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Chapter 7: The System Shop
We spent the rest of August 15th holed up in our apartment, watching the city tear itself apart.
From our fourth-floor window, we had a clear view of the chaos. People running in the streets, trying to escape zombies that stumbled after them with relentless determination. Cars crashing into each other as drivers panicked or turned into zombies mid-drive. Buildings catching fire from god-knows-what.
The police showed up around 8 AM—three patrol cars with sirens blaring. They tried to shoot the zombies, but most of them aimed for the body instead of the head. Wasted bullets. Within twenty minutes, two of the officers were dead and one had driven away, abandoning his partners.
"They don't know the rules yet," Maya said quietly, watching through binoculars we'd grabbed from a pawn shop last week. "Headshots only. They're learning the hard way."
I nodded, updating my notebook with observations:
• Zombies: Slow but persistent. Don't tire. Don't feel pain.
• Weakness: Brain destruction only. Headshots, skull trauma.
• Behavior: Attracted to noise and movement. Ignore each other.
• Speed: Shuffling walk, can't run (yet).
That last part worried me. In the novel, Tier-2 zombies appeared on day five, and they could run. We had four days to get stronger before that happened.
"How long until the tutorial quest completes?" Maya asked.
I checked my System interface mentally. [TIME REMAINING: 14:23:17]
"About fourteen hours. Midnight tonight."
"And then we can access the System Shop?"
"Yeah. We'll see what we can afford with our points."
Maya turned away from the window. "We should eat something. Keep our strength up."
We made a simple meal from our supplies—canned soup heated on the camping stove since the power was still out. As we ate, I noticed Maya kept glancing at her System interface, her expression thoughtful.
"What are you looking at?" I asked.
"My stats. The System shows basic information." She focused on empty air, clearly reading. "Level 1. Health: 100/100. Stamina: 85/100. No skills yet. No special advantages." She looked at me. "What about yours?"
I pulled up my full status screen:
[ETHAN CHEN - STATUS]
Level: 1
Health: 100/100
Stamina: 90/100
Mana: 50/50 (Locked - Awakening Required)
Strength: 6
Agility: 8
Constitution: 7
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 11
Luck: 5
Points Available: 105
Skills: None
Title: Reader (Hidden)
Special Advantage: Reader's Privilege
• Enhanced skill learning rate: +25%
• Bonus points for strategic actions: +10%
• Event notifications: Limited access
"My stats are pretty average," I said. "Except Intelligence and Wisdom are higher ,probably from having two lifetimes of memories. And I have this Reader's Privilege thing that gives me learning bonuses."
"Your Strength is only 6?" Maya raised an eyebrow. "That explains why you were struggling with that big zombie on the first floor."
"Hey, I survived eleven years of malnutrition. I'm working with what I've got." I stirred my soup. "What are your stats?"
Maya read them off: "Strength 9, Agility 10, Constitution 8, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 9, Luck 6. I'm more physical than you, less smart."
"You're plenty smart," I said. "You've been planning for this for two years. That takes intelligence."
She smiled slightly. "Thanks. But I wish my Luck was higher. Six feels ominous."
"Five is worse," I pointed out.
We finished eating in companionable silence, then spent the afternoon organizing our supplies and reinforcing the apartment. Maya nailed boards over the windows—not completely blocking them, but enough to prevent zombies from seeing in. I set up tripwires in the hallway outside our door using fishing line and empty cans. Low-tech, but effective.
Around 6 PM, we heard screaming from the apartment below us.
"Third floor," Maya said immediately, grabbing her bat. "Someone's in trouble."
"Wait—" I started, but she was already at the door.
"We're in a Safe Zone," she said. "That means anyone who makes it here has a chance to survive. We should help them."
She was right. And if we were going to build a base with allies, we had to start somewhere.
We found the source of screaming quickly: unit 3B, directly below ours. The door was ajar, and inside we could hear sobbing and the distinctive groaning of zombies.
Maya kicked the door open fully.
Inside, a woman in her thirties was cornered in the kitchen by two zombies .both children, maybe eight and ten years old. The woman was crying, holding a kitchen knife but unable to bring herself to use it on what had clearly been her kids.
"Please," she sobbed when she saw us. "Please help them, they're sick, they need—"
"They're dead," Maya said bluntly. "I'm sorry. But they're gone."
The woman screamed "No!" but Maya was already moving. She swung the bat and caught the smaller zombie in the head, dropping it instantly. I moved in on the second one, using my crowbar to take it down with two heavy strikes.
[ZOMBIES KILLED: 2]
[POINTS EARNED: 20]
[BONUS: +5 (RESCUE SUCCESSFUL)]
The woman collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably. Maya knelt beside her while I checked the rest of the apartment—clear, no more threats.
"What's your name?" Maya asked gently.
"Lisa," the woman choked out. "Lisa Park. My babies, my babies were sick this morning, and then the aurora came and they died and then they woke up and—" She couldn't finish, just sobbed harder.
Maya looked at me, and I saw my own conflicted feelings reflected in her eyes. We'd just killed this woman's children. Zombified children, but still. The apocalypse was brutal in ways that went beyond physical danger.
"Lisa," Maya said firmly. "I know this is horrible. But your kids are gone. What you saw were monsters wearing their faces. Do you understand?"
Lisa nodded slowly, still crying.
"Do you want to survive?" Maya pressed.
Another nod.
"Then you need to come with us. Our apartment is safer. We have food and water. But you have to pull yourself together, okay?"
It took ten minutes to get Lisa calm enough to move. We brought her up to our apartment, gave her water and a blanket, and let her sit in the corner while she processed her trauma.
"First survivor recruit," I said quietly to Maya. "Think she'll make it?"
"I don't know," Maya admitted. "Losing your kids like that... I can't imagine. But she's alive, and that's something."
---
The rest of the day passed slowly. Lisa barely spoke, just sat wrapped in the blanket and stared at nothing. We didn't push her. Everyone processed trauma differently.
At 11:47 PM, my System interface chimed:
[TUTORIAL QUEST COMPLETION: 13 MINUTES]
Maya and I positioned ourselves by the window, watching the clock. At exactly midnight, new messages flooded our vision:
[TUTORIAL QUEST COMPLETE!]
[CONGRATULATIONS ON SURVIVING YOUR FIRST DAY]
[REWARDS GRANTED:]
• System Shop Access Unlocked
• 100 Bonus Points
• Basic Skill Selection Available
[CURRENT POINTS: 230] (My total with all bonuses)
[SYSTEM SHOP NOW AVAILABLE]
[Would you like to browse available items and skills?]
I mentally selected YES, and suddenly my vision filled with a massive catalog.
The System Shop was organized into categories:
WEAPONS
• Basic Iron Sword: 50 points
• Reinforced Combat Knife: 30 points
• Compound Bow + 20 Arrows: 80 points
• 9mm Pistol + 50 Rounds: 150 points
• Baseball Bat (Enhanced Durability): 40 points
ARMOR
• Leather Vest: 60 points
• Combat Boots (Enhanced): 45 points
• Tactical Gloves: 25 points
• Light Kevlar Vest: 200 points
CONSUMABLES
• Health Potion (Restores 50 HP): 20 points
• Stamina Potion (Restores 30 Stamina): 15 points
• Purified Water (1 gallon): 5 points
• Nutrient Bar (1 day food): 10 points
• Antidote (Cures poison): 30 points
SKILLS - COMBAT
• Basic Knife Fighting (Passive): 100 points
• Basic Firearms (Passive): 100 points
• Power Strike (Active): 150 points
• Quick Dodge (Active): 120 points
• Precision Shot (Active): 130 points
SKILLS - SURVIVAL
• Enhanced Stamina (Passive): 80 points
• Fast Healing (Passive): 150 points
• Danger Sense (Passive): 200 points
• Crafting Basic (Passive): 60 points
• Foraging Knowledge (Passive): 50 points
SKILLS - UTILITY
• Inspect (Active): 40 points
• Night Vision (Toggle): 90 points
• Silent Steps (Passive): 110 points
• Inventory Expansion: 75 points
SPECIAL ITEMS
• Portable Safe Zone Marker: 500 points
• System Map (Shows nearby resources): 300 points
• Communication Crystal (Links 2 users): 250 points
• Random Skill Book: 180 points
The list went on and on, hundreds of items. My head spun trying to process it all.
"This is overwhelming," Maya said beside me, clearly browsing her own shop interface.
"Yeah," I agreed. "We need to be strategic. What do we need most right now?"
Maya thought for a moment. "Skills over items. Items can be looted or crafted eventually. Skills make us stronger permanently."
"Smart." I scanned the skill list again. "I'm thinking Basic Knife Fighting for me—I'm using the knife most. That's 100 points. What about you?"
"I have 95 points total," Maya said. "Not enough for any of the 100-point skills. But I can afford Enhanced Stamina for 80 points. That'll help me fight longer without getting tired."
"Good choice." I kept browsing. "After Knife Fighting, I'll have 130 points left. I should save some for emergencies, but... Inspect for 40 points seems useful. It probably lets us see information about enemies and items."
"Do it," Maya encouraged. "Information is survival."
I made my purchases:
[PURCHASE: BASIC KNIFE FIGHTING - 100 POINTS]
[PURCHASE: INSPECT - 40 POINTS]
[POINTS REMAINING: 90]
Immediately, knowledge flooded my mind. My hands moved through knife-fighting stances I'd never learned but somehow knew now. Grip positions. Strike angles. Defensive movements. It felt like I'd trained for months in seconds.
"Whoa," I breathed. "That's... intense."
Maya had purchased Enhanced Stamina and was flexing her hands, testing her new capability. "I feel like I could run a marathon. This is incredible."
I focused on Lisa, who was still in the corner, and activated my new Inspect skill:
[LISA PARK]
Level: 1
Status: Traumatized, Grieving
Threat Level: None
Class: None (Unawakened)
Notes: Recently lost children to zombification. Mental state fragile. Survival chance without support: 12%
Twelve percent. That was brutal but probably accurate.
"We should rest," I said. "Day two starts tomorrow, and if the novel's timeline holds, things get worse."
Maya nodded. "I'll take first watch. Wake me in four hours."
Lisa finally spoke, her voice hoarse: "Thank you. For saving me. For bringing me here."
"Don't thank us yet," Maya said, not unkindly. "Just focus on surviving. That's all any of us can do."
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*Author's Note: The apocalypse has officially started! The System is active, our duo has their base, and the real survival begins. Next chapters will cover the first week—mutations, other survivors, and the discovery of what Reader's Privilege really means. Thank you for all the support!*
"If you enjoy this chapter, please vote with your Power Stones! It helps a lot! 💎