The sun set in the gloomy skies of Planet Aurelia. The world has gone dark and silent; the previous bustling cities were filled with smoke, yet no longer from the cries of cars, but from humans instead.
Grefort City was no different. Buildings were destroyed, and smoke billowed out from some of them. The highways were impassable, with countless cars clogging the roads in a disorganized manner. The smell of burnt plastic and iron drifted through the ruins.
Meanwhile, in an apartment far from Grefort City's center, Hans's body twitched as he slowly regained consciousness from his deep, dark dreams.
"Ugh, what was that..."
He subconsciously asked, shaking his head while slowly pushing himself up. His mind buzzed with countless information, and then he felt a stinging pain in both his legs.
As he looked behind him, the case unit fell into his lower limbs, but thankfully, it didn't crush them. However, the stinging sensation left him immobilized for a while.
The clock above slowly ticked. Hans vaguely saw the clock's hour hand pointed at 11 PM.
Meanwhile, the buzzing on his head became clear, and he quickly noticed that something was amiss.
"Welcome, Commander! The RTS System has been deployed and is fully operational under your command!"
System? What the hell? Am I still dreaming, or have I woken up?
The system's somewhat cold, womanly voice resounded again.
"You are not dreaming, Commander. The RTS System is real."
"What? You can read my thoughts, and talk back to me?"
[ ... ]
The shocking revelation quickly cleared his mind, and then he focused on the RTS System lingering within him.
The RTS System was derived from the Red Alert game, and together with it came some of the usual functionalities of the RTS itself, namely constructing buildings, training units, and deploying superweapons.
However, as Hans inspected carefully, there seemed to be slight differences between the game and the system he had. The six familiar tabs were still there: Main Structures, Defensive & Support Structures, Infantry, Tanks, Aircraft, and Naval.
The last three tabs were greyed out, seemingly because he hadn't constructed the corresponding buildings.
As he moved into the Main Structures tab, the only available structures were the Power Plant, Barracks, and Radar, each costing 1,600, 1,000, and 5,000 gold, respectively.
For some reason, he had already built a Power Plant and Barracks, but something wasn't right.
"Commander, these buildings were already built, but they are stored virtually and cannot interact directly with the main world. Units can still be trained, but they will take longer," the system explained. "To construct buildings physically, you must virtually construct a War Factory and train an MCV, deploy it in the real world, and start building your base."
Hans nodded, understanding how it worked.
The arrangement of the RTS system's build order felt weird to him, especially when the Ore Refinery wasn't even there. To Hans, it was essential, as it was the only source of gold resources for him in the early stages.
"System, how do I gain the gold resources for my buildings and units?"
The system responded, "Commander, you can convert minerals, ores, or jewelry from the real world into gold resources."
Then, a list of ratio conversions popped up in front of him.
"So 10 grams of silver is 1 gold, and a gram of gold is 1 gold itself too." Hans contemplated and read down the list.
"Where do I even find such jewelries..."
The holographic menus hovered soundlessly in front of him, their pale glow casting a blue hue over his vision.
For the first time since waking up, Hans forgot the silence outside until a loud growl echoed, pulling him out of his thoughts. Hans' eyes twitched, and his hands shook in fear.
What kind of noise was that?
It felt too familiar, like the zombies growling in the games he had played. Hans took a deep breath and tried to calm himself, but that low growl sent a shiver down his spine. A fearful, but curious thought crept within him.
Driven by a mix of fear and grim curiosity, Hans carefully set aside the fallen computer case. He grunted as the weight on his legs slowly loosened.
Once the case felt stable, he slowly spun his body and crawled into the window, afraid to make any sound. The window's glass has long shattered, its pieces scattered around.
Hans maneuvered around it, not wanting to scratch his skin and bleed to death.
He pulled himself up by the window ledge, careful around the remaining shards protruding. His eyes widened at the darkness beyond. City lights still flickered in the distance, but the streets below swarmed with growls and the wet sound of tearing flesh.
Hans was horrified to see a group of zombies walking around.
Their body skin was torn in many areas.
The grayish eyes bulged out, seemingly searching for prey.
And the limbs, though limping, felt eerily strong for an undead.
Hans gulped, trying to contain the scream, almost letting it out of his mouth.
Oh my goodness! It's the apocalypse!
At that instant, a cooling sensation wrapped around him, forcibly calming his distressed mind and unnerving muscles.
No, everything may have gone mad, but it isn't lost! I have the system!
Hans backed away from the window, his body no longer trembling as before. He positioned himself on the side of a couch, opening the RTS menu again.
He hovered over the Infantry Tab and saw only one entry available.
[ Conscript - 100 gold. ]
Hans remembered that this was a cheap infantry unit equipped with simple yet effective weaponry. If left unchecked on its own, a swarm of conscripts could overwhelm an entire base.
Unless it was walled.
He wanted to train one conscript unit, but he had zero gold.
"How do I even get the gold resources when the outside is too dangerous?" he complained.
He lived on the seventh floor; if those growls came from below, everyone beneath him was probably gone. Even if the apocalypse had happened during the afternoon, a few people were still around the area during that time.
He was unsure whether the zombies outside were all the inhabitants of the apartment building he was in or those from the surrounding buildings in the entire compound.
Regardless of where they came from, Hans was fearful of going outside without the strength to protect himself.
At that moment, the system suddenly spoke.
"Commander, you haven't seen the entire package yet. Please look carefully."
Hans knitted his brows and looked further in the Menu Tab above the empty spot where the Radar Map was supposed to be, and opened it.
----
Commander: Hans Flemmens
Rank: 0 - Recruit
Soldiers: 0
Primary Weapon: None
Sidearm: M1911 Pistol (7 rounds per mag, two mags, refreshes every 24 hours)
Melee: Combat Knife (18 cm steel alloy, indestructible)
Commander's Kit: Personal storage of 1 cubic meter
Commander Vehicle: Motorcycle Side Car (fuel refreshes every 36 hours)
Boost: +10% reaction speed, +10% stamina, +10% strength
Weapon Familiarity: +20% CQC effectiveness, +10% pistol accuracy
Medical Support Pack: 1 first aid kit (fully heals any injuries), one infection suppressant injection (50% infection rate threshold) - refreshes every 24 hours
Commander's Promotion Requirement (Squad Leader Rank): At least 12 infantry units
---
Hans was surprised to see that he had a sidearm weapon and even a melee combat knife. It was even an indestructible one!
"System, so the ammunition refreshes every 24 hours? Do they stack?"
"Replying to the Commander, they do not, sir! This is also the case for the Medical Support Pack."
Hans nodded, "I see."
Even though they do not stack, just the fact that ammunition would refresh meant that he had pseudo-infinite ammo during the apocalypse.
What was very important when fighting against zombies, other than literally having an indefinite amount of ammunition?
One could go guns blazing, but Hans knew that it wasn't possible for now. The mere sound of a gun firing was too loud, easily attracting countless zombies.
With newfound strength, Hans felt that going outside wasn't that much horrifying at all.
No, let's tend to my injuries first.
He looked at the description of the first aid kit, doubtful about its potency.
"System, can this first aid kit heal my injury right now?"
The system's voice responded, "Commander, as described in the interface, it will heal any injuries. However, it cannot regrow limbs."
Since the system had said so, Hans perked up and asked, "How do I retrieve my first aid kit and injection suppressant?"
"Commander, you can retrieve them from the backpack on your couch."
Hans looked around him and noticed a camo backpack sitting on the couch where he was positioning himself. He pulled the bag onto his lap and rummaged.
There's nothing here...?
Then he realized that the backpack might be the storage space the interface was talking about. As he focused on the backpack, he saw several materials dumped in it.
There lay an M1911 pistol, the sharp and indestructible combat knife, a med kit, an injection suppressant, a bunch of clothing, and a motorcycle key.
Hans grabbed the med kit from the storage space, and the usage was simple: target a unit to heal.
He selected himself, and a refreshing sensation washed over him. The med kit vanished, and so did the pain and injuries on his lower limbs.
"Feels better," he sighed in relief and slowly stood up, carrying the bag to the dining table.
He slowly sat down and contemplated how to scavenge resources for gold inside the apartment.
Each floor had a total of nine rooms, and the higher the floor, the more expensive it became. The landlord said it was something about the "scenery fee" and other nonsense he spouted.
However, this gave Hans the idea that higher floors would have more affluent residents. They might even have gold watches, bracelets, necklaces, and the like.
"Let's search the higher floors first."
Hans mused that the lower floors, aside from possibly having a lower source of gold, were probably filled with zombies. A single wrong noise down there might even stir every corpse outside.
Having made up his mind, he switched his ragged clothing for the clothes gifted by the system. It was a standard recruit uniform, with a badge on the shoulders designating his rank: Private.
"The uniform came with a holster and sheath for the knife too... how convenient."
He holstered the M1911 pistol on the side and grabbed hold of the combat knife. The steel shone sharply in the darkness, reassuring Hans greatly.
The combat knife would be his primary weapon, as the M1911 pistol was too loud and would make his life worse. He was unsure how sensitive the zombies were to sound and light, but trying to be less showy would help him survive longer.
Then, he took out the standard military boots, finding that the rough sound they produced was significantly mitigated, probably due to the system as well.
Before going out, he stuffed himself with a few snacks and satisfied his stomach.
After that, armed to the teeth and filled with confidence, Hans reached out for the door, ready to explore the world outside his room.