A young man sat alone on the bench right outside the metro station. Rain danced all around him, people rushed, holding books, backpacks and umbrellas above their heads, but he smiled as he faced up, his eyes were closed as he enjoyed the rain falling on his face.
There was something calming about rain, something about it that he loved ever since he was a kid. And now, right after he failed his university exam, he needed a moment of calm more than ever. Passing the exam was his only chance of escaping the life in the outskirts, working dead end jobs to get the bills paid without any prospect of the future. And now, after failing that very exam, the last hope of good life had vanished, replaced by an emptiness he had never felt before.
But he wouldn't get to enjoy that moment of peace for long. He took a long look at the old mechanical watch on his wrist and let out a long sigh.
'The train's gonna be there in 2 minutes…'
He pushed himself off the bench and walked into the metro station. He scanned his card at the gates and passed through. Perhaps it was because he was completely damp, but people stepped out of his way as he walked, as if he carried some type of disease.
'It's just water' he almost rolled his eyes at the people around him.
The train arrived just as he approached the platform. He lived on the city outskirts so compared to other platforms, his was less busy. Still, when he entered the train he found no empty seat and had to stand near the door, just like always.
Despite not having a seat he allowed himself to close his eyes for a while, almost enjoying the gentle swaying of the train as it rushed along the tracks, moving from one platform to another. That almost lullaby-like sensation continued for almost half an hour, before a sudden, strong tug pulled at his stomach.
His eyes snapped open, just as chaos erupted across the entire cart.
People who were standing fell to their knees, those who were sitting down slid down their seats, twisting in pain.
Damon barely managed to hold onto the handrail, forcing himself to stay on his feet as he grimaced in pain.
'What… what the fuck is going on?'
His face went pale, his veins looked as if they wanted to escape his skin and just when he felt like he was about to die, the pain vanished in an instant, followed by a feeling of exhilaration and something else that made his blood run cold.
A voice cut through his mind or the world itself, he couldn't tell.
[Your planet has been chosen. Mana has now been distributed.]
'Chosen? Wait, mana? As in…?' Damon's thoughts ran wild, but he had no time to dwell on what was happening as the panic across the train cart intensified.
"Did anyone else hear that?"
"Is this a joke? Come out right now or I'll-"
Damon's focus shifted from the panicking crowd to the people who were still on the train's floor. Their bodies completely still, their chests not rising.
'They're… dead'
A cold shiver ran down Damon's spine as he realized that more than half of the people present were dead.
'Whatever just happened, it killed them'
He lingered on that thought for a while. He had never seen a dead body before, let alone a few dozen. But after a few minutes of internal struggle he shook the thought away.
'Mana… as in magic?' Damon's thoughts turned to the words the voice had spoken.
Of course he knew what mana was, anyone had. Every fantasy story had it, and he would often spend nights reading those stories instead of studying for his now failed university exam.
Those stories, however, were not real life.
Damon scoffed at the idea.
'There's no way-'
His thoughts, however, would not have time to coalesce as a sudden silence filled the train cart, just as he caught a sudden, unnatural movement in the corner of his eye.
Those who were laying dead just a few moments ago were convulsing, twisting at unnatural angles, their arms and bones snapping in odd directions before their half-dead figures began rising to their twisted legs.
"Ahhhh!" Some woman screamed at the sight.
Many more shouted, panic surged once again as everyone rushed to where Damon was standing, the only place where there were no half-dead bodies laying on the ground.
He cursed as everyone suddenly rushed behind him.
'What am I? A damn bodyguard?'
"What do we do?!"
"Stop the train!"
The people tried to pull the emergency stop but it was to no avail, the train continued to dart across the track, swaying gently from one side to another just as the first of the half-dead humans had fully risen to their twisted legs, its crimson red eyes locking onto the crowd of people standing around Damon.
Damon's head snapped around, looking for something, anything to protect himself.
'Better than nothing!' he thought as he picked up a fire extinguisher.
He barely had time to move as the limping body of the dead human lunged at him, the people behind him pushing him forward as if he was some sort of sacrifice to the evil.
He swung the metallic fire extinguisher in a wide arc, it struck the dead human's head with a loud thud, but the monster remained standing.
He swung it again, then again and after maybe a fifth or sixth swing, the dead human's skull cracked and its body fell to the ground.
[You have slain a Level 1 Undead Human]
[New Monster Index bonus: +2 Strength]
[You have reached Level 1. You received 1 Stat Point]
A strange feeling of newfound energy surged through Damon's body as three messages appeared before him. He, however, had no time to dwell on that feeling of exhilaration as a few more dozen undead humans were already moving toward him.
"G-Get them! What you standing there for!"
Damon felt a sudden shove push against his back. His head snapped backward to the people who were now staring at him with expectant expressions, seeing him as nothing more than a human shield.
Turning back toward the monsters, a cold realization ran across Damon's spine. He glanced back at the people hiding behind him, strangers who showed no hesitation in shoving him forward, trying to use him as nothing more than a shield.
Something hardened in his chest at the sight. He was done being shoved by others.
'Fighting all these monsters with those fools behind me is suicide.'
Realizing there was no other way of surviving this situation, he pulled off the pin of his fire extinguisher.
Then without even turning back he twisted the hose to face the people behind him and began blasting the foam all over them, covering their vision completely.
At the same moment, another undead human had reached him.
He sidestepped the monster's lunge and sent it into the people behind him, letting the monster run carnage through the crowd.
Their screams echoed through the entire cart. Some tried to escape the foam, running forward but with nowhere left to run they only met more undead humans.
Within moments the entire cart turned into chaos as humans who were standing behind Damon just a moment ago tried to escape the foam and monsters, shoving their way forward into the swarm of undead humans.
Damon, however, wasted no time, turning toward the closest monster and swinging the fire extinguisher right into its head.
This time, he could feel the skull crack slightly upon the first swing, then the moment his second attack connected, the monster fell to the ground, its head smashed into pieces.
[You have slain a Level 1 Undead Human]
Damon paused for half a moment, surprised at the sudden strength of his attack, then his mind recalled the notification he had seen.
'+2 strength… is this how much of a difference two points make?'
His lips barely had time to curve into something resembling a smile as another monster lunged at him.
He took a small step backwards, the monster's swing tore his hoodie open but missed his skin by a hair's breadth.
'That was my favorite hoodie dammit!' Damon cursed as he thrust the fire extinguisher right into the monster's face, then, without giving it a moment to recover he swung it straight into the undead human's skull, crushing it in a single blow.
[You have slain a Level 1 Undead Human]
[You have reached Level 2. You received 1 Stat Point]