What would you think if I told you that the entire universe was a simulation? Absurd, isn't it? Adam thought so too, until one day, the world as he knew it ended.
The day it all began, Adam was getting ready to start his daily routine. He wished for something different to happen, for years of the same routine had him exhausted and anxious.
"You haven't quit yet?"
Adam paused mid-bite of his breakfast to look up. His sister was pacing the living room looking for her purse as she talked on the phone.
"Aren't you the one who was interested in working at Altra? Why are you still putting up with that old hag? This is the opportunity we've always wanted!"
Adam didn't want to intrude too much on his sister's busy life. It was true that he wished for a less boring life, but just watching Nina's pace made him feel exhausted.
"Fine! But then don't call me crying when you regret it. Bye".
After hanging up, Nina went into the kitchen and then ran out with a loaf of bread in her mouth. She waved goodbye to Adam with a hurried wave of her hand and closed the door before he could answer her.
Resigned, Adam finished eating and then got ready for work. About ten hours later, he returned home exhausted. As he expected, his sister had not yet returned, so he would have the house to himself for a couple of hours. He would use the time to sleep.
A full day at the office drained his energy as if he had run two marathons. The only thing on his mind was to undress, bathe and go to bed. Just as he was going to sleep, he heard a strange robotic voice:
[Initializing System... Loading data...].
[The simulation known as Earth has collected enough data... Initiating the second phase... Considering all the interesting information collected about the planet Earth, from its mythology to modern popular culture, a new world will be started. The goal will be to survive all the dangers that will be generated].
At first, Adam thought that tiredness was affecting his head or that he was in a strange dream. When the message ended, everything went dark in the blink of an eye. Adam found himself in the middle of a pitch black room. A shiver ran through his body. The place was so black that it gave him the impression that he was floating in a dark void.
"What is this? Where am I?" Confused, the words escaped his mouth without him realizing it.
[You are in the process of initializing the System. While Earth is being adapted to the next phase, I will wait here until everything is ready].
This has to be a joke, Adam thought.
[While you wait, your own personal system will be generated based on the cultural phenomenon known as video games. Due to the large amount of data, it has been decided to show only a simplified system].
"Eh?"
[Name: Adam Rega]
[Title: none]
[Primary class: none]
[Secondary classes: none]
[Race: human]
[Talent: none]
[Number of skills: 0]
Everything that was happening was so surreal that Adam still couldn't process it. The strange text had appeared in his mind and wouldn't go away no matter what he did.
Title? Classes? Adam thought he had gone completely insane.
[Title is a special system conferred on those with outstanding achievements, Classes are...]
Adam paid no attention to the explanation. He knew the terms, but the problem was that he had never uttered the question. He felt a shudder at the thought that this thing, whatever it was, could read his mind.
He spent the next few minutes shrouded in darkness. He expected to awaken from this strange nightmare at any moment. To let the time pass, he remembered all the words uttered by the System or whatever it was. He would never have imagined that the ridiculous theory proposing that we live in a simulation could be true.
Who created it and why? What kind of world am I going to live in if all this is not a dream? The video game-style interface seemed to indicate that the world would be transformed into an MMORPG. Unbidden, hysterical laughter prevented him from thinking clearly any longer.
When the laughing fit finally passed, Adam felt calmer. Hadn't he wished for something different to happen? After many years he felt excited again. But he soon realized that he would probably end up fighting for his life. The excitement he felt died immediately, as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on him.
Finally, after an eternity, Adam heard a new message.
[All preparations for the next stage of the simulation have been completed. The next step will be to update your status. Depending on the individual's innate abilities and those developed during their growth, they will be granted a talent and allowed to choose a Class. Good luck].
Adam listened to the whole message not knowing what to think. He was sick of waiting in the dark and not understanding anything that was going on. The only thing he wanted was to get this madness over with.
[Based on all the data collected throughout your life, you will be granted the talent of tranquility of mind. Updating status, please wait].
Tranquility? It is true that Adam considered himself a calm person, never in his life having had a problem with working under pressure or in stressful situations. However, he associated that more with apathy, as he never found much motivation to give his best effort, so it seemed to Adam that his talent was a joke.
[Your status has been upgraded, congratulations on gaining a natural talent. As you perform in the new world, and depending on your performance, you will be able to unlock new talents that will allow you to have advantages over others].
As he listened, Adam felt his talent begin to manifest. All the stress and confusion he felt abruptly diminished. The change was so sudden that for a moment he didn't know what was happening.
[The next step is the choice of a Class. To begin with, you will be allowed to choose a basic Class. It is important to know that there are Classes for everything imaginable. Moreover, all of them have combat potential. The initial choices are as follows:].
[Warrior].
[Mage].
[Archer].
[Healer].
[Rogue].
God damn it! The choices couldn't get any more generic and boring, Adam thought. Before he could decide, however, a new message distracted him.
[After analyzing subject Adam Rega's skills and life, he has been allowed to choose an extra Special Class for which he meets all the requirements].
[Engineer].
Initially, Adam was excited by the message, but found the Class disappointing. However, he soon changed his mind. Adam had graduated with a degree in geophysical engineering, but was never able to pursue his career. After many disappointments and bad decisions, he was stuck in a job that was barely enough to live on. He had no idea if his career specialization would translate to the new world, but it was a good opportunity to work on something that had excited him when he was younger.
Before he made his choice, however, he was overcome with some doubt. Looking at the initial Classes, the new world seemed to lean towards combat. Would it be advisable to choose this one? That is, the [Engineer] Class did not seem to have offensive potential, although the System had indicated to him that they all did.
After some thought, he decided it would be best to go with that one. After all, according to what the System indicated, the Class demanded requirements that he already met, which would give him an advantage over the others.
His mind made up, he realized something strange. The anxiety, confusion and fear he had felt until recently were almost completely gone. Adam didn't know how much of it was due to his talent and how much was due to him being truly excited, like a child with a new toy.
He was treating all of this as just a game, when the truth was that he didn't know what he would find outside of this place. The system itself had told him that his goal would be to survive the dangers of the new world, so in the near future he would have to fight monsters or anything else. Finally, somewhat uneasily, he chose the Engineer option.
[Congratulations on unlocking the Engineer Class. You will be given a starter pack specially designed for your specialty. As your past life experiences helped you obtain this Class, it is important to remind you that the new world works in a totally different way. You will soon find yourself doing things you thought impossible].
[Finally, you are reminded that while the Class is engineer, the evolution of the Class will depend on the skills you possess and your development. Some of your early skills will be granted to you with respect to your previous experience, others come as part of the Class itself].
[New skills:]
[Ingenuity].
[Quick calculation].
[Basic Geology].
[Basic cartography].
[Basic hydrology].
[Basic petrology].
[Basic prospecting].
[Basic geophysical methods].
[Expertise in mechanical weapons].
[Basic programming].
Adam felt an intense headache. A large amount of information was pushed into his mind. When he came to, he was on his knees and couldn't stop crying. My God! He hoped that every time he gained an ability the same thing wouldn't happen.
A few minutes later, he had regained enough calm to realize that the knowledge of geology and hydrology he had studied years ago was as fresh in his mind as if he had studied it a few minutes ago. The feeling of being able to remember everything clearly was intoxicating.
Some skills didn't quite match with what he had studied, for example, cartography. It was true that he had learned to read maps, but in his career he had dealt more with geological maps than with conventional ones. However, he could now draw up a map of the area around his house with whatever tools he had at hand.
The skill that surprised him the most was [Expertise in mechanical weapons]. It was certainly one that came associated with the Class and, apparently, the reason why [Engineer] was considered a Class with combat skills. With a bit of curiosity, Adam tried to navigate his mind to get the information about the weapons, just as he had done earlier with his knowledge of geology. This process was somewhat similar to surfing the internet, however, this time he got no response. A bit disappointed, he tried out the new skills.
[Quick calculation] was self-explanatory, although the mental operations he could now perform surprised him. On the other hand, [Ingenuity] didn't seem to do anything, though Adam guessed it would have something to do with problem solving.
[The initialization process is finished, you will soon return to where you were. You are advised to prepare for combat, as the possibility of encountering hostiles is very high, especially within the cities. Good luck]
Before Adam could worry, he appeared at home. He found his room just as he remembered it, except for a huge white box that reminded him of a heavy toolbox.
He approached the box with curiosity. To his surprise, when he touched it, he heard the same robotic voice that had spoken to him.
[Engineer's starter pack. Unique object designed with his capabilities and expertise in mind].
Before I could open it, however, the world exploded. It all started with a high-pitched scream, followed by an alarming amount of guttural grunts coming from all sides. Within seconds there were screams and booms everywhere.
Confused and frightened, Adam forgot about the box and decided to leave his house to find out what was going on. But as he opened the door to his room, he knocked on something standing behind it. To his horror, there was someone else in his house. The invader fell to the floor and began to growl. Immediately, it was answered by other growls coming from his house.
Adam, unable to believe his eyes, watched the intruder as he awkwardly tried to get up. The man was naked, his skin was a grayish color and all the veins on his body stood out with an intense red color.
What the hell is that? Adam thought. To his surprise, he received a response from the system.
[Zombie Stalker].
His amazement at the zombie ended abruptly with the arrival of another one from the hallway. Adam closed the door and passed the latch, but the zombie began pounding on it with unusual force. Fearing that the door would not hold for long, he tried to find some weapon he could use.
He felt that the meme where the nearest object within reach would become your new weapon in the event of a zombie apocalypse was no longer so funny. Adam ran to his best option, the special package.
After wasting a few frustrating seconds, he managed to open the box. Inside he found what he recognized as a small gravimeter, along with a number of wires normally used for electrical methods of exploration. Very useful stuff for a geophysical engineer, but useless against zombies.
After rummaging around inside the box and ignoring the system messages about everything he touched, Adam found what he needed. He knew what it was immediately after touching it, and realized that the knowledge came from his expertise in mechanical weapons. An instant later, the system confirmed it.
[Simple flamethrower].
The Adam from earlier would have questioned the fact that a flamethrower lacked a fuel tank, but his skill allowed him to understand how the device worked in a basic way.
The mouth of the flamethrower was an elongated tube with a thick, semicircular tip. The rear part was a flattened sphere filled with holes, through which the device absorbed energy from the environment to transform it into fire. Finally, underneath the flattened sphere were a series of connectors for attaching enhancement modules for the weapon.
The fascinating device distracted him, but the abrupt sound of the door breaking brought him back to reality. He held the gun by the handle and turned around. He noticed that the zombies had only knocked down part of the door and couldn't get in, so he felt a great relief.
He approached very carefully and pulled the trigger. Not even the knowledge he possessed about the gun prepared him for the force with which he fired.
The flames, instead of spreading, continued in a straight line until they hit one of the zombies and set it on fire. The creature's screams only generated even more anger in his companions, who tried to reach Adam with more force. To their surprise, the fire from the first zombie spread to the others and soon they were all screaming in pain. However, the door to the room and a picture hanging in the hallway also went up in flames. Luckily, his flamethrower could also perform the opposite process, reversing fire into energy.
A little more confident, he decided to attack one of the zombies that was not hit. He pulled the trigger again and immediately cursed himself for his stupidity. He had the entire manual for the device in his head and yet he had forgotten that using it again would require half a minute. Soon, the zombies he had managed to burn were dead and only a half-scorched one remained.
Without losing its momentum from the pain, the zombie shattered what was left of the door and entered the room. Adam had no better idea than to hit it with the tip of the flamethrower. However, he miscalculated and only hit one of the invader's arms.
To his surprise, the hot tip of the flamethrower burned the zombie's skin and caused him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. Before he got up, Adam repeated the attack, but aiming for the head, which exploded violently a couple of blows later and stained everything with blood.
The grotesque spectacle and the smell of burning flesh caused Adam to vomit. Until that moment he hadn't noticed how nervous and scared he was. If it weren't for his talent, he would have died. Outside his house, screams and growls could still be heard, but he didn't feel like finding out what was going on.
Feeling exhausted after only a few seconds of combat, Adam approached the fire he had ignited and activated the second function of the flamethrower. The fire was drawn into the muzzle of the weapon and disappeared without a trace. Confident that he wasn't going to set the rest of his apartment on fire, he left his room and headed for the dining room to escape the horrendous smell. The system took advantage of that moment to communicate a new message to him.
[Congratulations on clearing your home of hostile presences, the apartment property belongs to you. Water, electricity, gas and internet services are working again, but in a very limited way].
[Single apartment:]
[Owned by Adam Rega].
[Active but limited water, gas, telephone, electricity and internet services].
Well, I guess the house is truly mine now. Thought Adam, who had been living in the rented apartment with his sister for years. The landlord would probably be upset, if you considered the kind of person he was. But that only mattered if that grump survived this mess.
Adam tried to relax, but the horrible screams outside and the constant noise of combat prevented him from doing so. He grabbed his phone and called his sister. However, he couldn't reach her. He guessed that the service limitation was to blame. He tried calling his parent's house, but as he expected, there was no answer. Worried, he tried to think of some way to communicate with them, though he soon gave up. Finally, he got up, went back to his room and brought the entire special package with him to look through it more calmly.
Most of the items in the package were equipment he recognized at a glance, but their shapes and colors were strange. Like the flamethrower, they were all a bright bluish-gray color. There was the gravimeter, equipment for electrical methods, a compass of excellent quality, something that looked like a very thin television screen, a pair of strange looking boots, and a pair of gloves.
[Scout boots].
[Thick leather gloves].
Without much thought, he decided to put on the boots and gloves, hoping they would be useful against the zombies.
In addition to all of the above, the package also contained equipment whose functions left him open-mouthed.
An equipment for digging a water well, a mineral and rock evaluator, a mechanical shovel, a natural resource extractor and a water purifier. All of these instruments, with incredibly useful functions, were compact and portable; features that surprised Adam. All seemed designed for small-scale operations.
Finally, Adam found, at the bottom of the package, an envelope stuffed with papers whose contents surprised him. They were plans for the construction of a variety of geophysical and geological equipment for small and large scale operations. The designs were somewhat crude and of limited use. In addition, the instructions indicated that the apparatus for large-scale operations required a great deal of maintenance.
Adam put the plans back into storage and left them at the bottom of the box. He couldn't help but feel excited at the thought of what he could do if he built all the equipment. He also realized that even though his Class was an Engineer, it all seemed dedicated to geophysics, which was his career path. He did not doubt for a second that his Class would evolve in that direction.
His musing was interrupted when he heard something banging on his apartment door. He recognized the zombie growls. Startled again, he got up and ran to the peephole in his door. He noted with horror that in the hallway of the building there were more than a dozen zombies, which were slowly approaching.
After checking that the flamethrower was ready to be used, he waited until the zombie knocked again to open the door a little, stick his mouth out and press the trigger. Fire covered the zombie and it began to scream. Before the flames reached the door, Adam opened it and kicked the zombie toward the approaching group. The effect was devastating. The flames spread and set more than half of the horrifying creatures on fire. Adam took the opportunity to close the security grille on his door before re-entering his house and waiting until the flamethrower could be used again.
The surviving zombies approached and began pounding on the security grille, but this time they would have a hard time, as it was not easy to break down. After a few minutes, Adam opened the door and shot the flames through the grille. He repeated the process a couple more times until all the zombies in the hallway were gone. The only thing left for him to do was to absorb the leftover flames to prevent further damage. The corridor was littered with charred bodies that gave off a horrible smell. Again, he held back the urge to vomit. When he felt ready, he approached, very carefully, the apartment of his neighbor, Mrs. Emma.