Chunxia sat outside her house on the garden, hugging her knees as she stared off into space silently.
Her once-white hoodie was stained black and red, like the large blade held tight in her hand.
Behind her, a huge dog was biting into Phoebe's corpse, or what was left of it after Chunxia was done with her.
[Fierce Laconian Lv 3]
It's black and brown body had grown beyond what a regular dog should have been able to, it's shoulders coming up to Lu Chunxia's own while standing.
It greedily devoured Phoebe's viscera, before licking up the brain matter that had been splattered across the front of the Lu family household.
Over the past hour, Chunxia had killed her father and her best friend. She had considered everything. Every excuse she could think of to justify what had happened to her life in the past sixty minutes.
Until she finally came to terms with reality.
The apocalyptic scene happening in the streets helped anchor her as well. Beasts and monsters of all sizes were terrorizing the city, from packs of giant dogs, to eagles that cut through the clouds. She had even seen a giant serpent tunnel through a large skyscraper nearby.
[Inspect Lv 3 -> Inspect Lv 4]
The familiar blue panel flashed in front of her blank eyes again, drawing her attention as her pupils focused. The sensation of a rough tongue licking her face drew her eyes to the side. Her body didn't move an inch as the Fierce Laconian licked the blood on her face.
"Grr-" Bang!
The dog was peppered with bullets before it could even growl at her threateningly.
Three military trucks were barrelling down the street, but the man who had fired the gun wasn't wearing a military uniform.
Behind them was a whole pack of salivating dogs? Wolves?
"Hey! Quick, get in!"
At his frantic shouts, Chunxia snapped out of her stupor fully, and took off towards the last truck that had just slowed down slightly instead of stopping.
Maybe it was the rabid pack of giant beasts nipping at her heels, or the prospect of seeing other living humans, but this was one truck Lu Chunxia did not want to miss.
'Just... a bit more...'
[Speed: 4 -> 6]
[Strength: 3 -> 6]
Responding to her will, the blue screen activated. With a warm surge of energy filling her body, she leapt forward with all her strength.
And barely clipped the edge of the truck with her fingers.
Before she fell to the road, two sets of arms grabbed her hands, hauling her up and into the truck as gunshots rang out.
She looked up at her saviors, gasping for breath after the sudden activity.
One of them was the Caucasian man that had shouted for her to get to the truck, and the other was a tall, dark skinned woman with tightly braided brown hair. Two more people were busy shooting at the pack behind them.
"Thank you," Chunxia finally forced out as the man and woman helped her stand up in the moving truck. She reached for the cleaver she had, only to realize she had dropped it when she ran after the truck.
"No issue there, kid. It would've been stranger if we left you here to die. People should help each other, especially at a time like this." The blonde man who had saved her spoke lightly, his gun pointed downwards.
"Name's Ethan. Ethan Kennedy."
[Ethan Kennedy]
[Lv 3]
The woman with braided hair wasn't looking at her, staring off into space until Ethan coughed lightly.
"Miranda. Just Miranda," She said absentmindedly. She didn't even carry a gun.
[Miranda]
[Lv 3]
Lu Chunxia introduced herself as well, "My name is Lu Chunxia. But you can call me Chloe."
She pulled herself together. If she wanted to keep living, she had to adapt to the situation.
"Does anyone know what's going on?"
"No one knows for sure-" Ethan began, but was cut off by by Miranda.
"It's the Apocalypse. God is punishing humanity for it's hubris!" She seemed oddly cheerful as she described the bleak image.
"As I was saying, we don't know much beyond the fact that monsters have become real. Some are mutated animals, some are formerly fictional creatures."
"But this isn't the end."
Ethan did not believe in Miranda's theory.
"We will recover from this stronger than before. We just need to survive this initial stage like he said."
'He?' Chunxia caught onto what Ethan said. 'I thought they might not be the actual military since none of them was in uniform, but the ones with the guns aren't the leaders?'
With something to keep her busy, she wouldn't wallow in despair over her choices and loss.
"W-Wait. Is this happening all over the city? My brother is in X University on the other side!" Chunxia exclaimed animatedly.
Ethan's eyes seemed to darken visibly as his shoulders fell. "My wife is a teacher there as well."
"But this seems to be happening all over the city, maybe even the world."
"Even the military was overwhelmed from inside. We stole these trucks and armaments from them. The rest of them were on their way to evacuating from this city."
"If it wasn't for the Leader, we would have been left behind and used as meat shields."
At the mention of the 'Leader', Miranda nodded, "The Leader is a prophet sent to save us!"
This was a statement even Ethan didn't dispute.
"Is that so...?" Chunxia took some time to think.
'Brother... He should be fine, right?'
Every little sibling sees their older sibling as a measure of capability. It was the same for Chunxia. To her, her brother was the limit of human capacity.
'He'll survive. That twisted bookworm would probably enjoy this.'
With her brother's life practically ensured, Chunxia just had to focus on surviving long enough to find him.
'I won't die.'
'I absolutely, won't die!'
'Even if it means going against this insane world!'
'That is my, Lu Chunxia's promise!'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Name: Lu Chunxia]
[Level: 2]
[Strength: 6]
[Speed: 6]
[Intelligence: 6]
[Endurance: 3]
[Stat Points: 0]
[Mana Pool: 60/60]
[Skills: Inspect Lv 4]