Hot, sweaty and out of breath, was Roon’s exact condition. He was running at speed he shouldn’t be capable of, i.e. as fast as a pro athlete, yet it didn’t bring about any form of pride, for his group was being chased by a horde of flesh craving monster.

“Was this your definition of cute?”

Asked Roon, to the man who’d convinced him of the safety and benefits of an expedition, bringing him away from the safety of a public bus.

“I think they got faster. Maybe hastened adaptation for locomotive capabilities.”

“You think. They’re running like Usain Fuck Bolt, and you “think” they got faster.”

August ignored his further abuses, and ran faster than others, towards a truck.

“William, here.”

August pointed to truck, and gestured for William to follow him.

“What?”

“The truck.”

“What about the truck.”

“Use “Muscle Boost” to flip it over. We can set up a barricade.”

“Good idea. I was thinking the same.”

With that he ran up to a trailer and with all his strength started pushing at its head to align it in manner to cover the whole of the skyway, thus barricading the zombies. Anyone who saw the scene would find it stupid. A man trying to push a trailer, but no one in the group uttered a word.

What they were seeing, left them baffled. The trailer was moving, a 4-ton trailer was being moved by a man. But the man too, was not normal. He looked like a white hulk, without purple pants.

“That is his skill? Why ae we running away then? Just let the big monster lose on the small monsters.”

“The duration is short, and it exhausts me. Wouldn’t mind doing it otherwise.”

Came the reply from William, as he lay on the floor. Apparently, this skill took quite the toll on his body.

But his rest was deserved, as the trailer now blocked most of the road and the zombies were not smart enough to use the gaps to proceed. They kept banging at the trailer, with two of them being stuck in the gap at the rear.

“How many do you count?”

August asked Roon, who was still struggling to breathe.

“You said, it was going be safe? You said they can’t sense us till we get close. You said that they can’t walk properly? Then why is it like this?”

“They were like that yesterday. They seem to be evolving, or adjusting. I don’t know for sure but, what I said was true.”

“Oh, so just because you’re not sure, I nearly got killed.”

“Hey, relax kid. It’s normal, the monsters get stronger as we level up. Don’t worry, once you level up a few times, it’ll be a cake.”

The reply came from a different man. He was middle aged, hairline receding, splendid potbelly. But he didn’t seem perturbed by their current situation, as he jovially talked to Roon.

“You MOTHER FUCKING IDIOT. You think this is a game. You think dying is a game? Fucking, knobgobbling duffer.”

“Hey, watch your mouth bub. I was only saying, that it’s gonna be okay.”

“It’s gonna be okay huh. Sure, bullshit. With that jolly grin of yours, I know how you’re feeling. Before this you were probably the kind of cad who was disappointed whit the world and masturbated all day, played games, got wasted and was a sucker in the office. Well, guess what? I had a life, I was happy with the world. So, I cannot take delight in this cocked up situation.”

“Fuck you.”

It seemed as if Roon had hit a sore spot, because before he could speak much more, he was feeling impacts from all sides of his head. The middle-aged man, who couldn’t have touched him with his fitness level, was already on top of him and beating him silly.

“You had a life? Where is it now? It is a game now. If you can’t accept that reality, then why don’t you just die.”

“Hey, leave him. He’s going to die like this.”

A woman in her thirties came to his rescue. She too, displayed unnatural strength for her stature as she managed to get the man off Roon. Then she tended to him, asking him to stay awake, but Roon wasn’t paying attention to her. This was the third time in two days that he got beat up.

His mind went back to today morning, when everyone was getting ready to leave. Listening to August’s description of the monsters, he thought it would be alright as long as he was a little careful. So, the group of 5 men and 3 women packed their bags with improvised weaponry and went out to explore, their objectives being, scavenging for resources and checking a level 3 tower.

It was all good in the beginning, easy to kill isolated zombies. Despite him getting the lowest no. of kills with the excuse being “You’re low level, so you need less xp to level up.”, Roon found the situation comfortable. Also, it wouldn’t be wrong to call the situation gamelike. Because through Roon’s observation, whenever a zombie was killed, the white mist stuck on its body would dissipate in the air, some of which would be retained by the people standing near it. Almost like xp in a game. Moreover, more white mist stuck on a person, the greater his overall attributes became. This was also the reason he lost to an unfit uncle despite his tenacity. The white mist, or “qi” as Dr. August called it, was present in greater amounts on the uncle. Almost like a game.

Except, it wasn’t, a “game”. When everything was sailing smoothly, they reached their destination. The nearest level 3 tower. But, what took them by surprise, was that the number of zombies near the tower was an unprecedented high, 64 was what Roon counted. And though they were all not a mob, but they were concentrated around the tower gate.

Now, the problem with the tower gate was, that it was built on open space. It allowed for only one vehicle at a time and the space allotted was 100 sq. meter. So, if they tried to rush in, getting swarmed was a possibility. Also, for the dwellings of level 3 citizens, entry to each infrastructure would be in the form of one person at a time, i.e. they must stand at the entry, present their lv 3 identity and pass, and then they’ll be granted passage. This whole procedure took 20 seconds, by that time they’ll be swarmed by zombies. But the tower was their only hope as they didn’t find any edibles or water in other vehicles, they did find zombies though, locked in their cars.

So, for these desperate civilians, they tower was their only hope, as being a government facility it was bound to have long lasting packaged food, and surplus of water cubicles as the government employees had to put in very long hours, sometimes days in their work. Also, the chance that there would be arms in the building was very high, so if they could just get in somehow, then they’d be able to overcame this precarious situation with ease.

But how to do it was the question. How do they get in? The answer to it, unsurprisingly, was the use of bait. And for the honorable position of course, Roon was selected. August being the only objector.

So, it was set. He became the bait, while others planned how to take out the zombies from behind.

That was until they found out that these were “Zombie 2.0” and could shove it up their asses with ease. So, everybody made a run for it, with one smart cad going for the entry gate. What the cad didn’t predict, was the malfunctioning of doors due to the power cut, which got him killed. Although, it did help with the groups escape, but the scene of a person being dismembered and cannibals chewing on his guts, did not leave much scope for his already fragile mental health.

And now, here he was, beat up, tired, and smelly. Only he knew what he’d give for a bath. Right now, he was thinking about giving up. Death would be a good escape. Better than being chewed upon. He would no longer need to run.

But the image of his smiling parents wouldn’t let him. Yes, he had to survive. For there was a chance that his parents were safe, they were on a tour of Trenni, the city of temples, and from his knowledge, there was usually a gap in the appearance of the monolith, so they were definitely safe. They’d need his support in this new dangerous world. He cannot leave them to fend on their own. Thus, he resolved to get stronger. His thoughts weren’t the noble sort like saving humanity or protecting everyone, but they were enough to inspire him.

‘I cannot give up. I will not give up. I will be strong. As strong as that skill.’

With that thought in his mind, he developed his resolve.

He went to August, who was now standing on the flipped trailer, safe from the horde.

“There were 64 of them at the tower gate. I count 31 here.”

“Seems like you need to be knocked up before you’re in the mood.”

“….. (‘ _ ‘)……”

“Don’t, go there”

“I didn’t. You have weird thinking. I never thought that way.”

“Okay, 31 here, so it seems they are still not that keen on chasing. What else?”

“The white mist sticks on the people near the zombie at the time of death.”

“Elaborate.”

“If you’re close to 1 meter on its death then the mist that sticks to you is maximum. Reduces with distance, none at 5 meters.”

“Call it “qi”. And you’re saying that it doesn’t go to only the one who kills it. It just spreads randomly.”

“Yes, but the killer usually gets the most, but even that is not more than 1/5th of the total amount that is released upon death.”

“That is good to hear.”

“Why?”

“That reduces the possibility of us being monitored by an intelligent system. As it does not work on effort and reward basis. Good that’s great to hear.”

“But doesn’t that mean others can feed off our efforts.”

“Can you understand the implications of a controlled reward system? It would mean that reality has turned into a game, and you know that an admin can delete a player any given time. How would you feel if that were the case?”

“….”

“No need to feel down. Cheer up, there’s a huge possibility that we’ve escaped that fate.”

“So, what was it that you wanted to ask?”

“How strong would one need to be, to protect someone in this world?”

“Well, that’s subjective. But an ideal answer would be, you can’t. You can never be strong enough to protect. You need to keep getting stronger surpassing yourself, because remember. There is always something stronger. There is no such thing as a peak, there is no such thing as a valley.”

“…………………………. Hmm. Well, I was expecting something like, as strong as Goku, but, yeah. That works as well. Nice, deep, philosophical stuff.”

“So, is that all?”

“Umm. Yeah, how do I get stronger?”

“Why do you think I would know that?”

“Cause you’re like that character from movies, who’s all mysterious and that sort, and can supplement and push the main character forward while being really strong himself. You know, like Gandalf, Prof X, or Dumbledore.”

“Though I do not understand what you’re talking about, but very well. You may seek my counsel, but you’ll need to promise me something.”

“What?”

“That you’ll have faith in me. And will follow my command to boot. Also, before you start thinking that I will use you as a sacrifice in a precarious situation, let me ensure you, that you are a very valuable asset. You may not understand it now, but there will come a time when you do. So, I implore you, do have faith in me.”

“So, you’re like Miyagi, just more polite.”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Enlighten me, Master.”

With that he ‘cupped his hands and bowed’.

“Very well. Then be strong. Go.”

With that, August pushed him down.

“Daniel, Welcome to Sparta.”