The source of the cries was revealed: a hunched, gaunt figure curled on the floor near a broken bedframe. Its face was hidden, but its body twitched unnaturally. Dark tears streaked its pale, sickly skin, and its whimpers echoed through the room.
Around it, hidden among overturned furniture and debris, lurked a dozen infected. They stood eerily still, their vacant eyes fixated on the Weeper as if mesmerized by its cries.
Hector clenched his jaw, realizing the truth—this wasn't a survivor. This was a trap.
As if sensing his discovery, the Weeper suddenly stopped crying. Its head jerked upward, revealing hollow, blackened eyes and a mouth twisted into a grotesque smile. The infected in the room turned their heads toward the door in unison, their movements unnervingly synchronized.
The Weeper let out a piercing shriek, shattering the silence and spurring the infected into action.
Hector backed away from the door as the first infected lunged through it, snarling. He fired two quick shots, dropping it, but the noise only fueled the chaos.
The rest poured out like a flood, their rotting hands clawing at him. Hector fell back into the hallway, switching to his SMG. He fired in short, controlled bursts, the suppressor doing little to muffle the sharp reports.
The infected fell one after another, but their numbers were overwhelming. He ducked into a side room to create some distance, his mind racing for a plan.
Amid the chaos, the Weeper emerged from the room, its movements unnaturally fluid and predatory. It crawled along the floor on all fours, its twisted grin fixed on Hector.
He fired at it, but the creature darted sideways, its inhuman speed making it difficult to hit. Hector cursed under his breath, retreating further into the building.
Using his Sixth Sense to anticipate its movements, he waited for the Weeper to lunge. When it did, he sidestepped, slamming the butt of his SMG into its skull. The creature staggered, hissing, and he seized the opportunity to unload three rounds into its torso and a couple to its head once it was down, finally silencing it.
With the Weeper down, the remaining infected lost their coordination, becoming easy targets. Hector cleared them systematically, his training and instincts taking over.
When the last body hit the floor, he stood amidst the carnage, his breathing heavy and his heart pounding. The stench of blood and rot filled the air, but the silence that followed was a relief.
Hector stared at the Weeper's lifeless body, its twisted face still frozen in that unsettling grin.
"These things just keep getting worse," he muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow.
He leaned against the wall for a moment, letting himself breathe before methodically checking the rest of the floor for threats.
Hector gazed at the aftermath of the encounter: the corpses of the infected strewn across the hall, the smashed furniture, and the blood-smeared walls. The stench was overwhelming, but Hector barely noticed it anymore.
"That was too close," he muttered to himself, shaking his head. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand, smearing dirt and sweat across his face.
The Weeper's cries still echoed faintly in his mind—a sickening mockery of human suffering. It reminded him of the cruel reality of this new world: even the remnants of humanity's voice had been twisted into weapons by the infection.
"They're not just mindless monsters," Hector reflected aloud. "They're adapting. Evolving."
He clenched his fists, the weight of the realization settling heavily on him. If the infected could lure prey with something as cunning as the Weeper's mimicry, what other horrors might lie ahead?
Hector went back to the lobby where he sat on a couche facing the main entrance it seems that besides the occasional infected outside most where driven away by the storm or were hiding in ambush in that room, waiting for any unlucky survivor to be lured in. If not for the sixth sense perk he would have definitely been fooled and ended up dead.
A familiar chime echoed in his mind, pulling him from his thoughts.
[Congratulations, Survivor! You have successfully cleared the entire building.]
[Rewards Delivered:]
-Basic Info Package
-Basic Fortification Package
-1,500 LP
-2,300 XP
Hector exhaled slowly, allowing himself a rare moment of pride. Clearing the building had taken weeks of effort, preparation, and no small amount of luck.
"Finally," he murmured, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
The XP notification flashed again:
[Level Up]
[New Perk Slots Unlocked. Please Choose a New Perk.]
He pushed the perk notification aside for now. There would be time to decide later, after some rest and reflection.
Curious, Hector accessed the Basic Info Package first.
[Basic Info Package Contents:]
World Update: A detailed timeline of events since the infection began, including areas of high infestation and potential survivor hotspots.
Infected Stages: Comprehensive data on the infection's evolution, from basic shamblers to specialized predators like the Stalker and Weeper.
Map: A digital map of his immediate area, including key points of interest and danger zones.
Hector's brow furrowed as he absorbed the information, particularly the section about infected evolution. The System described potential higher stages of infection that made the Stalker and Weeper seem tame in comparison.
"I need to be ready for anything," he muttered, shaking his head grimly.
Next, he opened the Basic Fortification Package.
[Basic Fortification Package Contents:]
Auto Deployable Barricade Kits: Reinforced metal sheets to secure doors and windows and even walls, enough to fortify multiple entry points, as simple as press and release.
Tripwire Alarm System: A simple, reusable system to detect movement near critical areas.
Toolkit Upgrade: Heavy-duty tools for construction, repair, and reinforcement.
Survival Blueprints: Schematics for building traps, barricades, and other defensive measures.
Hector's mind raced with possibilities. With these tools, he could turn the building into a true fortress.
The rain drummed steadily against the glass panes of the rooftop garden, a rhythmic cadence that seemed to mirror Hector's thoughts. He lay sprawled on a weathered couch, his rifle resting against the armrest within easy reach, and his eyes fixed on the stormy skies above. Despite the peace of the moment, his mind replayed the events of the past few hours—the relentless descent to the ground floor, the eerie encounter with the weeper, and the gruesome ambush that nearly cost him his life.
It was after that harrowing ordeal, blood still drying on his gloves, that the rewards had poured in.
The Basic Fortification Package had been a godsend. Hector had wasted no time putting it to work. Reinforced walls and fortified windows now shielded the building's ground floor, and the doors had been meticulously barricaded, each one a bulwark against any future incursions. The sense of security was tenuous but real, a small victory in a world that had given him so few.
The infected corpses had been another matter entirely. Hector had piled them near a backdoor, the stench already beginning to rise. He planned to haul them outside as soon as the storm abated, but for now, they were yet another grim reminder of what the world had become.
It was then, as he stood surveying his work, that the System had thrown him a curveball—a prompt unlike anything he'd seen before.
[New Prompt Detected:]
"Do you wish to claim the building as your land?"
The words hung in his mind, alien yet tantalizing. At first, Hector had scoffed at the absurdity of it. "Claim the building? What is this, a board game?" But as the details unfolded, he quickly realized there was more to the offer than a simple declaration of ownership.
[Claiming the building as your land will grant the following benefits:]
Landowner Buff:
+20% Injury Recovery Rate in Territory..
+20% Crafting Speed & Efficiency.
+20% Durability to Barricades & Fortification.
+20% Endurance Recovery Rate.
Building Management System: Assign specific rooms for storage, living, or defense directly through the System interface.
Access to Defensive Perks: Exclusive fortification perks for landowners.
Territorial Influence: Your territory has the potential to spread its influence such as discouraging the low-stage infected from wandering in.
[Warning:] Claiming land may increase your visibility to higher-stage infected or other potential threats as the infection evolves.]
Hector let out a long breath, his pulse quickening as he reread the prompt in his mind. The benefits were undeniably appealing, especially the idea of driving the infected away and enhancing his defenses. But the warning gave him pause. He didn't need the System to spell it out—staking a claim on the building would be like painting a giant bullseye on his back.
Still, the building had become more than a shelter to him. Over the past two weeks, he had poured every ounce of his effort into securing it, clearing it room by room, floor by floor. If he was going to survive—truly survive, not just scrape by—this place had to be more than just four walls.
He rolled the thought over in his mind, the rain continuing to hammer against the glass above.
[Do you wish to claim the building as your land? Yes/No.]
Hector sat up, his boots scuffing against the floor. "Claiming a building in the middle of an apocalypse," he muttered to himself. "What could possibly go wrong?"
He chuckled dryly, but the humor didn't last. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the prompt. His finger hovered over the "Yes" option for a long moment before he finally tapped it.
[Congratulations! You have claimed the building as your land. Welcome, Landowner.]
A follow-up prompt immediately appeared.
[Land Name: Unnamed. Would you like to name your territory?]
Hector leaned back on the couch, a faint smirk tugging at his lips despite himself. "Name it, huh?" he murmured, glancing around the rooftop garden. The storm outside raged on, but within these walls, there was a fragile semblance of safety—a sanctuary carved out of chaos.
"Sanctuary" Hector decided
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[Kill Confirmed: Special Infected - "Weeper"]
[XP Gained: 100 XP]
[LP Gained: 120 LP]
[Achievement Unlocked: Hunt the Silent Lure 100 LP rewarded]
[Total LP: 5430]
[Level 8: 180/900]
[Warning: Infection Stage 1 Calm]
[The longer you survive, the greater the infected threat. Prepare for increased numbers and mutations.]
[World Stage 1 Agitated]
[The world will respond to your survival. New dangers will emerge over time.]
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