Slash n' cut. A pair of Damascus Steel knives were rapidly chopping tender flesh into tiny pieces. Music in my headphones helped me maintain a tough rhythm. I didn't pay attention to the temperature of the room for a long time already because of the righteous anger burning inside me. Another powerful strike separated a new piece from the bone, and I began to furiously mince it.
«Heh, Galina Petrovna, now you regret your doings, don't you?»
A loud shriek from behind snapped me out of my pleasant thoughts.
«Damn you, I completely forgot about that accursed gal…»
"Sasha, look at this stupid cat!"
I pulled out my headphones abruptly and slowly turned to the young trainee. A few days ago, she was assigned to me to "help", but 90% of the shift she spends on her phone or watching memes. And it was because of her that I was not allowed to go on vacation.
«I'll let that senile witch choke on this miserable salary,» I thought to myself.
"Nastya, if there is nothing to do, help me with the packaging and then put it in the freezer!" I did my best to hide the murderous intent in my voice. Not only do I have to work another two weeks, they also hung this "wonder" on me. One of the relatives of this girl approached our director and now I have to babysit her for the promised bonus.
"No, it's too cold in here. And I don't want to touch it … fu!" Nastya twisted her pretty face and buried it back into the phone.
His voice faded, and life seemed to return to the world. I was either thrown into a fever, or I was shivering. My head was spinning, my heart was pounding in my chest, and I had to lean on the table from weakness.
«What happened to me? A stroke? A heart attack? Am I going mental?» Terrible thoughts about my impending death swirled in my head. However, it turned out to be too easy to distract me from the surging introspection - a heart-rending cry for help, and the sound of dishes breaking were heard from the hall.
«Freshmen at it again?!»
This often happens in our dining room — we don't have any security guards here. On the left is the building where historians, lawyers and other important humanitarian professions study; and a couple of houses away is the building with "exemplary" representatives of our society from not-so-well neighborhoods. Ha, those old hens have to deal with them now.
However, the common fight apparently turned into a riot. Dishes rattled, chairs and tables fell over and thumped; it looks like some freaks even took out the panoramic window. Cursing, I went to the sink to rinse my hands and shouted over the shoulder to my "assistant":
"Nastya, see what's happening there."
In response to my request, she muttered something unintelligible. In my mind, I already regarded this phrase as: «Does it look like I have nothing better to do?»
«Take it easy. You have to be patient until the end of the day. Then take your sick leave, stay at home, get money, and we'll never see this girl again.»
Murmuring behind me intensified, adding growls and other inarticulate sounds. I turned around abruptly, only to find Nastya two steps away from me. She had changed a lot in the minute that I had not been looking at her. Her eyes were now black and soulless, and her lips were thin and scarlet. She looked like she was ready to kill.
"Nastya, what's wrong with you?" My voice trembled slightly. Text appeared in front of my face:
Altered (*)
Level 1.
Red Faction.
As if sensing my fear, the scarecrow briskly twitched in my direction like a wild animal. I didn't even notice how her toothy mouth managed to grab onto my wrist; blood gushed out from the tear. With a wild cry, I pushed her away from me with such force that the girl flew through half the meat production facility in a second. Well, it is not surprising: to throw a miniature girl with my meter ninety height and weight of one hundred kgs was as easy as shelling peas.
"You… Have you gone completely insane?!"
With my right hand, I grabbed my lacerated wound and stared at the motionless body. Nastya lay on the floor like a broken doll. A deep purple puddle formed around her head. I was shaking: «How? How did that happen?»
With a corner of my mind, I noticed a pop-up text:
You eliminated level 0 Altered, gained 3 experience.
"No, no, no, no, no... What have I done?" I ran up to her in a fit of uncontrollable fear and checked her pulse on the neck.
"Fuck!" Terrible pictures began to flash before my eyes: a police squad, an interrogation, a trial, prison, and my life's over. "Damn it!"
«Okay, okay, calm down! Hhh… that hurts!»
The throbbing pain in my wrist was getting worse — something had to be done about it. I rushed to the first aid kit and, with a shaky hand, poured half a bottle of peroxide into my wound. I howled out of pain and somehow managed to bandage my hand. I began to feverishly think about what to do next, and my gaze immediately stopped on a small freezer on the floor.
The pieces of frozen beef quickly vacated their room inside the refrigerator. Picking up the still-warm corpse, I held back my nausea and put the body in the freezer. I covered it with rags, and threw back all the frozen stuff in there, concealing my random victim.
«Calm down, calm down. Now, I just have to remove the blood, work until the end of my shift, and run somewhere far away. Today's Friday, tomorrow is a holiday. I'll have a day or two until it's found»
Bucket, water, rags, gloves, cleaner. Bucket, water, rags, gloves, cleaner. In a full set, I went to a pool of blood and, apparently, adrenaline made me hallucinate. How else to explain it? In a dark, thickening substance, surrounded by a soft, attractive light, lay a notebook or book of sorts. Even stranger was the fact that, in a pool of blood, the book was completely clean, not a single speck of dirt on it. Me, as if under hypnosis, bent down and picked up the luminous object. As soon as the book was in my hands, text appeared before my eyes:
Passive skill book: Appraisal. Volume 1.
Do you want to learn it: yes/no
"What the…?" My voice came out very quiet. "Yes."
«Congratulations, you've learned a new skill!» A familiar female voice sounded in my head. The book in my hands melted into thin air in an instant, as if it had never existed. Before I had time to think about such oddities, the pain in my arm reminded me of itself.
I tried to clench my hand into a fist and almost howled. Along with it, a burning sensation spread, reaching my forearm. Black swollen veins, like leeches drunk with blood, went there from the bandaged wound. Also, text appeared in the air above the bite:
Condition: Infection (alteration).
Time until bodily transformation: 15 min 57 sec.
«Zombies, skills, conditions» It was foolish to consider everything I just saw a hallucination. «This is some kind of a game! Even an idea of such a thing happening is crazy, but I have to try something...»
"Inventory" I loudly said the first thing that came up to mind.
However, nothing happened.
"Character window!"
Nothing.
“Status!” The last shout worked.
Name: Alexander Zakharov
Level: 0
Experience: 3/90
[https://sun9-64.userapi.com/s/v1/ig2/NZudfeZYxaZUUIL4-JgFZHk3MFLGI1ImBw_o-ictoASck_8utxuliM2-ZSfis-HUPFsaaJb1uJugiMZ-uiGL8Wrf.jpg?size=505x558&quality=96&type=album]
In amazement, I sank to the cold floor. What am I even doing? The first thing I did during the zombie apocalypse was hide the corpse? What a fool. Okay, that's all in the past. So, I'm in a game? Or our world transformed into a game of sorts? In my fantasies, I already felt like a great warrior with a two-handed sword, crushing dragons and demons. One against armies. However, as soon as I reached the last line of my status, my entire inner world crumbled in a second.
I completely forgot about the zombie’s bite. Does it mean I'm just unlucky? Met my first zombie and now I’m rapidly approaching the end of the game. Soon I will join their ranks. Maybe I can cut off my arm?... That's an option, of course, although, judging by the black veins, the infection has spread above the shoulder. It's too late for an amputation, and I probably wouldn't be able to cut off my own hand... So, that's it? No other way?
The longer I thought, the deeper I sank into the abyss of despair. With a trembling hand, I felt the phone in my pocket and firstly called Lisa. Alas, there was no connection, same for the Internet. I shook my head, pushing the bad thoughts away. So, what can I do to survive? In some games, as far as I remember, with a lvl-up, characters hp, mana and everything else are restored completely. And it turns out that if I heal, then the wound will disappear, together with the debuff! All I need to do is kill 29 zombies in 15 minutes. Ha-ha-ha!
Sounds of carnage in the dining room gradually subsided. All that remained was a rattle, champ, and a guttural growl. Fantasy immediately drew a terrible picture in front of me: a crowd of maddened monsters was waiting for me behind the iron door. From the realization of this, it was as if a piece of ice was run along my spine.
It's lunch time, how many people are there? Hundred? Two hundred? Madness. I can already imagine how this huge crowd breaks into the facility and tears me apart.
No-o-o! I shook my head; I need to get out of here. Good thing we're on the first floor. I'll jump out the window and... And what's next? Search the streets for 29 deadsies, one by one?
If I do believe the voice in my head, then most of humanity has become zombies, which means it will be like in trash movies: hungry hordes on the streets and other things, common for a post-apocalypse. And just in time, I glanced at the road. About a hundred meters from me, a human figure rushed along the roadway, followed by an angry crowd numbering around 50 heads. Not even a few seconds passed before a painful cry resounded. An unpleasant chill ran between the shoulder blades.
I... didn't want to go outside.
I looked again at the infection timer. There is less and less time.
Zombies there must have finished their lunch shares of survivors and somehow magically sensed me. Iron door to my facility shuddered from numerous blows. It's good that dumb creatures didn't think about pulling the handle to open the door. I still didn't have the keys to lock myself from the inside. And this door will not endure for much longer.
“All right,” I got up and wiped my sweaty hands on the apron. “a hundred zombies? Just a little leveling for me.”
I pushed nearest cutting table to the iron door, its metallic bottom creaking on the tiles. Then, I began to pile up everything that was not nailed to the floor, leaving small gaps in the barricade on purpose. Having quickly finished the work, I grabbed my chef knife from the table and wiped it to a shine. The pleasant heaviness gave strength. The only thing that was embarrassing about my weapon was the dangerous distance - it would be necessary to get too close to the creatures. Quickly looking around, my eyes stumbled upon a wooden mop. In several quick swings I separated mop handle from the nozzle and slightly sharpened it on one end. Now I'm ready.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Something hit the door like a battering ram, and door's lock broke. Through the gaps in the barricade, I saw many bodies shouldering each other. Zombies got stuck in the doorway. They snarled and gnashed their teeth in anger, their wild eyes dead fixed on me.
Bulky silhouette escaped from the clanking Pleiades and immediately rushed to storm the obstacle I created. I confess that I wasn't even surprised to see Galina Petrovna in such a "form", and it certainly was her. That's my immediate supervisor - a woman in her sixties with purple-pink hair styled like a nuclear blast. I focused my attention on her and a window popped up:
Altered (*)
Level 1.
Red Faction.
Her lower jaw and nose were missing. She were hoarse, and, as it seemed, stared at me with some primal fury.
First strike was sluggish and indecisive. Weapon slid down the zombie's cheek, leaving a shallow bleeding streak. My second, third, and fourth blows were just as stupid, and in the meantime that creature has already almost climbed over the barricades. Behind her, other tasters of my young body hurried.
“Useless shit,” I angrily threw the stick aside and grabbed my knife.
Lifting my heavy butchering tool overhead, for some reason I couldn’t coup de grâce my elderly boss. It was like something deep inside of me was screaming not to do it. Maybe I've gone crazy? Maybe they are all alive and well? Maybe the crazy maniac and monster is me, and they are innocent people?
“You bitch!” The zombie's sharp claws dug into my wounded wrist. My weapon immediately fell with a swift stroke on the back of Galina Petrovna's head.
“You shouldn’t have denied me a well-deserved vacation!”
You eliminated level 1 Altered, gained 3 experience.
Other zombies looked as strange as my former boss. Some were missing arms, others had broken necks and strangely twisted heads, as if they were fighting a legion of bears rather than ordinary people. At the same time, they moved briskly, but clearly were lacking intelligence.
As soon as their figures were in the attack range, my magnificent weapons broke through their heads.
You eliminated level 0 Altered, gained 3 experience.
You eliminated level 1 Altered, gained 3 experience.
You eliminated level 0 Altered, gained 3 experience.
After receiving a few more notifications, I was already suffocating from fatigue. Soaking wet T-shirt stuck to my body. Knife was no longer so striking so briskly on the defenseless heads of these deadsies. I leaned against the wall for a few seconds, giving myself a little rest. It's good that my design turned out to be reliable and still held back the pressure of those dumb creatures.
Attention!!! 5 minutes left until bodily transformation. We strongly advise that you take appropriate measures before it's too late.
«What measures!? Damned system, what do you think I can do? »
There were some adjustments in the ranks of the zombies. New Altered stopped arriving, but sounds of a battle could be heard outside.
«Did someone come to my aid? »
Me, trying not to make too much noise, went to the gap in the barricade and looked out into the passageway. In a room brightly lit by the sun, several infected fought fiercely against each other. I didn’t have time to rejoice at such a “wrong” zombies. New group did not leave their enemies a single chance. At the head of their squad was a huge creature. Probably an African, right? That black zombie had practically no clothes on. He towered over the others by a head or two and possessed truly incredible strength.
That creature looked more like a gorilla than a human. Long, almost to the knees, hands tore opponents apart and threw pieces of flesh into his wide mouth, with crooked, sharp teeth. The system helpfully shared some information with me:
Altered, sub-elite (**).
Level 3.
Yellow faction.
«So, here's my death approaching! »
I checked new altered ones, and as I thought: all the zombies that attacked besieging me ones were of the yellow faction.
"Come on, finish off this red faction!" - I tried to remain unnoticed, watching the unfolding carnage. Suddenly, I saw a silhouette hidden under the table behind large boxes. Most likely, this is Katya, the granddaughter of Galina Petrovna. She often came here. Today most likely she decided to visit her grandmother at work. I'm shocked that she hasn't been detected yet. However, it’s only a matter of time before she is noticed.
Yellow faction finished them off and began to devour their corpses. That huge leader continued to greedily throw pieces of human flesh into his mouth. Won't he burst from overeating? Giant must have thought that there's not enough prey - he growled and charged at the smaller "brother", throwing him aside, taking away his lunch.
Level 2 Altered crashed into the boxes behind which Katya was hiding. There was a faint scream, but it was drowned out by metal utensils rattling on the floor. Another moment, and zombies will find her. Without a moment's hesitation, I threw my cleaver at the giant. It was the worst shot of my life. Ax turned over in the air, it's wooden handle hit side of the monster and, clinking, flew off to the side.
Monster stared at me with eyes burning with malice and hunger. Altered ones around him were startled by the loud roar. I only had time to blink, as all four rushed in my direction. Grabbing my second weapon from the cutting table, I prepared for another fight.
Skinny zombies deftly slipped into the wall passage and began to climb over the barricades, but the fat big man could not get through the narrow doorway. “If I survive, I will read a prayer to the god of gluttony!”
The nimblest of the trio slipped through almost all the barriers, but got stuck on the last one. He put in so much effort and got his well-deserved reward of a sharp steel. After ten strikes, the creature stopped resisting, and the system informed me again about experience gained.
Loss of a colleague spurred remaining two. With a heart-rending cry, they broke through the barrier almost simultaneously. Almost falling while slipping and running across the blood-drenched floor towards me, were apparently once-pretty young girls.
Fighting off two hungry level 2 furies at the same time was not so easy. I swung my ax from side to side, backing away. One of the creatures successfully substituted itself for a sweeping strike. My weapon cut through the collarbone with ease and dug deep into the flesh. But this awkward action lost me my second weapon. Cleaver was stuck in the monster's bone, and the blood-stained handle slipped easily from my palm.
Second Altered, not missing her chance, rushed at me. I barely managed to dodge - a toothy maw clicked dangerously close to my face. In response to this, creature received my powerful uppercut. Her teeth clacked off each other and the girl was thrown aside as if struck by a tornado.
Without giving me even a second's rest, zombie, wounded in the shoulder, hurried to the aid of her friend. I struck with my hand at her. My wrist lashed with pain, but the creature didn't stop. She lunged at me like an angry animal defending its offspring. Under the furious pressure, I did not notice the kitchen utensils that fell under my feet and foolishly fell to the floor.
Altered, sensing a quick dinner, jumped on top of me, but after a few seconds of struggle, I squirmed out and crushed her under me. A series of blows rained down on a toothy face. As if with a hammer, I crushed vile creature's head into the tiled floor.
My left shoulder lashed with a sharp pain.
“AAAhh! Bitch!” I yelled as hard as I could. Abominable creature tore out a whole piece of meat from my emaciated body.
Picking up a small saucepan from the floor, I hit gluttonous beast with it in the ear. Normal person would most likely have died on the spot, but this zombie only recoiled from the blow and sank to the floor.
Roars from the other side of the door got louder and louder. I need to finish faster. I leaned over the first creature and grabbed my weapon lodged in her shoulder. With a jerk I pulled out and swiftly lowered it onto the head of the snarling beast. Strike's impact split the once-female face diagonally, splitting its nose in half. Grimacing in pain, I've put my hand on a knife's spine and pushed with all my might, applying my weight, split creature's head in two halves.
You eliminated level 2 altered, gained 3 experience.
Second restless zombie reminded about itself again - now the insatiable creature decided to feast on my foot. With a powerful kick, I threw her aside. Its eyes darkened with insane rage. I grabbed the arrogant piranha-faced creature by the red hair and slammed it into the metal corner of the table. I've hit her again and again, even after the notification of getting three experience points showed.
From the furious cry of the big thug, it seemed to me that the very earth shook. The creature, having swept away my barricade, rushed at me. Without weapons, barely on my feet, I met monster with a smile on my face. My only hope is that death would be quick.
I've only felt a sharp gust of wind and shards of glass hit me in the back. I turned my neck with great difficulty - creature, a head shorter than me, stood beside. Skin absolutely white, in some places small scales were visible. In place of the cheekbones, breaking through the skin, curved bones protruded in different directions. Instead of fingers - gray claws, thirty centimeters long. The system immediately showed me a message:
Altered, sub-elite (**).
Level 3.
Red faction.
I've just thought that my savior had come, which in fact turned out to be a simple showdown for food or a territory. Or maybe it came to avenge his fallen comrades? Whatever it was, they ignored me for now. To them, I'm just a dessert.
A second's peepers ended - giant opened its mouth and growled loudly, provoking his opponent. A long, spiked tongue suddenly shot out of its frog-like mouth. However, the white one predicted his move.
Chunks of flesh fell to the tiled floor. Damn it, how did he do it?! I didn't even see any movement. Albino then began to agilely "dance" around the hulk, inflicting many superficial wounds to him. The big man waved his arms in all directions, trying to capture the nimble louse.
I crawled into the corner of the room and pretended to be a rag. I didn't have any strength to run.
After half a minute, battle's picture changed a little. Even though the giant zombie was still on the defensive, it seemed to gradually adjust to his opponent's speed. Now, each of his blows has become more calculated, and just now the albino gets hit with a powerful swing from the big man, flying off to the opposite side of the room. He spat crumbled teeth onto the floor and chirped in anger.
Strange, but the big one did not even budge in the direction his enemy. As for me, this is a great chance to finish off Altered from the red faction. The giant took a small step forward, but his legs buckled and he fell to his knees.
Rumpled and clearly experiencing hard times albino rose to his clawed paws. His neck swelled and a lump of slimy snot with blood spilled onto the clawed paws. After properly bathing his weapon in this substance, he headed towards the immobilized enemy with murderous intent. The changed giant could only watch his executioner coming. Stopping a step away from victory, the albino moved its clawed paw to the side, intending to deliver a mortal blow.
A barrier of black flesh suddenly appeared in the path of a blow. I did not expect such quirks from a dumb-looking big one. Apparently, the giant only pretended to be immobilized and prepared a trap for the albino who was too self-confident and relied on his poison. Big zombie pushed his hand further through the claw fingers and grabbed the arm of its opponent. There was a crunch and blood spurted out.
The screech of the albino made my ears pop. Pale-skinned one tried to strike with his free hand, but the big man easily intercepted it and broke it like a dry branch.
The giant, interrupting his agony, pulled albino and pressed him against the powerful muscular chest. The only thing that poor fellow could do was to bite the hard flesh of the executioner with his broken teeth and scratch his belly with his sharp feet claws.
With every second of the embrace, his resistance weakened, and, uttering the last painful cry, smaller guy went limp.
Winner loosened his grip and leaned back against the wall. Our eyes met. In the eyes of the giant, there was no longer that primal rage, his look fading from wounds and fatigue. Completely immobilized from the albino's venom, he could not even move.
Attention!!! Time's remaining until bodily transformation is 1 min 59 seconds. We strongly recommend that you take appropriate action.
"...ck!" Leaning against the wall, I lifted up my wounded body, a bloody mist swam before my eyes. Step by step, I hobbled towards the immobilized giant. On the way, I came across a mop stick, the same one that I stopped using at the beginning of the battle with the Altered. Grimacing from the pain in my shoulder, I raised my "formidable" weapon.
The big guy didn't take his eyes off me. He didn't move a single muscle when I dipped the Gungnir into the albino's mouth, not even when the poisoned spear pierced his eye. The creature's other eye blazed with fierce fire of resistance. The creature did not want to die, and it scared the hell out of me. I've put the blunt end of the mop to my stomach and pushed it forward with all my strength with a cry. The stick advanced a few more centimeters and a text appeared in front of me:
You eliminated level 3 Altered (**), gained 270 experience.
Congratulations, you have reached level 1.
Congratulations, you have reached level 2.
Of course, I should be happy, but...
Attention!!! Time's remaining until bodily transformation is 0 min 25 sec. We strongly recommend that you take appropriate action.
"What the hell? I've got two whole levels, but not only didn’t I recover, but the infection didn’t go away either. Stupid game"
It remains only to take stock of my short life, to remember my beloved, relatives, friends! Apologize to everyone I offended... Wait! What's this?
Dark shine. In all directions from the book on the knees of the dead giant emanated a gloomy light. Even in my dying state, I was struck by a terrible chill from just one look. This thing truly had an otherworldly nature.
Attention!!! Time's remaining until bodily transformation is 0 min 15 sec. We strongly recommend that you take appropriate action.
Attention!!! Time's remaining until bodily transformation is 0 min 14 sec. We strongly recommend that you take appropriate action.
I timidly touched the folio.
Passive skill book: Tome of Eternal Life
Do you want to learn it: yes/no
The skill sounded great, but at the same time too suspicious. However, the alternative…
Attention!!! Time's remaining until bodily transformation 0 min 4 sec. We strongly recommend that you take appropriate action.
Attention!!! Time's remaining until bodily transformation 0 min 3 sec. We strongly recommend that you take appropriate action.
“Yes…” I said in a weak whisper, losing consciousness. I hope the system was able to accept my answer.