It wasn't just the students in Palflic Stadium who heard the cold, chilling voice.
All over the world, the same phenomenon occurred. One moment, the sky was clear—then, a blinding light consumed everything.
What followed was a splitting headache that struck every person on Earth.
Cars veered off roads and crashed into buildings. Some ran down pedestrians. Planes dropped from the sky—into oceans, into cities—none were spared. Trains derailed, buildings burst into flames, and countless people, unable to withstand the agony in their heads, exploded on the spot.
Chaos unraveled in mere seconds, plunging the world into a frenzy.
And then, just as suddenly as it began, everything stopped.
The silence that followed was unreal.
The pain vanished as if it had never existed.
People blinked, dazed and gasping, scanning their surroundings in disbelief.
What they saw was carnage.
Where once there had been vibrant life, now lay wreckage. The streets were filled with overturned cars, bodies, smoke, and fire. Skies that once hummed with aircraft were eerily empty. The highways were war zones.
In Palflic Stadium, Jon stood frozen, confusion etched on his face. The pain was gone, as if it had never touched him. He turned, searching for answers, and saw his fellow students doing the same. The fear in their eyes told him they had all experienced it.
Then, as though pulled by an invisible string, every single person in the stadium spoke at once.
"Open."
The word echoed like an ancient chant.
In the next moment, translucent white screens materialized before their eyes, floating, alien-like, as if projected from some invisible source.
Jon blinked in disbelief as strange symbols flickered across his screen:
[ÊÞÖ¢ᎨᎨᎨᎹᎶ]
[EnᎶ*Ꮹ EMBRYINIEL MᏛ]
[EXPOSING CORE TO UNIVERSAL FORCE]
[SIMPLIFYING LANGUAGE]
[START STATUS]
[SCANNING STATUS]
[STATUS]
The text shifted and resolved into readable words:
[NAME: JON WHYTE]
[AGE: 19]
[LEVEL: 0]
[CLASS: NONE]
[TITLE: NONE]
[STRENGTH: 5 | AGILITY: 4 | STAMINA: 3(7) | MANA: 20 | HEALTH: 10]
[SKILLS: NONE]
"What the hell?" Jon whispered.
Everyone around him stared blankly at their own screens. For a moment, it was as if time froze.
Then, reality came crashing back.
Screams. Crying. Chaos.
No one could process what was happening. Some collapsed. Others lost control of their bodies, soiling themselves from terror. A few just ran.
Amidst the madness, Jon's screen flickered again:
[PASSIVE SKILL: COMPOSURE (THIRD CLASS) - LV MAX]
Before he could react, a scream pierced the air—sharp and terrified.
Jon's head snapped toward the source: a group of girls who had been jogging earlier. One now lay unmoving in a pool of blood.
The second girl stood motionless, her hands dripping red, and her eyes vacant.
The third collapsed, screaming in horror.
Then, without warning, the blood-stained girl staggered toward her.
"Uwahh..." The terrified girl tried to crawl away, but the other girl slashed her across the arm.
Jon shouted, trying to stop the attack—but suddenly, the girl froze and turned away, losing interest.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
The injured girl's sobs slowed. Her body slumped unnaturally. Then, she stood.
Her eyes, once full of fear, were now lifeless, just like the attacker's.
Together, they began scanning the stadium like hunting machines.
Jon's breath caught. "What the hell is going on?"
Behind him, the chaos only grew.
Then, a voice rang out.
"EVERYONE ON ME!" someone shouted.
Jon turned. A tall, trembling boy stood on the upper stairs. "M-My name is Tunde Edun, I'm the rep from the Mass Comm depart—"
"THAT THING!" someone screamed.
A student near the platform had turned into the white-eyed, staggering creature.
Panic spread like wildfire. Most hadn't realized one of the creatures was among them.
People screamed, tripped, and scrambled to escape. Two boys scaled over the platform and sprinted onto the tracks. A girl pointed after them, too frozen to move herself.
But not everyone panicked.
Despite his instincts, Jon remained calm. A strange clarity settled over him.
He searched his bag. Nothing. Then his eyes landed on something—a ball pump on the ground.
It wasn't much. But it would have to do.
Jon picked it up and moved forward.
Each step toward the creature felt like walking into death.
Ten meters. Five.
The creature locked eyes with him, those cold, dead eyes.
He flanked it, stepping up onto the platform to hit it from the back. But that's when it did the impossible.
It twisted its head fully backward to stare directly at him.
Jon almost vomited. But the calmness remained.
He lunged, shoving the creature forward with the pump. It staggered, but it was still standing.
Getting a bit nervous, Jon bent and swept its knees, and it dropped.
Still, it moved, trashing around the ground.
With no hesitation, Jon struck its twisted face.
KRK.
Another hit.
WHACK.
The creature collapsed but still writhed.
Jon hesitated but remembered what it did to the girl earlier. However, since when was he a killer?
Before he could think any further, a wave of calmness overtook him and whispered, "Forgive me…"
Then brought the pump down with all his strength.
SQUISHH!
With a nerve-wrecking sound, it stopped moving.
Jon staggered back, shaking.
Immediately he had killed it, the calmness left him.
But before he could breathe, warmth surged through him. A pulse of energy.
"What... is this?"
A screen popped up again:
[YOU HAVE ABSORBED LEVEL 3 ZOMBIE REMAINS]
[YOUR LEVEL HAS INCREASED]
"Zombie?" Jon whispered with wide eyes.
The horror was only just sinking in.