Xavier stared at the zombie, or what the notification deemed to be Inferior Infected, his breath labored and raspy as if all the air in the world would not be enough to fill his lungs.

The Infected’s skull had been severed in two, which resulted in a sudden stop in the Infected’s movements. It slumped down to the ground like a heavy sack of potatoes and stopped moving altogether. Xavier was sprayed with brain mass and juice of the dead zombie that he tried to wipe away with his hands to the best of his ability.

He wanted to get rid of the stench and the filth smeared all over him but having a shower was a luxury he could not afford right now.

Fuck me. I’m still alive!

But for how long?

His mother’s scream attracted the attention of the Liveras. The two Inferior Infected turned around as if they were hounds that had just caught the scent of a prey and moved into the driveway in Xavier’s direction.

He was still trembling, his heart was racing and his mind was foggy. Xavier couldn’t even form a single thought at this moment. He should have moved, he should have run away but he was too stunned by the fact that he had just killed someone…a man he had known to be a nice and sweet guy.

No, that thing was not a man!!

The two zombies – no, the Infected – were still moving forward, making odd raspy noises. They were getting near…too near.

All of a sudden, a thunderous sound rang through the surroundings. A gunshot.

And it was as if the next few seconds played in slow motion in front of his eyes. A bullet cut through the air, charging at Mrs. Livera’s head. The bullet entered her right through the center of her forehead. It pierced her head and flung her head back upon impact.

There was no shock on her face nor fear. She simply slumped to the ground, right at Xavier’s feet and stayed there, unmoving. Xavier’s eyes widened at that sight. He looked to his right, his gaze traveling up the small flight of stairs to the entrance of their house. And there he saw his father standing on the small porch, holding a hunting rifle.

“I still have it in me,” He said more to himself than to his son who was too stunned to speak for a moment.

“Are you fine?” Mark asked when Xavier didn’t answer.

Do I look fine to you? Xavier thought irritatedly, but he swallowed his words and nodded his head weakly, forcing his body to function and his mouth to work, “Of course.”

If his dad could remain calm in this fucked-up situation, why shouldn’t he be able to do the same?

Xavier took a deep breath, while his father scoffed lightly at his son’s reaction. Unlike Xavier, who looked shaken, his father appeared to have accepted the new reality quite easily.

“Should I?” He asked, pointing his rifle at the last Infected.

Xavier was still trembling, but his eyes moved away from his father. They flicked to the last Infected who had forgotten all about Xavier. Mr Livera’s attention had switched to the source of the gunshot and he slowly began moving towards his father who had his finger resting on the trigger of the rifle.

He knew he was safe for now.

Just a second later, what Xavier saw from the corner of his eye pulled his attention from his father and the Infected. He saw two glimmering white strands emerge from the body of the Infected he had killed. They seemed to be floating in the air, weightless like a feather at first. He had only managed to see them because it was getting dark.

They were glimmering in a faint white sheen and at first he thought they would just float away aimlessly. But then these strands changed their shape in the air and morphed into balls. They ascended a little and shot toward Xavier’s waist. Xavier was just about to pull back and defend himself against the unexpected magical attack when the white ball passed through the ruby katana. The balls’ trajectory didn’t change and they shot straight toward the Classless Deck that was attached to his belt.

The balls touched the smooth outer surface of the Classless Deck and disappeared inside it. Following that, some words popped up in front of him again. The information of the Classless Deck emerged, and something particular attracted his attention.

Stored Soul Essences: 2

These balls were Soul Essences? I see…

Xavier didn’t know what to do with Soul Essences, but if the changes in the world were similar to MMORPG games, which was exactly how it felt, Soul Essences could probably be compared to experience points. The more Soul Essences he gained early on the better.

Therefore, Xavier grasped the ruby katana tightly. He suppressed his earlier fears deep inside his heart and looked back to the last Infected, Mr Livera.

“No. I have to do this, Dad.”

Xavier hesitated for a second. Though the face of the Infected was grotesque, the skin sagging and covered in blood, it was still the face of Mr. Livera. He had known the old man for his entire life. He had seen Mr Livera drive his car to work everyday, retire and then fall ill.

The old man had never hurt a fly in his life but now he was…he was not himself anymore. Mark saw his son hesitate and offered him a reassuring look. Xavier gulped and imagined what would happen if the Infected would scratch him. He would die and turn into an Infected as well.

He didn’t want to die, whether it was today, or in the future. There was still so much he had to do. Xavier had to protect his family. He had to find his grandma and make sure that she was fine as well. He had to find his friends…and he had yet to fall in love, maybe even start a family far ahead in the future.

Xavier had too much to do to give up when it all had just started. His first encounter with the Infected nearly went south. However, if he hesitated now, what would happen the next time he was faced with an Infected or possibly even a stronger monster? Xavier knew that he had to fight his fear right now before it took root deep inside his heart. He had to overcome his fear before it spread through him like a parasite.

I can do it!

Readying the katana, Xavier forced himself to move. The drive to move forward, and the uncertainties of the future fueled him. Xavier had no idea what would happen, but the terms ‘monster spawn point’, and ‘Gates’ didn’t sit well with him. His premonition grew even worse after their encounter with the blazing boars.

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Driven by the emotions that ravaged through his body like crazy, Xavier kicked the ground. His pace increased as he lifted the red katana high above his head. Once Xavier reached the attack range, the katana cleaved downward. A red flash passed through, the air began to hum, and the last Infected in the driveway turned around. The Infected’s familiar eyes stared at Xavier, but this time all he could see was the lifelessness of his old neighbor.

The being in front of him was not human anymore. It was a monster.

Xavier didn’t hesitate like he did the first time. He used every bit of momentum and strength in his body to cleave down and split the Infected’s head in two.

The blade cut through the Infected’s head like hot knife through butter. It didn’t slow down as the blade collided with the Infected, splitting the hard skull easily. It cracked open and a gooey, sticky liquid began oozing out of the skull. Xavier was looking around to check if his small fight had attracted more Infected. Luckily, that wasn’t the case.

He wiped the sweat off his forehead when a strong, pungent smell reached him. He took a whiff and it was then that he looked down to inspect the source. The Infected’s brain was rotten and the grayish-black liquid was emitting a horrendous stench, making him nearly gag. Xavier took a few steps back when words appeared in front of his face all of a sudden.

Inferior Infected has been slain. +1 Soul Essence +1 Common Card

As the notification popped, Xavier slumped down to the ground. Fighting against Infected was nerve-wracking. Seeing it in movies and video games did not even come close to experiencing it in real life. It was not something he ever imagined doing. However, he knew that it was not the last time he would have to fight the Infected. Xavier was certain that it was just one of many days.

His eyes drifted toward the corpse of the second Infected he killed today and he felt a variety of emotions bombard him. Xavier was filled with uncertainty, relief, and a tinge of pride. He was proud to have killed the Infected with his own two hands, and relieved that nothing went wrong. As for the uncertainty…Xavier was not sure what was going to happen now.

Their village was rather small, but larger villages sat on the outskirts of their small village, only a few kilometers separating them. However, a rather concerning fact about his village was that 70% of the villagers were old people. He had no clue how many of them had survived the earthquake, and the painful heat that passed through their body after the messages appeared.

Did all of them turn into Infected? What about cities? How many people lived in the city? Would all citizens of big cities turn into Infected, or would they be able to deal with the Infected?

There were too many questions and too few answers. All Xavier knew was that he could deal with one Inferior Infected at a time and that every kill awarded him with Soul Essences.

After taking a look at the last notification he obtained, Xavier was a little surprised to see that the message was different from the one before. The number of Soul Essences decreased, but something else had been added.

Common Card? Wait. Monsters drop the Cards for Decks? One more reason to hunt monsters. Point noted. But where is it?

Xavier took a look around the Infected’s corpse, but he couldn’t find the Common Card. He saw the Soul Essence ascend from the corpse’s body and merge into his Classless Deck, yet the Common Card was nowhere to be seen.

After searching for the Card for a good minute, Xavier finally found it lying next to the Infected, beneath a piece of rubble inconspicuously.

The card was around the same size as an ordinary poker card. It had a thin white border and a unique figure in the center. Xavier could not quite understand what type of being it was but he could roughly gauge that the figure was supposed to be dashing forward. The outlines were too blurry to make out the rest of the details.

Xavier bent down to pick up the Card and inspected it with great interest.

Dash

Common - Level 1(0%)

Utility

Active

Requires Stamina to be used.

Effect – Increases the User’s Agility for a short moment.

–

Stamina consumption decreases according to Card Level.

Agility increase according to Card Level

Duration extends according to Card Level

Interesting. So, Cards are basically skills or abilities. That’s pretty similar to games…what a wonder!

Xavier was not sure whether he should be surprised or not. However, the fact was that the changes turned Earth into a game-like world.

He put aside the ominous thoughts that began to flood his mind when he recalled the changes that had struck the planet like a ferocious, untamed calamity. Instead, he looked at the information of the Classless Deck once again.

Classless Deck

Stage-0 Card Holder

Connected Cards: 0

Card Limit: 10

Stored Soul Essences: 3

The number of Soul Essences increased by one, but the Card in his hand was not shown in the ‘Connected Cards’ field.

“Do I have to add it manually?” Xavier wondered, opening the lid of the box to slide the Common Card inside.

Congratulations! You added your first Card to your Deck. Please prepare for the influx of Information!

The instant the message in front of him appeared, Xavier sensed something in the back of his head. It didn’t hurt a lot, but it was an uncomfortable sensation that began to spread until it reached the front of his head real quick. The discomfort steadily increased until it turned into pain.

Along with the pain, information arrived. It was the information about the Common Card, Dash, that he had just connected to his Deck.

Fuck. That is…amazing!

Xavier was in pain but the information that entered his mind was exceptionally useful. He instinctively knew how to use Dash and how to control the Common Card to a certain degree.

To be certain that the information was not wrong, Xavier immediately used Dash. He turned to his father and kicked the ground.

His stamina burned rapidly, but all Xavier noticed was that he accelerated much faster than before. He crossed the short distance to his father in the blink of an eye and brushed past him to enter the house with another stride. In the next moment, he appeared next to his mother and immediately stopped utilizing Dash.

Sweat appeared on his forehead and he began to breathe heavily, but a bright smile formed on his lips.

“That is insane!” He exclaimed, only for his mother to stare daggers at him.

“What is? You, or the world?!” She asked, her stare turning murderous as if she was threatening him to think before speaking aloud.

“What did you think when you charged at these…things?! Did you even think about the consequences in the first place?!?” His mother screamed at him at the top of her lungs.

At that moment, Xavier knew that he had fucked up.

This is definitely worse than fighting some Infected…

Xavier turned around, hoping that his father was there to help him out.

However, Mark took a quick peek inside the living room just to make a tactical retreat when he saw the fury in his wife’s eyes.

Sorry bud. That is your fight. I would rather deal with a few more of those Infected!