Alone, weak, destroyed...

I can feel it, do you too?

.

.

.

Wake up, Ash! Wake up...!!

"Stop! Please stop!!"

"Ash! What happened? Did you have a bad dream?" A woman asked while hugging Ash tightly.

"N... no, mom," Ash replied.

Ash didn't know how to answer his mother. As even he was confused whether that was a dream or, this is a dream?

Because... if this is not a dream, and that was a dream. Then that dream of his was too realistic, And this felt more like a dream after having that dream.

And, if both of these are a reality, then... What was that?

You guys might be confused about what's going on, welp, to explain the situation, let us see the flashback.

[Flash Back]

This is where it all started, the beginning of Ash's crazy adventure. Ash was just your regular math geek, horror lover, otaku, and a load ton of muscle to support his lazy self.

I know it doesn't make sense, cause I feel the same... So, the whole situation started once Ash went to bed the other day.

Due to some unknown reason, when he opened his eyes, he was in the middle of nowhere...

He had mild pain in the back of his head, and hands covered in blood.

he looked around hoping to find a clue of what was going on? but, to no avail.

The boy instead saw something that was worse than he could imagine...

Blood everywhere, corpses bitten, ripped apart lying on the ground.

"This feels like a scene out of a horror movie, one with a post-apocalypse genre. But, for some reason, I am not scared." he thought.

The more he tried to comprehend the situation, the more confusing it got. He had few questions annoying him non-stop, like

Where am I?

Why am I here?

Why is there blood everywhere?

But his mind failed him; He had no answers.

The only thing he found was the name of this body, Ash Knight. This guy had the same name as the boy.

With only one path in front of him, he started walking; the street was full of blood.

He continued to walk the bloody path; with a look of hopelessness.

He couldn't help it; It was too surreal; he even started having doubts like, "Is this all just a hallucination or, is my mind playing games with me."

But, he didn't lose focus, he had to continue.

.

.

.

Soon after, he reached a place, that seemed like a city center. There were huge buildings around him, most were destroyed...

"It feels like I am all alone, with no being in existence..."

Something seemed ominous... He heard a voice.

GRAAHHHGHAAA⁓

When suddenly, he felt something on his shoulder,

He turned around and freaked out.

EEEYYYYAAAAHHH!!

He screamed and took a few steps back,

Something was standing in front of him,

A zombie?

An undead?

I am not sure how to describe it, but it seemed to have no life.

"Did the apocalypse fall upon us?" he asked himself.

As he got too focused on figuring out what was going on, the creature suddenly charged at him.

And out of instinct, he punched it with all his strength, without a second thought.

The creature's head got crushed from just the sheer force of his punch.

(What's going on? I don't remember being this strong," he thought.)

The night was near, he took shelter in an abandoned building,

"I still don't feel any hunger. This isn't normal," he stated.

.

.

.

The night passed, and the dawn was near,

With the arrival of the dawn, arrived new questions...

How am I this strong?

Why don't I feel hunger?

Can I still be considered a human?

And with these questions, came in desires...

Desire to keep living, and finding the answers.

Desire to find his family.

With these newfound desires, he started searching for people who could provide him with answers.

.

.

.

Half-day passed, with almost no gains...

And when it felt like there was no hope, he heard something...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

(The sound of gunshots.)

He followed the sound, and saw a man;

The man looked like he was in his 40s, with a scar on his right eye.

He was rapidly shooting one of those creatures in the head.

He got super excited after finally seeing another human(?),

He wanted to rush towards him, but the other guy had a gun, and Ash needed to be careful,

As... a shot from the gun could easily end his life.

He slowly crept behind him, and jumped at him from behind, making him fall to the ground.

And before he could react, Ash grabbed his gun and pointed it at him.

"Mother f**ker, give back my gun!" the man shouted.

"Don't you dare try to escape, I, Joseph, will find you one day, and when I do, you are gonna f**king regret it!"

"I am sorry, I mean no harm, it's just... I thought you might shoot me if I approached you normally," Ash replied. "I will return your gun to you if you can answer some of my questions."

"So be it. But, get this straight, you punk. I won't spare you if you break your promise," he stated. "But first, tell me about yourself so I know how to answer your questions."

"Alright... Hi, my name is Ash Knight," he answered.

"Ash Knight? That's it? No further introduction?" Joseph asked with annoyance.

"Sorry, but I can't introduce myself properly, since even I don't know much about myself. Yesterday I woke up in this unknown land, and am confused since then. I only have memories of November 2021, and earlier. But, after that, I don't remember anything." He replied.

"Now, it's my turn to question you," Ash stated. "Do you know why there aren't any humans here, and why those strange creatures are roaming around...? he asked.

While laughing at his question, Joseph replied "those creatures are the humans you are searching for, though in a different form", he chuckled.

"Are you f**king kidding me?!"

"Not really, most humans died and turned into these creatures, we call them 'The Corrupted', this all started 10 years ago,"

Joseph started sharing info with Ash...

[It was the 1st of Jan, 2022... on that fateful day, the skies turned black. And hole appeared in the sky. Then we heard a god(?).

O, humans. Thou durst to confound the nature I created, brought the species I loved to extinction. Thou hast envy for all kinds, including thy own. A corrupt species with a greedy heart like yours shall forbear to exist. Today, I shall compass apocalypse upon thy kind

Many such holes appeared throughout the world, a crimson rain started pouring down the holes, those who got soaked in it started to change, they were the first, THE CORRUPT beings (The 1st Gen).

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

And they had a unique power, those who get bitten by them would turn into corrupted... If this 1st Gen bites a human, then the human would turn into a 1st Gen or 2nd Gen depending on his physical and mental prowess. And those bitten by the 2nd Gen turn into 2nd or 3rd Gen depending on their physical and mental prowess. and the list goes on...

But these creatures were made different than humans, they will never harm their kind, they forever follow the command given to them by the demons, they are the perfect creation, Seeing that, human scientists couldn't hold themselves back and started experimenting on some of these creatures.

like always, though they found a lot about these creatures, they got greedy and made a big mistake, they used a human's brain and tried creating a new being and after several sacrifices and attempts, they ended up creating something, which, shouldn't exist. These beings were neither created by Gods nor by Demons, these beings were created by the scum, known as Humans...

They had a common goal to that of a corrupted and had a brain of a human, this intelligent being was the first of its kind, which soon created many of its kind and started calling themselves as Sub-Demons, as they were born from the power of the demons, and got the brain of a human.

Though humans had created the Sub-Demons, they were also successful in finding a way for humanity to evolve. But, this method was too risky, so Joseph didn't gather much intel about it.]

Ash chuckled and said, "Alright, Alright, I get it now, so stop blabbering..."

"Is that so? Then, tell me what you understood." Joseph replied.

"That, this is Apocalypse.., and this could be the end of humanity."

"No, you fool, this is the beginning of a New Era, and we humans, with the help of these sub-demons, will evolve, reach godhood, we will become the greatest race..."

"And how will you achieve that, do you have a plan?"

"Yes, I do. I just need to kill and consume the flesh of 5 living humans, the sub-demons said, if a person, consumes the flesh of 5 live humans, then, the sub-demons will help them evolve into their kind, and I've already killed 4 humans, including my mother, father, wife, and cute little daughter.., kekeke..."

"What do you mean? How could you do that? Are you insane?!"

"You wanted to meet your family, right? You were searching for them, were you not?" Joseph questioned.

"Yes, I was. why do you ask?" Ash replied.

"I can help you find them, what say?"

"Really?! I'll be grateful to you for my entire life; in return, I am willing to do anything you ask of me, even if it costs me my life."

"I'm sure they're dead. And even if they're not, they'll still die pretty soon, so why don't you go meet them in the afterlife?"

"I don't like your jokes, so stop with those, or I might just end your life, here and now."

"I've been urging to feast upon that delicious flesh of humans for a while now. But, I couldn't do that in the survivor's camp, or they would have killed me. But, finally, I found you, my final sacrifice..."

"Stop with your jokes, and tell me about that survival camp..."

"I am not joking, I didn't waste my time telling you all this because of compassion, I was just fulfilling your final wish, at the end of the day, you are fated to be my final meal before my evolution," Joseph stated.

(Joseph took out a blade from his hidden pocket, and aimed it at Ash, with a sinister smile.)

"Thanks for the info, my friend, I'll forever be in your debt," Ash replied.

Whack! Thud! Bam!

Ash, with his superhuman strength, whacked Joseph with a punch and smashed his head onto a wall.

Blood spilled everywhere, but Ash didn't regret it. As he had made up his mind to find his family; He didn't accept it, when Joseph told him that his family might already be dead.

Ash searched through Joseph's clothes; he didn't find much information related to the survivor's camp... except for a small note, which said,

"We've finally found a safe area behind the mountains, near the city center. We need more manpower to protect this stronghold, please rush here if you're a lone survivor, and searching for a survivor stronghold."

— Steven Hunt.

After reading this note, Ash gathered useful items from Joseph and left in search of the stronghold.

To be continued~

Hope to see you in the next chapter.

Chapter 1 - Wake up, Ash

Alone, weak, destroyed...

I can feel it, do you too?

.

.

.

Wake up, Ash! Wake up...!!

"Stop! Please stop!!"

"Ash! What happened? Did you have a bad dream?" A woman asked while hugging Ash tightly.

"N... no, mom," Ash replied.

Ash didn't know how to answer his mother. As even he was confused whether that was a dream or, this is a dream?

Because... if this is not a dream, and that was a dream. Then that dream of his was too realistic, And this felt more like a dream after having that dream.

And, if both of these are a reality, then... What was that?

You guys might be confused about what's going on, welp, to explain the situation, let us see the flashback.

[Flash Back]

This is where it all started, the beginning of Ash's crazy adventure. Ash was just your regular math geek, horror lover, otaku, and a load ton of muscle to support his lazy self.

I know it doesn't make sense, cause I feel the same... So, the whole situation started once Ash went to bed the other day.

Due to some unknown reason, when he opened his eyes, he was in the middle of nowhere...

He had mild pain in the back of his head, and hands covered in blood.

he looked around hoping to find a clue of what was going on? but, to no avail.

The boy instead saw something that was worse than he could imagine...

Blood everywhere, corpses bitten, ripped apart lying on the ground.

"This feels like a scene out of a horror movie, one with a post-apocalypse genre. But, for some reason, I am not scared." he thought.

The more he tried to comprehend the situation, the more confusing it got. He had few questions annoying him non-stop, like

Where am I?

Why am I here?

Why is there blood everywhere?

But his mind failed him; He had no answers.

The only thing he found was the name of this body, Ash Knight. This guy had the same name as the boy.

With only one path in front of him, he started walking; the street was full of blood.

He continued to walk the bloody path; with a look of hopelessness.

He couldn't help it; It was too surreal; he even started having doubts like, "Is this all just a hallucination or, is my mind playing games with me."

But, he didn't lose focus, he had to continue.

.

.

.

Soon after, he reached a place, that seemed like a city center. There were huge buildings around him, most were destroyed...

"It feels like I am all alone, with no being in existence..."

Something seemed ominous... He heard a voice.

GRAAHHHGHAAA⁓

When suddenly, he felt something on his shoulder,

He turned around and freaked out.

EEEYYYYAAAAHHH!!

He screamed and took a few steps back,

Something was standing in front of him,

A zombie?

An undead?

I am not sure how to describe it, but it seemed to have no life.

"Did the apocalypse fall upon us?" he asked himself.

As he got too focused on figuring out what was going on, the creature suddenly charged at him.

And out of instinct, he punched it with all his strength, without a second thought.

The creature's head got crushed from just the sheer force of his punch.

(What's going on? I don't remember being this strong," he thought.)

The night was near, he took shelter in an abandoned building,

"I still don't feel any hunger. This isn't normal," he stated.

.

.

.

The night passed, and the dawn was near,

With the arrival of the dawn, arrived new questions...

How am I this strong?

Why don't I feel hunger?

Can I still be considered a human?

And with these questions, came in desires...

Desire to keep living, and finding the answers.

Desire to find his family.

With these newfound desires, he started searching for people who could provide him with answers.

.

.

.

Half-day passed, with almost no gains...

And when it felt like there was no hope, he heard something...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

(The sound of gunshots.)

He followed the sound, and saw a man;

The man looked like he was in his 40s, with a scar on his right eye.

He was rapidly shooting one of those creatures in the head.

He got super excited after finally seeing another human(?),

He wanted to rush towards him, but the other guy had a gun, and Ash needed to be careful,

As... a shot from the gun could easily end his life.

He slowly crept behind him, and jumped at him from behind, making him fall to the ground.

And before he could react, Ash grabbed his gun and pointed it at him.

"Mother f**ker, give back my gun!" the man shouted.

"Don't you dare try to escape, I, Joseph, will find you one day, and when I do, you are gonna f**king regret it!"

"I am sorry, I mean no harm, it's just... I thought you might shoot me if I approached you normally," Ash replied. "I will return your gun to you if you can answer some of my questions."

"So be it. But, get this straight, you punk. I won't spare you if you break your promise," he stated. "But first, tell me about yourself so I know how to answer your questions."

"Alright... Hi, my name is Ash Knight," he answered.

"Ash Knight? That's it? No further introduction?" Joseph asked with annoyance.

"Sorry, but I can't introduce myself properly, since even I don't know much about myself. Yesterday I woke up in this unknown land, and am confused since then. I only have memories of November 2021, and earlier. But, after that, I don't remember anything." He replied.

"Now, it's my turn to question you," Ash stated. "Do you know why there aren't any humans here, and why those strange creatures are roaming around...? he asked.

While laughing at his question, Joseph replied "those creatures are the humans you are searching for, though in a different form", he chuckled.

"Are you f**king kidding me?!"

"Not really, most humans died and turned into these creatures, we call them 'The Corrupted', this all started 10 years ago,"

Joseph started sharing info with Ash...

[It was the 1st of Jan, 2022... on that fateful day, the skies turned black. And hole appeared in the sky. Then we heard a god(?).

O, humans. Thou durst to confound the nature I created, brought the species I loved to extinction. Thou hast envy for all kinds, including thy own. A corrupt species with a greedy heart like yours shall forbear to exist. Today, I shall compass apocalypse upon thy kind

Many such holes appeared throughout the world, a crimson rain started pouring down the holes, those who got soaked in it started to change, they were the first, THE CORRUPT beings (The 1st Gen).

And they had a unique power, those who get bitten by them would turn into corrupted... If this 1st Gen bites a human, then the human would turn into a 1st Gen or 2nd Gen depending on his physical and mental prowess. And those bitten by the 2nd Gen turn into 2nd or 3rd Gen depending on their physical and mental prowess. and the list goes on...

But these creatures were made different than humans, they will never harm their kind, they forever follow the command given to them by the demons, they are the perfect creation, Seeing that, human scientists couldn't hold themselves back and started experimenting on some of these creatures.

like always, though they found a lot about these creatures, they got greedy and made a big mistake, they used a human's brain and tried creating a new being and after several sacrifices and attempts, they ended up creating something, which, shouldn't exist. These beings were neither created by Gods nor by Demons, these beings were created by the scum, known as Humans...

They had a common goal to that of a corrupted and had a brain of a human, this intelligent being was the first of its kind, which soon created many of its kind and started calling themselves as Sub-Demons, as they were born from the power of the demons, and got the brain of a human.

Though humans had created the Sub-Demons, they were also successful in finding a way for humanity to evolve. But, this method was too risky, so Joseph didn't gather much intel about it.]

Ash chuckled and said, "Alright, Alright, I get it now, so stop blabbering..."

"Is that so? Then, tell me what you understood." Joseph replied.

"That, this is Apocalypse.., and this could be the end of humanity."

"No, you fool, this is the beginning of a New Era, and we humans, with the help of these sub-demons, will evolve, reach godhood, we will become the greatest race..."

"And how will you achieve that, do you have a plan?"

"Yes, I do. I just need to kill and consume the flesh of 5 living humans, the sub-demons said, if a person, consumes the flesh of 5 live humans, then, the sub-demons will help them evolve into their kind, and I've already killed 4 humans, including my mother, father, wife, and cute little daughter.., kekeke..."

"What do you mean? How could you do that? Are you insane?!"

"You wanted to meet your family, right? You were searching for them, were you not?" Joseph questioned.

"Yes, I was. why do you ask?" Ash replied.

"I can help you find them, what say?"

"Really?! I'll be grateful to you for my entire life; in return, I am willing to do anything you ask of me, even if it costs me my life."

"I'm sure they're dead. And even if they're not, they'll still die pretty soon, so why don't you go meet them in the afterlife?"

"I don't like your jokes, so stop with those, or I might just end your life, here and now."

"I've been urging to feast upon that delicious flesh of humans for a while now. But, I couldn't do that in the survivor's camp, or they would have killed me. But, finally, I found you, my final sacrifice..."

"Stop with your jokes, and tell me about that survival camp..."

"I am not joking, I didn't waste my time telling you all this because of compassion, I was just fulfilling your final wish, at the end of the day, you are fated to be my final meal before my evolution," Joseph stated.

(Joseph took out a blade from his hidden pocket, and aimed it at Ash, with a sinister smile.)

"Thanks for the info, my friend, I'll forever be in your debt," Ash replied.

Whack! Thud! Bam!

Ash, with his superhuman strength, whacked Joseph with a punch and smashed his head onto a wall.

Blood spilled everywhere, but Ash didn't regret it. As he had made up his mind to find his family; He didn't accept it, when Joseph told him that his family might already be dead.

Ash searched through Joseph's clothes; he didn't find much information related to the survivor's camp... except for a small note, which said,

"We've finally found a safe area behind the mountains, near the city center. We need more manpower to protect this stronghold, please rush here if you're a lone survivor, and searching for a survivor stronghold."

— Steven Hunt.

After reading this note, Ash gathered useful items from Joseph and left in search of the stronghold.

To be continued~

Hope to see you in the next chapter.