I slowly shook away the drowsiness and opened my eyes. I tried turning my head left and right and it seemed like my muscles were strained or something of that sort because the movement was harder than it used to be.

Moving my arms was easier, but the stifness was uniform in that regard. Can't be dexterous if you aren't agile after all. I just stood there, waiting for something to happen, for the world to bring another earth-shattering event and cataclysm and wake me up because this was not logically possible.

Nothing happened. I mean, of course nothing happened, it's not like I was asking to find change on the side of the road after all. But I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Wasn't I supposed to be dead right now? Which I admit, I'm glad to be wrong, to be different from the others, but considering the clearly stated negatives, the status could go fuck itself right out the window. The heck did it mean by an apocalypse?!

However, it seemed like something had happened, because I could see more and more people wake up and open the lights in the middle of the night.

I still didn't know what I was going to do... so, the apocalypse had started? Right now? I didn't notice anything different if that was the case.

I lied on the ground, still shocked about what had just happened, but it seemed like this calm wasn't about to last for long as a large rat the size of a dog rushed past me and into the distance. I didn't have time to realise what the hell had just happened before a shrill scream was heard a few dozen meters behind me. Quickly getting up, I realised that the scream came from wherever the rat had just run off to.

I looked at the system messages one more time, ignoring the sudden screams that started filling the previous silent night, unable to get past the shock of what had just happened.

I was technically considered a monster, but technicalities never worked for me. I was a monster. Well, since I wasn't some mindless, brainless zombie, I would take it.

Moving away from where I'd just died, I started running in accordance to my instincts as my thoughts were still a chaotic mess. I didn't know what sort of instincts I had, but they were telling me in no uncertain way to get out of the roads.

And turns out an undead monster can run pretty fast. I can't make any sudden turns or dodges, but running in a straight line I believe there were very few humans that could catch up to me now. I wasn't any sort of olympic champion, but I was still more than twice as fast as when I was a human.

Before I went into the alleyways, my eye caught a glimpse of a massive monster almost twice my height roaming the streets, and I had no doubts about its strength.

Ogre - Level 5

I noped straight out of that; it was a bit annoying not having a detailed analysis on it. That said, I didn't need many details to see it was bad news. The thing was massive, looked angry, and ready to kill anything within it's eyesight, which included me. It made Hulk look like an angsty teenager in comparison and it was followed by an army of smaller but similar monsters further behind.

None of the monsters attacked each other, but it didn't seem to be that way for everything as the giant Orc stomped a dog sized rat that had the missfortune of running past it. Knowing that I shouldn't linger here for too long, I started running in the opposite direction.

Skill Gained Running

I slowed down after running at a breakneck speed for longer than I was willing to admit and tried to calm my breathing. Do zombies even need to breathe?

Skill Gained Breathing

I shook my head, what the Hell were those skills?

But that was enough sidetracking... more importantly, what were my stats now that I was a monster?

Uncommon Monster Species Undead Name Mylas Cohen Status Bewildered Extended Status Level

0 Experience

0/100

Strength 13.5 (9) Agility 8.8 (11) Vitality Null Intelligence 15 Wisdom 17

Well, that was easy, barely even had to think about it, but was I using some sort of ability to see these kinds of things? Also, where is my health? And what's up with the error?

Shaking my head, I focused on the statistics that mattered the most right now. Looking at my agility, it explained a few things in the extra rigidness in the way I moved. Like the flexibility and control my human body orgininally had, had decreased by a fair amount.

If I assumed 10 was the human average, my agility had fallen below average and my strength had gone through the roof.

Looking at my status screen, I noticed the last two values... was I really that smart? Not that it would do me much since I was also a great deal weaker than most uncommon monsters. Still, I hoped those statistics meant I was smarter than the average, it would be a great confidence boost and from what I had seen in the last five minutes, I needed it.

I kept moving until I found a place I considered to be safe enough for the moment. The way I judged it was by how many screams there were and how loud they were.

And... I was lost. Both in what to do and what to expect in the future. I want to find out if my parents are okay, I want to see if I can survive, to see if I'm able to run away...?

To run away again? No... I didn't want to run away. It might have been the instincts talking, newfound as they were, but they were telling me to fight. That I had the strength to do so. And I agreed.

I shook my head, perhaps saying I wanted to have an adventure would be a better wording of this.

I had almost started looking at the situation like it was just a game; I was safe, I was stronger - by virtue of the system - and while monsters were scary at first glance I hadn't tried fighting any of them, so who could say anything about their strength? An adventure sounded just about right. The blood, the hunger, the thrill!

Then I saw someone die and the screaming inside of my head went silent. Everything did. He was in front of me, just a few feet away and no older than I was; perhaps we even went to the same school... He was only a few feet away as a Common Wolf tore apart at his throat and all I could do was sit stunned, silent, praying that the wolf didn't attack me next.

My legs wouldn't move even as the kid screamed. His neck was bleeding but he wasn't dead, I could see the life of his eyes slowly dim as the wolf ate him alive at first then started eating faster when the kid was actually dead.

I didn't speak, didn't even know if I could speak but this wasn't the time to find out. I moved away from my spot and didn't look back... couldn't look back. I walked away...

Skill Gained Walking

I wanted to laugh at the system's twisted sense of humor, but the joke wasn't funny. Was this a game to it? An adventure to others? Was this my reality?

I continued walking, numb from what had just happened. There were a few times I saw a random human on the streets and they all seemed to turn to run away when they saw me. Don't worry guys, I want to run away myself when I see my reflection.

At the same time, I also saw some people resisting the monsters.

They were in a back end alley, almost ten people fighting an isolated Ogre. And they seemed to be winning, even as a casual hit from the Ogre was enough to break an arm and send someone to the hospital. There were already two people lying down and lifeless. The ones fighting the ogre actively avoided looking at their direction, and they had a look of terror in their eyes, but none gave up, none run away. I wanted to go over and help them, but I knew they were more likely to kill me than accept my help. I didn't have a specific reason to believe that, called it instincts and simply observed from afar as they whittled down a single Common Ogre.

Thankfully it was fairly dark and I doubted they would be able to see me in the corner. The fight lasted for another five minutes and the ogre had managed to kill another one of their team. This time watching someone else die felt more muted.

The moment the fight ended, a faint, soft light enveloped the remaining people and the feeling of danger I got from them intensified by more than two-fold. What had happened there? Did they level up? What changed?

I backtracked and took another corner in an alleyway, trying to hopefully avoid meeting their group. I didn't know what they would do if they saw me and didn't want to guess. I kept walking in the dark, trying to go by sound so I wouldn't be surprised by any monsters lurking around. What I had figured out from observing many monsters was that not all of them were equal in strength, even if they were the same species and rarity. It gave me hope that I could fight one, though given my current state I knew I wouldn't survive even the weakest of them alone now that I had seen them in action.

I needed a plan and this far out of my house wasn't it. I headed out of the alleyways and chanced a look at the streets to better orient myself. The safety of a metal door and a staircase that would be more than a bit difficult to access for most monsters was alluring, "Make a plan; I need a plan." I said to myself, trying to keep my sanity in the pitch black darkness.

There were far fewer monsters here than half a kilometer away, but I didn't want to be overly relaxed in this place. I had made a mistake by running so far away, having given control to my instincts entirely.

Then I heard a faint sound a few meters away from me.

I knew I shouldn't check, didn't want to see another human, my instincts were screaming at me, but that voice was too familiar to ignore.

In front of me was Konstantine, crying in front of a dead body, "Please... please talk to me. Don't give up. Open your eyes man!" He kept saying over and over, then with a much softer voice, "Please... I'm sorry."

Mike was dead. Can't say I didn't feel a bit happy about it, and seeing the leader of the bully trio so broken almost made me giddy. Did that make me bad? Evil? A monster? Well, sucks to be them.

I took a step forward and stepped on something crunchy on the ground, a few shards of glass. Konstantine instantly turned his head at the noise and meet my eyes. He paled.

"I- dont!" He started in a yell but his voice choked out, "No... to die from the trash of the school." He said, laughing at himself despite the tears running down his eyes, surprising me mid-step.

This time I didn't just stand in place, I walked closer to him as he tried to get his shaking legs working... and punched his face with all the hate and anger I had for him.

My voice was gurgled and didn't come out easily, but I forced the words out of my mouth, "You... Don't." This was harder than it looked, "Don't deserve to die so easily." I said to him.

The punch had woken him up and he looked at me in surprise as he realised who I was. But then again if suddenly the zombie of a person who probably hated me the most came and gave me a motivational punch in the jaw, I would have been surprised as well.

"How..." He started to ask, but I shook my head. This wasn't the time or place for that, though I wanted to ask him the same thing. What was he doing down here?

Konstantine then took another look at me and his mouth hung open... more questions for later, but first we had to get somewhere safe, "Where is your house?" I asked him, my voice rougher than usual and my extra strength giving me more confidence to face him on equal terms rather than a lackey who had to listen to him. To his eyes I was like a completely different person, and I wouldn't disagree with him on that.

He grew silent and for a moment I thought he had given up again, but the eyes that looked at me weren't the despairing pair he had before, "Are you... still Mylas?" He said, the unspoken question very clear in the air.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I considered acting like the monsters from the movies and grabbing a bite, but the part of me still human blanched at that suggestion, "Yes." I told him, though speaking like that hurt my throat. If I could see my health points right now I bet it would even show I had taken damage from that.

Konstantine was a leader. He was a person who knew how to make friends and make good decisions... mostly. From the time I saw him people were attracted to him. Not in a romantic way, this guy would sooner get a girlfriend than hit the lottery jackpot. Class projects were the easiest example of his charisma, but rich parents, harsh home, stressful environment... someone had to take that stress and that target was me.

I decided to inspect him, something that I had to remind myself constantly with the monsters met. Seeing my statistics was easier than breathing, but getting anything from the system for anyone else was harder than eating rocks from the school's backyard.

Human - Level 2

He did look a bit worn out but how the hell was he level two?!

"What happened?" I asked, my curiosity beating the disgust for my ex-tormentor.

He looked at me, angry at the question I'd dared to pose, but remembering again that he wasn't talking to a human seemed to calm him down, though I didn't lower my guard against him.

"I don't know." He said, his face a mix of anger and despair, "When the message appeared I was sleeping; dreaming. My parents, my sister, everyone went missing. I wake up and I'm all alone inside an empty room reminiscent of our school's storeroom. At first I thought I was still dreaming, but then I heard the screams. From all around me, asking for help. I- from the windows... I saw them." His voice cut off as he dry heaved.

His next words were forced through his teeth, "I run away," I want to say Of course, how typical, but considering what I had seen of the monsters currently, I can't blame him. "There was no one blocking my way, no one stopping me from leaving." He said, having calmed down a bit after talking this much.

A weird notification appeared in front of me as he finished his story.

System Quest Karma has dragged you to a place of events along with many other people, but you have a choice.

Rejection: Death

Failure: Death

Success: Error

What the...

"A system message then appeared telling me I had broken a karmic link and congratulated me for completing a quest of some sorts."

Looking at the system message, I wanted to believe it was fake, no matter if they could be faked or not. I did a double take at what was written, described. The school was a place of events... and the bastard dragged me into it when he told me the story... fuck.

Before I went to speak, Konstantine cut me off, "Wait, I can prove it!" He said, looking really focused on the thin air in front of him, which was probably a status screen.

Call me Carlson and slap me on the ass, we barely even had the system for a few hours and this guy has it all figured out.

Not a moment after he said that, a prompt appeared in front of me, asking me whether I wanted to accept the logs from Human Konstantine, which I did.

System Notice

Somehow, someway, you've managed to alter the course of your fate.

Reward: Rare Attribute - Luck

"And then after this another system notification appeared showing me a different result for the completion of the quest. Let me find it first..." I stop him in his tracks, I've had enough of these messages, "You can just tell me what it said later." I liked the way he was speaking right now. Nothing like an apocalypse to change the rotten bastard into something more respectful, though I could only imagine what he had seen in order to make him like that.

Now I wondered how would the system kill me for rejecting its quest. Konstantine seemed to have escaped it by sheer luck, but I wasn't even teleported to the school in the first place.

"Oh yeah, so if you escaped by sheer luck, how did your friend escape?" I asked, having almost forgotten about the dead rat a few meters away. I was also getting better at this speaking thing.

Snapping out of his revelry, he answered without thinking too much, "He told me it was almost the same way. Classroom near the exit, unlocked and not guarded, only he didn't get the luck status. He did get the reward for completing the quest though." He said, looking for my expression after that.

Okay, now it was getting weird. This guy is almost like an entirely different person. He was too meek and quick to please. The possibility of him being controlled was high up on the list, along with him trying to set up a trap for me. And that's without considering the truthfulness of the story he was trying to sell me.

"You're strong now, aren't you?" Konstantine asked me, his eyes hiding a mixture of emotions, "Can you help me save the others?" Ah, there was the trap.

"No." I refused plain and simply and his hopeful eyes visibly dimmed. Even if everyone connected to the school had been teleported to a torture chamber, I hardly had anyone I cared about... in it. Well shit.

"Maybe." Aliyah will be the one to own me at this rate, and I might be throwing my life, but a debt is a debt. And a welcome bonus is that I won't have to feel burdened for having left two or three hundred bastards to rot.

That said, I was originally planning on going to my house before trying any stupid adventures. Well, we can skip my house, it was fairly out of the way, but we needed equipment more than our bare fists. My house didn't have a gun, nor did I know how to use one, so I was going for a sturdy kitchen knife or three; something that all houses have.

Looking at the door next to me, I veered to the side, receiving a questioning look from Konstantine which I barely gave a thought to.

Searching for a window, I didn't even bother searching for a rock, and smashed the window with my bare fist. The window broke easily and not even a scratch on my hand. It was fairly loud, however, so we would have to hope no big monsters noticed us. Though having fought a weaker monster before going on a rescue mission with dozens of monsters might be better

"What's your plan?" He asked, not looking all too happy about the noise I was making trying to clear the window from any shards so I could pass through.

"Weapons." I answered and didn't bother explaining it further.

While there were fewer monsters here, we still had to be careful as the few that existed did like to roam. Honestly, it was incredibly lucky that we hadn't met a single monster yet... lucky.

Perhaps Konstantine was useful for one thing after all.

Jumping inside through the window, I found myself inside a fairly spacious living room. The house was fairly well decorated, but unfortunately with the apocalypse going on right now no one would give them any compliments for it. It's the thought that counts, I told myself and smiling merrily proceeded to search for what we needed.

After an entire minute, I remembered not checking if anyone else was inside, but luck had my back, there was no one at home. Good, it would have been an awkward conversation otherwise.

I searched first inside the bedroom in case they had a firearm, but not finding any luck there, I went to join Konstantine in the Kitchen, grabbing a sturdy knife and then thinking about it more, I grabbed the rest of the knives they had. Considering what I was going to use them for, they would break fairly quickly, so the extra were necessary.

And just like that, I was ready for my first quest! My blood thirsted for the power of advancement and the thrill of a fight.

We exited the house, finding no monsters in our way, or any monsters at all to be honest, which was weird. To add to the weirdness, Konstantine was fidgeting more and more as we approached the school turned dungeon.

We got out of an alleyway on the side of the school and moved towards the entrance. Since I woke up it seemed like everything was sped up, happening far too fast to comprehend, too fast for this to even be a good story.

I wondered if I was going to be like a protagonist in one of those fantasy movies. The status screens were a bit weird, but a movie with them might have been quite fun. Combining games and movies, however, wasn't the same as games and reality.

I shook my head, we reached on the front side of the school and the gate was ripped into pieces, the metal bent and broken all around. I was positive that Konstantine wasn't the one to do this. Giving him an inquisical look, he shrugged, not knowing what to say.

Dungeon Characteristics

Building School Characteristics

Transformation

Demonic

Karmic

Difficulty

12

The blue screen popped up in front of us the moment we stepped in. There were no visible monsters in the yard and when we looked back it seemed like the world outside was twisted and hazy.

Also, difficulty twelve? Twelve out of what? For some reason I didn't believe this place was going to be easy to clear, especially if it meant level 12 monsters. That said, call it arrogance, I believed we could do it. Worst case scenario, we run. Running seemed to have cleared Konstantine's quest, so it should clear mine as well.

As we moved further into the schoolyard we kept our silence. I was the vanguard and he was... something helpful I hoped.

Not even halfway to getting inside the school, we saw our first monster unexpectedly casually leaving the building,

Imp - Level 5

I almost shit my pants, a level 10 monster right out of the gate and with us exposed with nowhere to hide. Making my decision in less than a second, I instantly jumped forward with all of my strength before the monster noticed us. I reached the monster's side in an instant and instead of punching it, I used one of my skills for the first time.

Head first, I bit into the monster, my teeth piercing the somewhat tough flesh in an instant, tearing its throat apart and leaving something like poison behind... I think.

It was all so instinctual I barely noticed how I used the skill. It seemed to also give me a bit of biting strength too since when I punched it a mere second after biting its ass my fist seemed to push the monster aside rather than do any actual damage. It did fall to the ground, though, and at least that counted for something.

A good attack, but one that required me to get up close and very personal with the enemy. Rip and tear and perhaps eat after that as well.

It was bleeding heavily and struggling to stand up, something which I took advantage of even as I was panting. I took a step forward and with all my power kicked the monster at the neck where I had previously bitten it. I was so rigid I almost missed the kick even without the imp avoiding me.

I kicked it again and again, not letting it get up or get any distance. I was doing this for a good half-minute till Konstantine decided to join the kicking party. The monster was disoriented and unable to defend against our attacks, yet it was still not dying.

The longer this kept up the more chances a friend of this creature joined in and then we were screwed. Thankfully it didn't have a lot of strength, though that might be because it literally couldn't breath and was bleeding out. Nevertheless, it kept it from managing to escape and in turn my increased strength had its mouth shoved into the dirt so hard a normal human would have died over ten times just from the first stomp.

Finally, its eyes seemed to dim, but all of a sudden as if filled with an impossible strength it escaped. With a turn of its body, it uttered a strange mix of sounds, a single word... and then there was fire. I was right in the face of the imp, Konstantine only just a bit behind me before we both got a taste of what being burned alive should feel like.

It hurt, but not a lot. Perhaps the undead life muted my sense of pain somewhat... somewhat a lot.

At least the monster didn't seem to be turning into a zombie because that was something I did not want to worry about. That sudden second wind it got was scary.

The fire burned me for a mere second, yet the pain lasted for far longer. My face felt like it was melting off and my hands were submerged into lava... which probably wasn't that far off what had actually happened.

"A level five monster shouldn't be able to do this, it's unfair." I muttered under my breath when I could actually breathe again.

"How are you still alive?" Konstantine asked behind me and I just grumbled. I bet I didn't look pretty for him to be saying that.

Behind him the imp didn't seem to be breathing any longer,

Human - Level 3

Well, he probably would have died if I hadn't taken the burnt of the blow.

I felt annoyed that he got all the goodies, because after checking my level, I was still where I had started. Then the notifications hit me,

Skill level up list

Infected Bite level 0 -> 2

Infected Blood level 0 -> 1

Pain Resistance level 0 -> 1

Corruption Resistance level 1 -> 2

Walking level 0 -> 2

Running level 0 -> 1

Breathing level 0-> 1

Woah, this was an unexpected gift considering I just bit a child-like Demon, kicked it a few times then got blown up in the face. Some of these were definitely from before the fight.

I should be checking these more often.

That said, I don't know if that should have killed me or not, and I don't seem to be recovering my burnt face and ringing ears, so I will have to be more careful in the future. I still don't know what having vitality and health status as null means, though I can't imagine it to be good.

My face was still hurting and touching it felt weird. I mean, I didn't have a beautiful face before this, but still...

Looking at myself better, I was very close to dying right now, yet adrenaline muted the already muted pain and urged me forward, to ignore the risks, to feel victorious over something so powerful, and to keep going.

The pain, however, soon transformed into an unbearable itch and I knew I shouldn't scratch it, but it was hard.

Skill level up

Pain Resistance level 1 -> 2

The itch calmed down a bit, but it was still painful. Me and Konstantine were still getting our bearings as the school greeted us with another visitor. We were outside the school's doors, halfway to getting inside the actual school, yet it wasn't meant to be.

Fist an Imp came out and while it was annoying, we'd already dealt with one. Getting my face melted off wasn't part of the plan, but these guys were easier to kill than the huge Wolves and Ogres outside, talking from second-hand experience.

Then came another one... and another.

In mere seconds after the second one had appeared, four of these imps had come out of the school and more were on their way.

Konstantine lost his color and I think he actually shit his pants as well. The imps went crazy the second they saw us, instantly rushing towards us. By this moment there must have been over fifty of them and some of them could even fly.

However, we reacted in a fast manner and were already almost a quarter of the way out. We were going to make it!

Then the Imps stopped.

The chant was short, so short it may as well have not existed.

I felt time slow down, my thoughts racing so fast that the fractions of a second almost became a full second... yet it was still not enough time to react, to do anything.

I didn't know what to do, it wasn't my brain that reacted, rather than that, my body just moved on its own.

Stomping the ground with enough strength to crack the dirt, I grabbed Konstantine by the shoulder and pivoted all of my strength to throw him out. I could feel the heat behind my back only an instant after Konstantine's arm had left my grip.

My arm and leg were both broken by the amount of force that I'd exerted... I wouldn't be able to run away from this one.

The source of the heat hit me and everything faded to black.