"Time to level up."
Sebastian's voice was a cold whisper in the humid, blood-scented air of his apartment.
In front of him, the creature that used to be Mr. Henderson twitched violently. Its jaw, unhinged. Hanging loose like a broken bear trap. Snapped at the air. The grey skin around its neck pulsed with black veins. Pumping a corrupted mana sludge that had replaced its human blood.
This was no longer a neighbor. It was a Mob.
[Monster: Infected (Tier 0)]
[Level: 1]
[State: Frenzied]
"GRAAAH!"
The Infected lunged.
It moved with a speed that defied human biology. Its legs coiling. Exploding outward like hydraulic pistons. Its fingers, now tipped with jagged, bone-like claws, aimed straight for Sebastian's throat.
To a normal human, this speed would be terrifying. A blur of death.
Sebastian wasn't normal though.
His Synchronization Rate was only at 2.5%. His soul was that of a Tier-9 God-Slayer. His perception of time was fundamentally different.
He didn't panic. Didn't flinch.
He simply shifted his weight.
The heavy iron [Earth Sword] in his hands felt incredibly dense. In the game, high strength stats made weapons feel like feathers. Here, in the real world, gravity still applied. His muscles screamed under the weight. The Mana reinforcing his body held firm though.
"Heavy," Sebastian grunted. "But effective."
WHOOSH!
He swung.
Not a fancy technique. A brutal, horizontal cleave powered by torque and intent.
The iron blade met the creature in mid-air.
CRUNCH!
No resistance. The heavy blade smashed through the Infected's outstretched arms. Shattering the radius and ulna instantly. Before continuing its momentum directly into the creature's neck.
The sound was wet. Sickening.
SPLAT.
Mr. Henderson's head spun through the air. Hit the ceiling with a dull thud. Before landing in the pile of dirty laundry. The headless body crashed into the kitchen cabinets. Sliding down to the floor in a heap of twitching limbs.
Black blood sprayed across the peeling wallpaper. Sizzling slightly as it touched the plaster.
[Ding!]
[Real World Kill Confirmed.]
[Target: Infected (Tier 0) Eliminated.]
[You have gained experience.]
[Synchronization Rate Increased: 2.5% -> 2.6%]
Sebastian stood over the corpse. His chest heaving slightly. The adrenaline wasn't from fear. It was from the sheer physical exertion of swinging fifty pounds of iron with a body that hadn't eaten a proper meal in years.
He looked at the sword. It was fading. Flickering like a bad hologram.
"Mana exhaustion," he analyzed. "Manifesting game items into reality costs too much stamina right now."
He dismissed the weapon. The sword dissolved into particles of brown light. Returning to his inventory.
Sebastian walked over to the corpse. He didn't feel pity. In the previous timeline, hesitation was what killed 90% of the population in the first week. People tried to talk to their infected loved ones. Tried to reason with monsters.
They died.
He crouched down. Checking the body. The "virus" wasn't biological. It was mana corruption. The body was hot to the touch. Feverish.
"The First Wave," Sebastian muttered. Wiping a speck of black blood from his cheek. "It's not just the humans."
Squeak. Squeak. Scritch.
The sound came from the vents. Came from the walls.
Thousands of tiny claws scratching against metal and drywall.
Sebastian walked to the window. The city below was descending into madness. Sirens wailed. They were being drowned out by the screams though. Cars were swerving off the skyways. Crashing into buildings.
Below, in the shadows of the alleyways, eyes were glowing.
Red eyes.
"Rats," Sebastian noted. "The sewers are emptying."
The news broadcast on the wall-screen was still playing. The anchor looked terrified though.
"We are receiving reports of... rabid animals... attacking citizens in the lower districts. The National Guard has been deployed to..."
The feed cut to static.
"Game over," Sebastian said to the dark room. "The Tutorial is officially finished."
He walked back to his supply stash. Grabbed a bottle of distilled water. Downed it in seconds. His body was burning calories at an accelerated rate to support the mana flowing through his meridians.
He needed to move. Staying in a high-density apartment complex was suicide. In an hour, this building would be a hive.
He looked at his stats panel. Which hovered translucently over his real-world vision.
┏━━━━━━[ Real World Profile ]━━━━━━┓
│ Name: Sebastian Vane (Zero)
│ Synchronization: 2.6%
│ Strength: 8 (Normal Human: 5)
│ Agility: 9 (Normal Human: 5)
│ Mana: 120 / 5,050 (Regenerating...)
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
"Pathetic," he scoffed. "In the game, I have infinite mana. Here, I can barely cast a cantrip."
The discrepancy was annoying. Solvable though. He just needed to kill more. The more he killed in reality, the more the System would acknowledge his existence. Allowing more of his game stats to overwrite his physical limitations.
BAM! BAM!
Someone was pounding on his door.
"Sebastian! Open up! Help me!"
It was Mrs. Gable from down the hall. An elderly woman who usually baked cookies.
Sebastian walked to the door. Looked through the peephole.
Mrs. Gable was there. She looked terrified. Behind her though, in the shadows of the hallway, a shape was moving on the ceiling.
Not a person. A dog. Or it used to be. A Golden Retriever. Now stripped of fur. Its muscles exposed and glistening. With bone spikes protruding from its spine.
[Monster: Hell-Hound (Tier 0)]
[Level: 2]
The beast was coiled. Ready to spring.
"Open the door!" Mrs. Gable screamed.
Sebastian stepped back. He didn't unlock the door.
"Goodbye, Mrs. Gable," he whispered.
CRASH!
The wood splintered as the Hell-Hound lunged. Not at the door. At the woman. A wet crunch echoed through the apartment. Followed by a silence that was far worse than the screaming.
Sebastian didn't flinch. He picked up the heavy iron crowbar he'd bought earlier. The Earth Sword was too costly to use on trash mobs. Cold steel would have to do.
"One down," he murmured. His eyes glowing with a faint, golden light as he activated [True Sight] for a split second to scan the hallway through the door. "Seven billion to go."
He waited. The chewing sounds stopped. The heavy sniffing of the beast pressed against the crack of his door.
It smelled him.
"Come in," Sebastian taunted softly. "I need the EXP."