The wind was dry and restless, carrying with it the scent of rusted metal and ash.
The group had finally reached the end of the Westlands—a place that marked the edge of the barren, monster-filled wilderness and the beginning of the old city zones.
Behind them lay a long and punishing journey. Ahead, the ruined sprawl of what was once Rion City stretched out like a sleeping giant, scattered with broken towers and empty roads.
Leo stood a few steps ahead of the others, staring at the faint silhouette of Zone 4's entrance in the distance.
He narrowed his eyes, watching the sunlight fade slowly behind the jagged remains of concrete skyscrapers. The journey had been brutal—sixty miles across the Westlands, with little rest in between.
For normal Awakened, it would have been unbearable. But Leo was far from normal.
His body was different.
Ever since his mutation began, something inside him had changed. His stamina no longer dropped like the others. No matter how far they walked or how long they fought, Leo always seemed fresh, focused, and full of energy.
It wasn't just his Awakening anymore. That... thing growing inside him—whatever it was—made him more than human.
He turned back to the group, noticing their sluggish movements and tired faces. Even Stacey, who usually stood tall and confident, was dragging her feet.
"We'll camp here tonight," Leo said, his voice calm but firm. "Tomorrow at dawn, we enter Zone 4 and meet the Zone Lord."
Stacey gave a small nod of relief. "Yeah, that's for sure," she replied, not hiding her exhaustion.
With everyone silently agreeing, they began setting up a small camp at the edge of the ruins. They found an open patch of broken ground near the shattered highway.
Rubble surrounded them, and twisted metal beams jutted from the earth like crooked bones. But the area was calm—too calm. There were no monsters, no howls in the wind. This place, at the border between the wastelands and civilization, seemed almost safe.
A fire was built as darkness fell. Sparks danced in the air while the survivors sat close around the warmth. They ate quietly—simple canned food and roasted mutant meat they had salvaged earlier. Despite the hard journey, there was a quiet peace to the night.
No one mentioned the dangers of tomorrow.
No one spoke of the challenges ahead.
For now, they just needed rest.
Leo sat apart from the others, poking at the fire with a stick. His sharp eyes drifted to the faint stars overhead. Somewhere far beyond those clouds, he believed, was the answer to everything.
As the fire crackled, Leo spoke without looking away.
"What are you all planning to do once we reach Zone 4?" he asked. "Will you serve the Zone Lord? Or do you have other plans?"
The question hung in the air. For a moment, no one answered.
Then Stacey replied, "Honestly… we don't know. If we get a decent job, maybe we'll stay. But we don't have many choices. We need food, protection, and a roof over our heads."
Another survivor chimed in, "Not all of us are strong like you, Leo. We can't survive out there alone."
Stacey shot him a sharp look, and the man immediately went quiet, lowering his gaze. Leo didn't say anything else. He just stared into the fire, lost in thought.
Eventually, the group dispersed to their makeshift shelters—scraps of tarp and metal sheets forming small, sad-looking tents. One by one, they slipped into silence, letting sleep take them.
But not Leo.
He sat there long after the fire died down, his mind refusing to rest.
He leaned back against a broken wall, arms crossed, eyes half-closed.
There was too much on his mind.
Too many questions.
Too many puzzles.
---
When the apocalypse first began, everything had seemed clear. Kill zombies. Gain XP. Level up. Grow stronger. But things changed. Slowly, then suddenly.
Now, Leo no longer gained experience like before. Killing zombies gave him nothing. No pop-ups. No rewards. No numbers ticking up. At first, he thought it was a glitch. But now he knew better.
It was his mutation.
Whatever he had become, the system treated him differently.
And it wasn't just that.
There were other things… deeper, more hidden things that didn't make sense.
When the system had first activated, a global ranking system had been introduced. It was public. Everyone could see it. And Leo—somehow—had ranked third in the entire world.
At the time, he didn't understand how.
Now, he suspected something was deeply wrong.
Two names stood above his in those early rankings—users marked as Eternals. Leo had thought they were simply stronger Awakened, far ahead in power. But now he questioned whether they were even human. Reaching the level 9 Eternal rank should take years of grinding and evolution, but the rankings had appeared just days after the apocalypse began.
It didn't add up.
None of it did.
And now that entire system—the rankings, the global chat, everything—was gone. Locked. Erased.
No one could access it anymore. It was as if it had never existed.
But Leo remembered. He remembered the strange names, the cryptic messages in the world chat. Powerful beings who had said things that made no sense. As if they knew more than anyone else. As if they didn't belong to this world.
He clenched his fists.
"Was it all a lie?" he muttered.
Was the system real? Or just a tool to control them? A way to give hope... and then take it away?
He remembered how it felt when he saw his name ranked third. That brief moment of pride. That tiny spark of belief that maybe, just maybe, he had a chance to become something great.
And then it was gone.
The more he thought, the more his suspicions grew.
What if this entire system wasn't from Earth at all?
What if it came from somewhere else? Another realm? Another species?
He remembered the Crimson Herald—its messengers, the strange aura, the whispers in his head. He had thought that was the end of it. But now, looking back, it felt like a beginning. A warning. A glimpse into something far beyond his understanding.
Then there was the Lesser Nightborne.
That creature had spoken. It had fought with tactics. Intelligence. Will. At the time, Leo brushed it off as part of the Level 2 Apocalypse—maybe zombies just got smarter. But since then, he had fought dozens of mutants and beasts. None of them had that intelligence. None of them spoke. None of them felt... aware.
So why only the Nightborne?
Why only that one?
And why had no more appeared?
He leaned his head back, closing his eyes. His heartbeat slowed. The fire was a faint glow now, like a dying star.
Everything about this world was changing too fast.
And none of it made sense.
"I need answers," he whispered.
But deep down, he knew the truth.
He was still too weak.
Too far from the truth.
And yet… something told him he was getting closer. The more he evolved, the more he saw behind the curtain. There were things out there—things watching. Waiting.
And he would find them.
Even if it meant tearing through every zone, facing every monster, and unlocking every secret buried in this broken world.
But for now… he had to rest.
Tomorrow, they would meet the Zone Lord of Zone 4. And the path ahead would only get darker.
He let out a slow breath, letting the thoughts fade into the night.
Then, finally, he closed his eyes.
And the world around him fell silent.