Inside an especially verdant forest,a young man with a pretty face could be seen rubbing his head while groaning.It seemed that he had just woken up after being knocked out cold as his expression seemed dazed.
"Urrgh.. my head hurts,wait a minute…why can I still feel my head hurting….am still alive?..... Holy shit! Am still alive? How is this possible? I clearly remembered dying…or was it a dream? But when did dreams start getting recorded in 4k?..."
This young man was none other than Ryan who had already died!
Or supposedly died.
Patting his body down he couldn't help but gasp in shock as he observed himself. He couldn't believe it as he clearly remembered hitting the tree and breaking all his bones turning them into a mush.Now that he clearly was okay,he found it totally absurd.
It was just like sleeping in your room at night and waking in your neighbor's house the next day. Absolutely impossible!
But then how was he going to explain this. It seemed like a dream yet…..also not a dream. Clearly too much alcohol was bad for the body.
A lot of thoughts ran through his mind about the truth of the matter but they all seemed to not make sense.
"Dang it,I'll just toss it aside first."
Helpless,he lied on the forest floor while looking at the sky. This was something he used to do whenever he had a problem or something that seemed complicated to him and it was pretty useful for clearing his mind.
"Huh? Why is the sky grayish?"
He had just sat down when he noticed the greyed out sky. Normally the sky was a beautiful breezy blue,free from pollution and such,but now it seemed like someone released a shit load of ashes into the atmosphere.
[Ping!]
Right then,a loud ping resounded in his head. He was shocked as he remembered that he had tossed his phone away yesterday but then he wasn't sure if that was actually a dream or not.
He had just started looking around for the phone when a cold, laid-back voice echoed in his head scaring him like crazy!
[Welcome back to the world of the living Ryan Renfield.The Black Gear system is now online.]
A full on black screen with golden striations suddenly popped up right in his face.Processing what he heard he couldn't help but stare at the the panel in disbelief.
Was this some kind of prank?
Rubbing his eyes he felt that this must all be a lucid dream,all he had to do was close his eyes and open them again and he would wake up. He was shocked however,to find the screen still in his face when he opened them.
[ This is not a prank nor a dream.You really died the previous time but you unlocked the Black Gear system due to a string of coincidences thus allowing you to live.]
"Hmm..so that's how it is."
Hearing what the system said Ryan could confirm two things.
The first being that he really died and the second was that somehow he is still living and had even awakened a system.
While this might seem incomprehensible to most people, he immediately believed it as being alive was enough evidence. While he knew about systems as they were a common trope in manga and anime finding them in real life ? That was just bonkers!
But here was something that seemed just like a system.
"Hmm.. if this system thingy is true,then this is my chance at making it big! I could become the President general of the international federation. Heck I'll probable be able to get even with that bit*ch,Maya. Hehe this is gonna be so fun."
Within moments,Ryan was already lost in the visions of a grand future where he had all the power,wealth and beauties of the world at his fingertips. Unfortunately,the system seemed to be particular about bursting his bubble.
[ Host,don't get delusional,you might not believe it but the world as you know it is no longer exists.My sole existence is to simply aid you in surviving this new world.]
"What do you mean by the world is no longer the same? And also can you explain how we got bonded to each other?" Ryan asked,feeling confused.
[Well technically….,you are dead. The shockwave impact of the meteorite last night sent you flying towards the tree turning you into meat paste in the process.This activated the system's bonding protocols.]
With this explanation,Ryan understood why he felt like he had died. It turned out that he really had died. However,he didn't understand what the system meant when it said the world was no longer the same.
Before he could repeat the second part of the question,the system beat him to it.
[Concerning the other part of your question,the meteorite last night was not just an ordinary meteorite. In fact it was a civilisation weapon designed to wipe out sentient species. That meteorite released a highly deadly virus into the atmosphere upon impact whose sole purpose is to eliminate humanity. Surprisingly,it seems to have failed at that as it rather caused a mutation in all lifeforms on Earth.]
"Meaning?" Ryan asked with a cocked brow.
[ The whole world is already overrun by Zombies and mutated beast by now.]
"That's utterly impo—"
SCREEEEEEECH!
He had originally wanted to refute that but a jarring sound that felt grating to his ears came from the skies causing him to look up. However there was nothing there to see,save the grayed out sky. Scared shitless,Ryan instinctively ran into the forest in the direction that led back to the campus grounds.
After running for sometime he stopped and held his knees gasping for air. Tired,he slumped against a huge tree.
"What the hell was that?"
[That? I don't know,probably some bird that has nearly finished mutating looking for a prey. By the way you can check out the system inventory for your newbie gift pack. You're going to need it,soon. Happy hunting.]
"What do you mean by that? Why aren't you talking? Hey System are you in there? You haven't shown me my stats yet…"Panicked at the silence,he tried cursing it. "Who the hell made this shitty system!@$##&§@."
Unfortunately, despite all his curses the system refused to say a word causing him to quieten down after ranting fir a while..
"Well I guess I'm alone now."
Since he was alone now,Ryan couldn't help but go into brain power mode as he started observing the changes in his surroundings causing him to notice that he was surrounded on all sides by vegetation.
"That looks weird.."
Taking a closer look he noticed that they seemed much taller and vibrant than the previous times he had seen them. He couldn't help but remember the system saying that a worldwide mutation had occurred and these plants seemed to confirm that. It was just that he felt that everything was too absurd.
"Even if everything it said was true,how am I to believe it without evidence? I mean.. just some plants looking greener can't –"
RUSTLE,RUSTLE,RUSTLE.
"–justify what it said." Swallowing hard,Ryan pressed harder against the tree.
The rustling sounds coming from the shrub infront of him seemed to be mocking him to his face as the mirror opposite of what he had just said seemed to be happening.
By now the shaking of the shrubs had gotten even more intense like a huge monster was about to emerge.
His senses were telling him to run but his butt felt glued to the tree trunk.Furthermore,running without knowing what exactly was in the shrubs would be a huge mistake.Without any thought he grabbed the nearest weapon he could find—a rock.
The next moment….it came out.