I stepped into the hallway, bat in hand. The stench hit me first—a mix of charred insulation, rotten eggs, and the coppery reek of way too much blood.
The lights were out. Flickering red emergency bulbs glowed overhead. Everything else looked wrecked. Cracks in the walls, twisted metal where the elevator doors used to be.
“Nice. Definitely not paying rent for this.”
My voice came out sharper than intended, but can you blame me? Two minutes ago, I was dead. Now, I was strolling around my apartment building like it was a funhouse. The floor was slick with something I didn't want to identify. I forced a grin. Somehow, a dark sense of humor took the edge off.
From somewhere to my right, I heard a crash. Then a scream.
I sprinted down the hallway. When I turned the corner, I saw a half-collapsed door. Past it, an old woman crouched behind a busted sofa, clutching a frying pan as if it could stop a nuclear warhead.
Between me and her? Two creatures. They looked like scrawny dogs mixed with humanoids. Joints bent wrong. Flesh sagging in patches. One of them was gnawing on a severed arm, snapping bones like they were breadsticks.
The old lady locked eyes with me, terror on her face. "Please...help..."
“Sure,” I muttered. "I do have infinite tries."
I took a breath. When the first beast lunged, I swung the bat at its snout.
CRACK—the thing’s head caved in with a noise like stepping on a water balloon. Sprays of gore splattered the walls. I jumped back, cursing under my breath.
My system interface pinged:
> +10 XP.
The second monster leapt at me from the side. Teeth tore into my shoulder. I gritted my teeth, ignoring the agony, and smashed an elbow into its ribs. The beast let out a wet snarl, but it didn’t drop.
Hot pain radiated from my shoulder. Blood poured down my arm.
No time to think, no time to hesitate. I grabbed the monster by its greasy hair, wrenched its head to one side, and swung the bat up in a savage uppercut.
Bone shattered. The beast toppled. Brain matter hit the floor in a sloppy mess.
> +15 XP.
My vision swam for a second from blood loss. Didn’t matter, I’d heal if I died. But hey, I was trying to keep some of my limbs attached, at least for pride.
I exhaled through my teeth, pressing a hand to the gashes in my shoulder. “That stings.”
The old woman stumbled forward, tears streaming. “T-Thank you. That—that was…”
“Yeah,” I said. “Weird day. You okay?”
She nodded, clearly not okay but alive at least. “I–I think so. What’s happening? Are there others?”
“I’m guessing the entire building's crawling with these freaks,” I said. “Stay put. Lock your door—if it still locks—and try not to get eaten. I’ll look around.”
She gave me a shaky smile. “God bless you.”
I wasn’t sure if God was doing anything these days, but I gave her a polite nod. The system beeped again:
> Side Quest Activated: Clean Sweep Objective: Clear the building of hostile entities (0/???). Reward: 200 XP + ???
A quest. Right. This was a game-like reality now. Might as well accept.
I turned back toward the hallway, ignoring the blood still dripping from my torn shoulder. My health bar (somewhere in my peripheral vision) hovered at about half.
I spat onto the floor, forcing a grin. “Time to do a bit of monster cleanup.”
----------------------------------------
I started with the next apartment over. Door wide open, furniture in ruins, no sign of survivors. But I sure found a monster rummaging through a kitchen. Looked like a skinless gorilla with extra limbs.
It didn’t even react until I was a foot away.
I hammered it in the spine with the bat. Felt something crunch. The thing screeched, flailing an arm at me, but I ducked low and smashed the side of its knee. A sick pop, and it dropped onto shards of broken tile.
It tried crawling away, leaving greasy streaks. I finished it off with a swing to the skull that sprayed bits across the pantry.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Over-the-top enough for you? I thought. My stomach churned at the carnage, but if this was the new normal, I’d adapt.
The system dinged:
> +12 XP
No level-up, but every little bit helped.
The next few apartments were empty. Some had dismembered bodies, torn-out walls, or bloody footprints. I tried not to think too hard about the weird shapes I saw half-lurking in corners. If they weren’t attacking, I’d prioritize the apartments with screams or obvious signs of a fight.
Finally, on the seventh door, I heard a banging inside.
"Help! Anyone out there?!"
I kicked open what remained of the door. A man in a torn business suit scrambled back. He aimed a small revolver at me, hand shaking.
“Easy, partner,” I said, holding up my free hand.
He lowered the gun, relief flooding his face. Then a shape lunged out of the closet behind him—another monster, all skeletal arms and jagged teeth.
I reacted on instinct, vaulting over a busted coffee table. I smashed the bat into the creature’s face before it could shred the man’s neck. The monster’s face caved, gore dripping onto the couch.
The man coughed, trembling. “Th-Thank God!”
We both turned as two more creatures crawled out. Probably heard the racket. My new friend fired his revolver, missing by a mile.
I sighed. “Stand back, man. Let me handle this.”
I rushed them. Brought the bat down on the first monster’s clavicle. Blood shot across my jacket. A second monster lunged, managing to rip a chunk from my forearm. I roared in pain, pivoted, and headbutted it. The crunch was loud and wet, but it still clawed me, leaving deep gashes in my chest.
Pain hammered at the edges of my mind. My vision blurred red. Screw dying again, though. That’d be too easy.
Snarling, I slammed the bat forward. The creature’s ribcage splintered. I kept swinging until it stopped moving.
"Holy—" the businessman swallowed, eyes wide. "You’re insane!"
"Yeah, well, it’s that or get eaten,” I wheezed. My entire left side felt like raw meat. “Name’s Dan, by the way.”
"George," he said, still panting. "You…you saved me."
A faint beep.
> Side Quest Updated: Clean Sweep (6/???) Bonus Objective: Rescue Survivors (2/???)
I checked my shoulder. The wounds were nasty. Blood soaked my shirt.
My health bar flickered around a quarter.
George noticed. “Y-Your arm… you need a doctor.”
I let out a ragged breath. “I just need five minutes… or to die. Don’t worry, I bounce back.”
He stared, baffled. I forced a grin and motioned him toward the doorway. "Go find the old lady down the hall. She’s holed up. Safer in numbers."
He hesitated but nodded. "Y-You sure?"
"Yeah. I got a quest to finish."
He left, stumbling over debris. I took a moment to lean against the wall, breathing carefully. Pain flared with every inhale. If I died, I'd revive at my apartment. Maybe I'd skip the next few fights. But something in me refused to let these monsters roam free.
Why not push it? I already died once today—what’s a second time, for a good cause?
I found some old dish rags in a drawer and tied them around my forearm, ignoring how gross it was. The best I could do. Then I lifted the bat again, ignoring my screaming muscles. Another door, another rummaging nightmare.
And so on. Apartment by apartment, corridor by corridor, each fight more brutal than the last. Bone crunches, splashes of gore, monstrous screams. Half the time, I was coated in sticky fluids I didn’t care to name. Whenever I felt like I was about to collapse, I reminded myself that if I died, I'd come back. That gave me enough nerve to keep swinging.
My system notifications piled up with each kill:
> +5 XP +9 XP +8 XP
My vision wavered from blood loss.
At last, I kicked open the final door in the hallway. One last monster leapt out, a spidery shape with too many limbs. It latched onto my chest, ripping at my torn jacket. I gasped, feeling claws sink into my ribs.
Everything spun. My health bar, barely a sliver. It all snapped into a single moment.
"Screw you," I grunted. I jammed the bat's end straight into its mouth, pushing past rancid drool. Then I shoved with everything I had, ignoring the agony as it tore more flesh off me.
Bone gave way. The creature’s eyes rolled back. It dropped with a wet flop.
> +15 XP Side Quest Complete: Clean Sweep Reward: 200 XP + ???
A surge of energy flooded my body. My muscles locked in place. Then:
> Level Up! Choose Bonus: Strength +3 or Vitality +3
I chuckled through the pain, selecting Vitality with a mental flick. My wounds itched fiercely, skin knitting itself back together at least halfway. Not perfect, but enough to stand.
"That’s better," I mumbled, picking gore off my bat.
Then the system fired another prompt:
> ??? Unlocked: Inventory Slot (1) You may store 1 item in this slot, retrieval at will.
An inventory slot? Like a living video game.
I had to laugh, breath shaky. “Sure. Why not.”
I tried to figure out how it worked. Holding the bat, I focused on the idea of ‘store item.’ Nothing happened. Alright, maybe I needed an interface command. I brought up the mental menu. After a few tries, the bat shimmered, vanishing from my hands. I yelped.
“Holy—where’d you go?”
I felt a tug in my mind, a sense I could call it back. Concentrating again, the bat popped back into my grip.
“Neat trick.”
I heard footsteps behind me. George and the old lady peered in from the hallway, eyes full of equal parts relief and horror. They spotted the spider-thing’s corpse, my battered frame, the battered walls.
George let out a nervous laugh. “Remind me never to mess with you.”
The old lady just shook her head. “Are you even human, son?”
“Mostly.”
I glanced around. The building was quieter now. No more snarls or shrieks.
> Side Quest Complete flashed again, confirming we’d cleared this section.
I took a shaky breath. "We should gather whoever’s left, see if we can lock this place down. Need to check outside too. Could be worse out there."
George swallowed. “I… I saw through a window. The street’s torn open like a bomb hit it. More monsters outside, fires, people running.”
The old lady pressed her lips tight. “You’re going out there, aren’t you?”
I nodded, adrenaline thrumming through my veins—scratch that word—racing through my veins again. “Somebody’s gotta do it.”
And if I die? I come back. Simple enough.
I turned to them. “Stay here. Barricade the entrances. If anything tries to bust through, you scream. I’ll do what I can.”
They exchanged uneasy looks but nodded.
I headed for the stairwell leading to the lobby, ignoring the sticky blood that crusted on me. My heart pounded, half from exhaustion, half from an odd thrill.
A new reality had forced itself on us, and it was a messy one. But I had a trump card none of these monsters could match.
“Infinite tries,” I repeated, smirking. “Let’s see how far that goes.”