Eli woke up to Sophie poking his shoulder.
"Mr. Eli? You need to wake up."
He opened his eyes. It was already morning.
"What's wrong?" Eli sat up.
Sophie pointed toward the ramp.
"Marcus says there's more of them. The glowy people."
Eli stood slowly, his joints cracked by his movements.
He had slept maybe three hours. But that wasn't enough. It would never enough.
[DAILY QUEST REMINDER]
[QUEST 2: ESTABLISH PERIMETER]
[CLEAR CORRUPTED SOULS WITHIN 100M RADIUS (1/8)]
[TIME REMAINING: 18 HOURS]
Groaning, he walked to the edge of the third floor and looked down.
Seven corrupted souls wandered the parking lot below. They were shuffling aimlessly but getting closer to the structure.
[CORRUPTED SOULS DETECTED: 7]
[CORRUPTION LEVELS RANGING: 22%-48%]
[ESTIMATED TIME UNTIL HOSTILE: 4-12 HOURS]
Marcus appeared next to him, still holding the baseball bat in his hand. "They've been circling for an hour. And getting closer."
"They can sense us, I told you," Eli said. "The living. They're drawn to it."
"So what do we do?"
Eli looked at his Humanity Index.
[HUMANITY INDEX: 71%]
Seven souls.
If they were all low corruption, that was 14% gone. He should be at 57%.
Still above the 50% threshold. It should be fine.
"I clear them out," he said. "Before they get too close."
"I'll come with you."
"No. You stay here. Protect your sister."
Marcus's jaw tightened. "I can help—"
"You can help by keeping everyone alive up here." Eli's voice was firm.
"If something happens to me, you're in charge. Got it?"
Marcus didn't like the arrangement, but he nodded.
*******
Eli descended the ramp slowly.
The first corrupted soul noticed him immediately.
[CORRUPTED SOUL: 22%]
[THREAT: LOW]
[TIME UNTIL HOSTILE: 11 HOURS]
It was a young woman in a hospital gown and bare feet.
She turned toward him, her vacant eyes glowing faintly.
Eli reached out, grasped, then pulled.
It was easy.
The soul came free like pulling thread, making the body collapse in an instant.
Sarah Kim, 27, surgery complications, wanted to be a veterinarian.
[SOUL CONSUMED]
[+50 EXP]
[HUMANITY INDEX: 69%]
The numbness crept in immediately, but Eli already moved to the next one.
[CORRUPTED SOUL: 28%]
Grasped, pulled, and consumed.
Walter Greene, 71, stroke, married 50 years, three grandchildren.
[+50 EXP]
[HUMANITY INDEX: 67%]
Third.
[CORRUPTED SOUL: 31%]
He did it again—grasped, pulled, and consumed.
Jennifer Rios, 42, aneurysm, marathon runner, donated to charity.
[+50 EXP]
[HUMANITY INDEX: 65%]
By the fourth soul, Eli barely registered the memories anymore. They flashed through his mind like commercial ads.
Fourth. Fifth. Sixth.
[HUMANITY INDEX: 59%]
The seventh one was different.
[CORRUPTED SOUL: 48%]
[THREAT: MODERATE]
[TIME UNTIL HOSTILE: 4 HOURS]
When Eli reached out to grasp its soul, it felt him.
The corpse's head snapped toward him, not vacant anymore. It was aware.
"Shit," Eli sighed.
Then it charged at him, not like the 50%+ revenants, but faster than the docile ones.
Eli rolled to its back, then reached out, grasped harder with all his will.
As previously, the soul fought back, meanwhile the corpse turned around.
It swung its fist and caught Eli across the jaw.
Stars exploded in his vision, and he tasted blood in the corner of his mouth.
"Damn it," he staggered a few steps back.
He focused, then pushed deeper, his mental grip tightening at its soul.
The soul thrashed violently, screaming without a sound.
But Eli this time was stronger by the consumptions.
He crushed the resistance and pulled at once.
The soul came apart in jagged pieces, more corrupted than the others. It was burning as it rushed into him.
Thomas Rein. 27. A street thug. Angry about the other thugs stealing his territory.
[CORRUPTED SOUL CONSUMED]
[+120 EXP]
[HUMANITY INDEX: 56%]
The corruption from Thomas's soul was still bleeding through with anger and frustation, and it felt more real than the others.
Eli gasped as its emotions tried to overwhelm him.
[QUEST 2 COMPLETE: ESTABLISH PERIMETER]
[CORRUPTED SOULS CLEARED: 8/8]
[REWARD: +500 EXP, SAFE ZONE RADIUS EXPANDED]
[SAFE ZONE UPGRADED: BASIC -> FORTIFIED]
[NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED: CORRUPTION BARRIER]
Eli looked up.
A blue shimmer appeared faintly around the parking structure. It was translucent like a dome made of static.
[CORRUPTION BARRIER ACTIVE]
[EFFECT: CORRUPTED SOULS BELOW 40% CANNOT ENTER SAFE ZONE]
[DURATION: 24 HOURS]
[RENEWAL REQUIRES: DAILY QUEST COMPLETION]
A barrier. A protection given by the system.
'So why the system wants me to do daily quests,' Eli realized. 'It's not just busywork. It's survival infrastructure.'
He stood slowly, wiping the blood from his mouth.
He was getting dangerously close to 50% in his Humanity Index.
'I need to cleanse soon. But the cooldown…'
[CLEANSING RITUAL COOLDOWN: 2 HOURS 17 MINUTES]
Two more hours until he could purge the corruption again.
Eli walked back up the ramp.
*******
Marcus was waiting at the top. "You okay?"
"Fine." Eli's voice was flat.
"You don't look fine."
"I'm functional." Eli walked past him.
The survivors were gathered in their corner.
Linda was rationing out energy bars, Mr. Chen was teaching Sophie how to tie knots with some cord he had found. Linda's two kids were playing cards quietly.
They all looked up when Eli entered.
"Are we safe?" Linda asked.
Eli looked at the dome around the structure. "For now. Twenty four hours. Then I have to clear the area again."
"And then?"
"Then we have twenty four more hours."
Linda's face fell. "That's it? Just… day by day?"
"That's all anyone has right now."
Mr. Chen looked up from the knot he was tying. "How long can you keep this up, son?"
Eli met his eyes. "As long as I have to."
"And when you can't?"
He didn't answer.
Sophie tugged on Marcus's arm. "Is Mr. Eli okay? He sounds different."
Marcus looked at Eli, really looking at him.
The glowing from his body was brighter now, and his hands pulsed with blue light. His eyes had the same faint glow with the living corpses.
"He's just tired," Marcus lied.
But Eli could see it in the kid's face.
Marcus was scared, not of the corrupted souls outside.
He was scared of him.