Chapter 3

Half an hour passed. It was now 3:50 p.m.

Leon finished off the last zombie outside the entrance to Reunis Tower and dragged his exhausted feet inside. Blood coated both him and his baseball bat.

He leaned against the wall to catch his breath and exhaled hard. "God, my right hand hurts after so many swings. This body is too weak."

Without an Awakening Orb to unlock his superpowered genetics, he had relied on pure adrenaline just to take down a dozen zombies.

That came at a cost. By now, Leon had lost almost all his strength. Luckily, he had anticipated this and prepared a few chocolate bars to replenish his energy.

He rested in the corridor until his fatigue eased. Half an hour later, he checked his watch.

It was 4:20 p.m., and 40 minutes remained before the orbs' descent.

The skyscraper had 37 floors, and Leon stood on the ground floor.

He had already tried the elevator earlier. Pressing the buttons did nothing. It must have broken down.

The only way up now was the stairs. He would have to climb all the way to the top in 40 minutes.

…

Two minutes remained before 5:00 p.m. Camilla's and Jean's stomachs growled in protest.

"Are you hungry?" Camilla asked, fixing her friend with a wide stare.

Jean knew what that meant. She grabbed her phone and began firing off another round of messages.

There was no reply.

Camilla often tried to maintain an air of reserved elegance, but hunger made that effort feel pointless. She bit her lip, hesitated, then whispered, "Jean, do you think he might have… you know… eaten on the way?"

Jean frowned. "What? I know he's a bum, but that would be criminal. At least send our food first before dying like a pig. It's not like we care if he's dead. His only purpose is to deliver food for us. He has no other worth."

They were worried about Leon. Not for his safety, but for whether he could reach them with their food before the zombies did.

"Why don't you call him, Milla?" Jean suggested.

Camilla hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. Let me try."

Leon picked up within 10 seconds, but his voice sounded cold and annoyed. "What?"

'What kind of attitude is that? Where is the eagerness to please, the subservient tone? I had to push myself to call this loser, and this is what I get for showing him some kindness?' Tears welled in Camilla's eyes. 'Is this what it feels like to fall out of favor after once being the queen of someone's heart?'

Silence lingered on the line.

Leon pulled the phone from his ear and glanced at the screen.

He smirked, thinking, 'The Prettiest Girl on Earth. That's her contact name? God.'

Camilla had wanted to hang up when she felt no warmth or adulation, but her stomach growled and reminded her she had no choice.

"Where are you, Leon? I've been waiting for so long…" she purred, suppressing the urge to gag.

She knew this tactic worked on a horny simp like him. All it took was a wink and a cutesy, girlish tone, and Leon would turn into her most loyal and fearless soldier.

Leon felt his skin crawl. He checked his watch. 'Ten more seconds.'

"I'm close. Just wait for me. I promise I brought plenty of goodies for both of you," he replied, then hung up.

The air above him warped, as if space itself were distorting. A moment later, a black marble materialized and dropped beside his foot without ceremony.

'This's it. The Awakening Orb, the key to changing humanity's fate!' he thought.

Leon crushed the orb between his fingers. Bright red liquid oozed out and ran down his arm like blood. It spread from his wrist through the rest of his body in seconds.

[0001 Leon Reagan

Rank: Low, Tier 1

Awakened Calling: Undead Overlord

Power: 10

Dexterity: 10

Spirit: 10

Constitution: 10

Awakened Skills:

(1) Necromancy (0/10): Summons deathbound warriors. They cannot exceed the summoner's rank.

(2) Undead Hymn: Sings a lullaby for the undead. All undead and spirits within a 330-foot radius receive elemental bonuses. Cooldown: 1 hour.]

It was done.

Leon stared at his code: 0001. He was the first Awakened human among the 1,000 orbs in Reunis. On top of that, he was the Undead Overlord.

The realization stunned him. He had expected to awaken as he had in his last life, like Logan Clayton, as an (SS) Six-Winged Fallen Angel. Instead, he had obtained an (SSS) Calling.

In his past life, only the top three Awakened in the world had (SSS) Callings. Now he was one of them.

His rank read "Low, Tier 1," the default for all newly Awakened humans. It marked the threshold between mortal and Awakened, even if Tier 1 stood at the very bottom.

There were nine ranks in total: Low, Amateur, Mid, High, Master, Epic, Legendary, Mythic, and Divine. Each rank had four tiers.

The gap between ranks was immense. In his last life, Leon had been an (A) Demon Hunter. He had endured countless trials and gained rare privileges that let him push past certain limits tied to his Calling's grade, yet he had never risen beyond Legendary Tier 2. That had placed him tenth on the global leadership board.

Everyone above him had been at least Legendary Tier 4. Some had reached Mythic.

This time, with the (SSS) Undead Overlord, Leon would shatter every limit placed on him and rise to the top of the board.

He would reach Divine rank and kill the gods.

The gods had treated humanity as playthings long enough. It was time for a mortal man to kill them.