The First System Reward

Evelyn Hart pressed her back against the bathroom door as another wave of pain tore through her body.

Her knees struck the cold tiles, and a strangled cry escaped her lips.

“Ah!” She quickly covered her mouth with both hands.

The last thing she wanted was to attract the attention of the creatures wandering outside her apartment.

Her entire body burned as if someone had poured boiling water into her veins. Sweat covered her forehead, and her clothes clung to her skin. Every breath felt like she was inhaling broken glass.

She could still remember Bianca’s terrified face.

She could still hear Adrian begging her to open the door.

Most painfully, she remembered the moment Claire had sunk her teeth into her arm.

The bite had happened so quickly that Evelyn had barely understood what was happening.

One moment, she had been trying to save Claire.

The next, she had been screaming as the woman she considered her sister tore into her flesh.

Evelyn looked down at her left arm.

The bandage she had wrapped around the wound was soaked with blood. Dark veins had spread from the bite, twisting beneath her skin like tiny black roots.

She swallowed hard.

“No. Not like this.”

She had already died once.

She had suffered betrayal, humiliation, and a painful death because she trusted the wrong people.

When fate gave her another chance, she had sworn never to make the same mistake again.

She had prepared for the apocalypse.

She had gathered food, water, medicine, and other necessities. She had even awakened a mysterious space system that allowed her to store supplies beyond what an ordinary person could carry.

Yet, after everything she had done, she had still been infected.

Was this how her second life would end?

Would she become one of those mindless creatures wandering the streets?

Would she lose her memories and eventually forget the person she used to be?

Evelyn clenched her teeth.

“No!”

Her voice sounded weak, but the determination in it remained.

“I refuse to die here.”

She dragged herself toward the sink and turned on the tap.

Nothing came out.

The water supply had already been interrupted.

She stared at the dry faucet for a moment before letting out a bitter laugh.

Of course.

The world had barely entered its first day of destruction, and the most basic necessities were already becoming difficult to obtain.

She had seen this before.

In her previous life, she had watched people fight over bottles of water. Families had turned against one another for a handful of food. Neighbors who once greeted each other with smiles had killed each other without hesitation.

And Adrian and Bianca had been among the worst people she had ever known.

They had abandoned her when the zombies attacked.

They had taken the supplies she had gathered and left her outside to die.

Even before the apocalypse, they had betrayed her in the most humiliating way possible.

Adrian had been her boyfriend for three years.

She had trusted him with her heart, her savings, and her future.

Bianca was her stepsister, the person who had pretended to care about her since their parents married.

Together, they had turned her life into a nightmare.

Evelyn closed her eyes. She could not afford to think about them now.

If she survived, she would settle every debt.

But first, she had to survive.

A sharp electronic sound suddenly rang inside her head.

Ding!

Evelyn’s eyes flew open.

A familiar blue screen appeared before her.

[Spatial Sanctuary System activated.]

[Host condition detected.]

[Warning! Viral infection has entered the bloodstream.]

[Current infection level: 67 percent.]

[Estimated time before critical deterioration: Unknown.]

Evelyn stared at the message. Sixty seven percent?

Her heart pounded against her ribs.

She remembered the last notification she had received before losing consciousness.

The system had warned her that if the infection reached one hundred percent, she might lose her human consciousness.

Now, the number had risen to sixty seven percent.

She had no idea how quickly it would increase.

“System!” Her voice trembled.

“Can you hear me?”

The screen flickered.

[The system is active.]

“Can you remove the infection?”

[Complete removal is currently unavailable.]

Evelyn’s face turned pale.

“Then give me medicine. Anything! You have to do something!”

[Warning! The host’s physical condition is unstable.]

[An emergency survival mission is available.]

[Mission: Preserve human consciousness until the infection stabilizes.]

[Mission duration: Until infection levels stop increasing.]

[Reward: Infection Resistance Attribute and Storage Capacity Upgrade.]

[Failure Penalty: Permanent Loss of Human Consciousness.]

Evelyn read the message twice.

The system had given her a mission.

If she completed it, she would receive an infection resistance attribute and an upgrade to her storage space.

But the penalty was terrifying.

If she failed, she might lose her consciousness forever.

“Accept!”

[Mission accepted.]

The screen disappeared.

Evelyn barely had time to breathe before another wave of pain struck her.

She collapsed onto her side, knocking a plastic container across the floor.

Her fingers curled against the tiles.

Every muscle in her body tightened.

She wanted to scream, but she forced herself to remain silent.

The zombies outside were sensitive to sound.

Even a small noise could attract them.

A low growl came from somewhere beyond the apartment door.

Evelyn froze. Another growl followed.

Then another.

She slowly turned her head toward the bathroom entrance.

The creatures had found their way into the building.

Their heavy footsteps dragged across the corridor, followed by the unmistakable sound of fingernails scraping against the walls.

Evelyn pressed her palm against her mouth.

She had locked the main door, but she knew that ordinary locks could not hold back a determined group of zombies forever.

If they broke into her apartment, she would have nowhere to run.

Her infection made the situation even worse.

She could barely stand.

How was she supposed to fight?

A sudden crash sounded outside.

Something heavy struck the apartment door.

Evelyn flinched.

The impact came again.

Bam! A low moan followed.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Please, she prayed silently. Just give me enough time.

She had survived betrayal.

She had survived death.

She refused to let the apocalypse take her life before she had even begun to live again.

The pain continued.

Minutes passed, although they felt like hours.

Sometimes, Evelyn thought she heard voices.

Other times, she heard only the pounding of her heart.

Her body alternated between burning heat and terrible cold. Her teeth chattered, and her vision blurred.

At one point, she could no longer feel her fingers.

She looked down and saw the dark veins extending toward her elbow.

Tears gathered in her eyes.

Was there really nothing she could do?

She had read countless reports about the infected in her previous life. Some people died within hours of being bitten. Others survived long enough to transform in front of their loved ones.

A few claimed that certain infected people behaved differently, but nobody had understood why.

The authorities had been overwhelmed.

Hospitals had become slaughterhouses.

Doctors had abandoned their patients to save themselves.

The government had promised that everything would return to normal, but those promises had disappeared as quickly as the communication networks.

Evelyn remembered a young mother who had begged for help while holding her infected child.

She remembered the child biting her mother’s neck.

She remembered the screams.

She had spent months trying to forget those images.

Now, she was afraid she would become part of the same nightmare.

“No,” she whispered. She forced herself to sit upright.

Her body trembled violently, but she continued to fight.

She would not surrender her mind, or become a monster.

She would not give Bianca the satisfaction of watching her die.

Another electronic sound rang in her head.

Ding! Evelyn raised her head.

A blue screen appeared before her eyes.

[Infection level: 71 percent.]

[Host consciousness remains stable.]

[Unusual biological response detected.]

[Analyzing host condition.]

The screen remained still for several seconds.

Evelyn held her breath.

Then another message appeared.

[Analysis incomplete.]

[Unknown resistance response detected.]

[Emergency mission remains active.]

She stared at the notification.

An unusual biological response?

What did that mean?

Was her body fighting the virus?

Or was something else happening inside her?

Before she could ask, the pain returned.

Evelyn fell forward, catching herself with both hands.

Her forehead struck the edge of the bathtub.

She barely felt it.

A strange sound escaped her throat.

For several seconds, she could hear nothing except the rush of blood inside her ears.

Then the world changed.

The sounds outside became clearer.

She could hear footsteps moving along the corridor.

She could hear something scratching at a door several apartments away.

She could even hear a faint dripping sound coming from a damaged pipe downstairs.

Evelyn slowly raised her head.

What was happening to her?

Her hearing had never been this sharp.

She could distinguish individual footsteps from the distant growls.

She could tell when a zombie moved closer and when it turned away.

It was as if someone had suddenly removed a thick layer of cotton from her ears.

Her heart began to race again.

Was this another symptom of the infection?

She looked at the dark veins on her arm.

They had stopped spreading.

The skin around the bite remained swollen, but the black lines no longer moved toward her shoulder.

Evelyn stared at the wound in disbelief.

For the first time since the attack, she felt a small spark of hope.

She slowly pushed herself onto her knees.

Her legs trembled, but they supported her weight.

She reached for the sink and pulled herself upright.

The mirror reflected a woman she barely recognized.

Her face was pale.

Her eyes were bloodshot.

Sweat covered her skin, and strands of damp hair clung to her cheeks.

Yet, despite her terrible appearance, she was still herself.

She could think.

She could remember.

She could feel fear.

Most importantly, she could still hate the people who had betrayed her.

Evelyn touched the mirror.

“I am still human.”

The words came out as a whisper.

She repeated them.

“I am still human.”

A few seconds later, the system sounded again.

Ding!

[Emergency survival mission completed.]

[Infection level has stabilized.]

[Current infection level: 71 percent.]

[Human consciousness preserved.]

[Reward issued: Infection Resistance Attribute.]

[Reward issued: Spatial Sanctuary Capacity Upgrade.]

[Current Capacity: 80 Cubic Meters.]

Evelyn stared at the messages.

Then she let out a shaky breath.

She had survived.

She had actually survived the infection reaching a critical stage.

Her knees weakened, and she sank onto the toilet seat.

For several seconds, she could do nothing but breathe.

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

They were not tears of sadness alone.

They were tears of relief, anger, and the overwhelming realization that she had been given another chance.

The system had saved her from losing her consciousness.

But it had not cured her.

She looked at the final notification again.

[Warning: Infection Resistance remains unstable.]

[Host is not immune to the virus.]

[Further exposure may cause severe deterioration.]

[Additional analysis required to identify the cause of the host’s unusual response.]

Evelyn’s relief faded.

She understood the warning.

The resistance attribute could help her survive, but it did not make her invincible.

If another infected person bit her, she might not be so lucky.

If the infection increased again, she could still lose control.

She needed to understand what was happening to her.

She also needed medicine, food, and a safe place to recover.

Fortunately, she had prepared for the apocalypse.

She had supplies stored inside her space.

And now, her storage capacity had increased from sixty cubic meters to eighty.

Twenty additional cubic meters might not sound like much to someone living in the old world.

But in the apocalypse, those twenty cubic meters could mean the difference between life and death.

She could store more food, more medicine, and more necessities.

She could also collect supplies without worrying about carrying everything on her back.

Evelyn wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“Thank you.”

She did not know whether the system could understand gratitude, but she said the words anyway.

Then she stood up.

Her legs were still weak, and her head felt heavy.

She needed to clean the wound and find fresh clothes.

She also needed to leave the apartment before the zombies broke through the door.

As if the thought had summoned trouble, a loud metallic crash echoed from downstairs.

Evelyn froze.

The sound was followed by a man’s angry voice.

“Break it open!”

Another crash followed.

“Move faster! We don’t have all day!”

Evelyn’s expression changed.

Those were human voices.

For one brief moment, she felt relieved.

Perhaps a rescue team had arrived.

Perhaps some survivors had organized themselves and were trying to secure the building.

Then she heard another voice.

“Forget the residents! Search every apartment! Take the food and anything valuable!”

Her relief vanished. These were not rescuers.

They were looters.

Evelyn moved toward the bathroom door and listened carefully.

The voices were becoming clearer.

Someone kicked a door open.

A woman screamed. A man shouted at her to remain quiet.

Then came the sound of something heavy hitting the floor.

Evelyn’s fingers tightened around the edge of the door.

She knew what was happening.

The collapse of society had begun to attract the worst people.

In her previous life, she had learned that not every human was safer than a zombie.

Some people would steal your food.Others would kill you for it.

And the most dangerous ones were those who believed that the apocalypse had given them permission to do whatever they wanted.

She moved toward the main room.The apartment was quiet.

A few scattered supplies remained on the table, but most of her important items were already stored inside her space.

She had deliberately kept her purchases separated and had avoided leaving obvious signs of her preparations.

Still, she was not certain how much the intruders could discover.

She needed to move. Evelyn checked the wound on her arm once more and covered it with a clean bandage.

Then she changed into dark trousers, a long sleeved shirt, and a pair of sturdy shoes.

She tied her hair back and picked up a small backpack.

Inside it, she placed a flashlight, a bottle of water, a few packets of food, and basic medical supplies.

The rest would remain inside her space. She had no intention of carrying everything on her back.

A heavy bag would slow her down. And right now, speed mattered more than anything else.

She approached the apartment door and looked through the peephole.

The corridor was empty. However, she could hear the looters moving around on the floor below.

A man laughed. Another complained about the lack of electricity.

Then someone mentioned a name.

“Blake wants every apartment searched before nightfall. He says the residents must have hidden supplies somewhere.”