Author note at the end. Enjoy.
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The screen flickered to life before Alex's eyes. Not a screen in the literal sense—this was different. It was as if reality itself had dimmed, replaced by a dark void where a glowing blue interface hovered in midair.
"Welcome, Player."
The words appeared, stark and clinical, accompanied by a faint, mechanical hum.
Alex blinked, his head pounding before taking in his situation. Same hands meaning same body. So, it didn't insert him into a random character. Which would be awkward.
At best.
Alex did not want to have an existential crisis every time he relieved himself. The thought of a different lower body than his own made him shiver.
His eyes snapped back to the screen in front of him.
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Simulated World: The Walking Dead
Difficulty: Easy.
Primary Objective: Save Lee Everett.
Secondary Objectives:
• Hidden
• Hidden
• Hidden
• Hidden
• Hidden
Reward Upon Completion: Based on performance.
Start Mission: 3 Weeks.
⊢——————————————⊣
He scoffed at the difficulty. "Easy? Sure, yeah. It's easy." Alex muttered under his breath. His eyes then trailed to the objectives the system had given him. Save Lee Everett. With a frown, Alex tried to remember the character from the telltale games. "Wasn't he the guardian of that little girl?" He asked himself.
⊢——————————————⊣
Answer: Yes. Clementine.
⊢——————————————⊣
'Huh, neat. Anyway'
Currently, the most important thing of all, was the time and place it gave him. With a frown, he turned to his surroundings. A simple room.
As it was portrayed by most movies, the most stereotypical room of a frat guy. Or guys, as Alex noticed the legs dangling. "What were college guys called again?" He asked but received no answer. The second most important thing was that the place looked clean, or as clean as possible for college boys.
'Werent frat guys like those party ones?' He distractly thought before shaking his head and surveying the "clean and organized" room.
Meaning, the zombie- ops, the Walker apocalypse hadn't happened yet. Meaning the 3 weeks that was shown to him by the system was in fact the timer for when everything went to shit.
Though he was brought out of his mussing by the dangling feet smacking him on his head. "Hey." Alex spoke, hitting back his attacker, who groaned. "What time is it?" The guy on the top bunk muttered. "I don't know." Alex muttered, searching his bed to see any sign of a phone while ignoring the blue glue due to the sudden memory he received for his search of the device.
The system's screen dimmed a little before fading out completely.
"Shit!" The guy on top shouted in surprise. "SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" He kept repeating, struggling to remove the covers before jumping to the floor.
Alex watched in bewilderment as his roommate frantically scrambled around the room, cursing and muttering under his breath. He got a better look at the young man who was scattering around the room to wear pants on top of his boxers and a simple T-shirt.
He was a slender Asian in his early twenties, with short black hair and an earnest, expressive face. The guy's panic was contagious, and Alex felt his own heart rate picking up.
"Dude, what's going on?" Alex asked in worry, leaning forward in his bed.
His roommate paused for a moment, looking at Alex with wide eyes. "The exam! Professor Wilson's exam! It started ten minutes ago!"
.
.
.
"WHAT?!" Alex shot back, being completely devoured by his roommates sense of urgency and the sudden memory. He scrambled out of bed, the reality of the simulation momentarily overshadowed by the urgency of college life.
"Yeah!" his roommate shot back, fumbling with his shoelaces. "You were supposed to remind me! I thought you were going to wake me up!"
"I was kind of preoccupied with… uh, other things!" Alex snapped, glancing around the chaotic room. Books were strewn across the floor, and half-eaten pizza sat on the desk. Before remembering about the simulation and smacking his forehead with the palm of his hand. 'Hello, doofus. Apocalypse in 3 weeks.' He mockingly reminded himself.
Nonetheless, he needed to know about the current situation. Ignoring the simulated memory, based on what he saw so far form the room and his roommate, he was on a college campus, meaning resources that he could use and prepare.
"Stop spacing out and let's go!" The roommate, still half-dressed, was tugging on a wrinkled shirt while trying to balance a backpack on one shoulder. "Just grab your stuff!"
"Right, right," Alex muttered, his mind racing. He grabbed his phone, which was flunk on the other side of the room for some reason. 'Right, the studying that lead to frustration to wasting time' The screen lit up, and he saw the time: 8:15 AM. The exam was already in progress.
"Let's go!" his roommate shouted, finally managing to slip on his shoes. "We can make it if we hurry!"
Alex darted towards the door, his heart pounding. "What's the exam about again?" he asked, trying to keep up with his roommate's frantic energy.
"Cellular respiration!" Glen exclaimed, his voice tight with anxiety. "I thought you knew!"
"Of course I know," Alex replied, feigning confidence. "I totally didn't just binge-watch a series instead of studying last night. Thank you Dexter."
Alex and his roommate sprinted down the hallway, dodging fellow students who were oblivious to their panic. Or more like the Asian's panic while Alex kept up with him. 'Huh, not winded yet.' Alex thought.
"You're going to flunk if you keep joking around!" Glen shot back, his eyes wide with panic. "Just remember to focus on the mitochondria. They're the powerhouse of the cell!"
"Yeah, thanks, Professor Glen," Alex smirked, though he felt a knot of dread in his stomach. 'Unprepared exams, my nemesis.' Alex thought with a grimace. As they raced down the hallway, the sound of their hurried footsteps echoed in the empty corridors, amplifying the urgency of the moment.
They finally reached the lecture hall, where students were already seated, scribbling furiously on their papers. Alex pushed through the door, and Glen followed close behind. Both catching their breath as their eyes darted to everyone. And everyone staring back before going back to answering the questions on the sheet of paper in front of them.
"Late again, huh?" Professor Wilson raised an eyebrow as they entered, giving them both a disapproving look. "Take your seats."
Alex plopped down at a desk near the back, still trying to catch his breath. Glen settled next to him, his face pale. "This is going to be a disaster," he muttered, glancing at the exam papers that was already distributed and left on their desk.
"Just breathe," Alex whispered, trying to soothe his roommate while he glanced at the exam. The questions loomed like monsters, and the first one made his heart sink.
*What are the primary functions of mitochondria?*
"Ugh, I hate my life," Alex groaned quietly, scribbling something that resembled a panic-induced answer from the memory he got. He barely managed to write down a few keywords before moving on to the next question, which only added to his frustration.
*Explain the process of photosynthesis.*
He wrote down what he knew. Sunlight. Plants happy. They make yum yum noises, and turn green. Or was that trees' leaves that turn green due to photosynthesis.
He glanced over at Glen, who was scribbling down answers with surprising speed. "How are you doing that?" Alex whispered, his own anxiety rising for some reason. "You look like you're writing a novel!"
"I studied!" Glen hissed,
"What'd I expect from an Asian?" Alex shot back, surprising himself. He thought Glenn would be annoyed or mad at him for that. He usually didn't pull that kind of joke without being close friends.
Though instead of Glenn, it was the professor who was mad and spoke up in a condescending voice. "Morgan, if I hear another pip from you, you'll be getting a zero."
Glen not looking up. "Just focus!" whispered, hand not stopping.
'Get a cramp.' Alex wished back before focusing on his paper.
Funnily enough, Glen did get a cramp a minute later. Alex enjoyed his pain.
Finally, the exam ended, and they both stumbled out of the lecture hall, the weight of the questions still heavy on Alex's mind.
"How do you think you did?" Glen asked, running a hand through his hair, clearly frazzled.
"I don't know, man. I think I might have just flunked," Alex replied, feeling defeated. "I didn't even remember half of it."
"Don't say that! You might have pulled through with some lucky guesses," Glen offered, though his own expression suggested he wasn't convinced.
"Dude, I wrote plants get happy when they get sunshine for the second question." Alex told him, glancing at his roommate, and possibly cool friend, who shocked on air and snapped his head towards him and stared at him as if he was an idiot.
"Stop judging me!" He shoved the Asian who stumbled before snorting into a laugh.
"Hey! I can't help it if you're a plant whisperer," Glen shot back, trying to suppress a grin. "Next thing you know, you'll be telling us how to communicate with trees."
"Maybe I will!" Alex replied dramatically.
"Okay, okay, but seriously, we might get a solid B- for that exam," Glen said, trying to regain his composure. "And that's if we're lucky."
"B-? I'm aiming for a C- at this point," Alex quipped, shaking his head. "I'll take whatever I can get."
As they walked back to their dorm, the tension of the exam began to ease. "So, what's the plan now?" Glen asked, pulling out his phone to check the time. "I've got to head to work soon."
"Right, your shift at the pizza place," Alex said, the information coming to his brain. 'Freaky. System is freaky.' He thought. Deciding to accept the help, he also "remembered" he needed to borrow Glen's laptop for a plan to make sure they stayed alive. "Mind if I take your laptop while you're at work? I need to look up some stuff for tomorrow."
"Sure, but please, and please. I don't want to know what you searched up, so clean the history afterwards." Glenn answered, watching as Alex's face twisted into confusion before disgusted at the implication.
"Dude, ewww. No man should use another's for that."
As they reached their dorm room, Glen grabbed his work uniform and started changing. "I'll be back late tonight. Don't wait up for me, okay?"
"Got it," Alex nodded, already settling down at the desk and powering up Glen's laptop. "Have a good shift, man. Oh, and bring a medium chess if you can!"
Once Glen left, Alex took a deep breath and focused on the task at hand. He had three weeks to prepare for the apocalypse, and he needed to make every moment count. He opened a new document and started typing:
Apocalypse Prep List:
Supplies (non-perishable food, water, water filterer, first aid kit). Weapons (anything that can be used for self-defense). Safe locations (potential hideouts, escape routes, place to build base). Information (gather as much data about the outbreak as possible)
Alex cracked his knuckles, ready to dive into research mode. He had a lot of work to do, and the clock was ticking. "Stupid exam." He muttered under his breath.
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Author note:
So, before some of you tear my head off. The goal of this chapter and the followings are to present to you, the readers, the protagonist.
I've read a lot of fanfiction, The Last of Us, Walking Dead, etc, you name it. The mc's are super, "I know it all." or "I'm average, or at least the author said I'm average. But in truth, I'm the best and the strongest and the most genius guy in the world." OR "I kill with my glare because I'm batman. My prep time is awesome and nothing will go wrong." Almost forgot the "While average, I'm over six feet, and while average, I'm a chick magnet." I can continue if you want me to, but I guess you understand the point.
This chapter presented to you guys that my mc IS average and will build himself as the story progresses while not being a wimp or coward. Already in the first 5 chapters, I've showed some progress, so you can compare chapter 1 mc to chapter 5. (I actually enjoyed writing this chapter because of mc being pulled to someone's pace instead of thinking over things. Though there are already explanation for his actions on the subconscious level later.) So at least read the first 10 chapters at least before dropping.
This is a reminder and for those who haven't fully read my summary, review part... well... a lesson?
This is a trial run. I might or will rewrite these 10 chapters based on the reviews and feedback I get. So I need real feedbacks in the reviews and comments in the chat at the very least.
For review, this should be the format, even if its less than 50 words:
Things that you liked, found refreshing, want to see more of.
Things that you didn't like, you found didn't make sense.
Things that I could improve on.
I WILL delete just random peeps dropping stars or something without explanation or spam. The best thing you could do otherwise, to help me get on the list, is five star it with explanation of you COMING BACK AFTER READING, edit/removing that review with a real one afterwards.
This will keep it sincere and interesting for the new readers.
That's all. Thank you for reading it.
Stay safe.