Washington, D.C., USA

A place filled with rich culture and deep history is now engulfed in a sea of flames.

Numerous cars have crashed into each other, and people are running everywhere due to panic. If Vance hadn’t seen something worse in the future, he would have thought this was hell.

“What a mess. If I just had a few days, I could have prevented all of this…”

Vance sighed and stared at the floating golden screen in front of him.

[D-Don’t blame me! Traveling back in time is already taxing for this world. I’m even surprised this plan worked.]

Vance raised his eyebrows after hearing what the golden screen said.

“Hm? Plan? What plan?”

The golden screen flinched at Vance’s suspicious stare.

[W-What d-do you mean?? I-I didn’t say anything!!]

Vance was about to say something, but a scream interrupted him.

“HELP! Someone, please help us!”

[L-Look! Someone needs help! Don’t you have to go over?]

“We’ll talk about this later. Don’t think you can get away with this.”

[...]

Vance didn’t waste any time and immediately dashed in the direction of the scream.

“Where is it?”

Vance looked for the voice frantically. Although he knew the direction the voice came from, he didn’t know its exact location.

“Ahhhh!”

A scream was heard a couple of meters ahead in an alley.

"There!”

…

In an alley, five people were trembling intensely, and the cause of it was the thing that was slowly walking toward them.

The thing looked like a person, but they weren’t sure if it was even human anymore. It was skinny and limping as it walked. Its skin was pale, and clumps of hair kept falling off its head.

“Hey, giant man, can’t you punch that thing again? Just like you did a while ago,” one of the five people, a man in a suit, said.

“I would’ve done it again if I could, but this thing is too tough. No matter how many times I strike it, it keeps getting up. And I also have to be wary of its bite. If I even let it scratch me, I’ll turn into a zombie instantly.” Next to the man in a suit, a 6-foot-tall, bulky man said.

The man in a suit sighed. “Just how did this happen? I was just sitting at my desk, doing my boring job, then suddenly the building I was in exploded, and somehow I miraculously survived. Is this the end of my luck?”

“Hahaha! As for me, I’m glad that I can show off to these three beautiful girls!”

The three girls’ faces turned pale after hearing what he said.

One of them, who had blonde hair, couldn’t accept it. She approached the burly man and wrapped her arms around his shoulder, clinging to him like a koala.

“P-Please don’t say that… I-I’ll do anything you want! Just please save me.”

The blonde girl pleaded, burying her chest further onto his arm, much to his delight.

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The man in a suit and the other two girls looked at them speechlessly.

‘How can you guys flirt even when we're about to die!?’

Feeling the three’s gazes, he let out a forced cough and changed the topic.

“Ahem. Anyway, why is it so quiet all of a sudden?”

The others also thought it was strange. They couldn’t hear the gruesome growl of the zombie anymore.

They turned around to see what had happened, but what they saw was completely unexpected.

A tall man, about 6 feet, stood there, his platinum blonde hair swaying in the wind, and his clear blue eyes as bright as the sky stared at them.

Under his feet was the very same zombie they thought was about to eat them. A long metal pipe was stabbed into its head, and blood and some white matter kept pouring out, forming a small puddle.

The man in a suit and the other three girls vomited at the sight. The burly man was still okay since he often saw blood in the boxing ring, although it was still a little uncomfortable.

“Don’t blame me. You need to do at least this to kill this guy,” Vance said nonchalantly.

“No… we are grateful. I’m Daniel. Thank you for saving us,” Daniel said while wiping some residue from his lips.

“You’re welcome. I’ll introduce myself later. For now, we need to move fast. If we don’t, we’ll be stampeded by a swarm of zombies.”

All of them had grave expressions after hearing that.

“What do you suggest we do?” Daniel asked. Somehow, he was already treating Vance as the leader unconsciously after seeing what he could do. The others didn’t mind either.

“First, I have a question. Do any of you know where the building of a company called Techno is?”

A lady with glasses raised her hand. “I know where it is. It’s the company I used to work for. It’s not far from here.”

“Good. Lead me there. Last question, does anyone know how to fight?”

The four stared at the burly man.

“I-I’m a professional boxer…” the burly man said meekly.

“I see. Your job now is to protect them. Do you understand?”

The burly man nodded.

“As for the rest of you, I only ask one thing. Always stick together. Don’t get separated, understand?”

“Yes!” All of them answered.

“Then, let’s go.”

At Vance's lead, all of them left the alley.

“The building is just down the street. If we just go straight, we should be able to see the building,” the lady with glasses said, pointing.

Vance nodded. “Thank you.”

While they were walking, Daniel approached Vance.

“Um… Mr…”

“Vance. Call me Vance.”

“Ah… Vance. Can you tell me why we are heading to the Techno Company?”

“Someone built a shelter there. If you go there, then you will be protected.”

Daniel widened his eyes. “I see. Is it the government? Why in a company building though? Isn’t it more logical to build a shelter in a military base or a hospital?”

“Don’t rely too much on the government from now on; they’ll only think of themselves.”

Daniel was puzzled at what Vance said. “Why? Isn’t it their job to protect us citizens?”

“Oh, if you only knew the things they will do in the future…” Vance scoffed. Just remembering them made him sick. Now that he has gone back in time, he will make sure not to let them rise once again.

“Uh…” Daniel was now even more confused.

“Don’t mind me. Step back for a minute, there’s a zombie ahead.” Vance pointed at something in front of them.

A couple of meters ahead of them, there were five zombies. They weren’t particularly doing anything, just wandering off in hopes of somehow finding food.

“I’ll deal with them. Don’t get too close, lest you get involved in the fight, but don’t get too far either.”

The five of them nodded.

Vance was holding the long metal pole he used earlier, and at the end of it was a sharp tip capable enough to pierce a zombie’s skin.

‘Now, how do I deal with this? Five versus one might be too much for me due to my low stats. Hmm… I know!’

Vance dashed at them with surprising speed, but what was most surprising was that every step he took didn’t make a single sound. It was as if he was walking on clouds.

Movement Technique: Cloud Step!

This movement technique was invented by Vance himself. With each step he took, he focused all of his power on his toes, launching himself forward. By doing this, he minimized the noise he made.

Since zombies are sensitive to sound, this was the perfect technique to deal with them.

As expected, in no time, Vance was already behind one of the zombies. He took a piercing stance, and with a swish, the metal pole pierced the zombie's head, making a squelching sound.

With zombies' high sensitivity to sound, they naturally wouldn’t miss the sound of flesh being pierced.

The other four zombies charged at Vance. However, he wasn’t even focusing on them! He was now looking at the golden screen floating in front of him, a grin nearly reaching his ears.

[Level up! +2 in all attributes]

…

“What a monster, right Jack?”

Daniel commented after watching Vance’s fight.

“Yeah… How can someone move like that?” The burly man, who was named Jack, replied.

“Ahh~ Why would you call him a monster? He’s more like an angel, don’t you think so?” The blonde girl intently watched Vance's fight, practically having hearts in her eyes.

‘Didn’t you just fawn over Jack a while ago?’ they all thought.

…

Meanwhile, at the Techno Company building…

On the very top floor, where the office of the president was located.

The president was sitting in his chair, talking to his people when suddenly someone barged into the room.

“President, bad news!”

“What is it, Chris? Can’t you see we’re in the middle of something?”

“This is no time for that! A swarm of zombies is currently on the way to this place!”

“What!?”