"What the fuck? Where am I?"
When Noah Stryer opened his eyes, he didn't feel panic, just confusion.
Moments ago, he was finishing up another average day that consisted of cleaning up after class, cracking jokes with his friends, and figuring out what to eat for dinner.
Then that man appeared.
He was tall and pale, his eyes were glassy.
He looked out of it, like he wasn't really there.
He didn't utter a word, just pointed.
Now Noah was here.
Wherever "here" was.
He got up and looked around. Broken buildings and shattered streets, some swallowed by vines and ash. The air smelled like iron and charred earth. Whatever the city once was, it was destroyed long ago. The city looked old, way behind the technology he was used to.
Noah turned in a slow circle, taking in the ruined world around him. The only sign of life was the inhuman echoes coming from somewhere in the distance.
Noah quickly came to terms with his situation.
'So I've been tossed into some messed up world by some presumably powerful being, and I'm probably supposed to survive somehow. Neat.'
Before he could take another step his vision blurred. Text appeared in front of his eyes.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
[Establishing connection to host...]
[Success.]
[Analyzing biological data...]
[Synchronization rate: 93.7%]
[Loading core functions...]
[Done.]
Noah blinked. A translucent system interface had appeared before his eyes.
"I got a system too? For a second, I really thought I was a goner."
Another window popped up, this one sleeker and framed in a golden light.
[Name: Noah Stryer
Level: 1
Star: N/A
Race: Human
Age: 18
Affiliation: None
Class: N/A
Title(s):
HP: 100
MP: 20
Mana: 20
Stamina: 100
Strength: 8
Agility: 10
Stamina: 9
Health: 7
Intellect: 12
Luck: 5
Status Points: 0
Skills (Active):
Skills (Passive): ]
Noah inspected the panel with a calm expression. Having a system was definitely a win but the numbers meant nothing to him. He had no reference or comparison. For all he knew he could be severely below average.
He didn't doubt the accuracy; his high agility and stamina made sense considering his background in track and field.
Noah decided to stop focusing on the system and get moving.
But first, he had one lingering worry.
He found the cleanest piece of glass he could, cracked but reflective, and leaned in to look at himself.
Dirty blonde hair. Green eyes. Faint freckles were still visible beneath the dust.
He let out a small sigh filled with relief.
'At least I still look the same, ' he thought.
Once Noah had finished inspecting himself, he rummaged around in the rubble until he felt something cold.
He pulled it free, a rusted machete, edge chipped and covered with dry blood.
He swung it around to test the weight.
'It's better than nothing,' He thought
Noah looked into the distance, eyes scanning the crumbled streets.
The echoes in the distance progressively got louder, causing him to frown.
He adjusted his grip on the machete and walked, each step crunching the debris under him.
Noah walked in silence.
The city felt like a graveyard, houses and stores abandoned and broken. Cracks split the pavement and rusted streetlamps leaned forward, some toppled over completely.
He passed crushed carriages, shattered windows and fallen buildings. The only sound he heard was the distant echoes that seemed to get louder with each step.
His eyes darted between alleyways and doorframes expecting something to move.
Nothing did.
But a sudden sound rang out.
It started as a low groan, but quickly rose to a gluttural roar.
Noah's eyes shot to the source of the sound just in time to see a figure stumble from behind a collapsed storefront.
Its skin was sickly pale, its face half torn and its eyes completely white, locked directly onto him. Dried blood and tattered clothing clung to its disfigured form.
Fear gripped Noah's chest.
'A fucking zombie? I was wondering why I wasn't seeing any corpses.'
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
The zombie stared at him for a second before letting out a shrill shriek and charging at him.
Noah's breath stopped as its claws swiped inches away from his chest, a blur of rotted flesh.
His instincts screamed. He dove to the side, landing hard on his side as the undead creature barreled past him and crashed into the wall behind.
There was no time to think.
He scrambled up and swung, the machete making a whistling sound through the air.
CLANG!
His whole arm seemed to vibrate when the machete's course abruptly halted.
It had hit bone, hard. The blade hadn't cut deep, it had stuck.
'Shit'
The zombie lunged towards him, mouth wide and blood soaked fingers reaching towards him.
Noah leaned back and planted a kick square in its chest. It stumbled back, taking the machete with it, tearing it from his grip.
The zombie roared, its dead lungs rattling as it came again. This time Noah barely dodged, the putrid smell of rotting flesh brushing past his cheek.
He ducked low, grabbed a broken pipe off the ground and swung it like a bat.
CRACK!
The metal met the zombie's temple. It reeled, a chunk of its skull caved in. Blood splattered across Noah's face.
But he didn't stop.
He grabbed the machete from where it dangled on the creature's shoulder and yanked it free.
"Could you just die already?"
He drove the blade into its head, pinning it to the ground and began to pummel it with the pipe, once, twice; he did it until it stopped moving.
Blood began to pool beneath it.
Silence.
Noah stood over the corpse, chest heaving and soaked with blood.
His heart pounded and his chest burned. His mouth tasted like copper.
But he was alive, he had survived.
[Level Up!
You have reached Level 2.
+5 Status Points awarded.
All stats slightly recovered.]
Noah exhaled through his nose and chuckled softly.
"If this is a dream, it's doing a damn good job."
It wasn't. And it was only the start.