Milo Kayne's eyes slowly fluttered open, and he groaned. A bright light shined through his eyes, making him wonder where he was.
"Am I dead?" Milo wondered, "Is this heaven?"
He wasn't sure if he had committed enough good deeds to get into heaven, however, the light blinding him seemed to say otherwise.
He looked around. His eyes widened in surprise as the light dimmed and his surroundings came to be clear.
He realized he was back in his sophomore year in Eastwood High School.
He was at the back of the class. In front of him, Mrs. Wilkens was teaching English and reading a play from Shakespeare. The whole class was jotting down notes as she taught about iambic pentameter.
Milo rubbed his eyes and wiped the drool of his notebook. It was obvious he had fallen asleep during the class.
He ran his fingers through his messy bleached hair as he tried to figure out what had happened. He remembered himself being attacked by a zombie and was sure he was dead, but now a bright light had led him to his English class right before the apocalypse.
Milo, with his quick mind, guessed that he had twisted the laws of the universe and had somehow travelled back in time. Tears of happiness welled up in his eyes. He grabbed the pitch black pendant hanging on his neck for no particular reason. It was his parent's last memento and he had a habit of rubbing the pendant whenever he felt an extreme surge of emotions, be it happy or sad. He quickly wiped away his tears and raised his hand to go to the restroom. Of course, he wasn't really going to the restroom. He needed to prepare for the apocalypse.
Mrs. Wilkens glanced at him and let him go, warning him to come back soon. Then, she went back to reading the play.
Milo clenched his fists as he walked out of the classroom. He didn't even hear Mrs. Wilken's warning. He was lost in his thoughts, pondering the reason he was given the gift to travel back in time.
"Whatever the reason," he thought, "this time I'll rise the top." He decided he would not have any regrets in this life and was grateful for this chance God gave him.
Milo walked down the long, twisting halls of Eastwood Highschool. He was searching for a weapon that would deem useful during the apocalypse, which was bound to begin any moment.
Milo went to the janitor's closet. There, he could find mops, brooms, and other useful items which could serve as a weapon. He remembered the route to the janitor's closet like the back of his hand. After all, in his past life before the apocalypse, he used to be bullied, and the janitor's closet was his usual hiding place. He used to be at the bottom of the caste in school.
As he headed towards his destination, he spotted Chester Milford and his goons at the end of the hallway. If Milo was at the bottom of the caste in school, then Chester and his lackeys were at the tippy tippy top. They were renowned for being the school bullies and everyone tried to steer away from them. Even the school council didn't like messing with them, since Chester's parents were huge businessmen who contributed to most of the school funding.
Milo watched them bunking class and joking around, smacking each other's back. In his past life, he would've cowered in front of them and tried to hide to avoid being their victim, however, today, he just walked past them, not even sparing a glance at them.
Chester also noticed his unusual behavior. He nudged his lackeys and pointed at Milo.
Milo noticed Chester's actions, but didn't care. He just started walking faster.
Chester's group saw this and hurried to surround them. They were bored outside of class, doing nothing and had just found an interesting specimen.
Chester rushed in front of Milo, blocking his way. Milo tried to move left and pass the obstacle, but Chester's closest friend, Marcus Flint, blocked his way.
Then Milo tried to move right, but another part of Chester's group, Jerry Harper, was blocking his path. Soon, Andrew Johnson, stepped up, closing his only path back.
The group of four was circling around Milo, like a hungry pack of vultures circling its prey. They were hooting in laughter and mocking him.
Chester joked in a baby voice, "Where is tiny winy itty bitty Milo going? Is it so important that he forgot to greet daddy?"
Marcus joined in, trying to imitate Chester, "Looks like Milo is bunking class. His daddy will have to teach him a lesson!".
Jerry, who was clueless and hadn't caught on, tried to appease Chester by saying, "Milo doesn't have parents. Remember? He is an orphan." He was trying to seem intellectual but failed to do so as he had completely ruined their carefully prepared skit.
In his head, Milo was rolling his eyes. It seemed like that group wouldn't let him go until he fulfilled their wishes. However, he didn't have enough time to waste with them. He had to grab a weapon before English class ended, since in his past life, the end of English marked the beginning of the apocalypse. Milo checked the clock in the hallway. There was just ten minutes before the school bell rang and the English class was dismissed.
While Chester was whacking Jerry for his stupid remark, Milo tried to slip past them, but failed to do so and was once again intercepted by Andrew. This caught Chester's attention. He let go of Jerry and stomped towards Milo.
Then, he tried to punch Milo and shouted, "Trying to run away from your daddy! Accept your punishment!"
It looked like Chester still wanted to continue his role as Milo's daddy. Milo easily and skilfully dodged Chester's assault and backed away. His skills were honed by the countless zombies who had died by his hands during the apocalypse.
Chester was surprised. He was the top in the school district in boxing and judo, but now he had encountered someone who had dodged his punch. The humiliating fact was that the "someone" was a kid who he had used to bully.
This angered Chester, and he moved forward, trying to bash Milo's face.
Milo quickly ducked down and tripped Chester with his legs. As Chester's huge body fell behind him, he jabbed his sharp elbow at Chester's back. Then, he placed his foot on Chester's back, pinning him to the ground.
Marcus, Jerry, and Andrew were shocked. They hadn't expected Chester to be beaten. However, soon, Chester pulled them out of their thoughts by thrashing and screaming at them.
They rushed towards Milo, trying to get him off Chester.
They succeeded, but things weren't going their way.
Milo jumped high up towards a locker, and his right foot landed on it and left a dent. Then, he turned and flipped, with his left leg bashing Andrew's chest. Afterwards, he did a roundhouse kick and pounded Jerry's head, knocking him unconscious.
Now, only Marcus was left. Chester, Andrew, and Jerry were lying on the ground.
Marcus, frightened by Milo's strength, frantically ran away from Milo. He couldn't understand how the short and thin Milo had such ability. Milo, on the other hand, was having different thoughts. He was disappointed in himself for having such a weak body, which was unable to handle even a fraction of his combat techniques. His foot felt sore after kicking Jerry, and he cursed Jerry for having such a hard head.
After Marcus left, Milo didn't chase after him. Instead, he started hurrying towards the janitor's closet.
The racket from the one sided fight had attracted many classmates and teachers, so he rushed through the crowd, hoping he wouldn't be recognized as the culprit for the bullies' condition.
Milo hastily opened the closet door and slammed it shut. He could still hear the commotion outside.
Then, he locked the door and turned the light on to look for a suitable weapon.
The janitor's closet was dimly lit, and he could hardly see a thing. He could faintly make out the shapes of cleaning supplies, vacuums, and other items.
He went towards the corner of the closet to grab what he thought was a satisfactory weapon, but it turned out to be a toilet plunger.
Milo went deeper into the room. At the back of the room, he found a utility kit and a pocket knife, which he immediately grabbed.
The pocket knife was the only sharp item in the closet, and he considered himself lucky that he found it. He wondered whether it was against school safety regulation to keep an unlocked janitor's closet with sharp items in it.
Milo decided not to dwell on the matter. His eyes squinted as he glanced at the clock. There were only three minutes left.
He grabbed a mop and tried to pull off the handle. In his past life, it wouldn't have even taken a second to unscrew the handle, but as of now, after several tries, he finally pulled it off. Then, he grabbed a roll of duct tape from the utility kit.
Milo kept on glancing at the clock as he taped the pocket knife to the end of the mop handle. With only a minute left, Milo finished making his spear, which had used up all the tape.
He then grabbed his newly made weapon and tried thrusting it. When he thrust it, it pierced through a small container of clorox wipes. Milo, satisfied with his spear, got ready to battle zombies.
As soon as Milo was done testing his spear, the school bell rang. Along with it, a mysterious box hovered in front of Milo.
The box was a bright white, just like in his previous life. It seemed as if a halo was on top of it, keeping away all impurities from touching it. However, only Milo knew its actual horror. This wasn't an angelic item, but was instead the starting line of the apocalypse.
Milo reached up and grabbed ahold of the box. It automatically opened up. Similar to others all around the world, a status window opened up in front of him, and a battle suit appeared on the floor right next to him. The battle suit was ordinary. It was made of iron and wasn't like the magical items Milo had received in his previous life from killing zombies. In his past life, he had cursed God for giving him such a shabby item and not even providing him with a weapon. However, today, he was prepared with a spear.
Milo opened his status window. It was a transparent screen and had black letters showing his status.
Name: Milo Kayne
Race: Human
Profession: Not Determined
Skills: None
Level: 1
Experience Points: 0/10
Strength: 9
Intelligence: 11
Agility: 11
Dexterity: 10
Stamina: 9
Mana: 0
It was the same as it was at the start of the apocalypse in his previous life. Along with showing the his status to him, the status window also had a storage function, which used space-time magic to create a dimensional pocket where he could store his items. In addition, the status window helped appraise items and find their details.
Milo reached for the decrepit armor in order to wear it. He believed something was better than nothing.
However, immediately as he touched it, a dark black screen appeared in front of him. It was the complete opposite of the status window which was transparent. It made him feel as if he was staring at an endless abyss.
He stared at the black screen, wondering what it was. He had never encountered it in his previous life.
Slowly, as he stared at it, words started appearing on it. The words contrasted with the background. They were pearly white. He quickly read the first words that popped up.
[ Starting Apocalyptic Conversion System ]