Grey rested on the stark, cold ground of the bloodied hall. By his side, Bolt lay solemnly, its once-white fur now soaked a deep, matted red — a crimson coat drawn over its whole body. Just as wounded and weathered down as he was.
They had both endured rather severe injuries from the spider, and were now totally spent, unable to stand or even react to any further danger.
The fear of even the weakest zombie stumbling upon them haunted Grey. He knew, with a cold certainty, that it would be more than enough to end both his life and Bolt’s.
’I guess I have you to thank...’ Grey muttered, tapping the cold, hollow carapace of the mutated spider a few times. Its many legs had curled inward in death, still faintly twitching from some last, dying nerve.
Then he turned back to the system and read its notification once more, this time with far more concentration. He had nothing else to do but sit and wait for his body to heal, so savoring each word of the notification became his only escape from the boredom.
[You are the third person in this New World to kill a Level 1 Evolved]
Grey’s lips curled at the notification — the third person to slay a Level One mutated monstrosity. He had barely scraped through by sheer luck, and only thanks to Bolt’s help and its strange new strength.
If not for that, Grey would have lost the battle against the spider outright.
Then what about the other two ahead of me, Grey wondered. How strong were they, really? It hadn’t even been a full day since the apocalypse began, and they’d already managed to kill one of these things...
Grey’s eyes settled on the monster’s corpse again. ’It...’
He lingered on the thought only a moment longer before turning to his other new development.
[You have gained a skill]
He tapped the screen for more information.
[You have gained, Blood Manipulation]
[Blood Manipulation: ACTIVE: you are able to manipulate blood to your own will.]
{Passive: self-healing and poison defense}
Grey’s eyes widened in amazement — enough that he nearly opened his mouth and yelled outright. This was his first real skill, after all.
But before he could—
[Talent has entered range]
The entire atmosphere turned chaotic in an instant.
Grey’s body moved on raw instinct, his head jerking back, his right hand snapping forward to seize an incoming projectile aimed straight at his face.
Even Bolt sprang to its feet, fangs bared and eyes blazing, ready to lunge at whatever this new threat was.
But then—
Everything seemed to still.
Grey’s other hand dropped its half-formed grip on his dagger, the killing intent draining from his face the instant he saw what he’d caught.
The "projectile" was soft. Squishy, even, with a faint give to it. Had he gripped any harder, his superhuman strength might have crushed straight through it.
But crushing another person’s arm wasn’t something Grey wanted on his conscience.
Just a moment ago he’d been slumped against the wall of the hall — and now he was clamped around the wrist of a woman who had appeared before him out of nowhere.
He stared into her eyes. Her eyelids fluttered, her face tensed, a few low grunts slipping past her lips as pain from his grip set in — though beneath the pain, her cheeks were flushing with something that looked closer to embarrassment.
Grey was confused.
Why was she embarrassed? Why wasn’t she screaming?
’Or is there something I’m missing?’
Oh. There was, in fact, something he’d missed entirely.
His eyes trailed down, sizing her up from head to toe, and that was when he saw it — every inch of her bare and unfiltered... Typically naked, the dim red wash of the hall doing nothing to soften the sight. Grey’s face burned red as he stood there, momentarily robbed of words.
He blinked a few times before finally releasing her wrist and turning his head sharply aside.
"Oh — I’m extremely sorry. I didn’t realize—" He cut himself off as she spoke first.
"It’s... it’s alright. Thank you." She forced the words out, doing her best to mask the pain in her voice. "I’m the one who showed up naked. Let me get dressed, please."
A few quick, light thuds echoed off the floorboards as she retreated, a door creaking shut behind her as she disappeared into one of the many rooms.
Only then did Grey glance back to the spot where she’d appeared,and then to Bolt.
His loyal hound sat with its tail wagging, giving him a rather pointed look.
Grey raised a brow. "What?"
The dog whined, tilting its head as if posing a silent question.
"I know. She really has big boobs. I noticed."
Bolt barked twice in agreement.
"That shouldn’t be our concern, though," Grey murmured, low enough for only the two of them to hear.
He had far more pressing questions weighing on his mind than the woman’s endowments.
First: how had she snuck up on him?
Grey was tired and wounded, not stupid. Even the mutated spider, a Level One, hadn’t caught him that off guard.
’If the system hadn’t warned me, my throat would already be leaking the last of my blood, and I’d be nothing but a corpse on this floor.’
Grey’s hand twitched, instinctively ready to summon his dagger again as the real question surfaced in his mind.
Who was this woman, and what did she want in this apocalypse?