The intense pain subsided. As Adrius lay on his back on the ground, he slowly opened his eyes. Everything around him was still blurry and unclear, but the white frame and its blue text were clear and readable right in front of him. Dazed and disoriented, Adrius stood up. Just about thirty centimeters in front of him, a car had crashed into the fence by the river. At that moment, there was only one thing he could think of: "A few centimeters more and it would've been my end..."
The sounds around him were still unclear, and his ears rang faintly, but there was still a sound resembling the groan of a monster, or something like that. Upon closer attention, Adrius realized that the sound was coming from inside the car. He blinked a few times, hoping to see better, and it worked, causing him to freeze in place—not from fear, but from surprise...
Inside the car, a creature resembling a zombie from horror films was struggling to free itself from its seatbelt. It kept groaning and screeching, glaring at Adrius, and at that moment, it became clear that the reason for the creature's thrashing, groaning, and screeching was simply because it couldn't reach Adrius. It seemed as though nothing mattered to it but consuming Adrius.
After seeing the zombie, Adrius finally focused on the frame in front of him, which contained the following blue text:
[> The Akashic Record has successfully connected to your planet. To view the status window, simply think about it. The status window will open as a test for the first time. <]
"Akashic Record?! Status window?!!" Adrius said in astonishment, then began reading the next white frame that had opened for him.
[> ------------------
Name: Adrius Wallace
Level: 0
Race: Human
job: None
Title: None
Specialty: None
Status Points: 0
|> Strength: 10 | Speed: 9 | Stamina: 10 | Resistance: 9 | Intelligence: 11 | Senses: 8 | Mana: 108 | Magic: 108 | Health: 10 <|
Active Skill: None
Passive Skill: None
------------------ <]
After reading the status window, Adrius, aside from his confusion, found the information in the frame surprisingly accurate. Based on the information he had about his own body, the details seemed completely acceptable. According to family tradition, every man from the Wallace family was expected to have enough knowledge and skill in martial arts and self-defense, as well as to keep his body as strong as possible. His father always said, "A man must have the strength and skill necessary to defend his family, his pride, and his honor." Even after becoming homeless, Adrius hadn't stopped his regular training to keep his body fit and powerful. As a homeless person, he needed a strong body to survive the harsh conditions of the streets, and his strength and health were all that he had left.
"Mana? Magic?!!!" But his eyes lingered on the words mana and magic. Adrius was certain that he had never had access to magic or mana, and that no such power or energy had ever been discovered on planet Earth. His only knowledge of magic and mana came from movies and books. But it seemed that now, he had access to both mana and magic. It wasn't just because of the words in the status window—it was because he could feel a type of special energy inside his chest. A faint warm, soothing sensation...
He temporarily pushed the thoughts of mana and magic aside and looked around him. The surrounding environment was, in a word, apocalyptic. People were running, screaming, and begging for help as they fled from zombie-like creatures. To his left, it seemed that the driver of a car that was only a few centimeters away from killing him had actually become one of those zombies. While groaning and shouting strange sounds, it was stuck in its seatbelt. Adrius was sure that the only thing the zombie was thinking about now was jumping on Adrius and eating his body.
To his right, about thirty to forty meters away, the long-haired boy was biting and eating the face of his glasses-wearing friend, D.D. The glasses-wearing boy screamed and asked Adrius for help while trying to escape his zombie friend. But in Adrius's view, the other boy didn't need help, because if zombies could turn a healthy human into one of their kind with just a scratch, D.D. would soon be a zombie too, meaning he was already beyond saving.
Suddenly, the sound of a dog barking caught his attention, and his gaze returned to the street. A golden retriever—those kind, smart golden dogs—was running toward... no, it was charging at him. Everything about the dog seemed off; it was larger than other dogs of its breed, and it was clearly running with the intent to kill, and ultimately eat his body.
Adrius quickly scanned his surroundings and spotted one of those small blue and white road signs that had been torn off from its base by the car before it crashed into the river's fence. Adrius grabbed the sign, about one and a half meters in length, like an axe, and managed to strike the dog in the neck with the broad side of the sign before its jaws could reach his throat.
The blow sent the dog flying nearly a meter to the right, slamming it to the ground. Adrius didn't stop there. He grabbed the wide part of the sign with both hands and, with all his strength, drove the sharp end of the sign (which had become a bit pointed from being ripped off) into the dog's head. Blood splattered on his face and his tattered clothes. At that moment, it became hard for him to breathe, and his mouth began to taste bitter. The smell of blood made his stomach churn, and after a violent bout of nausea, he vomited all the little food and water he had consumed that day to avoid hunger.
He had combat and self-defense skills and could make quick decisions in critical moments, but this was the first time he had taken a living being's life—at least, if you didn't count insects.
With all his strength, he yelled: "Damn it..."
At that moment, another window appeared before Adrius, causing his curiosity to override his anger, and he calmed down a little.
[> You have absorbed *The life flame* from the Level 6 (Dagger tooth Dog). 3+ Speed, 2+ Strength, 2+ Senses <]
[> Congratulations! You have successfully leveled up to Level 1. <]
[> You gained 3+ free status points. <]
After reading the message in the first window, two more appeared. Based on the text in the windows and the previously opened status window, it seemed like everything had become like an online computer game, and from now on, he would have to level up like a character in a game. Everything felt absurd, and for a second, he wondered if he was dreaming. But no... everything felt more natural and real than a dream, and the pain and nausea he felt convinced him he was definitely awake.
Suddenly, above the bloody corpse of the dog, a dark purple, diamond-shaped crystal floated and hovered in the air. Something resembling mist or smoke, matching the color of the crystal, emitted from it. Adrius moved closer to the crystal, noticing an odd, ancient symbol—or perhaps some runic letters—carved in golden on the crystal. Adrius reached out and grabbed the crystal, and the moment he wondered what it could be, another white window appeared before him.
[> ------------------
Shadow Master (Basic-tier, Active Skill) Level 9: The Basic-tier, Active Skill, Shadow Master gives you the ability to control and manipulate your own shadow and the shadow of your opponent, to a limited degree. The power of this skill is directly related to the mana used, the amount of magic, imagination, and intelligence you possess.
------------------ <]
After reading the text in the window, another light blue window appeared on the white frame.
[> ------------------
Tutorial Window:
To learn from a Skill Crystal or obtain contents from a treasure crystal, simply pour some of your mana into the crystal after holding it.
Attention!!! Tutorial windows only appear once for each person and cannot be revisited.
------------------ <]
After a few seconds, the light blue window disappeared. Adrius also closed the skill crystal information window. The interaction with the various windows was still a bit difficult for him, and the apocalyptic situation around him only made him more confused.
As Adrius held the crystal, he checked his surroundings. Besides the two boys who had already become zombies and were slowly approaching him, and the zombie stuck in the car next to him, there were no other immediate threats. Adrius stuffed the skill crystal into the only remaining pocket of his jeans, pulled the road sign from the dog's head, and started heading toward the two zombies approaching from the right. He had to go toward those zombies, because the other direction would take him to the more crowded parts of the city, and his logic told him that crowded areas would have more zombies.
Again, he gripped the sign like an axe and began to run. Using the momentum and weight of his body, he kicked the zombie to his right—the long-haired boy—sending it nearly a meter backward. With the same motion, he spun in the opposite direction and, after a 180-degree turn, struck the broad side of the sign into the half-eaten face of the other zombie. The blow crushed the zombie's skull, killing it instantly.
[> You have absorbed *The life flame* from the Level 0 (Zombie). 1+ Stamina. <]
Adrius quickly closed the window that had appeared and ran toward the other zombie, who was struggling to get up. Using the same method he had used to kill the dog, he drove the sharp end of the sign into the zombie's head.
[> You have absorbed *The life flame* from the Level 1 (Zombie). 1+ Strength, 1+ Stamina. <]
[> --------------------
Name: Adrius Wallace
Level: 1
Race: Human
job: None
Title: None
Specialty: None
Status Points: 3
|> Strength: 13 | Speed: 12 | Stamina: 10 | Resistance: 9 | Intelligence: 11 | Senses: 10 | Mana: 108 | Magic: 108 | Health: 10 <|
Active skills: None
Passive skills: None
--------------------- <]