The sound of a loud crash echoed from the side of Simon's car. His heart leapt in his chest, and his breath caught in his throat as he whipped his head to the side.
His eyes widened in disbelief as the passenger-side window exploded into a million pieces. Glass scattered, some shards slicing through the air like deadly projectiles.
At the side of the car, the grotesque form of a zombie crawled through the shattered window, its disfigured face twisted in a grotesque snarl.
Its skin was a sickly green, mottled with black patches, and its fingers — long and clawed—scrambled desperately to grab hold of anything they could.
Simon's stomach turned at the sight. Every part of him screamed to run, but there was nowhere to go.
"Damned car!" he muttered under his breath, his knuckles white as they gripped the steering wheel. Panic surged through him, but he had no time to think.
The only thing that mattered was escaping. He slammed his foot onto the gas pedal.
The engine roared to life, and the car lurched forward. Simon's heart was racing as the car sped down the road, tires screeching in protest.
He watched as the zombie's clawing fingers still reached for him, desperate to pull itself into the car.
The air was thick with tension. Simon's hands were slick with sweat as he turned the wheel, narrowly avoiding hitting a lamppost.
His breath was shallow, heart pounding in his chest. The zombie's gurgled growls echoed from the side, and he could hear its body scraping against the side of the vehicle.
'Come on, come on!'
Without thinking, he veered the car sharply toward a building up ahead. The tires screeched again as he slammed the accelerator to the floor.
The sound of bones cracking filled the air as the car rammed into the side of the building, slamming the zombie into the concrete wall with a sickening thud.
Simon's breath hitched as the impact reverberated through the car. He could hear the zombie's ragged gasps and the wet crunch of its bones breaking.
His stomach churned, but he didn't dare stop. He pressed harder on the pedal, using the car to push the zombie further into the building.
The sound of bones and flesh grinding against concrete was unbearable, and the air filled with the stench of blood and decay.
'I have to do this. I have to survive.'
The zombie's body twisted under the pressure, its gurgles fading into nothing as Simon continued to drive forward.
The walls of the building buckled under the strain, and the car shuddered with each violent push.
Finally, Simon felt the car slow down, the momentum fading. He slammed his foot on the brake, bringing the vehicle to a screeching halt.
The air was thick with the smell of blood, the once-white walls now stained a deep, crimson red.
Simon sat there for a moment, his heart racing, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He wiped his hands on his pants, trying to shake off the adrenaline that still coursed through his veins.
The blood that had splattered across the windshield and his face seemed to seep into his skin, a constant reminder of what he'd just done.
'I killed it. I... I killed it.'
His mind struggled to process what had just happened. The zombie had been human once, hadn't it?
What did that make him now? He felt a sickening mix of relief and revulsion. He had survived, but at what cost?
The interior of the car felt suffocating. He couldn't breathe. His chest tightened with every passing second.
The panic was starting to overwhelm him. He felt like he might suffocate from the sheer weight of it all.
Before he could gather his thoughts, another message flashed on the screen in front of him, breaking through the fog of his mind.
[Congratulations, you just killed a Low-rank Zombie]
[Your world ranking has increased... You are now in Rank 1,900,244,400]
He glanced at the screen again. He had moved up in the world ranking but even then... he was still far behind.
His thoughts were interrupted by another message that appeared on the screen, one that sent a chill down his spine.
[The Apocalypse Overseer has taken interest in you]
Simon's hands froze on the steering wheel, his blood turning cold.
The Apocalypse Overseer? He had no idea what that meant, but the very idea of someone or something monitoring him was enough to make his skin crawl.
Before he could dwell on the message, another one appeared, even more cryptic than the last.
[Would you like power?]
Simon's mind raced.
Power? What kind of power?The words felt like a heavy weight pressing down on him.
What kind of choice was this? He didn't know what was being offered to him, but the idea of having more power, of being able to protect himself and the woman in the back seat — whose breathing was now shallow and labored — was tempting.
He needed power. He needed it to survive in the wretched world...
His fingers tightened around the steering wheel as a wave of desperation washed over him.
Without thinking, he muttered to himself, "Yes." His voice was barely a whisper, but it was enough.
The moment the word left his lips, a sharp, excruciating pain shot through his entire body. It felt as though his bones were being twisted and cracked, his muscles stretching beyond their limits.
His breath caught in his throat as the agony overwhelmed him, and his vision blurred.
The pain intensified, radiating from deep within his core. But just as quickly, it began to fade, leaving behind an odd sensation of power.
It wasn't like anything he had ever felt before — there was something dark, something almost… primal coursing through him now.
Another message appeared on the screen:
[Congratulations, you are being bound with the Vampire Overlord System]