the dungeon before bringing a party, he'd need both.
[Stats Updated]
[STR: 10 | AGI: 25 | VIT: 25 | INT: 10 | WIS: 10 | LUK: 10 | PER: 15]
A notification chimed:
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT]
[PvP Mode: Enabled in all non-safe zones]
[Player bounty system: Active]
[Current highest bounty: Ethan Cross - 5,000 Bronze Coins]
[Posted by: Anonymous]
Maya swore. "Someone put a bounty on you."
"I noticed." Ethan's jaw tightened. Five thousand bronze coins. That was enough to buy decent equipment, enough to tempt desperate players who hadn't found their footing yet. "Anonymous" wasn't fooling anyone—Victor Kane had deep pockets and a grudge.
The safe zone suddenly felt a lot less safe.
"Change of plans," Ethan said. "Meeting happens now. We're moving fast." He looked at Maya, weighing his next words. "Are you in?"
She didn't hesitate. "I'm a journalist. You're the story of the century." Her smile was sharp. "Of course I'm in."
They found Derek "Tank" Morrison in the old gym section of the mall, doing pull-ups on a broken machine like the apocalypse was just another day at base camp. The man was exactly what his status window suggested—a wall of muscle with sharp eyes and a permanent scowl.
[Derek Morrison]
[Level: 7]
[Class: Warrior]
[Guild: None]
"You're the glitch guy," Tank said, dropping from the bar. It wasn't a question.
"I prefer 'exploit specialist.' Sounds more professional."
Tank's expression didn't change. "You saved a lot of people in the Tutorial. Risky play, locking that boss's aggro."
"It worked."
"This time." Tank grabbed a towel, wiping his hands. "I've seen heroes before. Most of them get people killed."
"I'm not a hero." Ethan met Tank's gaze evenly. "I'm a bug hunter. I find the places where the system breaks, and I break them further. That's all."
"Uh-huh." Tank studied him for a long moment. Then, apparently satisfied with whatever he saw, he nodded. "Maya says you've got a plan. Something about a dungeon."
"An undiscovered dungeon. D-Rank, probably. Server First rewards waiting." Ethan pulled up his mental map. "It's in the old subway station, about two kilometers from the safe zone. I can see it with my Glitch Vision, but I can't see its internals until I get closer."
"And you need a party."
"I need people who can follow unusual tactics without questioning them in the middle of combat. People who can watch my back while I look for exploits. People who aren't going to sell me out to Victor Kane for a bounty."
Tank's laugh was a single bark. "Kane's a clown. Pretty suit, empty head. He'll get people killed within a week."
"That's my read too."
"So who else is in?"
On cue, Kevin Price and Linda Torres arrived, guided by Maya. The Warrior and Healer from the original survivor group. They both looked exhausted—the kind of exhaustion that went deeper than physical fatigue—but their status windows showed respectable levels: Kevin at 6, Linda at 5.
"We're in," Kevin said before anyone could speak. "Whatever you're planning. After what you did in the Tutorial..." He shook his head. "We owe you."
"You don't owe me anything."
"Fine. We want to help. Better?"
Ethan looked at the four of them. Maya the investigator. Tank the soldier. Kevin the fighter. Linda the healer. A functional party composition, if barely.
"There's a dungeon," he said. "It's going to be dangerous, probably filled with things that want to kill us, and definitely designed to punish anyone who tries to exploit it. I'll be looking for bugs the whole time, which means I'll be distracted and vulnerable." He paused. "Still want in?"
Four nods.
"Then let's go over the plan."
Outside the safe zone, the bounty system waited. Victor Kane waited. The monsters waited.
But so did the dungeon, with its unclaimed rewards and unexploited glitches.
Ethan Cross had work to do.