BOOM!

Something fell from the sky in the Zebra's enclosure inside the zoo. It was nighttime, and most of the workers had left the zoo.

Ning Ruogong was the only person aside from a senior that decided to work overnight, taking care of the animals in the zoo. It just so happened that he was close to the enclosure when he heard the small boom.

"Hey, Ning. Can you go check what that was?" the senior spoke from a little far away.

"Okay," Ning opened the lock to the cage and walked inside slowly, hoping the zebras were already asleep. Unfortunately, they weren't.

He looked at the middle of the pack and saw a small crater from something falling from the sky.

'Did an airplane drop a part?' he wondered. He walked a little closer and realized the thing at the center of the crater was a black cube with a very polished surface, reflecting a ton of light.

'What is that?' he got curious and got a little closer. The zebras had stepped to the side, afraid of the cube for some reason. Ning didn't see it though. He was too focused on the cube.

He reached the cube and wondered, 'is it hot? Spaceships burn on re-entry to the earth. I wonder if it burned a little the same way as well,' he decided to give it a little tap before touching it entirely.

TAP

'It's not hot. In fact, it's cold.' He was surprised. Suddenly, the cube started to glow up. Blue light shined from the cube for a second, and then it died down again.

'What was that?' he got curious and decided to pick it up. As he reached for it, suddenly, the cube practically melted to a black liquid and grabbed his hand.

"ARHHHH," he started screaming with horror and started to frantically shake his hands to get rid of the liquid.

"What happened, Ning?" the senior who was far away started shouting as he also heard Ning's scream.

Suddenly, Ning heard something in his mind.

"ARHHH," he still screamed not knowing what was happening.

"Stop screaming Ning, or otherwise…" just as the senior was saying this, Ning heard a dozen or so footsteps as he looked to the side to see all the zebras rushing towards him.

As soon as they reached him, the zebras turned around and kicked him with their back legs from each side. His screams had scared them and they had come to defend themselves by getting rid of the 'threat'.

"No— " he couldn't even finish his sentence before he died.

The so-called system started to speak once more. Only, the user was no longer alive to listen to it speak.

<…>

'Where am I?' Ning Ruogong opened his eyes, or at least he thought he did, but the surrounding was still dark. He could hear nothing, nor could he smell or taste anything. He couldn't even feel anything.

'Those zebras attacked me, right?… am I paralyzed ?' Ning started to wonder. 'Or am I dead? How?' he tried to remember as much as he could. He started replaying the events in his mind backward starting from when the zebras attacked him.

Suddenly, he remembered hearing a voice. Something about a … 'did it say System?'

A voice sounded in his head. 'Who said that?' he shouted in his mind. His mouth didn't speak for some reason. Maybe he really was paralyzed or even dead.

He heard the voice once more. 'Who are you?' he asked.

The same answer repeated in his mind once more. He couldn't understand what was happening. 'What is an Energy system?' he asked.

'So I really did die,' he got sad. 'Are you saying I am energy right now? What does that mean? am I not a human now?' he asked.

'Hmm…' Ning got a little curious. 'What task?' he asked.

'Ok… Status'

Suddenly, he felt he could see light for the first time. A bunch of information appeared in his brain.

[Status

Energy: 1

Task: Collect 9 more energy

Reward: You gain auditory senses

Shop: LOCKED

The system will unlock in 3:22]

Ning saw the status and was surprised. 'What does it mean by Energy 1?' he asked the system.

'Oh, and how do I gain more energy?' he asked.

'Oh,' he looked at the status once more. 'The shop is locked? Maybe it will unlock later after I get more energy. The system did say the energy was a currency. Where else would currencies be used if not in a shop.'

'What does it mean by the system will unlock? Isn't the system already unlocked?'

'Oh, it just activated then, huh. Guess I will wait for a bit.'