A pitch-black tube in a sealed vault suddenly cracked, releasing a liquid-like black substance. The liquid tried to flow out of the vault as if it had consciousness, but the seal was tight.
Therefore, the black liquid corroded a corner in the sealed vault by turning its constituent substances into a corrosive. It then flowed out of the sealed vault and out between the walls.
The small lump of black liquid was flowing in several directions without a definite destination. Still, it suddenly stopped when it noticed the existence of an unconscious living creature under the table in the corner of the room.
The black liquid flowed around that human and then directly invaded the body through the skin's pores. The body seemed absorbed by the body, then circulated throughout the bloodstream. All organs, bones, and nerves were thoroughly examined from the inside.
However, the black liquid soon realized that the human body was compatible and suitable. Therefore, it went dormant in that mortal body because it had found a suitable host. It occasionally remodeled its host body to create a perfect vessel for it to occupy.
Several days passed without Zayn realizing what had happened to his body. Several changes and mutations occurred because the mysterious black liquid had turned his body into something that was no longer human from the inside.
Zayn opened his eyes in complete darkness. It was no different from seeing his eyes open or keeping them closed. Both were pitch black.
He had already lost track of how long he had been unconscious. However, his body no longer felt so sore. Only a feeling of weakness remained.
Even so, he felt something strange inside him. However, his attention was soon diverted for some reason. The first was extreme hunger, and the next was utter confusion.
His thoughts and memories of many things seemed to be blurry and far away without him being able to reach those memories no matter how hard he tried. He didn't even remember why he could be in that dark place. He could hardly remember anything, and only his name remained intact in his mind.
"Why am I here? Hungry..." Zayn came out of his hiding place and fumbled around.
He then tried to check the belongings attached to his body. Fortunately, he found a stick of emergency food in his pocket. It was just a crushed chocolate cookie, and it wasn't enough to satisfy his hunger.
Zayn then stood up while holding his stomach.
*Zap*
A bit of electricity appeared out of nowhere and electrocuted Zayn's spine. He was startled and stumbled backward, but he soon realized that a mysterious shock was coming from his body.
Feeling nothing was wrong with his body, he walked away from the darkroom while groping the wall.
It was like walking on a small path in the abyss of darkness. Zayn felt anxious, scared, and worried because everything was still in complete darkness with too many unknown variables.
"Haa..."
A suspicious rough breathing sound could be heard from the front, and it continued to approach.
"!?" Zayn sensed a sudden danger and dodged to the side.
His survival instinct kicked in out of reflex, and his heart was beating fast because of the uncertainty.
"Haa..."
That strange voice could be heard again, and Zayn dodged to the side just because he felt he had to. He didn't know what danger was trying to attack him and wished he could see the situation around him very much.
The strong desire produced an absolute command. It was then delivered to the brain before being processed to the sense of sight. Zayn's inner eye took effect, allowing him to see the situation around him regardless of the darkness.
Zayn was currently in a super dark corridor filled with debris. Beside him was an enormous chasm that led to nowhere.
While the one who tried to attack him was a rotting human. An undead with greenish-red eyes and long claw-like nails.
"Zombie!?" Zayn gasped in surprise. That word came out of his mouth even though he had no recollection. One thing he knew at that time was this zombie was dangerous to him.
"Haa..." The zombie tried to lunge at the fresh human, but its movements could be easily read by its prey.
"!!!" Zayn glanced at the chasm on the other side of the corridor and immediately greeted the approaching zombie with a kick to the waist.
*Swoosh* *Thud*
The zombie fell to the bottom of the abyss, making a crisp falling sound. However, several bone-crackling sounds were heard shortly after.
Zayn tried to peek down, but he immediately became nauseous when he saw the tragedy at the bottom of the abyss. His visibility was minimal, and the distance was quite far. Still, he could clearly see that the previous zombie was being torn apart by several giant rat monsters and then devoured.
'I have to get out of here right away. What's with this place? Is this a monster's lair?' Zayn covered his mouth and walked away from the chasm. He went as far as he could from that place by any road he could find.
Along the way, he kicked down several small zombified animals and zombies. By sheer chance, the giant monsters were attracted by the bone-crackling noises at the bottom of the abyss and rushed there, saving Zayn from any dangerous encounter.
Zayn had previously been very hungry, but his nausea from what had just happened suppressed that desire from his mind, despite his strong impulse to devour everything.
His remaining energy was drained, and his inner eye was deactivated. He could no longer see in the dark. It was really dark and cold. However, he continued to move away from that dangerous place with all his might.
A glimmer of light then entered his vision. It was like a sanctuary in an expansion of fear and obscurity. He went closer to the light source even though sudden dizziness hit his head. The closer he got to that place, the more severe the dizziness hit him.
Zayn had set his goal, and an order had been processed by his brain. He just wanted to go to that glowing place, regardless of his body's pain. It caused his brain to fail to register the pain because his focus was absolute.
It was like a poor fish approaching a light source in the darkness without knowing the danger lurking from within the dark.
Unfortunately, the source of the light he was aiming for turned out to be only a reflection of light from a bright beam that came out of the gap in the sturdy steel door. He tried to get in there but didn't have the strength to open the steel door.
He found a device next to the steel door and touched it because he felt like trying.
*Bzzt*
An electromagnetic wave occurred between his hand and that device. That device electrocuted and made a bit of a weird sound.
A mysterious malfunction occurred, and the triple-layer sliding steel door opened by itself, illuminating Zayn with an unusually bright pinkish light.
"!?" Due to the sudden blinding light, Zayn covered his eyes with both hands. Even so, he immediately went inside because he felt this dark place was too dangerous for him to linger there.
The lab room was a room with lots of oddly large tubes and lots of supercomputers in the center of the room. Several materials were neatly arranged at the side of the room, untouched by the darkness of the outside world. It was as if this place was indeed separate from the outside world, another world.
Zayn stepped forward and noticed that only one of the many tubes had a strange aura.
*Thud*
Unfortunately, it was the end of Zayn's consciousness. He fell to the floor in a prone position. His objective had been achieved, and his brain no longer had any reason to ignore the other things.
The tremendous dizziness and pain immediately came throughout the body due to mysterious radiation, and Zayn's body forced it to shut down to offset further damage. The black liquid inside Zayn's body tried its best to alter some molecules and body cells to adapt to this mysterious radiation.