When he opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything for the first few seconds. Perhaps it was better not to see. But he was still alive, and he had to face that reality.
Emilia was standing in front of him. With her usual smile on her face, she seemed genuinely happy that he had survived.
William raised his hands and examined them. Strangely, they were intact. Moving them was easy. But his back... his back was different. Pain burned deeply in the center of his body. The hole in the middle of the room, opening onto the hall, immediately revealed the source of the pain.
With an explosion, his body had been hurled through the wooden ceiling into the room above.
He raised his head and looked at the ceiling. There were collapsed sections there as well.
"I flew that far..." he thought to himself.
Breathing was difficult at first, but he recovered quickly. The muscles in his face were so stiff that he couldn't move a single muscle.
He tried to support himself on the edge of the bed but failed. He then reached forward and began to crawl. His knees hurt much more than he had expected. He checked the inside of his torn pants. He had expected broken bones or shredded skin, but found nothing. Aside from a few unexpected scars, his legs were intact. Still, the pain did not subside.
"How is this possible?" he thought to himself.
He slowly crawled toward the hole. When he looked down, there was no table, no chair, and no dishes left. Everything was shattered. There was not a single trace of his family's bodies. Only bloodstains splattered on the walls remained.
At that moment, the first wave of grief settled on his shoulders.
It was only then that he fully realized he had lost his family.
He wanted to cry, but the pain on his face prevented him. Only a few tears trickled down his cheeks. And those few tears released all the pain he had been holding in for years in a searing burst.
He stepped back and leaned his back against the bed.
"Hah... Hah..."
Without realizing it, he was gasping for breath.
He tried to come to his senses. The distance to the door of the room seemed miles away in his eyes. As his fingers dragged along the floor, he felt an unbearable burning sensation in his joints. With every step, he felt as if thousands of needles were piercing his body.
When he reached the door, even grasping the handle was a struggle in itself. Finally, he pushed the door open and stepped into the hallway. Reaching the bathroom seemed almost impossible to him, but he had no other choice. Crawling on his knees, he moved forward, using the walls for support.
Opening the bathroom door, reaching the cabinet inside, rummaging through the medicine bottles with his hands... Each step was a test. Finally, he found the painkiller box. He opened it, poured a few pills into his palm, and swallowed them with a few drops of water from the sink faucet.
When he felt a little better, he mustered the courage to look in the mirror. There were scratches on his face and neck, but no major wounds. It was hard to believe he had survived such destruction with so little damage.
"How is this possible?" he whispered. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't find the answer.
As he drifted into a deep void, a voice he had never heard before echoed in his mind:
"You killed a Zombie Lv1! +120 EXP"
"You've leveled up!"
His head snapped up. His eyes focused on his reflection in the mirror. There was a faint glow in his pupils. The questions swirling in his mind seemed to be answered by a system:
"Eternum Protocol: A universal biological enhancement system that repairs the user's physical and mental damage, enabling adaptation and growth. As the user fights enemies, takes damage, or deals damage, they gather Ley energy to grow stronger and increase their levels. The system automatically enhances physical and mental abilities, and dramatically increases the healing speed of wounds."
His heart raced. Fear and excitement competed in his veins. Though he hadn't fully grasped what was happening, he had a strong feeling that everything was about to change.
"The system…"
His gaze shifted from his reflection in the mirror to the information appearing in his mind. A holographic interface materialized before him:
"Notice! System points have been distributed to the STRENGTH statistic for optimal benefit since the user is unconscious."
[William Aunitidis – Level: 2]
[EXP: 80/2000]
[STRENGTH: 2 (+++)]
[SPEED: 1 (+++)]
[PERCEPTION: 1 (+++)]
[LEY: 1 (+++)]
[SP:0] (System Points)
[Abilities: None]
[Blessing: EXP10X]
[System Currency: 900]
[STORE (+)]
[LIBRARY (+)]
[CODEX (+)]
"What is this?"
He couldn't help thinking aloud. As he looked at the system, the pain in his body gradually subsided. He stood up straight in front of the mirror.
He took off his T-shirt, which had been torn to shreds in the explosion. His muscles had suddenly transformed into the body of someone who had been lifting weights for several years.
He touched the scars on his chest. This body... it didn't feel like his own. He raised his arm and flexed his bicep.
These couldn't be his arms. The same face, the same room... but a different body.
If all this hadn't happened, he might have thought he was reborn.
William remained in the same position for a few minutes, trying to process what had happened.
After a while, he reached into his pocket.
He took out his phone and looked at it.
"No signal!"
He shook his head. He hadn't expected it to work anyway.
Then he looked at his computer in the corner of the room. It didn't appear to be damaged, and since he still used the old-fashioned wired system, he saw a glimmer of hope.
He ran quickly, as if forgetting his pain, and turned on the computer.
Fortunately, the wired system hadn't crashed yet.
He immediately browsed the major social media networks and read the posts. Most people were divided, but when he saw the interactions on the million-follower accounts, William's face darkened.
"The human population… Is it almost gone?"
William saw announcements from several government accounts, representing different countries, urging people to stay home and hide.
A few celebrities also stated that humanity had entered a new era and needed to adapt.
He glanced at his local government's page but found nothing. No one from his surroundings or friends had logged into social media.
He saw the locations of gathering areas from a few distant government accounts, but they were all too far away for him.
"I guess… I'm alone," William thought. He didn't know how long the wired internet would last, and it was a miracle that the electricity was still on.
He saw a government post sharing a few survival tactics.
"Stockpile food, don't go outside unless necessary. Find a weapon, protect yourself, and come to designated gathering areas."
William looked at the map location and shook his head. "Even military bases must be in danger."
After browsing for a while longer, William saw posts from a few famous accounts.
"Kill the zombies! Just like in the movies, aim for the brain! Every zombie you kill will give you exp points! I don't know what happens when your exp bar fills up, but this is the only way!"
William shook his head. "Yeah, when your exp bar fills up, you level up just like in games."
William commented on that post.
"I don't regret it because the system automatically gives the points to the Strength stat," he muttered.
Someone immediately replied to William's comment. "What happened when you leveled up?"
"I got stronger. It's like I've been working out for years. I think my fist could create a dent in a concrete wall?" William wrote about his feelings.
He couldn't test his strength at home. He knew his father had bought this house at a high price with a mortgage. Even if everything and everyone were gone, he couldn't do that to his father.
But above all, William felt he needed to understand the system a little better.
"What do these Abilities and Blessings mean?" William wrote in a comment. A few men followed his comment, and soon a few answers came in.
"I don't have an ability, but I have a blessing? It's called 'speed reading.' I guess it helps me read quickly." William raised an eyebrow when he saw this comment.
"Could blessings be random?"
Then he saw a few more comments.
"Matchstick fire."
"Flexible legs."
"Short burst!"
"Tracking."
"Power output!"
William's eyebrow stayed raised for a long time. The names of the blessings didn't reveal much. He logged in and checked people's profiles. It didn't take long for him to find a profile that might provide a clue. The person who wrote the blessing called "Short burst" was an athlete. He had several medals.
"I wonder if it has something to do with how people develop? As the name suggests, is the system giving us a way out? Then why doesn't anyone have any abilities?"
William shook his head. "Strange."
"Can I ask the system? I got an answer when I asked it before."
"The Eternum Protocol treats all beings equally. Blessing is a unique skill system created to increase the chances of survival for people in worlds suddenly exposed to ley energy. Every living being can only have one blessing in their lifetime."
William nodded understandingly.
He stood up and looked out of the small window. As he expected, everything he could see was filled with smoke. The blue sky seemed to have turned gray today, and in some places, a lighter blue aura was causing explosions in certain areas. However, the locations of these explosions were so far away that William could barely hear the sound.
He couldn't see anyone on the street at that moment—neither zombies nor any surviving humans—so he sat back down in his chair.
"So what is this ability?"
"Abilities are a unique training system that allows users within the system to develop unlimitedly and contributes to their evolution. Everything you do can turn into an ability. All you have to do is train yourself enough to earn EXP."
William was delighted to hear this news. Because EXP10X, written next to his Blessing, opened the door to several pieces of good news for him.
"Can I ask a question about my Blessing?" Just as he thought this, the emotionless voice appeared in his head again.
"Your Blessing, EXPX10, multiplies all the EXP you earn by ten." William couldn't understand this.
"How can this be a blessing? It's obviously a cheat! Could there be a restriction? Or a side effect?"
William waited to hear the system's voice, but there was no response for several minutes.
"Is the system favoring me?" William shook his head. "I don't think that's possible."
"I've been studying a lot lately, could that be why I've been blessed with this? And the EXP I got from a zombie is 120, so if that's multiplied by ten, does that mean a normal zombie gives 12 EXP points?" As William was thinking about this, the system's voice appeared in William's mind, as if it had found a question it could answer.
"A regular Zombie Lv 1 grants 1.2 EXP points. You can check the information on the creatures you've killed in the codex."
William didn't rush to check the codex, but new questions arose in his mind.
"1.2 points? Then how did I earn 120 points? What kind of math is this? Am I being counted as ten people? Shouldn't I have earned 12 points? I understand that I can earn 12 points by multiplying the EXP I earned by ten, but how do you explain me earning 120 points?"
This question was left unanswered by the system.
William knew it was pointless to dwell on something he didn't understand, but he couldn't stop thinking about it.
On one hand, the pain of his family's death was slowly fading away, as his attention was focused on more urgent matters, but on the other hand, he didn't want to forget that pain.
"System… What are you?"
William thought… He might have sat there for a few hours. The sky was still bright, and when the loud chirping of a few birds began to give him a headache, he managed to push the pain aside.
He sat up straight. He looked at the computer. He saw all the latest news. He drew a map in his mind and refreshed the page, realizing it was already too late. The internet was finally gone. At least the electricity was still on.
He leaned back in his chair. "I need to fully understand what the system is. Only then I can leave the house and go to a shelter."
"Gurrrr..." He realized he was hungry, but his priorities were different. His stomach could wait; it was clear the food in the fridge wouldn't spoil.
He turned to his left and looked at the flat wall. The system screen appeared instantly before him; there was no need to speak.
He focused on one of the "+" signs next to the power statistics. A few lines of text appeared immediately.
[Attack Power: 1.50]
Curious, William also focused on the plus sign next to the attack power.
[Physical Defense: 1.50]
[Stamina: 1.50]
"So these three plus signs show three more stats. I wish there was an explanation for these."
At that moment, the system's emotionless, genderless voice echoed in his mind.
"Statistics are processed under four main categories for an ordinary human. Each of these four main categories has three sub-statistics."
Following this voice, a table appeared before William's eyes.
Main Statistics : [Strength, Speed, Perception, Ley]
Strength : [ Attack Power (Physical strike damage), Physical Defense (Reduces melee damage), Stamina(Resistance to prolonged efforts, carrying loads, and fatigue)]
Speed: [Dodge(Chance of dodging physical attacks), Reflexes (Attack and reaction speed; first move advantage), Precision(Fine motor control, marksmanship, fine craftsmanship)]
Perception: [Awareness(Early detection of hidden enemies/traps)Senses (Sharp vision/hearing, range perception) Foresight (Determining direction 'instinctively' at the moment of decision)
Ley: [Ley Control (Accuracy and power score of magic and Ley skills) Ley Pool (Total LP/energy capacity) Ley Purity (Reducing the risk of excessive decay/entropy in magic effectiveness)
"Substatistics may also vary depending on the evolution undergone and the path chosen, and may give rise to further substatistics."
William nodded when he saw the table and heard the explanation.
It seemed like a very simple system, but he was good at reading between the lines.
"What is this evolution?"
The system's voice echoed instantly in his mind.
"Every ten levels, a chance for evolution arises. Enhancing one's race and body is possible through this evolution. Every created being has the chance for evolution and is free to choose their own path."
"In short, a path to become stronger." William nodded in understanding.
Then he recalled the points the system had automatically distributed while he was unconscious.
"What happened while I was unconscious? How many points did I earn? What did you do with those points?"
"The system always selects the most optimal option for the user. The goal is the user's survival. While you were unconscious, you gained 1 System Point by leveling up. This one point was given to the STRENGTH statistic."
"Every 1-point increase in the STR stat guarantees a +0.25 increase in the three sub-stats."
William nodded. "Simple," he thought.
"What are the uses for system points?"
The system's voice remained emotionless. "System points can be used to increase the user's main statistics. They can also be used for sub-statistics.
Each 1 SP = 1 main statistic point or 2 sub-statistic points.
No sub-statistic can exceed three times the main statistic. It disrupts the body's optimal state and the user dies."
William shook his head.
"That's a bit harsh." He smiled and leaned back in his chair. He looked up at the ceiling in a relaxed position.
"I suppose we'll be getting to know this 'system' pretty well from now on."
William hadn't expected to get over his family's death so quickly.
But he quickly realized that what had happened was enough to make him forget his family.
"Better than being an ordinary dentist…"