NAME: Tari
LEVEL: 1
HEALTH: 92%
MANA: 6
SKILL: Survival Instinct (Level 1)
Six mana.
It had increased.
He didn't know how.
He didn't know why.
But it had.
Amara tugged his sleeve gently.
"Do you hear that?"
He listened.
At first, nothing.
Then
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Something was eating.
His stomach turned.
It was coming from below.
From the ground floor.
From the exit.
They couldn't go back.
They couldn't stay.
They had to go forward.
He stepped down slowly.
One step.
Two steps.
Three
A body lay across the stairs.
Tari froze.
It was a security guard.
Or what used to be one.
His uniform was torn.
His stomach was open.
Empty.
Something had eaten him from the inside.
Amara covered her mouth.
She almost screamed.
Almost.
Tari grabbed her wrist.
His eyes begged her to stay quiet.
She nodded quickly.
Her body trembled.
They stepped over the corpse.
Carefully.
Respectfully.
Even now.
Even after everything.
He didn't want to treat the dead like objects.
But the world didn't care about respect anymore.
Another crunch echoed.
Closer now.
Tari reached the bottom of the stairs.
He peeked around the corner.
And saw it.
It wasn't like the others.
Not like the zombies in the classroom.
This one was bigger.
Taller.
Its skin was darker gray.
Its arms were longer.
Its fingers ended in black claws.
It crouched over a body.
Eating.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Like it had all the time in the world.
Tari's heart pounded so loud he was sure it could hear it.
A window appeared.
HIGH MANA ENTITY
LEVEL: 3
Level 3.
It was stronger.
Much stronger.
Amara saw it too.
She grabbed his arm tighter.
"We can't fight that," she whispered.
He knew.
If they fought, they would die.
The creature suddenly stopped eating.
Its head tilted.
Slowly.
It sniffed the air.
Tari froze.
It stood.
Its joints cracked loudly.
Its head turned.
Its black eyes locked onto them.
It saw them.
It smiled.
Not like a human.
Like a predator.
It ran.
Fast.
Too fast.
"RUN!" Tari shouted.
They ran.
Their shoes slammed against the floor.
The creature followed.
Its claws scraped the tiles.
It was faster.
Closer.
Closer
Amara tripped.
She fell hard.
She cried out.
The creature lunged.
Tari stopped.
His mind screamed at him to run.
To leave her.
To survive.
Just like before.
Just like the girl in the classroom.
He looked at Amara.
She looked at him.
Her eyes filled with fear.
With betrayal.
With acceptance.
She thought he would leave.
He almost did.
Almost.
His legs trembled.
His heart pounded.
If he stayed
He could die.
If he ran
She would die.
His chest hurt.
He remembered her walking beside him.
Her trusting him.
Her believing him.
"We'll survive," he had said.
If he ran now
He would become something worse than the monsters.
He grabbed the fire extinguisher tighter.
His hands shook.
"I won't run," he whispered.
The creature lunged.
Time slowed.
The blue window flashed.
Survival Instinct ACTIVATED
He moved.
Not away.
Forward.
He swung.
CRACK.
The extinguisher hit its arm.
The creature roared.
It hurt it.
But didn't stop it.
Its claw cut his shoulder.
Pain exploded.
Blood spilled.
He screamed.
But didn't fall.
Didn't run.
He swung again.
CRACK.
Its head snapped sideways.
It staggered.
Amara crawled away.
"Tari!" she screamed.
The creature turned back to him.
Angry.
Hungry.
It lunged again.
He didn't have enough strength.
Didn't have enough mana.
Didn't have enough anything.
I'm going to die.
A window appeared.
CONDITION MET
PATHWAY AVAILABLE
ACCEPT?
He didn't understand.
He didn't care.
YES.
Pain unlike anything before filled his body.
His veins burned.
His heart pounded like thunder.
The world became sharper.
Slower.
Clearer.
New strength filled him.
Small.
But real.
Another window.
PATHWAY ACCEPTED
PATHWAY: ???
STATUS: INITIATED
The creature lunged.
Tari moved.
Faster.
Cleaner.
He swung.
CRACK.
The skull fractured.
Black blood sprayed.
The creature screamed.
He swung again.
CRACK.
It fell.
It twitched.
Then stopped.
Dead.
Silence returned.
Tari stood there.
Breathing hard.
Bleeding.
Alive.
Another window.
ENEMY DEFEATED
LEVEL UP
LEVEL 2 REACHED
His legs gave out.
He fell to his knees.
Amara ran to him.
"You didn't leave me," she said.
Her voice broke.
He couldn't answer.
He didn't know why he stayed.
Maybe he was stupid.
Maybe he was weak.
Maybe he was human.
She helped him sit.
Her hands shook.
"You're bleeding."
"I know."
She tore part of her sleeve.
Wrapped his shoulder.
Her touch was gentle.
Careful.
Real.
He looked at her.
"Thank you."
She nodded.
They sat in silence.
Surrounded by death.
Surrounded by the end of the old world.
Tari did not remember falling asleep.
But he remembered waking up.
Pain woke him.
Sharp.
Hot.
Real.
He sucked in a breath and immediately regretted it.
His shoulder burned.
The torn flesh pulsed with every heartbeat.
He groaned.
"You're awake."
Amara's voice.
Soft.
Relieved.
He opened his eyes.
The world was dim.
They were inside a classroom.
Desks had been pushed against the door.
Chairs stacked into a weak barricade.
Sunlight leaked through the windows, but it wasn't warm.
It felt distant.
Like it belonged to another world.
Amara sat beside him.
Her eyes were tired.
Red.
She hadn't slept.
"You were shaking," she said quietly. "I didn't know if you would…"
She didn't finish.
Die.
The word hung between them anyway.
Tari slowly pushed himself up.
His body protested.
Every muscle ached.
Every movement hurt.
But he was alive.
A blue window appeared.
NAME: Tari
LEVEL: 2
HEALTH: 61%
MANA: 12
STATUS: Injured
PATHWAY: Initiated
Initiated.
The word meant nothing.
And everything.
"Amara," he said.
She looked at him immediately.
"Yes?"
"Do you have a pathway?"
She hesitated.
Then nodded slowly.
"I think so."
She raised her hand.
A faint blue glow flickered around her fingers.
"It appeared when you were unconscious," she said. "A window. It asked me if I wanted to accept."
Her voice trembled.
"I was scared. But I said yes."
Tari felt something strange in his chest.
Relief.
He wasn't alone.
"What level are you?" he asked.
"Level 1."
She looked down.
"I killed one."
Her voice cracked.
She wasn't proud.
She wasn't relieved.
She was haunted.
He understood.
Killing changed something inside you.
Even if it was a monster.
Even if it wasn't human anymore.
Silence filled the room.
Then
A knock.
Both of them froze.
Not loud.
Not violent.
Just
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Someone was outside.
Alive.
Or pretending to be.
Amara's eyes filled with fear.
"Tari…"
Another knock.
"Please," a voice whispered weakly. "Help…"
It sounded human.
Broken.
Desperate.
Tari's chest tightened.
It could be a trap.
The zombies sometimes made noises.
He had heard them.
He remembered.
But it sounded so real.
So human.
"Please," the voice begged again.
Amara looked at him.
"What do we do?"
He didn't answer immediately.
This was different.
This wasn't running.
This wasn't fighting.
This was choosing.
If they opened the door
They could die.
If they didn't
Someone else would die.
He stood slowly.
His shoulder screamed in protest.
He ignored it.
He walked toward the barricade.
Amara grabbed his arm.
"Be careful."
He nodded.
Careful.
He wasn't sure that word meant anything anymore.
He moved the desks quietly.
Slowly.
Each scrape sounded too loud.
Too dangerous.
He reached the door.
His hand hovered over the handle.
His heart pounded.
He opened it.
A boy collapsed inside.
Thin.
Covered in blood.
But breathing.
Alive.
Tari closed the door quickly.
Amara rushed forward.
"Oh my God…"
The boy couldn't have been older than sixteen.
A first-year student.
His leg was badly cut.
Not bitten.
Cut.
Clawed.
"He's human," Tari said.
He didn't know why he needed to say it out loud.
Maybe to convince himself.
The boy's eyes fluttered open.
He saw them.
Fear filled his face.
"Please," he whispered. "Don't leave me."
Amara shook her head quickly.
"We won't."
Tari watched her.
She said it so easily.
Like she still believed in promises.
The boy looked at Tari.
"Are you… awakened?"
Tari hesitated.
Then nodded.
"Yes."
The boy relaxed slightly.
"Good," he whispered. "Then maybe we can survive."
Maybe.
Not will.
Maybe.
"What's your name?" Amara asked gently.
"Kunmi."
His voice was weak.
"My friends… they…"
He couldn't finish.
He didn't need to.
They were dead.
Or worse.
Amara began cleaning his wound.
Using cloth torn from uniforms.
Using water from a bottle.
Careful.
Gentle.
Kind.
Tari watched her.
He wondered how she could still be kind.
The world had ended.
And she still chose kindness.
He didn't know if that made her strong.
Or fragile.
A blue window appeared suddenly.
GROUP FORMED
BONUS: Minor Mana Recovery Increased
Group.
The word felt important.
Dangerous.
Because groups could break.
People could betray.
People could die.
Tari looked at Kunmi.
He was weak.
Slower.
A burden.
The thought came uninvited.
Cold.
Logical.
Cruel.
He hated himself for thinking it.
But it was true.
This new world had rules.
And weakness was punished.
Kunmi noticed his expression.
Fear filled his eyes.
"I won't slow you down," he said quickly.
His voice trembled.
"I'll help. I'll do anything."
Anything.
Tari knew that tone.
He had used it before.
Begging the world not to leave him behind.
Amara looked at Tari.
Her eyes said one thing.
Don't.
Don't abandon him.
Tari looked away.
He remembered the girl he left.
He still heard her screams.
He still saw her face.
He didn't want another ghost.
"We stay together," Tari said.
Kunmi's shoulders shook.
"Thank you."
Amara smiled faintly.
But Tari didn't feel like a hero.
He felt like a liar.
Because he didn't know if he could protect them.
He could barely protect himself.
Outside
A distant roar echoed.
Not close.
But not far.
Something big.
Something hungry.
Something growing stronger.
Kunmi trembled.
"What is that?"
Tari didn't answer.
He already knew.
This was only the beginning.
The weak would die first.
The strong would live longer.
And the lucky
Might become something else entirely.
He looked at his blue window.
At his pathway.
At his level.
Level 2.
Still weak.
Still prey.
But not helpless.
Not anymore.
He clenched his fist.
For the first time in his life
The world had given him a chance.
A cruel chance.
A bloody chance.
A chance to rise.
Or become another corpse on the floor.
[SUBJECT TARI]
[GROUP FORMATION CONFIRMED]
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: INCREASED]
And somewhere deep inside him
Something new was waking up.
Something not entirely human.
Something that whispered
Survive.
No matter the cost.