After the collapse of the South African government, a huge wave of refugees swept the neighboring countries which caught them off guard as the rest of the world expected a civil war or some sort of revolution. But what could the common people do against man-eating gangsters? Nothing, they had no option but to run the moment such an organization took over the capital of the country. Corbin and his little sister Stephanie were some of the people who fled to Mozambique, they had both lost their parents who had unfortunately willingly stayed behind and joined the civil war for the party that took over the country. They died so that the two siblings could live, and so they did. Across the border, in another country.
[memory]
Corbin Tempest, An African of racial descent, a man of 22 years old who had nothing but now his sister and his degree in hand. It was a degree in Politics, Philosophy Economics (PPE). He studied in this field because he wanted to change the status of his home country and swore that he would someday be able to do so but first he needed money and stability, that's when he went to Mozambique and found work there as a data analyst. He managed to get a decent apartment and even sent money back home to help his family. When he took leave and went back to his country to visit his family what he didn't know was the inevitable and swift change of power of his country at the hands of the Mafia. After losing his parents for him to run, he swore to come back and lay waste to the rebels and avenge his family.
"I swear I'll be back, I swear it" Corbin muttered with veins popping on his forehead as if the head itself would pop in an instant.
"Did you say something, brother Corbin? Are you ill?" Stephanie nervously asked as they were sneaking in at the border with fellow Azanian refugees (Please note that South African and Azania will be used interchangeably), Corbin himself didn't need to sneak in like this as he had valid papers and was working and living in Mozambique for over a year now. He did that because of his sister who had nothing, so they had to sneak in.
Just as Corbin was about to say something he was assaulted by a border patrol officer, he tried to surrender but all his words fell on deaf ears as the officer continued to kick him. After a few minutes of him role-playing, ahem, I mean being turned into a punching bag the kicking finally stopped as he lay there unconscious.
"Well, well, well... what do we have here? Are you lost little one? Come with me, It's not safe here…" said the officer as he grabbed Stephanie and quickly covered her mouth, he tried to tie up Stephanie but he failed as she bit his ear, in pain and anger, he decided to strangle Stephanie to death the threw her lifeless body in the boot before driving off. This man was a trafficker, he would come to borders now and then to fish soon-to-be illegal immigrants and sell them off to sex rings, and other interested parties.
Corbin woke up in the hospital and knew that he had lost his sister, he woke up after a 2 year-long coma. Thankfully the insurance had been covering up for him otherwise the machines keeping him alive would've been switched off long ago. After days of crying for all he had lost, he had one last thing to do – that was to take his life, a suicide jump from the 13th floor of the hospital. He was now standing on the window bank, ready to leap to the next life hoping to meet his family. However, he lost his balance and fell backward into the room as he saw something in his front line of sight. He looked up at the ceiling at the weird text software-like thing with text still there, he stood up and rubbed his eyes before looking in the direction of the mirror, it was still there...
"I've gone mad" he muttered, he lost his family and now he lost his mind.
** System initializing %%%, Error. Retrying %% Error %% rebooting **
**System initializing 5% , 45%...100% **
** Welcome Host, I am an A. I SYSTEM granted to you by the &$^^^^^&%44 Error Error, you have now bonded with me till death **
"System? What does it do? Are you in my head?" asked Corbin as he kept looking around to see if any hidden cameras were expecting a group of people to come out and start laughing.
*** I am a dimensional system that can help the host with traveling to another reality, and boost physical and consciousness levels among many others, and no, I am not in your head but deeply embedded in your soul, say status or will it then you will see my abilities as well as yours**
"Status" Corbin willed with his thoughts without wasting time.
======================
Status
CORBIN TEMPEST [LEVEL 1] 23 YEARS
STR: 11
INT: 23
AGILITY: 9
ENDURANCE: 12
INVENTORY [1]
INBOX [1]
COSMIC CHARGE [100]
COSMIC STORE [UNVAILABLE] LEVEL 25 REQUIREMENT
======================
"Display Inbox"
In Corbin's line of sight, a message appeared, and from what he read.. he knew what the system was how to use all its features, and what great things he could achieve with its assistance so wasted no time and open he's starter pack.
**loading 5% 47% 100% **
**You have received **
Genetic modification serum (removes limit until specified rank- Rank Sx1, - Rank A x5
Twin daggers (made from the fangs of a giant python)- rank B x1
Cosmic power stone (created from the high concentration of cosmic power)- Rank B x1
**************************
"Bloody hell, this is unbelievable..." He wasn't in a hurry to look at them as he knew that he was soon to be discharged, he wanted to look at them over when he got home, that's if he still had a home. After a few hours of him doing workouts, a doctor walked in and examined him before authorizing him to be discharged. It didn't take him long to prepare all his things. He turned on his phone which didn't have many messages, so he quickly went to the browser and searched for news about his home country, he was shocked when he found out that the rebellion was swiftly crushed and the party that had government the governed the country long before he was born was still in charge.
He learned that the nation received aid from its BRICS allies and quickly recovered from the rebellion that was orchestrated by a certain Western nation, many people who were found guilty were executed in the eyes of the public. They had disturbed the peace as Azania was a country that had never known war since its establishment in 1994 when Mandela became President.
After stepping outside he hailed a taxi that took him to his apartment which by luck was still his thanks to his lawyer. He learned from his lawyer that he was found at the border along with his passport and ID and various things, his cell phone among them so he was taken to the hospital and wasn't charged with anything as he seemed to be attacked. The bad news was that he lost his job and was only offered R200 000( note that the South African currency ZAR=RANDS IS R18/US$1 so he received US$11 000+)
After a few days, Corbin signed off the contract to end his lease and flew back to Azania. He went back to his home, his house now that he lost both his parents and sister. He immediately cleaned the modest house and then took a quick shower afterward. He went back to the system and asked the now-named system "Aiden" to describe the world he would travel to.
**The world you'll be travelling to is the same as this one but 300 years later, 200 years after the third world war and 2 years after the virus outbreak. The world population was reduced to a mere 20% of the total 10 billion, after a few months another billion were lost to mutations, famine, and mass suicides. Many animals have mutated into beasts and new ones have appeared as well. The currency of the wasteland is beast aether crystals, you will need these aether crystals to condense a cosmic stone for dimensional travel **
"I see, well this is something unexpected. But the third world was something I had expected, and such changes should be caused by greater weapons they had produced, I remember in one of my academic essays I had mentioned that the longer it takes for humans to start a third world war, the more detrimental it will be to human race. I'm sure they had mastered some space energy and weaponized it leading to all these magical abilities, should it have happened in around 2050, then only nuclear warheads would have been used".
Corbin decided to go to the mall and buy groceries and many things he needed, he knew that he was going to the post-apocalyptic world and such a world would surely require proper food. He brought many dry and easy-to-store foods such as canned foods, biscuits, and whiskies. He hired a lorry to deliver the items and paid R2000, The driver tried to turn it down as R600 was enough, but Corbin insisted.
======================
[INVENTORY]
RICE 10KG x20
MAIZE MEAL 12.5kg x20
TUNA CANNED 200g x100
BAKED BEANS 200g x100
EGGS 60s tray x200
Various herbs and spices 1kg x200
ALCOHOL 750ml x200
=======================
From all he had bought he had spent R45 000 from the R200 000 settlement fee he got.
He was now sitting on his bed, with the genetic modification serum in his hand. He carefully injected the serum and laid down on the bed. 15 mins later he still couldn't tell if it was working or not.
"Could it be that I was scammed by the sy- ah fuck!" He was assaulted by a huge wave of pain from all parts of his body. His body was burning up, dark blood coming out of his nose and ears while his skin pores were oozing out a very dirty liquid with a foul smell. The screams continued for hours, and he held on refusing to pass out. 6 Hours later, the screams had stopped, and he was lying in bed panting as if he had run a marathon. He slowly stood up, groaning in pain as he felt that Charon almost took him across the river Styx. He quickly drank pain relievers with an energy drink, and after that, he took a shower. He could feel that he had gotten stronger, with his abs now showing, his muscles were all built up well, and he was now standing at 1.84m in height.
"Status"
======================
Status
CORBIN TEMPEST [Level 10] 23 YEARS
STR: 30
INT: 23
AGILITY: 25
ENDURANCE: 27
INVENTORY [10/10] (NOTE THAT ALL STORED ITEMS ARE STACKED IN SUSPENDED TIME)
INBOX [0]
COSMIC CHARGE [100]
COSMIC STORE [UNVAILABLE] LEVEL 25REQUIREMENT
======================
"Not bad, I've gained a lot as I see it, at least coming from a mere mortal with no strength at all. At least I should be able to defend myself. Aiden, what's the stat gap between me and other ranks?
**The weakest zombie is a Rank E Shambler, at 15 on all stats, the strongest mutated beast will be an S rank at 90+ on all starts**
"I see, I can at least compare myself to a C Rank first...yosh, let's kill some zombies"
Without wasting time no longer, Corbin quickly dressed in black military uniform, with gloves and black boots as well, he did not forget to wear a balaclava as well. He covered every part of himself except his eyes, in his hands there were his daggers. He took a long breath and exhaled, he knew that he was about to step into a dangerous world, and he also knew the rewards.
"Aiden, initiate dimensional travel".
After he gave the order, he was covered by purple energy that kept spiraling through him and disappeared...