Just as the sparkling sunshine light reaches through the curtain of Nigel's bedroom, the alarm clock he set up the night before rings, waking up Nigel from his sweet dream.
With a bang, he springs up from the bed and lay down on the floor, starting his workout the moment he opens his eye.
After a grueling four hours of the continuous sit-up, push-up, squat and running laps around his apartment, Nigel's face shows a fresh and spirited expression wondering why he doesn't gasp for breath, just like the first time he ever did a workout at the gym.
[That's because your bodily organ has been enhanced the moment you drink the medicine, if you don't exercise for at least 8 hours a day, the residual effect will be lost.]
'Oh, so the purpose of the mission is to let my body absorb the remaining residual of the medicine?' Hearing Iris abruptly talks to him, he asked her the real meaning of the mission.
[Who do you think we are? A black-hearted system just to let you suffer? Please, we are here to help you end the suffering of your world, not making it worse.]
'When I was a teen, I read a novel about a system that brings many suffering, though.'
[That's clearly a wicked system build for milking dry the holder, unlike our system.]
[When you got our package, you will see our catalogs. Until then, you must persevere through the training.]
'You're just like a salesman creating a hype before revealing a grand product to the market.' Nigel said to Iris as this suspense about the introduction package is killing him.
[It's our job to make hype for our customer, as you can understand by our name 'The Apocalypse Shopping System' It has shopping in it.]
Nigel then ignores Iris as he finished cleaning up his apartment, took a shower, and looked through his wardrobe. He then chooses a black long-sleeve turtleneck with the same black jeans and black sneakers as he wants a black overall to carry a mysterious image for himself.
He went out to Brian's Chinese restaurant for a quick brunch. But when he arrived at the restaurant, he doesn't see Brian anywhere. He shrugs his shoulder and continues eating his brunch.
Taking out his phone, he calls the construction business and told them his plan to visit them before hanging up the call. Nigel pays up for his brunch and leaves a message to the cashier for Brian to call him when he shows up.
When Nigel reached City K two hours later, he drives his car to the construction company.
The construction company place is gorgeous, the building looking like a letter-U and in the middle of it is a garden.
Nigel asks the security guard before he went into the building, looking for the receptionist. When he steps foot into the main lobby, he got surprised by the person behind the counter.
He got this vague feeling that he meets this person before in the apocalypse. Nigel approaches the counter, and the man behind it stand up to greet him.
'It really is him! He's the one that makes me decide to bet my starting point in City K.' Nigel thought as he searched up his memory about the one who told him that City K is governed by various groups of business owners.
"Hello, how may I help you?"
"I'm the one who called you guys before, that plan to renovate my factory."
"So you're Mr. Oneal, we've been waiting for you. Let me guide you to one of our architects that have 20 years of experience under his belts."
"Lead the way, then."
Nigel looks around the bustling place as he being lead into one of the rooms on the second floor.
There were some familiar faces back in the apocalypse he sees in the building when he looked around. It is clearly the same team as the one currently leading him as he has never been to City K before.
When he meets with the construction company architect full of white hair and a bald spot on the front of his head, Nigel giggles while thinking back to his yesterday rambling about working out too much and becoming the second caped baldy.
He sits down and converses with the man, making small talk here and there before going straight to the topic.
"If you can see from the drawing of the land, I want to make some kinda stronghold for it with a sturdy concrete wall and metal plating surrounding the factory along with steel gate as I'm afraid if people got inside and stolen something from my company." Nigel said to the man as he points his finger to the drawing where the factory land border.
"In the dorms here, you can take down the wall on the inside of the building and make a spacious room for some type of poultry. In the warehouse, I want you to construct a dormitory with a 3x4m room with a bathroom in each room." Nigel continues saying his requirement he needed to the man.
Nigel talked and listed one by one the thing he wants to renovate the factory from his yesterday planning to the architect. The architect sometimes shows a confused expression and a blank face as he listened through Nigel's requirements.
"Can you do it in two months? Money isn't a problem." Nigel said with a laidback attitude as he leans his back on the chair.
The architect gulps his saliva before opening his mouth, saying to Nigel, "We can do it if you don't mind the cost. Are you sure your plan is correct... It is your last decision?"
"Yes." Nigel replied nonchalantly.
"If you say so, we must go to your factory first for further observation." The architect got up from his seat and gestured to Nigel to follow him.
Nigel went to his factory with the architect and his trainee with the construction company vehicles. He guided the two to looked around the land he will be calling home in the future.
After some time had passed, they head back to the construction company.
At the construction place, the architect gave Nigel an initial report of the estimated cost of the project along with a contract. Nigel inspects the report before he signs his name and swipes his bank card to pay for the initial cost of the construction.
The man told Nigel they will be starting the construction from tomorrow onward as Nigel gave him the spare keys to the gate at his factory.
Nigel then got into his car and went back home as he plans to visit again tomorrow to check-up on the project.
He arrived back home in the evening, he cooks some meals to fills his empty stomach. Once he is done eating, he lazes around on the couch to rest while watching tv.
As more time passes watching the tv, he remembers the accident that affects the world into becoming a crazy place. Not once had he thought deeply into the accident before, as he is busy surviving the apocalypse. But, right now that he think more into it, the accident seems fishy as if it was a covered up accident by the government of Country A.
Nigel has searched the said bio-medical research and development center where the accident originated from. But, all he got was a blank search page.
It happened in a distant country where he's currently in, as he didn't have any more energy to spare, he doesn't want to stick his nose in a foreign country, and Nigel just let it flow as it intended.
If it's really a chemical weapon, he doesn't understand why people even create that kind of weapon in the first place as it just a dumb way to suicide, he thinks.
Nigel recovered from his dazed state and laugh as he wasn't the type of guy to believe a conspiracy theory.
Nigel got up from his couch and head into the simple gym near his apartment to finish the workout Iris gave him.
As the sky brightens up the next day.
Nigel left the house to inspect the work in City K after his workout. When he just got near to the factory, many vehicles are going in and leaving the gate of the factory. He parked the car on the roadside, sits in the car while watching the workers demolish the fence with gusto as if they're happy to destroy a building.
He gets out of his car and walks in the direction where various people stand grouped up and watching from a distance. He sees the architect from yesterday talking with a bunch of people and instructing them.
Nigel let out a small cough to the architect before he said to him, "I am satisfied with your efficient work, Mr. Donald."
"Ah, Mr. Nigel... What are you doing here? You can trust us with the work." A surprise voice came out from the architect, Donald.
"I'm just planning to see around." replied Nigel.
"Well, if you don't mind.. we can fill you in with the details."
"Fill me in then."
Donald explained to Nigel the follow-up plan for the construction from the beginning until the two-month deadline Nigel set up for him.
"Ah, hearing from your words and looking to the work you guys put into. It seems I can be reassured to leave you guys." Nigel nods in acknowledgment.
"Yes, you can leave us with the work, Mr. Oneal. We don't want you to worry and waste your precious time!"
"Then I will be leaving it to you, Mr. Donald." Nigel pats Donald on his upper arm, feeling content.
As Nigel suddenly free, he doesn't have anything planned out on what to do, so he wants to sightsee the rest of City K to know more about the city.
But, just as he got into his car, he got a call from an unknown number.
He scrunches up his face as confusion set in before he accepts the call.
"Is this Nigel Oneal?" A deep bass voice came out from the phone speakers with messy sound mixes in the background.
"Yes, who called?" Nigel knew it isn't good straight away, as he can tell from that messy sound there was a man screaming voice.
"Aaargh!! Help me man! It's me, Brian!" Brian screaming voice was so terrible as Nigel can imagine the pain he went through
"As you can hear, it is one of your friends." The deep sounding man said to Nigel.
"What did you do to him?!"
"Oh nothing, we are just starting to beat him, haha... If you want to see your friends in one piece, then you can go to the abandoned warehouse on Bunyan Street, District 9." The man's wicked laugh ensued as he told Nigel.
"I swear if you go too far, I'm going to kill you!" Nigel roared in a loud voice
"Oooh, we'll be waiting for you. See you soon, Mr. Nigel." The man's calm amuses deep sound can be heard from the phone.
He angrily hangs up the phone before stepping on the gas hard with a roaring sound of the engine and screeching noise the wheels skids from the sudden acceleration as he hurried back in the direction of his city, to the appointed warehouse.
The worker that hears it, look at the speeding car. Wondering what may happen that causes the calm project owner to be speeding like that.
After an hour of reckless abandon driving, Nigel finally arrived near the warehouse.
He parked the car at the side of the road that was not too far from the warehouse. Nigel gets out and walks to the trunk where his knife and crossbow are stored.
After arming himself, he finally approaches the warehouse and scrutinizes the building remembering the basic layout of the building and the peoples that are pacing back and forth that he can see from outside of the warehouse.
The building layout has two stories with a vast parking lot on the ground floor and what seems to be a hallway on the second floor.
When he finishes counting the different people and sees that there are 8 people in the warehouse, he relaxes his worried nerves and sneaks inside by climbing the wall to the side of the warehouse.
Nigel nock a bolt to his crossbow before switching to his knife, as he lay low crouching on the ground and reach the first man from his back that was standing not far from the entrance gate as Nigel grabs the man mouth while his other hand that was holding the knife stay close to his neck ready to slash it.
The man trashed around with a shocked looked and deep fear in his eyes. Nigel whispers to him, "Shhh... One wrong move and you're a goner, you got that? I can let you go if you told me something."
The man nodded hurriedly, afraid that Nigel slashes his throat.
"Good, now tell me who is behind this?" Nigel asked as he loosens his hand on the man's mouth.
"Intrude--argh" The man roared to call his team, but before he can finish his word Nigel slits the man's throat, then he threw him to the ground.
'I thought he was afraid, didn't know he was a kamikaze' Nigel clicks his tongue and prepare his crossbow.
With a rushing footstep, a man shows up from behind the wall in front of Nigel. Seeing the man, Nigel takes aim at his head before pushing the trigger.
Swoosh~
As the bolt flown in the air, the man caught sight of Nigel's bolt. It was his last memory of his life as the bolt easily penetrated through his skull.
'This crossbow kinetic force is so awesome!' He quickly nocks another bolt and aims for the second person who shows up
When the second person fell to the ground, no one showing their heads anymore, Nigel then rushed to the building door as he brandished his knife. Nigel was afraid if he didn't quickly finish all the men in the building, Brian's life would be in danger.
Just as he arrived before the door, a bludgeon swing at him from the inside. Nigel steps back to dodges it and as he did, he takes a good look at the man who wields it, the man's body was so big like a buffalo even the 2-meter door was tiny compared to him.
"Are you a rhino in your previous life?" Nigel mocks the man before running away to make space as he utilizes his crossbow because he knew he can't beat him quickly with his knife.
Seeing that Nigel run away, the big man tried to catch up to him, but with his big body, his speed was obviously inferior to Nigel as he should just stay inside the building.
After a fair distance, Nigel shoots at the man's head and hitting him straight in the nose. The big man soon fell down and made a thumping sound as he hits the gravel ground with his big body.
'Luckily, that hit was spot on.'
Nigel continues to shoot at any person who shows up his head on the second-floor balcony as he dashed into the door where he can see a stair that leads into the second floor as he tries to finish the remaining guy.
'6 downs, 3 to go.. or maybe more, I don't know.'
As he steps foot into the second floor, he realizes that many people have been waiting for him.