The options floated in front of him, softly pulsing with faint, translucent light.
[System Notice: Trait available for unlock.]
[Choose One:]
Pain Suppression Lv1 — "Ignore minor injuries. Pain reduced by 30%. Mental Fortitude +1."
Awareness Boost Lv1 — "Enhanced threat detection. Night vision +5m radius. Perception +1."
Resource Scavenger Lv1 — "Increase chance to find rare loot. Scavenging +10%. Intuition +1."
Yu Ren crouched in the center of the meeting room, lit only by morning gloom leaking through the cracked glass. His throat was still dry even after sipping from the salvaged water bottle. His wound stung, but the gauze was holding. Barely.
The System didn't rush him, but he could feel the seconds ticking behind every breath. The city was awakening—if it ever slept at all. He didn't know if that creature from the night was still nearby or if others had taken its place.
He read the traits again. And again. Weighing each.
"Pain Suppression would keep me from breaking in a fight," he whispered. "Awareness could help me see them coming. But…"
His fingers curled into a fist, resting on his thigh.
"I don't want to just react. I need to get ahead of this."
He selected:
[Trait Unlocked: Resource Scavenger Lv1]
[Passive Buff: +10% rare find rate during scavenging.]
[+1 Intuition (new stat added).]
[Next Trait unlock at Level 5.]
A soft pulse thudded behind his eyes. Not pain exactly—more like something in his mind had expanded just slightly. A whisper on the edge of thought. The room didn't look different, but something told him where to look next.
Yu Ren turned to a filing cabinet he'd previously ignored.
He tugged the drawers open one by one—most empty, some filled with soggy papers and ash. The bottom drawer stuck halfway. He yanked harder, and it broke free with a screech of rust.
Inside, behind an old circuit board and melted cords, was a sealed pack.
A ration bar. Intact.
His stomach twisted at the thought of eating, but his fingers trembled as he unwrapped it.
[Item: Military-Grade Energy Bar]
[Effect: Hunger -30%. Minor Healing. Slight Morale Boost.]
"System," Yu Ren murmured as he chewed, "why me?"
No answer.
He'd stopped expecting one.
---
By midday, the shelter timer had dwindled to under three hours.
Yu Ren prepared to move.
The map in his mind—he didn't know how it worked, but the System fed him vague impressions of areas: "High-Risk Zone," "Ruins Cluster," "Shelter Possibility: 24% Integrity."
Some areas glowed faint green; others, red or blinking yellow.
He wasn't sure if the markers were live data or corrupted predictions. But for now, he'd trust the green zones.
His chosen destination was two blocks away: a collapsed hospital marked with a faint green flicker. Likely unstable. But if he was lucky, it might have water, gauze, antibiotics—or answers.
He pulled the pipe tighter against his body, wrapped it with strips of cloth to avoid slippage, and left the office with his hoodie zipped and collar raised to his chin.
The streets were worse than yesterday.
The air had a stale, metallic edge, like blood in the back of the throat. Shadows darted between broken vehicles. And above, the sky pulsed with unnatural gray light—clouds moving in jagged, twitchy patterns, like something unseen was clawing at the firmament.
Yu Ren moved quickly, staying low, avoiding glass.
A red sign blinked on the edge of his vision:
[Hostile Area – 40m Proximity: Corrupted Scout.]
He ducked behind an overturned truck.
"Scout?" he whispered. "Is it one of those from last night?"
Then he saw it.
Far ahead—too far to hear but close enough to glimpse—it walked slowly across the intersection. It was humanoid in shape but moved like a puppet with strings cut halfway through. Jerky. Twitching. Limbs out of sync with intention.
Its head turned, like it had heard something.
Yu Ren held his breath.
The creature's face was a blurred smear. Not like it had been scratched—more like the world had refused to render it fully. Like a corrupted image in a broken file.
The Corrupted Scout continued on.
[Threat Level: D – Avoid Recommended.]
He waited until it passed, counting full seconds in his head. Then again, until he was sure.
Then he sprinted.
---
The hospital was half-gone. A third of it had collapsed inward, burying the west wing in rubble. Ivy and soot streaked the remaining structure. The front doors were shattered, but the emergency sign still hung, flickering faintly even without power.
Inside, he moved cautiously.
The scent of rot and chemicals hit instantly. Beds overturned. Wheelchairs frozen mid-movement. He passed a torn-open corpse in a nurse's uniform and didn't stop to check if it was recent.
Then—
A sound.
Soft. Subtle.
But human.
Breathing.
Yu Ren gripped his pipe and followed it, step by step, down a narrow corridor until he came to a door.
Behind it, someone was there. Alive.
---
He knocked once.
Silence.
Then, a choked voice, hoarse from thirst:
"Don't… come closer."
Yu Ren didn't move. "I'm not infected."
"You could be lying."
"Then I'd have broken the door already, wouldn't I?"
A pause. Then a weak laugh.
"…Fair point."
He stepped back as the door creaked open slightly. Just enough for a single dark eye to peek through.
"Who are you?"
"Yu Ren. Just trying to survive."
The other boy studied him. His skin was pale, with blood crusting along one temple, and his jacket was torn and dirty. Despite that, he stood straighter than Yu Ren expected, gaze alert and sharp.
"…Call me Kai."
The door opened wider. Inside, the room had been stripped and barricaded. He'd used gurneys, supply carts, and IV stands to block the windows and the far hall.
Kai sat down again, breathing heavier than before. "You here for the supplies?"
Yu Ren shook his head. "I didn't even know anyone was here."
"Then either you're a good liar or a bad survivor." Kai closed his eyes briefly, then opened them. "But either way—you just became my problem."
Yu Ren blinked. "What does that mean?"
Kai pointed to a corner of the room, where a motion sensor was blinking red.
[New Quest: Protect the Injured Survivor.]
[Optional Bonus: Kai's Affection +10]
[Reward: +3 SP, Minor Skill Unlock, Shelter Blueprint.]
Yu Ren stared.
This wasn't just survival anymore.
This was something else.
---
To be continued.