The concept of death was surprisingly boring.
There was no fiery pit, no pearly gates, and definitely no river Styx. There was just an endless, suffocating darkness. For Ren, a twenty-four-year-old corporate drone whose only escape from a mundane life was the vibrant worlds of anime, movies, and novels, this was the ultimate buzzkill.
He remembered the truck—because it's always a truck—slamming into him while he was distracted reading the latest chapter of The Beginning After The End.
"Is this it?" Ren thought, his consciousness floating in the void. "No more Marvel? No more finishing the Game of Thrones books? I didn't even get to see the ending of One Piece."
[Ding!]
[Soul Compatibility: 100%.] [Host Found. The Omniversal Entertainment System is initializing...]
A blue holographic screen, reminiscent of the RPG games Ren used to play, shattered the darkness. It hummed with a soft, mechanical energy.
[Welcome, Host. You have been selected due to your extensive knowledge of the Multiverse and your intense desire for a life less ordinary.]
Ren's metaphysical jaw dropped. "A System? I actually got transmigrated?" Excitement, raw and electric, surged through a body he didn't currently have. "Okay, let's skip the tutorial. I've read enough web novels to know how this works. What's the catch? Do I have to kill a Demon King?"
[Objective: Travel the Multiverse. Become the Strongest. Prevent Tragedies. Conquor Hearts. Enjoy yourself.]
[Starter Package Loaded. Please Review.]
A golden inventory box appeared in the void.
[Advanced Super Soldier Serum (MCU Variant): Enhanced beyond Steve Rogers. No physical deformities. Perfect aesthetic and physiological peak.
Deadpool's Healing Factor: Immortality (Regenerative). Can regrow limbs and survive fatal damage. Cures all diseases.
Limit Breaker (Passive): The Host has no biological or magical ceiling. Skills can be leveled infinitely. Stats can grow without stagnation. Evolution is limitless.
Talent Buy Cards (x2): Choose any two talents from the omniverse (Personal Use).]
Ren looked at the list, his mind racing. This wasn't just a starter pack; this was a god-tier cheat code. The Serum gave him the foundation, Deadpool's healing gave him the sustainability, and the Limit Breaker meant he wouldn't stagnate like Captain America.
"Okay, I need to use the Talent Cards wisely," Ren muttered. "If I'm going to dangerous worlds, I need combat ability and I need influence. The Serum gives me stats, but not skills."
He thought about the worlds he loved. The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Attack on Titan. In all of them, people followed strength, but they stayed for charisma.
"System, for my first Talent Card, I want 'Grandmaster of Warfare'."
[Grandmaster of Warfare: Instant mastery of all forms of combat known to man. Includes firearms, melee weapons, hand-to-hand combat, stealth, and tactical strategy.]
"And for the second..." Ren smiled, thinking of his harem goal. "I want 'Incubus Charisma'."
[Incubus Charisma: Your presence is naturally magnetic. Your voice, scent, and appearance evoke trust, lust, and admiration in the opposite sex and respect/fear in the same sex. Makes social manipulation significantly easier.]
[Selections Confirmed. Beginning Transmigration. Destination: World 1 – The Walking Dead (TV Universe).] [Timeline: Season 1. Three days before the Camp Attack.]
"The Walking Dead?" Ren's spirit grinned. "Zombies are slow. Perfect for leveling up. And there are plenty of tragic paths to fix there. Amy, Andrea, Beth... wait for me."
The void collapsed, and Ren felt a sensation of falling.
Location: Forest Outskirts, Atlanta, Georgia.
Pain.
That was the first thing Ren felt. It wasn't the pain of injury, but the searing, burning heat of his DNA being rewritten. He gasped, his eyes snapping open to see a canopy of green leaves filtering the harsh sunlight.
He lay on the dirt floor of a forest. His body was convulsing. The Advanced Super Soldier Serum was tearing his old muscles apart and knitting them back together with carbon-steel density. His bones thickened. His metabolism skyrocketed.
"Argh!" Ren gritted his teeth, refusing to scream. The Healing Factor was fighting the Serum, constantly repairing the tear-down process, resulting in a cycle of destruction and rebirth that lasted for ten minutes.
When it finally stopped, Ren lay panting, sweat soaking his shirt. He stood up and looked down at himself.
He was taller—easily 6'2". His clothes were tight. He lifted his shirt to reveal an eight-pack of abs that looked carved from marble. His skin was flawless, devoid of any scars or blemishes. He felt... powerful. Lighter. He squeezed his fist, and the air popped audibly from the pressure.
[Status]
Name: Ren
Race: Human (Enhanced)
Title: The Traveler
Strength: 25 (Normal Human: 5)
Agility: 25
Vitality: Infinite (Regenerative)
Intelligence: 15 Skills: Grandmaster of Warfare (Max), Incubus Charisma (Max).
Abilities: Limit Breaker
"Strength five times that of a normal man right off the bat?" Ren flexed his shoulders. "And with the Limit Breaker, this is just the floor, not the ceiling."
A low growl came from the bushes behind him.
Ren turned slowly. A Walker, skin gray and rotting, jaw hanging loose by a thread of sinew, stumbled out of the foliage. It groaned, smelling the fresh meat.
Ren didn't flinch. In his old life, he would have panicked. But the Grandmaster of Warfare talent rewired his brain. He didn't see a monster; he saw a slow moving target with poor balance.
The Walker lunged.
Ren sidestepped with casual elegance. The world seemed to move in slow motion. He grabbed the Walker by the back of its neck, feeling the fragile vertebrae under his grip. With a simple twitch of his wrist, CRACK.
The Walker went limp, dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
"Too easy," Ren whispered. He looked at his hand. He hadn't even used 1% of his strength.
[Quest Generated: The Saviour of the Quarry]
[Description: The Atlanta survivor camp is destined for tragedy. A herd will attack in three days, resulting in the deaths of Amy and Ed Peletier. Prevent the death of Amy. Establish your dominance in the group.]
[Reward: 500 System Points, Inventory Upgrade (10 Slots), 1x Skill Book (Random).]
"Save Amy. Establish dominance. Sounds like a plan," Ren said, dusting off his hands. He knew the geography of this show like the back of his hand. If he was in the woods near Atlanta, the Quarry camp wasn't far.
He started walking. He moved like a predator, silent and fluid. The Incubus Charisma wasn't just passive; it gave him an air of confidence that felt unnatural but intoxicating.
POV: Daryl Dixon
Daryl crouched low in the brush, crossbow raised. He'd been tracking a buck for two miles. The group back at camp was hungry—Shane was useless at hunting, and Rick was still off in the city playing hero.
He heard a twig snap.
Daryl spun around, leveling his crossbow. It wasn't a Walker. Walkers shambled; they dragged their feet. This sound was a footstep, but a heavy one.
A man stepped into the clearing.
Daryl narrowed his eyes. The guy looked... clean. Too clean. He was tall, built like a brick house, wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans that looked ready to burst at the seams. But it was his face that threw Daryl off. The guy was handsome—movie star handsome—but his eyes were sharp, dangerous. Like a wolf pretending to be a dog.
"Don't move," Daryl grunted, keeping the bolt aimed at the stranger's chest.
The stranger stopped. He didn't raise his hands. He just smiled. It was a calm, annoying smile.
"Easy there, Legolas," the stranger said. His voice was deep, smooth. "I'm not here to steal your squirrels."
"Who the hell are you?" Daryl demanded. "You bit?"
"Name's Ren," the man said, taking a step forward. "And no. I'm not bit. I am, however, looking for a camp. I heard chatter. Saw tracks."
Daryl tightened his grip on the trigger. "We don't need more mouths to feed."
Ren's eyes flashed. Suddenly, he moved.
Daryl had quick reflexes. He grew up fighting his daddy and survived in the woods his whole life. But he didn't even see the movement. One second the stranger was ten feet away; the next, he was standing right in front of the crossbow.
Ren's hand clamped over the bow of the weapon, pushing it down gently. Daryl tried to pull it back, but it felt like he was trying to pull a tree out of the ground. The strength was impossible.
"I can hunt," Ren said, his voice dropping an octave. "I can fight. And I have supplies stashed nearby. I'm not a mouth to feed, Daryl. I'm the one who does the feeding."
Daryl stared at him. He felt a weird chill go down his spine. This guy... he wasn't normal. But Daryl's gut, usually suspicious of everyone, was screaming that this guy wasn't an enemy. It was a confusing feeling.
"How d'you know my name?" Daryl asked, lowering the crossbow slightly.
"I know a lot of things," Ren replied cryptically. "Now, take me to Shane. We have work to do before nightfall."
The Quarry Camp
The camp was a mess of tension. Lori was worrying about Rick, Carol was cowering from Ed, and Dale was trying to keep the peace from the top of the RV.
Andrea and Amy were sitting by the fire, sorting through mushrooms.
"I wish we had some actual food," Amy sighed, her blonde hair tied back. "I'm sick of beans."
"Rick will bring something back," Andrea assured her, though she looked doubtful.
The sound of footsteps made everyone look up. Shane Walsh, standing by his jeep with his shotgun, stiffened. "Daryl's back."
Daryl walked into the camp, but he wasn't alone. Behind him walked a man who immediately sucked the air out of the clearing.
As Ren stepped into the circle of tents, the reaction was instantaneous.
The women—Andrea, Amy, even Lori—felt their breath hitch. The Incubus Charisma was in full effect. To them, Ren looked like a savior carved from light. His posture, his intense gaze, the pheromones rolling off him—it was primal.
The men—Shane, Jim, Dale—felt something different. They felt a sudden, oppressive weight. A subconscious recognition that the Alpha had just arrived.
Shane, fueled by his own ego and insecurity, stepped forward, puffing out his chest. "Who's this, Daryl? I told you, we can't take in strays."
Ren looked at Shane. He saw the sweat on Shane's brow, the nervous energy. In the show, Ren had a love-hate relationship with Shane's character. He was a survivor, but he was unstable.
"Strays?" Ren laughed. It was a rich, confident sound. "I'm not a stray, Officer Walsh. I'm the upgrade."
Shane scowled, his hand drifting toward his holster. "Is that right? And what makes you think you can just walk in here?"
Ren ignored him and looked directly at Amy. He locked eyes with her. Amy blushed furiously, looking down at her hands.
"I have food," Ren said, reaching into the backpack he had 'found' (pulled from his inventory: 10kg of high-quality beef jerky and water bottles provided by the System's basic survival kit). He tossed the bag to Dale.
Dale caught it, surprised by the weight. He opened it and his eyes widened. "Good lord... there's meat in here. Vacuum sealed."
The tension in the camp evaporated, replaced by hunger and curiosity.
"Ren," the newcomer introduced himself, addressing the group but keeping his gaze on the sisters. "I'm passing through. But I see you people are sitting ducks here."
"We're safe here," Shane argued, though he looked less sure now that everyone was staring at the food. "We have a system."
"You have a graveyard," Ren corrected brutally. "This camp is open on all sides. You have no perimeter alarms. You're burning wood that smokes, signaling every walker for five miles. And you," he pointed to Ed Peletier, who was sitting lazily in his chair. "You're useless."
Ed stood up, face red. "Now listen here you son of a—"
Ren didn't even look at him. He just flicked a pebble he had picked up earlier. With his enhanced strength and Grandmaster of Warfare aim, the pebble flew like a bullet.
Thwack.
It hit Ed right in the knee. Ed screamed and collapsed, clutching his leg.
"A walker would have torn your throat out in the time it took you to stand up," Ren said coldly. "If you want to survive, you listen to me."
The camp went silent. Violence was shocking, but controlled, precise violence was terrifying.
Ren turned to Amy, his expression softening instantly into a charming smile. "I'm sorry about the noise. I'm Ren."
Amy stammered, her heart racing. "I-I'm Amy. This is my sister, Andrea."
"Pleasure," Ren said. "Tonight, I'm taking guard duty. You two should sleep. You look exhausted."
As Ren walked toward the RV to speak with Dale, he checked his notifications.
[Quest Progress: Establish Dominance (50%)]
[Charisma Check: Amy (Infatuated), Andrea (Intrigued), Lori (Confused/Attracted), Shane (Threatened).]
Ren smirked. The Apocalypse was going to be fun. But first, he had to prepare. The herd was coming in three days, and he needed to turn this group of victims into a fortress. He wasn't just going to save Amy; he was going to make sure that when Rick Grimes showed up, he was walking into Ren's kingdom, not his own.
He leaned against the RV, the metal cool against his back. He could feel the Limit Breaker humming in his veins. Every second he breathed, his cells were adapting, evolving. He was already stronger than he was five minutes ago.
"System," he thought. "Show me the nearest horde."
A minimap appeared in his vision. Red dots swarmed about four miles east.
"Three days?" Ren thought, watching the sun dip below the horizon. "I'll be ready in two."
The Sovereign had arrived.