Gabriel woke up staring at a ceiling he didn't recognize.
White paint. Clean corners. A soft breeze tugged at a curtain nearby. Somewhere, a refrigerator hummed. He blinked once, slowly. The air smelled… filtered. Like an expensive hotel.
He sat up.
His body moved easily—too easily. No tension in his back. No tightness in his shoulders. His knees didn't even pop.
That wasn't normal.
He looked around. Neat studio apartment. One room layout with a kitchenette, desk, small bookshelf, and a folded set of clothes on a chair near the window. Minimal furniture, but high quality. No personal items. No dust.
No clues.
He swung his legs over the bed and stood up. The floor felt cool under his feet. He was steady. Sharp. No soreness. He flexed his hands. His skin looked cleaner, tighter. He walked to the mirror near the bathroom—
And froze.
The face staring back at him was definitely his, but... not exactly. He was leaner. Sharper jaw. Healthier skin. His eyes looked more focused, like he'd slept a full week and eaten nothing but vegetables.
"What the hell…"
Before he could process it, something hit him. Not physically—it was in his head. A sound, like a metallic chime overlapping itself a dozen times. And then:
[SYSTEM ONLINE.]
[User: Gabriel De Leon]
[Status: Initial Boot Confirmed.]
[Kill Count: 0]
[Starter Bonus Available.]
He stepped back from the mirror. Heart pounding. He looked around, half-expecting something to appear behind him.
"What... the actual hell is that?"
No screen. No display. Just the words, clear and sharp in his head like a thought that didn't belong to him.
He turned in place. Nothing changed. It wasn't a hallucination. He knew what hallucinations felt like—this was different.
[You may now select your Gift Pack.]
Apex Physique
Ghost Engineer
Alpha Instinct
His brain wanted to shut down and overthink it. But something about the list felt... final. Like hesitating would close the offer.
"Is this... a game? No—wait, no, this is... this is like those novels—this is—"
He stopped himself. Swallowed. "Screw it. If I'm already crazy, might as well be ripped."
"…Apex Physique," he muttered.
Nothing happened for a second.
Then the apartment dimmed for half a heartbeat. Something inside him snapped awake. His heart rate slowed—not increased, slowed. His skin prickled like it had adjusted to a different climate. Something moved inside his arms, like his blood had turned to chilled mercury. His breath deepened. Steadier.
He braced himself against the wall.
[Gift Pack Applied: APEX PHYSIQUE.]
[Physical parameters calibrated.]
[Reaction time optimized.]
[Language Module: Japanese installed.]
"Language what—?"
He grabbed the desk chair and leaned on it. Everything felt more... aligned. Like his spine had been edited. He could sense his own balance down to the millimeter. And he wasn't out of breath. At all.
"Okay. Okay. Nope. This is not normal."
He looked back toward the mirror, slower this time. He didn't recognize the way he stood. He looked like a soldier. Posture straight, muscles taut but relaxed.
[Countdown: 02:38:44]
[Countdown Stops if there is no progress. Might reach 0 after the day ends. Continues if events are happening.]
"…Countdown to what? And what events?" he muttered.
No answer.
At last, he walked over to the curtain and pulled it back.
Outside was a clean, sunlit city street. People walking. Bikes gliding by. A schoolgirl laughing on the phone. A delivery truck parked across the street. Blue sky, no haze.
He scanned the view slowly.
It looked like Tokyo.
But it was too neat. Too perfect. Like an anime background.
Gabriel didn't say anything at first. He just watched.
Then, finally.
"…I'm in one of those worlds, aren't I?"
Gabriel ran a hand through his hair, still watching the street below. Students passed in clumps, talking, laughing. A train horn echoed faintly from somewhere in the distance. Everything looked too alive for what he knew was coming.
He turned from the window and took inventory of the room again.
No personal touches. No framed photos. No stray receipts or scuffed shoes by the door. It wasn't just clean—it was curated.
By who?
The clothes on the chair were neatly folded: white button-up shirt, dark school blazer, slacks, black socks, polished indoor shoes. On the desk sat a leather wallet and a brand-new smartphone with no lock screen.
He picked up the phone. It booted instantly.
Everything was already installed: phone contacts, messaging app, calendar. His name—Gabriel De Leon—was registered. School schedule included.
He opened the wallet. ID card. Health insurance. A single train pass. Student card for Fujimi Academy, Class 2-B. His photo was already printed, eyes slightly dazed. His birthday? Accurate. Blood type? He never even knew it himself.
He exhaled slowly and sat down on the edge of the bed.
[SYSTEM STATUS AVAILABLE. Say "Status" to begin.]
He didn't say anything for a while. Then, mostly to himself.
"Status."
[USER STATUS: GABRIEL DE LEON]
Age: 18
Condition: Enhanced (Apex Physique)
Kill Count: 0
Points: 0
Quarantine Alert Level: 2%
Physical Capacity: Human Max+
System Tier: 0
Shop: Restricted
Inventory: Empty
Next Tier Unlocks at Kill Count: 10
Next Shop Access at Kill Count: 1
Gabriel narrowed his eyes.
"Kill Count? Are you serious?"
[System Access is based on combat participation. Store items, upgrades, gear, and automation will unlock through verified kills of infected targets.]
"Infected," he echoed. "Zombies."
[Correct.]
He stood and paced across the room once, letting the weight of the words settle.
He'd seen Highschool of the Dead. The first fifteen minutes would be chaos. But there were no chainsaws or vending-machine buffs in that show. It was blood, violence, panic, and desperation.
This System… felt different.
Like it wanted him to treat this as a survival game.
He opened the "Shop" tab. A sleek interface projected directly into his vision like an overlay, listing dozens of weapons, tools, vehicles, rations, drones—
—all grayed out.
Glock 19 – [LOCKED]
MRE Survival Pack (x3) – [LOCKED]
Reinforced Tactical Jacket – [LOCKED]
Autonomous Recon Drone – [LOCKED]
Loyalty Unlock: Companions Module – [LOCKED]
Only one tab blinked: Basic Loadout: Unlocks after first kill.
He scrolled to the bottom. A single note sat in bold red.
"You are not here to play hero. You are here to survive."
Kill Count: 0. Access Denied.
Gabriel closed the screen with a twitch of his eye. The overlay faded instantly.
"Of course it's kill-locked," he muttered. "Why make it easy?"
He sat down at the desk and stared at the blank calendar on the phone. Class started in an hour. The address on his ID matched the apartment. He could walk it in fifteen.
Another timer ticked in his peripheral vision.
[Countdown: 02:17:05]
It still wasn't telling him what the countdown was for.
He didn't need to ask. He had a feeling.
And if he was right—this clean, perfect little city wasn't going to look so perfect much longer.