I stood up, still in shock. I grabbed a basic outfit and walked through the city streets. Normality was suffocating. Cars honking, vendors smiling, children running. All doomed. All dead, in my time.
But now... I could change that.
I opened the system map. Three locations appeared as recognized training areas:
🏋️ Iron Pulse Academy – 500m (Strength/Stamina)
🏃 Vital Park – 1.2km (Speed/Stamina)
🥋 Red Dragon Dojo – 2km (Reflex/Hand-to-Hand Combat)
I started at the gym. I paid the daily fee and went in. With each exercise, the system updated:
🔧 [Activity Recognized]
Bench Press: +0.02 Strength Progress
Squat: +0.01 Strength Progress
Treadmill: +0.01 Stamina Progress
Hikari explained the technical functioning while I trained:
🎙️ "Upon reaching 100 progress points in any attribute, the master will gain +1 permanent point. It takes time, but it is stable!"
🎙️ "Training does not grant XP, but strengthens the base body. Ideal for surviving the first encounters."
With two hours of weight training, I gained:
📊 Current Partial Progress:
Strength: 4/100
Stamina: 2/100
In the afternoon, I went to the park. I ran for almost an hour, simulating escapes and jumps. My legs ached, sweat soaked my shirt.
📊 Progress Update:
Stamina: +3
Speed: +1
It wasn't much. But it was a start.
Personal Life — Who was Daniel before the collapse?
Before I became a survivor, I was just... an ordinary guy.
My parents, Rogério and Aline, lived in the countryside. My father was a retired police officer, and my mother, a literature teacher. They always encouraged me to study. Since I entered college, we talked on video calls every Sunday. They died on the front lines, trying to protect their neighbors when the infection started...
I had a younger brother — Caio, 15 years old. He disappeared in the first days of the collapse. I never found him. One of my biggest wounds.
My friends?
Lucas, my lab partner. A nerd, a gamer and allergic to almost everything.
Camila, my classmate, passionate about bioengineering and a true revolutionary.
And there was Lara.
My girlfriend.
We had been dating for 7 months before the collapse. She was a doctor. She had a smile that lit up any room, and a silent courage that I admired. She was bitten trying to save an elderly man, and I had to end her suffering myself. I buried Lara behind a destroyed supermarket with my hands shaking...
Now, I had fourteen days to see her again. To... maybe stop her from dying.
But for that, I needed strength.
System — Technical Mechanics (Advanced)
📘 Expanded Attributes:
Attribute Function
Strength Defines physical attack capacity, weight lifting and destruction.
Speed Determines reflexes, reaction time, dodging and running.
Stamina Controls breath, resistance, fighting time before tiring.
Vitality Represents HP (total life), passive regeneration and initial immunity.
📈 Level System:
Level 1: XP 0/50
Level 2: XP 0/100
Level 3: XP 0/200
(XP doubles with each new level.)
🎁 Items Dropped by Zombies:
5% chance of dropping "System Currency"
1% chance of basic weapon (knife, staff)
0.5% chance of passive skill (e.g. regeneration, instinct)
🔓 Functions to unlock:
Radar Mode (Detects hostiles within 100m) — unlocks at Level 2
System Store (purchase with dropped coins) — unlocks at Level 3
System Missions (events and rewards) — unlocks after killing 10 zombies
🎙️ "Master, every ten levels, a special talent can be unlocked! Don't waste time, okay?"
I returned home at the end of the day, exhausted but with my mind alert. I wrote everything down in a notebook: safe places, people I needed to save, strategic points for shelter and escape. I still had knowledge of the future. I knew where the first outbreak would start. I knew where Lara would be.
But I couldn't do it all alone.
The goal? To level up before the first zombies appeared.
To train until my body no longer resembled that of a college student.
And, deep down, to keep the hope that, this time, the ending could be different.
I closed my eyes, feeling my heart stronger than it had that morning.
"This time... I'm going to save you all."
I woke up before the alarm clock.
My body still ached from the previous day's training, but something inside me was beating stronger than the tiredness: urgency. I knew exactly what was coming. The death of the world. And with every second wasted, the less chance I had of saving someone.
The system activated automatically as soon as I opened my eyes:
🎙️ "Good morning, Master! Hikari is proud of you. Shall we start the second day of preparation?"
📊 Current Progress:
Strength: 4/100
Speed: 1/100
Stamina: 5/100
Vitality: 10 (base)
XP: 0/50
Level: 1
📍 Mission Activated [Emergency System - Green Rank]
🧪 Name: First Steps
📌 Objective: Complete 3 training sessions in different locations
🎁 Reward: +10 XP / 1 System Currency / 1 Distribution Point
✨ "Tip: the more varied the training, the greater the growth of the base body!"
I headed to the Red Dragon Dojo. It was far away, but I needed to develop hand-to-hand combat skills. It wouldn't be enough to run or lift weights — in the apocalypse, it was kill or be killed.
The sensei of the place, a man in his 60s named Nakamura, still remembered me. I had taken a few sporadic classes years ago.
"Have you decided to start training again, Daniel?" he asked, as he tied his black belt.
"Yes. Something tells me that... I'm going to need it."
The classes were intense. Direct hits, dodges, balance, breathing. Every movement, every blow, made my system react.
📊 Progress Updated:
Strength: +2
Speed: +1
Stamina: +1
New bar: Melee Combat: 5/100
🔓 "The new 'Melee Combat' bar has been unlocked. 1% damage bonus with melee weapons."
At the end of the day:
📈 Mission completed! 🎁 Rewards obtained: +10 XP / 1 System Currency / +1 Distribution Point
📍 Available Points: 1
📦 System Store: locked (level 1)
I distributed my point into Stamina. I needed to last longer in battle.
Signs of Change
On the way home, I noticed something strange.
Dead pigeons on the street. A cat violently attacking its own reflection. And the owner of a grocery store near campus, who was shaking as he wiped blood from his nose.
It was too early... the outbreak shouldn't have started yet.
I activated the system's sensory mode, but it responded:
🔒 Radar Mode unavailable. Requires Level 2.
🎙️ "But Hikari detected something strange in the area! A mutation signal detected."
I followed the signal. A dark alley, smelling of urine and garbage. On the ground, a hunched figure growled like an animal.
It was a man. Dressed as a delivery man. But his body... had already changed.
The greenish skin, the opaque eyes, and the teeth... growing. The nails were claws.
A pre-mutated zombie.
🎯 HOSTILE TARGET DETECTED - [Zombie Awakening - Level 2]
Before I could retreat, he advanced. Faster than a normal human. I managed to dodge on instinct, and kicked his chest. He fell, but got up as if nothing had happened.
🎙️ "First combat started! Survive, master!"
I grabbed a rusty pipe that was next to a trash can and prepared myself.
First Battle
The combat was intense. Every blow seemed useless, every dodge drained me. But with focus and technique, using Nakamura's lessons, I hit the monster's head with the pipe. Once. Twice. Three times.
Until he falls and doesn't get up.
🎯 ENEMY DEFEATED
💀 [Zombie Awakening - Level 2] eliminated
🎁 +25 XP
🎁 Drop: System Coin x1 / Mutant Fragment x1
🔓 LEVEL UP!
📈 New Level: 2
💠 Distribution Points: +1
🛒 System Store: Unlocked
🔎 Radar Mode: Unlocked (30m range)
🎙️ "Congratulations, master! You survived your first real combat. Hikari is excited~"
Family and Silence
I arrived home dirty, shaking, with dried blood on my clothes. I called my parents. I needed to hear from them.
"Son? Are you okay?" my father's voice was firm, as always. — I am, just... I just wanted to know if you guys are okay.
— Yes, we are. Your mom is making cheese bread. Are you coming to visit us this weekend?
My eyes filled with tears.
I knew that if everything went as normal, in fourteen days they would be dead. Incinerated along with the hospital and the entire city.
But now I had a plan. I could save them.
System Store — The Preview of Power
I opened the newly unlocked store.
🛒 [System Store - Basic]
Item Cost Effect
First Aid Kit 1 coin Recovers 30% of vitality
Titanium Dagger 2 coins +5 physical / light / durable damage
Genetic Stimulant I 3 coins +1 random attribute point
Combat Mask 1 coin Reduces 10% damage taken to the face
Urban Shelter Map 5 coins Reveals secret shelters in the city
I had 2 coins. I bought the Titanium Dagger — discreet and lethal.
🎙️ "Master is getting stronger~ Let's hunt more, shall we?"
Day 2 Conclusion
📊 Final Status:
Level: 2
XP: 0/100
Strength: 1
Speed: 1
Stamina: 2
Vitality: 10
Hand-to-Hand Combat: 5/100
Attribute Points: 1
System Coins: 0
Equipment: Titanium Dagger
Items: Fragmen
Daniel was ready for day three. And with it would come the first contact with a group of secret survivors who already knew the world was going to end.