A Death Penalty

​The second I finally got back to my own apartment and locked the door behind me, the sheer reality of the situation began to dawn on me properly.

​I was truly back. I was back in the past, and there were exactly two weeks left before the apocalypse.

​I walked straight into my bedroom and collapsed face-first onto the mattress, tightly gripping the large brown teddy bear I used to cuddle every single night. The teddy I missed so much in those gruelling nights after the apocalypse hit. 

I buried my face in its soft fur, breathing in the clean scent. I had not just missed the teddy, but my bed was well. 

In the apocalypse, this kind of comfort was a premium luxury. Not even our stronghold leader had a mattress this soft and comfortable.

​But as the adrenaline faded, a deep exhaustion took over—both emotionally and physically. Even though [Evidence Erasure] had wiped my body clean of blood, my untrained arms and muscles throbbed painfully from the exertion of swinging that bat.

​A cold wave of anxiety washed over me. With only two weeks left, I could barely get myself into proper physical shape for the impending doom. Worse, I didn't have the kind of capital required to hoard tons of supplies or build a fortified safe house. And in my current physical state, I certainly could not protect myself.

‘​Just... What am I supposed to do?’

​As if responding to my panic, the system interface materialized right above my bed, flashing bright new text:

​[System Initialization Complete.]

—​Innate Skills Granted:

—​[Foresight] (Level 1)

—​[Pocket Dimension] (Level 1)

—Core Objective: Survive the Apocalypse.

​Yeah, skills and abilities, I thought, staring at the screen. 

I remembered in the future, there were certain people who awakened special abilities when the apocalypse began—people who could control vines, produce fresh water, manipulate metal, and things like that. 

But those gifts were strictly reserved for a select, lucky few. I had been among the unfortunate, ordinary masses. 

Those who possessed abilities were treated as invaluable assets and almost always became the leaders of major factions.

‘​Then, does this mean I have abilities now, too?’

​Intrigued, I tapped on [Foresight] to read what it's about. The description revealed that I could catch glimpses of the immediate future or specific upcoming events simply by holding a person's hand or touching an object. 

‘That's a nice ability to have.’ I thought to myself and looked over the next. 

I tapped on [Pocket Dimension]. At Level 1, the space was roughly the size of a small, isolated cabin where goods could be stored indefinitely without spoiling. It noted that the space was fully upgradable through system quests.

​I sighed, rubbing my temples. The system had given me incredibly valuable resources, but how was I supposed to use them right now? 

Was I supposed to use my foresight to predict winning lottery tickets or casino games just to get enough quick cash to start hoarding? It seemed entirely too slow and inefficient with only fourteen days on the clock.

​Before I could ponder any further, the screen flashed violently, replacing the text with a brand-new quest directive.

​[Urgent Quest Triggered: Find a Protector]

​Objective: Locate the city's most dangerous and powerful man within 48 hours and secure his absolute protection for the upcoming apocalypse.

​Target Details: [Mafia Lord / Lucien Giovanni]

​Failure Penalty: [Death!]

Note: The most dangerous places are mostly the safest. 

My eyes widened and I nearly fell off the bed, fearful bumps rising all over my body.

​What in the world? Does this thing want to get me killed?

​Forget the penalty for a second. Just getting close to that madman was enough to get me killed before the timer even ran out!

​There is literally no one in this city who does not know Lucien Giovanni. Even now, while the world is still normal, his name is spoken in terrified whispers. 

And after the apocalypse began, he became even more notorious. He didn't just survive the end of the world; he thrived in it. 

He's a psychopath, he’s completely unhinged, and he finds absolute excitement in killing people. In my past life, everyone knew to steer clear of his territory unless they wanted to end up as zombie bait or worse.

​And that is who the system wants me to meet for protection?

​I stared at the glowing words [Failure Penalty: Death!] blinking in a harsh, menacing red.

​My heart hammered against my ribs, the comfort of my plush teddy bear suddenly forgotten. If I didn't find him in forty-eight hours, the system would wipe me out. If I did find him, he might just slit my throat for looking at him wrong. It felt like a sick joke.

“​The most dangerous places are mostly the safest,” I repeated the system's note in my head, a shudder running down my spine.

​I knew where he was. Right now, before the world fell apart, Lucien Giovanni ran his operations out of the Onyx Club downtown—a high-end, heavily guarded fortress disguised as a playground for the wealthy. 

Entering that place as an ordinary girl with a metal baseball bat wasn't going to cut it. I couldn't just walk up to a mafia lord and brazenly ask him to protect me.

​If I wanted to live through the next two days, I had to figure out how to use this [Foresight] ability to my advantage. I needed a bargaining chip so valuable that even a mad dog like Lucien wouldn't bite the hand that fed it.