William glanced down at himself—a loose yellow half-sleeved shirt, black trousers, blue clogs. His neck, face, and half his arms were left exposed.
’One scratch and I’m done.’ He frowned. ’I haven’t unlocked Ether energy yet to protect myself from the zombie virus. I need to get properly armored after this.’
His fingers briefly touched the exposed skin on his arms before he looked away.
"Save me!" The young man’s scream tore through his thoughts. William looked up—the man had slowed, breath ragged, sweat pouring down his face. The zombies trailed behind at a steady pace, still some distance off.
William shook his head. ’He could’ve easily escaped them. Didn’t need to sprint at full effort.’ He exhaled. ’This is exactly how people get bitten—pure panic.’
The young man was already gasping for air long before the zombies reached him.
He focused on those zombies as a new, blue, transparent luminous panel flashed in his vision.
[ Zombie
Stage Zero | Walker {Normal}
Level 1 ]
[ Zombie
Stage Zero | Walker {Normal}
Level 1 ]
’All are level 1.’ He nodded and dashed forward, drawing both katanas. William tightened his grip around the handle.
Around him, the street emptied fast—people bolting into houses, ducking behind trees, peering out from cracked doors and fence gaps once locked inside. Only the unconscious thugs remained unconscious across the pavement.
A strikingly beautiful high school girl, her purple hair loose and flowing down her waist, dressed in black pants and a gray-white top, stood watching from the side, shaking her head. "This guy’s a naive idiot as always, rushing to help strangers." She scanned the street.
’And there’s no one left to lend him a hand.’ She held her forehead. ’What am I supposed to do with you?’ With that, she slipped into one of the nearby houses, clicking her tongue.
William reached the fleeing man and patted him on the back. "Stop wasting your energy sprinting—just get into one of these houses."
The man turned, eyes wet with gratitude. "Thank you—thank you for coming." He glanced at the people peeking from windows and doorways. One by one, they lowered their eyes, unable to meet his gaze.
’No one even took a glance at me.’ He’d clearly noticed how everyone had reacted.
Then, unexpectedly, he strode to a nearby fence and tore off a long plank. William raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"I’m not like them," the man said, planting himself beside William, plank raised toward the approaching zombies. "I’ll fight." His voice trembled, but his feet never moved backward.
"You sure?" William asked, resting one katana on his shoulder, relaxed.
"Yes." The man nodded, still sweating heavily. "I’m Gray Thompson, by the way."
"William Knights," William replied. "Should we charge in?" Gray asked, raising his brows. His arms were clearly shaking.
’He has courage.’ William was impressed.
"No," he shook his head. "Don’t let zombies surround us—let them come to us. We take them down one at a time."
"Good." Gray nodded, clenching the plank hard, as the five zombies closed to within three meters, their formation ragged—two up front, one staggered behind them, two trailing at the end.
"I’ll take the right, you take the left." William stepped forward, raising his blade without waiting for Gray’s reply.
The instant the first zombie entered range, he swung. Slash!Its head flew, blood spraying like rain, body collapsing a beat before the head hit the ground. Thud!
Gray froze. The onlookers peeking from windows, fences, and trees trembled at the sight. Many held their mouths, and few turned away. The effortless strike erased every doubt about William’s ability. "He killed it? Just like that? Couldn’t he wait for a cure?" someone shrieked.
A man with clean-shaved top of head yelled, "You brat, William—that’s murder! A crime!"
William turned toward him, expression sharp. "Uncle Tim, you kicked an old woman aside earlier—wasn’t that a crime too?"
Tim fell silent, retorting a bit later, "That woman didn’t need that many resources to survive."
"Hmm." William snarled, not caring about Tim’s reply. "You said it yourself—the world’s already ended."
Gray remained frozen as the zombie reached, just arm’s length away.
Before the zombie could raise its arm properly, William flung his second katana, the blade piercing a zombie’s throat; its arm was a few inches away from Gray’s face. Blood splattered across Gray’s face as he flinched.
The zombie fell backward but never reached the ground, pinned in place by the blade lodged through its throat.
"Smash its head," William ordered. The downed zombie still writhed, arms flailing uselessly, legs kicking at nothing, its neck slipping along the blade lodged beneath it, due to its movements.
"Only a destroyed head kills it for good?" Gray asked, staring down at the twitching creature.
"Now," William hissed. "What are you waiting for?"
Gray swallowed, legs shaking, and brought the plank down on the zombie’s skull. Bang!
"Not enough," William snapped as Gray hesitated. "Keep hitting." He didn’t lower his voice until Gray raised the plank again.
Gray obeyed—thud!bang!—until William finally raised a hand. What remained of the head was pulp and bone fragments.
He doubled over and vomited onto the corpse. "Grr!"
"Good. You did well," William said, recalling his own past life—how his hands had trembled for days after his first kill, how he’d been sick for nearly as long as a week. He rested a hand on Gray’s shoulder but said nothing for a few seconds.
"I killed someone," Gray muttered, plank slipping from his fingers as he sank to his knees.
"William!" someone shouted—another zombie was nearly on them. Whoosh!William beheaded it in a single stroke without breaking stride, then rushed forward, leapt between two more zombies, and beheaded them both mid-arc in one full swing. Four kills to his name now, one to Gray’s.
Watching the feed, the Game Master grinned, delighted. "Good, good." He raised his palm. "Time to start a new currency."
[ Ding! Game Master’s authority activated! ]
[ A new currency for the store has been created!
Apocalypse Supply Currency {₳} ]
"Same currency as before, given to the girl?" Felisia asked, sipping her coffee.
"Same one," the Game Master nodded. "I don’t want people bartering resources directly and losing out unfairly—Money keeps things balanced."
"Indeed," Felisia sighed, nodding. "Otherwise, some would exploit it."
"Greed," the Game Master grinned. "I don’t like that." He paused for a moment. "And the currency’s essential, as the store will unlock soon."
He turned his attention back to the feed as a fresh notification blinked over Gray and William.
[ Ding! You have acquired four Apocalypse Supply coins! ]
’Money, I need this.’ William planned his steps. ’I’ll kill all zombies on my way for a few more bucks.’ He closed the notification with a wave of his hand.
"What are Supply coins?" Gray murmured, reading the notification in front of him. The status panel had helped recover a bit.
"Money." William rested his hand on Gray’s shoulder. "You didn’t kill him," he added gently.
Gray studied William properly for the first time—an unremarkable face, but his temperament and actions radiated quiet hope. Despite still being a teenager, William stood over six feet tall, nearly a head taller than Gray. His white eyes were deep and piercing, as if seeing through everything.
"When do you think he actually died?" William asked, glancing toward the corpse.
"I killed him," Gray said, moving to look down again—William shoved him back gently. "Don’t look. You’ll throw up again."
"And no," he added firmly. "He died the moment he turned into a zombie. Never think you’re responsible for killing something that was already gone. All we’re doing is putting them to rest."
Gray looked at the corpse once more before slowly nodding.
"...Right. I didn’t kill him," He repeated, a flicker of resolve returning to his eyes.
"Watch out!" an old woman screamed from her window.
William spun around—Uncle Tim rushing towards him with a large hammer raised in his hands.