Welcome, Player!

I was playing in front of my computer. It was some sort of a first person shooter game where I was the player, and my enemies were a bunch of alien-like zombies. My afternoon class was already done, and I had the rest of the time to play or do my homework. All I needed to do was to kill time.

But since I was in the middle of my thesis and my last year of my college course, I intended to finish my work right after ending this zombie game.

“Oh, look. Welcome Lon… The alphabets jumbled up, and it’s missing an E.”

After all, compared with a world of zombies, this world of reality sucked. It was boring. Lifeless. Everything was mundane, and there was nothing interesting about Earth besides having a family.

On the other hand, the game I was playing was awesome. Give me a gun, and I’ll pop those zombies’ heads off like a fucking balloon.

It was about a police officer who stumbled upon a horde of zombies and fought them on his first day at work, all the while, trying to survive.

‘Man, that was tough!’ I intoned, as I pushed myself to move on to the next difficulty.

It was fun, and I couldn’t imagine how much fun he was having.

Well, I had a blast when I was controlling him. Surely, fighting a horde of zombies and beheading them with a sneak attack would be exceptional! Not to mention, fighting zombies with actual magic could be something unique!

And the best part was… it was a multiplayer game. So I could play the game with Yoshi Nara, my best friend and the entire community!

Yoshi wasn’t physically here with me, but playing the same game as me at the comfort of his home. He too was around my age and had exactly the same school problem as me.

Yoshi, that bastard, was playing a guy who got all the good stuff from the survival game we were playing. Not to mention, Yoshi had already collected all the girls and became the harem protagonist. Well, what’s the fun in that where the character doesn’t struggle to get what he needs?

“What if zombies are real? Wouldn’t the world be more fun? ” I asked hopefully while sipping an energy drink to boost my attentiveness over the game.

“Dude, if there’s a zombie apocalypse, I’ll be the happiest guy in the world! I mean, look how cool Castellanos is when he tries fighting those zombies! Man, I wish we could be like him!”

I nodded.

Who doesn’t wish to be in a game or in a world where zombies exist? A couple of zombie enthusiasts already came up with a plan and emergency reliefs just in case the world suddenly collapsed.

However, the next moment … everything started shaking uncontrollably.

“What? An earthquake? Right before we could finish this zombie game?!”

Yoshi and I were nearly at the end, where we would escort a girl back to the president.

But now the natural disaster came by, Yoshi and I had to quit the game and hurriedly evacuated our homes as fast as our legs could carry us.

No time to waste!

“Smell ya later, Kisei! Be safe! And don’t get crushed by a roof, okay?!”

“Yeah, yeah! Whoever dies from this earthquake buys pizza!” I joked.

“Haha! I hope I don’t. I’m broke!”

Yoshi’s voice soon faded into buzz.

Everything paused, including my game, while everything around me shook back and forth.

I dodged and bent down, applying whatever I had learned from school to stay unharmed.

Of course, I could call for help, but I doubt those rescuers would arrive within a few minutes in such a disaster. I could not afford to waste any more time, so my life rested in my hands.

Get out and find a safe place.

As soon as I went for the door, my eyes grew wide as I found out… a lock caged me from the inside. My parents had the key, and they didn’t leave it behind. My house didn’t have a hammer or anything, so I was stuck here inside my abode. We also didn’t have a spare one, so I was like a dog under a leash.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me! Am I going to die inside my house? Oh, not a chance, you piece of shit!” I cursed at the padlock blocking me from the outside world.

I had to be crafty, fast, or else the entire roof would collapse above me! So instead of panicking, the character from the game, which I had remembered, was athletic. I wasn’t the sporty type, but this house only had second floors. Certainly I wouldn’t die from a fall…

Certainly.

So I rushed upstairs, maintained my footing, and found a window near my bedroom. A light bulb popped up from my mind, and I thought of the wildest thing I could ever think of.

“Gotta jump out of here or die… I’ll be owing Yoshi pizza if I do.”

Without thinking, I leapt from the place and managed to find my footing. I didn’t die or destroy my bones. The moment I landed, I immediately rushed out of my house and went to the open road. Every neighbour surrounding my house had the same idea: their vehicles were at a complete stop as we all waited for the earthquake to end.

But what I had in mind was my school for tomorrow and the games I was still playing. I was in the middle of that shit… But right now, a natural disaster occurred.

“What about my homework… I guess tomorrow’s school day will be suspended!”

Lost in thought, a truck came rushing by. It kept honking its horns. My ears immediately heard the sound, but the truck was going to aim for a little girl in the middle of the road.

“WHERE ARE HER PARENTS?!” I roared, and rushed to the scene to become a hero.

After pushing the girl out of harm’s way, I was hit by the truck…. And died.

At least, that was what I thought.

……………….

“Am I… dead?” I asked, but the answer was bluntly obvious.

I remembered a truck ran me over as I had saved a girl. My last memory was… seeing the girl rush into her mother’s arms, while I weakly closed my eyes and accepted the kiss of death.

But when I opened my eyes, I was immediately welcomed by a ruined antique room with a chandelier. There was also another problem. The chandelier, which was supposed to be dangling above, was now on the ground and torn into pieces, with remnants of battle taking place in this very space. Something must have happened, I thought, and observed the scene, especially after the Earthquake I had experienced. Right below me was a drawing of some sort. It was quite familiar. The art was akin to a magic circle, with archaic runes unbeknownst to me.

“Am I inside a castle?”

Well, all evidence led to that. There was a labyrinth-like hallway guiding me elsewhere, and I had no idea where to go. I was stuck inside a room and a pile of rubble of stones next to me, and the only way for me to get out of this place was towards that corridor… That creepy-looking corridor with a torch hung on the side.

“Oh… This is either a dream or a different world. In which case, I prefer the normal route. Well, being in a different world is nice in its own way. Whatever. Right now, I need more information.”

Suddenly, a high-pitched sound echoed through the dim tunnel. And the next thing I knew, a transparent azure window popped up and congratulated me.

[Welcome to the World of Gaia!]

[You are now inside the Crimson Castle, under the Ruby Kingdom.]

[You have been granted a [Zombie Hunter System]

[Character Name]: {Kisei Hanabi } [Title(s)]: {Novice Zombie Hunter!}

[Species]: {Human} [Occupation]: {Zombie Hunter}

[Age]: {18-year-old} [Class]: {S-Class}

[Level 1] {Next Level-> 0/100 Experience}

“The what and the fucking what now!?” I uttered, and looked at my screen. “Okay… This is definitely becoming an isekai thing. And these are my… powers? And, really? Zombies? Zombies… Hunter. Huh.”

I had been asking the most obvious questions. But after taking a good scan, the system described who and what I was. It was like a game of some sort.

After pressing the next button floating in front of me, the slide swiftly changed and showed me a 3D model of myself floating in space. Beside it was my current clothes and equipment, slots for my items, and weapons and magic class next to my name.

“What was inside that energy drink? Man, I want to wake up now.” I mumbled under my breath. But, to be honest, I couldn’t hide my excitement, as being transported in the afterlife was a dream come true.

[Main Quest has been added!]

[Quest - Kill three zombies. Failure will alert the horde of zombies to your position!]

[Reward: Baseball bat and +1 level]

I swore to god my dreams were becoming suspicious nowadays. The last time I remembered, I was kissing my crush from school, and we had ten babies. Right now, it was a zombie apocalypse. The next thing I knew, my “System” wanted me to kill three zombies as an objective to level up and collect my reward, which was a bat, out of everything. Well, it sounded cool at first. A bat was a stable weapon in the apocalypse, and putting some nails at the end of it was even more badass!

However, who would believe such a thing?...

… And that was where I fucked up. Everything became frozen once my eyes caught a figure at the end of the hallway. It was a humanoid person, oddly looking left and right as if finding her next prey. The figure leaned every time it walked, with its shoulder severely dislocated, and its right arm was about to come off.

When the light shone on the girl’s face, I noticed this woman was a maid of this otherworld castle. However, something was different. Her eyes were glowing bright red, and the servant was missing three fingers! Not to mention, the woman had her leg twisted in a not-so-normal direction, and yet she never felt pain. Or at least from the way I saw it. Oh, did I forget to mention that her skin was showing from her neck, revealing someone had bitten her? Necrosis? Yeah, that was the word I was looking for. And her skull was showing?

That was definitely a zombie. And my system forced me to kill three of them!?