A few paces after I had boldly taken steps outside my door on my journey towards my manifest destiny, the sight of an odd shape moving slowly in the distance stops me dead in my tracks and several thoughts all run through my brain at once, briefly paralyzing me.

The first was the realization that I had precious little mp left to use after my experience with the Flare skill. Much less the flare skill, my other two very necessary skills also used mp to function and deciding to go on an adventure without the resource was probably a sure way to end up on a fungus dinner plate. Or a zombie dinner plate.

I say that because the object moving slowly in the distance it quite obviously a zombie slowly heading toward me. Its obvious because it is half rotten, moving upright, and in a basic humanoid shape. Whether it is actually a human corpse moving or some other new species moving I cannot tell at this distance and something tells me I wouldn’t be able to determine that even it was right in front of me. It was half decomposed after all.

But the sight of a zombie brings to me several pungent questions about the nature of this place and the system. You see, zombies aren’t real.

…

I know what you are thinking. Of course zombies aren’t real, but then neither was being teleported to another world and that has happened to me. And so are crazy fast bacteria and screens and notifications. I get why you would think that.

But here is what I am thinking. Zombies are not real of course, but they are a distinctly human idea prevalent in our culture. Everybody knows what a zombie is, but the idea of zombies actually coming into being naturally is beyond my ability to believe. Partly, the idea of zombies stems from our human emotional un-understanding and fascination with death and what it is. They don't make logical sense.

And as for the screens and notifications and all that junk, I believe that those ideas are much more reasonable and something like an artificial intelligence (or the system) could logically come to such things. Additionally, as evidence in this argument I point to my regen amount. While this may not be a very strong argument, I think it is worth considering the non-integer number that is my mana regen amount of 1.236 a minute. I think it would be odd for the system to be using the imperial system for measuring time, minutes in this case. I suspect there was a conversion and translation used to allow me to understand the words and naturally the units are unequal. Try converting a mile into a kilometer and you’ll get a non integer figure too.

What I am trying to say is that these notifications and screens and “system” could just be plain good ol’ math in the end, similar to how physics is just math in the end. My sister’s ex-boyfriend was a physics major (a native Korean studying in the states, I don’t have to tell you he was good at math) and he even theorized that our whole reality was just math (formulas). Don’t ask me how physics is just math in the end, but it is, apparently. Go ask your own physics person.

So, what seeing a zombie means about the nature of this place is that it dwindles down the possibilities of what it is as the creator of this place must have had some connection with the social culture of our world. Here are my now two current theories:

Firstly, this whole thing is in my mind. Whether it is a dream, a forced reality, aliens twisting my mind back into itself, or whatever, the idea here is that my own memories and ideas are what is fueling the objects appearing here. Personally, I am now favoring this theory as my bedroom, brother’s dog, and other things here appear to be from my own experiences and memories. This doesn’t bode well for me finding out a way out of here by myself, but it does cut the danger down a little.

Secondly, this place is a creation of a mad scientist from earth, either some sort of matrix virtual reality or some created dimension to fuel his fantasies which I accidentally got caught up in. I say accidentally because there is no earthly reason I would get caught up in it otherwise.

And that’s it. I’ve got a couple of variations of those theories, but that’s mainly it. I guess I’ll keep the possibility of this being a natural phenomenon open but I am not putting much faith in it.

All these thoughts ran through my head when I saw the zombie slowly, very slowly, ambling my way. I was not pleased with my conclusions though and a large frown now appeared on my face as I considered my options. While there are a many varied type of zombies out there, strong, weak, fast, slow, brain eating, non brain eating, this one appeared to be the weak, slow, and non brain eating kind. I say that due to how slow and unsteady he seems in his gait and also his missing jaw.

But I have seen enough zombie films to know to never underestimate a zombie unless you want to be the first to die. Plus I have practically no MP.

With that reasoning, I retreat back to my bedroom, again, and shut the door quickly. I should play it safe, get my mana back up to 25, and use my position defensively against the creature. Judging by his speed I should have a good portion of my mana back by the time he reaches here and if I can use some delaying tactics I might be able to get it all back before I engage it.

I open my blinds and peak out of the window, much more dirty and green now than I remember it being, and watch as the zombie approaches my door like an unwelcome guest. He seems to be zeroed in on me somehow, maybe he has infrared sensing like snakes. I consider my flare skill again, thinking that in most cases, light attribute stuff would be very effective against creatures like undead. Hopefully that is the case here too. I’ll have to thank the system again for giving me this class ‘specially calibrated” for this place. I wait impatiently but the zombie does eventually make it to my door and, after a tense moment, he politely knocks.

…

Just kidding, he just bangs rudely against it, like I expect a zombie would. I am standing just behind the door, heart beating wildly, hands covered in a slick sweat not helping my grip, eyes wide in terror. It appears that I have underestimated the physiological effects the stress is giving me. My spirit is willing but my flesh is weak.

I have a confession to make. Despite my words of bravado, I have never been in a physical fight before. Heck, I rarely get into verbal arguments. I can type some choice words when the situation demands, but actually engaging somebody in confrontation of any kind is beyond my experience and probably my ability.

That said, I can feel my flight or flight response kicking in and I am now trapped in my bedroom. I could probably escape out the back window, but I don’t, I probably couldn't get the screens out in my current condition. I don’t want to break them either.

Thankfully, the zombie seems to be very weak like my initial assessment and he is not making any headway against my flimsy bedroom door. My blind panic reduces slightly and I watch as my mana slowly reaches up towards max. The zombie is certainly persistent though.

Soon, my mana does make it to 25, and I have now reached my maximum fighting potential. However, now I am faced with a decision. Should I open the door and instigate the fight?

My reason is telling me yes, go, go, go! I have skills and attributes that at most, give me clear advantage over my opponent and at least allows me to heal and cleanse any potential hurts in the fight, meaning little risk. Also, the zombie is very weak, I could probably easily overpower it with brute force if need be, and the creature is not going to go away anytime soon.

On the other hand my hands are quivering, my knees feel like I just ran a marathon, and I feel lightheaded and sweaty. I can tell my own grip on my weapon is very loose and I could easily lose it if I try to bash it against something. I feel like my feet are stuck in tar, I can’t move.

Unbelievable. I have turned into one of those weaklings in one of those horror shows that I despise so much. The people who fall down and freeze in terror at the impending doom, rather than running away or literally doing anything else that could potentially save them or their friends. That’s pathetic. I'm pathetic. Who's the noob now?

…

I stand still for several more minutes, not doing anything. My breath has become very ragged and I am trying to calm myself by alternating between saying quickly, “its okay, its okay, its okay” and “you can do this, you can do this, you can do this”.

Eventually either my efforts have worked, or simply a significant length of time passed and I am able to calm down. I didn’t go open the door though, but I was able to move again, take deep breaths, and otherwise regain control of my body. The zombie was being very nice in letting me have my time before we fought. I’m going to have to give him a point for nobility.

Closing my eyes and giving up a large sigh, I went and sat on my bed, bringing by left hand up to my forehead, wiping away some sweat. My good mood from earlier is now gone and I am very disturbed, frowning seriously at the space where I had killed Pesos. Man, this whole thing is seriously screwed up. I let the zombie earn its pay by working hard but uselessly against my door. Like an intern given menial tasks.

I think about my siutuation again.

It was currently Saturday morning and my roommate sister was visiting the parents for the weekend so nobody would know I was missing immediately this morning. Additionally, my room is at the back of the house, none of my neighbors would notice either that a large portion of it is now gone. A nice set of trees was in the way.

The first person that would notice would be my twin who would wonder why I won’t show up at church tomorrow morning. Then he would text me afterwards asking my why me missed it. It wouldn't be unusual for me not to respond immediately. My sister would come home Sunday night, but there is a good chance she’ll stay longer at the parents as it is summer.

The first people to start asking questions would probably be my coworkers on Monday morning. I had never been late without telling them first. They’ll call my cell phone, but I don’t answer obviously, then Sue, my not-seriously but seriously surrogate grandmother co-worker would start worrying very badly. She would work hard and eventually contact somebody in my family somehow who wouldn’t have any clue to my whereabout either. That would start the real worry train.

Probably by noonish on Monday an officer would stop by my house and see it. I imagine it would lookk like a crater for all intents and purposes as it appears it was a sphere that was taken over here. I can see him scratching his head now. Did a meteor crash here? No, no blast radius or anything. What the hell was the kid doing in his room alone to cause this?

And that would be it. I was simply inexplicably gone. There would not even be a body for them to burry. I can’t really imagine what would happen next, but the scene of my aunt sobbing uncontrollably at her own daughter's funeral when my cousin died in a car accident at 16 flashes through my mind. My cousin’s whole high school class turned out for the funeral too. My aunt had made an dramatic scene, crying out loudly, “Oh, my baby, my baby” over and over again in her husband's arms during practically the whole funeral. It wasn’t anything like my grandma's passing which was peaceful at 92 years old. I was very young when my cousin died but I remember that traumatic experience vividly.

Would my mom cry like that at my funeral too? I was hardly a baby at 28 anymore, but Mom constantly said we were all always her babies. She was always very protective and supportive of me, sometimes annoyingly so.

My thoughts had been turning towards the moroose, but now I was suddenly angry, very angry. I loved my mom and didn’t want her to experience what my Aunt did.

Feeling the rush of anger I stand up quickly knowing in the back of my mind that if I was to get this done, I was going to need to use this feeling while it lasted. I can hear the Emperor’s cackling now . “Goooood. Your hate has made you powerful.” I’m going to take a page from the emperor’s book today, sorry Yoda.

Steeling my resolve, I clenched my barrel and ignited the Flare skill. Seeing the bright flames filled me with confidence and without a second wasted I rushed the door and flung it open ready to meet my tormentor and return its favor in kind.

Before the zombie could react, I recklessly reached out and grabbed a firm hold of the loose torn clothes on its torso with my left hand and, with teeth gritten hard enough to make my jaw sore, I brought the flame covered marker barrel down upon the head of the creature with all my rage as if I was the very picture of Thor himself.

The result was beyond my expectations. The head exploded like a melon smashed with a baseball bat. A very heavy baseball bat. It seems my flare was more effective than I had guessed as I doubt I had the strength to exert such force against even a partially decomposed skull. The headless beast crumpled at the hit and I let go of the ragged shirt and let gravity take the zombie down. I also release the flare skill, I had only used it for a few seconds so I should have plenty of mp left.

As for myself, I was stunned. I did not expect nor appreciate a face full of Zombie gore. Thankfully, I am apparently not the yelling type in a fight for which I was currently very glad as I cannot imagine getting a mouthful of that stuff. And also I am now thankfull I hadn’t gotten LASIK surgery like my friends and sister-in-law had as my glasses worked good enough to keep the stuff out of my eyes. My face was still covered though.

A couple notifications appear before me and I barely note that i can see the screen clearly despite my glasses currently being covered in goo. Weird.

Warning! You have been infected by the instance bacteria!

Negative effects will stack!

That one doesn't surprise me considering I am now covered in zombie gore. I should try to clean off before I cleanse myself.

Congradulations! You have leveled up!

That’s nice. It took an unprecedented amount of effort on my part to destroy the zombie, it’s nice to be rewarded, especially so promptly. I would have appreciated some sort of further explanation though.

Ignoring my gore spattered face because I don't want to think about it, I look up to my ⇛ symbol and open my status screen.

Inner Light: (level 2)

A unique light attribute class able to learn every light attribute skill and uses mana directly for every skill. Class locks all other potential attributes and skill types. Skill usage limited only to quantity of Mana available

Mana:

15/30

Regen: 1.4832 per minute

Skills:

Cleanse

Clear body of foreign influences

Heal

Enhances natural healing

Flare

Coat external surfaces with light energy to give a light attribute to object

Double nice, my mana pool increased and so did my regen. Doing quick mental math, which is not my forte, I figure I got an increase of 20% in each category. I wonder if it is always 20% for each new level. I’ll have to keep an eye on that.

Also, I only had Flare on for, like, 5 seconds max. How did I use ten of my mp? I suspect that an attack uses more mp than simply activating it. I’ll have to keep an eye on that too.

I can’t ignore my face anymore so I decide to try to confront my fears again. How should I clean this off? My water supply is currently precarious and I don’t have an unlimited amount of shirts despite my attempts to do so so I don’t have to do laundry as often.

Getting a bright idea, I decide to try to cleanse my body with my skill, I still have plenty of mana to experiment with. I speak, “cleanse” softly and feel the warm chills spread around my body. I try to mentally force it up to my skin and face and it feels like it worked.

I check my face and I am slightly disappointed. I believe the skill worked, but it only took away the “negative influences” but left the gore there. The gore is now more shriveled, dry, and crispy than before, so it brushes off pretty easily, so I guess I can’t be too disappointed. I look at my mp to see that that act used 5 of them.

I take off my glasses to wipe them off and notice that they do not appear as cleansed as the rest of my face. Upon touching the gore on it I immediately get another notification that I am infected again. I scowl. That is annoying.

Trying to focus my skill again, I try to cleanse my glasses specifically and I am pleased to see it work as the blood and other zombie parts on it dry and wilt like a flower thrown in a fire. I brush it off and now have a new appreciation for my skill. It appears that I can extend my clense skill to objects outside of my body at the cost of additional mp.

Now I am left with a headless body on my doorstep and my walls and door covered in gore too. Dang, if I knew it was going to be a mess like this I would have planned the attack differently.

I set out to clean up my room and clear away the body, ignoring the constant infection notifications along the way and I consider what I had done. Or, what I almost couldn’t do.

Looks like I am going to have to sympathize more with the useless characters going forward in those movies as it turned out I am one of them too. I was only able to act once I had been given enough time to recoup myself and work up some anger. I can’t count on those type of conveniences in the future, not if I want to survive.

I am going to have to change, I think. Easy going, happy go lucky, and careless me are going to have to go away for awhile and I’m going to have to try to find a way to bring out my inner aggression and decisiveness. I am sure it’s in there somewhere, perhaps a few dozen more life and death experiences will awaken it. I have always had good problem solving skills, now I just need to figure out how to bring those abilities to work outside of a computer. Bummer, I've always been bad at that. When I bought a lawn mower earlier this spring it took me an hour and a half to assemble the four wheels. I am just not a good handyman.

I finally grab the corpse and move it towards the place I had laid Pesos to rest. I am a little intrigued by the lack of fungus on this zombie, though. Pesos is all fungus now, but despite being a half dead zombie already with plenty of flesh still available, there is not a hint of said fungus on this zombie. I’ll have to keep an eye on that. Wow, my list of follow ups is getting pretty long.

After depositing the body I glance up at the ugly green sky. It’s so green, even I can see that it is green. I can also see clouds floating across the sky peacefully, a mockery of my earth. After a moment I shake my fist theatrically at it and stomp back to my place. There are still several unanswered questions regarding food and water, but I feel that I am filled with a strange determination hardly seen in me, even during final exams at university.

I swear I am going to survive this damned place and make it back, if its the last thing I’ll do. I’m dying to hear what will be said at my funeral.