Chapter 1- TV Pranks Are Not Fun!
*Click* *Tap* *Tap* Tap*
Inside a dimly lit room, a young man sat in front of a pc monitor, his eyes completely focused on the flashing lights of the game he was playing as he hypnotically clicked and tapped on the keyboard and mouse in an almost religious manner.
His skillful fingers were moving agilely across the keyboard, increasing in intensity once and then relaxing another time. Each click generated an action and each action generated a reaction from the young man, mostly frowns and tongue clicks. Then, as he was playing, a sound coming from the pc echoed in the room.
"You have been defeated." It said in a monotonic manner, announcing the end of the round.
"Fuck!" Cursing with a frown, the young man released his strong grip on the mouse and instead held his face as he lamented his defeat.
"This is my 4th loss today and I'm going to lose my fucking mind! Goddamit!" He grumbled to himself in anger and frustration.
He had been sitting on that chair for the past 8 hours, not moving once so his back and neck were hurting like hell. But, he had no intentions of leaving the pc until he gets what he wants.
"The 5-Star new character, LinLin. I need her!" Looking up, he stared at the screen. There, a beautiful, anime girl in a cute pose was staring back at him, seemingly pulling him in.
'One more round and you might be able to gather enough coins to get me.' Edward could swear he heard her voice in his head, urging him to play again, to try again, or maybe… to pay money and simply make all his problems vanish as if they were mist.
"Wait for me, LinLin!"
After that, he got rid of the headphones that somehow deformed the shape of his head from excessive use and stood up.
"Huh?" Suddenly, he felt a strong nausea assault his head as his body swayed left and right, threatening to fall at any second.
"Ugh! My head hurts! I feel like I'm about to puke! What time is it now?" He asked himself as he looked up at the wall clock. It was 2 AM in the morning.
"Holy shit! I've been playing for that long. Ugh, I should probably wash my face and then eat something."
Then, walking to the door of his room, he opened it and left outside. Edward was a 23-year-old man, living alone in a small apartment he rented using the money he earns from working in random part-time jobs while also doing some freelancing on the internet. He had no friends, girlfriend, or even family members he was close to. Most of them hated him a lot and he reciprocated those feelings.
The place was small, yet oddly clean. Even though Edward loved to spend most of his time playing, he was also someone who valued hygiene a lot.
With slow steps, the young man reached the bathroom. Standing in front of the sink, he examined his appearance. With a rather average height and a lean build that didn't seem fit or unhealthy, he was your average Joe through and through. Except for his distinct hair which was a mix of black and white, he wasn't someone that anyone would consider handsome or ugly.
Then, he opened the faucet and washed his face thoroughly to get rid of the dizziness before turning around to leave.
"Ugh! My head!" The same wave of nausea hit him hard again making him stumble and lean against the door frame.
"What's wrong with me today? I usually play for longer and never feel this sick."
He then headed to the kitchen and opened the fridge.
"Noodles, soda, and a… what the hell is even that?" He squinted his eyes at the weird thing he had in his fridge but then gave up and picked up the soda can before closing the fridge and leaving.
'I need to restock my food supply.'
Shaking his head, he continued his walk back to his room and then sat on the chair to continue playing. However, at that moment, he saw a notification appear on the screen. It was a message from a player called 'Fiction Deity'.
The message read 'Would you like to play a game with me?'.
"Huh? Who is this dude? Did I play with him before? That's one edgy name if I ever saw any." Edward murmured as he opened the message tab and tapped on the keyboard.
"Fine by me, what is your current build?" He asked.
A few seconds later, the player responded.
"Great decision. Our game will be legendary, Edward."
"Huh?!" The moment he saw his name written in capital letters, Edward's face froze.
"How does he know my name? I have never given that information to anyone before."
Slowly, a sense of fear crept into his heart as he distanced himself from the monitor. However, oddly enough, no matter how much he tries to get away from it, the message still appeared clear and visible.
"AGGHH!!" Suddenly, an overwhelming pain assaulted his head and made him fall from the chair to the ground. Holding his head with both hands, Edward tossed and turned around, whimpering in intense pain and suffering.
His vision blurred slowly as he could not even see anything in front of him.
'What… is happening?' He thought yet no answer came to mind.
Seconds passed like hours as the pain grew more and more intense until everything suddenly blacked out.
[Linking worlds initiated…]
[Linking worlds finished successfully!]
[Character creation process initiated…]
[Character creation finished successfully!]
[Welcome to Zombie Highschool, Edward.]
Distant images along with weird, bell-like noises reached Edward's numb senses. However, none of them registered in his mind as his consciousness slowly drifted away until nothing was left there.
***
An unknown amount of time passed like a flash. Edward's eyes eventually cracked open slowly as they absorbed the light coming from outside.
"U-Uh… Did I lose consciousness?" He murmured to himself.
However, almost immediately, bright light assaulted his eyes. It was as if he was directly staring at the sun in the morning.
'Huh? The sun? Wasn't I inside my room? Was I transported to a hospital or something?' He asked one question after the other in his head as he squinted his eyes and looked around.
"Huh? Where am I?" The place he found himself in wasn't what he thought it would be. It wasn't a hospital room or his room. Instead, it looked more like a room found in an abandoned building that has been decaying for tens of years.
The walls were cracked up as if they were about to crumble at any second. Debris and dirt covered the whole ground and every object inside the room.
Examining it thoroughly, Edward understood that he was inside an old classroom. From the old wooden tables and the destroyed blackboard stuck to the wall, barely holding on for dear life against the merciless passing of time.
"Why am I inside a classroom? Is this some kind of prank tv show? If it is then this isn't funny! I don't want to be any part of this." He shouted the last part, waiting for any reply.
"I will sue you all for this, you hear me!!"
Still, no answer.
"Does legally threatening a corporation not work anymore?" Rubbing the back of his head, he stood up, finally noticing that he has been laying on a small mattress this whole time.
Walking towards the door, he slid it to the side and exited the classroom. What welcomed him was a long corridor that stretched in both directions seemingly endlessly.
"What the hell? This whole place is completely ruined. This is some amazing attention to detail. I applaud the production team for such efforts. Truly realistic. They even changed my clothes to fit the theme of the place. Hopefully, it wasn't a dude that saw me naked." He said as he examined his ragged, old clothes that were barely enough to make him feel warm.
Deciding in a random direction, Edward walked in the corridor, admiring the scary, almost apocalyptic atmosphere that the building had. It truly exuded an eerie vibe that it hadn't been touched by human hands in a very long time.
Until…
"RAAAHHH!!"
Suddenly, a loud screech reached his ears and made him look back. There, he saw a man, standing with his limbs thrown down and his face arching at a weird angle. His body was riddled with injuries, big and small, some even looking life-threatening.
But, the most noticeable thing about the man was the weird, yellow lines that ran through his body. They looked like cracks that were engraved into his very body. The yellow color was shiny, yet also dim to be barely visible.
"A Zombie?!" Edward's eyes lit up in surprised delight.
"So it's indeed an apocalypse TV prank! This is cool!!"
"RAAAAAHHH!!!" The Zombie groaned again with a hoarse voice.
"Oh, right! Sorry, I'm supposed to run, no?"
"RAAAAAHHH!!"
"Hm? Oh, yeah, I should look scared too. But, knowing that it's a prank, I can't really get scared. Besides, you look badass, man."
However, no matter how much Edward spoke, the Zombie only responded with groans before suddenly dashing toward the young man, with moderate speed.
"Oi, wait! I'm not ready yet for escaping!"
Until that moment, Edward thought that if he simply pretended to get along with the Prank's scenario, he would be fine. But, when the Zombie reached him and leaped on him, he finally realized a small detail.
The Zombie wasn't joking.