"Hah… hah…"
Stop looking behind you and run, damn it… hah… hah.
We're almost there.
I glanced back again. My only friend—or to be more accurate, the last one—was there, and behind him, a horde of zombies.
We were almost at the only house in the area, fortified by a wall two meters high surrounding it.
My chest felt like a deflated balloon trying in vain to fill with air. My feet were bleeding more from the wound I'd gotten earlier.
"Clang!… Creak…"
I shoved the iron door with all my strength and got inside. I looked back. My friend was running hard, but he was still far—and behind him, the zombies.
Run hard, damn it… faster… faster…
He lifted his head and looked at me. Tears and snot covered his face.
A short, staccato gasp as he tried to breathe through his tears. Then he screamed in a broken voice: "Why… why can't I keep living?"
"I won't make it… I don't want to die."
Keep going… don't give up… keep going… faster… please…
I screamed at him with all my voice and strength. He was only ten meters away—only ten.
"Thud…"
He fell to the ground. A zombie grabbed his ankle and dragged him into the middle of dozens of them. They started eating him.
I went in and closed the iron door tightly. I could hear his screams.
Damn it. He was the last one…
The last one…
A sharp pain shot through my eyes. Damn it, what's happening? I felt something cold on my cheek. I touched it—it was blood.
"Aaaagh"
"Aaaagh"
My eyes hurt like hell. I got up and washed them with a little of the remaining water—well, to be precise, I wiped them, didn't really wash them.
The pain finally stopped. I looked around the house, filled with all kinds of things, most of which would be useless to me.
I went back to the wall that surrounded the house—two meters high—and leaned my back against the iron door, listening to the last boy's screams.
After a few minutes, the screaming stopped, but I could still hear the zombies scratching at the iron door.
I looked at the sky, thinking: will I die soon—in a day or two? But there aren't many ways this ends.
Death by starvation—or being eaten by zombies.
Sigh…
I took off my backpack and looked inside—a few canned goods.
I went into the house and started organizing the food with the rest of the supplies in the kitchen.
This house is in Kanto, Japan. I spent two and a half months reinforcing the wall around it, making it taller.
Of course, it didn't look great, but it was holding up. Henori told me that if it rained, it would collapse easily.
Henori was one of the Japanese who worked on the wall.
Yeah—I say it like that because I'm not from Japan.
I came to Japan half a year ago, but it wasn't exactly traveling across countries—it was across worlds.
Because I became Izuna Uchiha, and I have a useless system with a blue screen.
Yeah—even I thought I was an Uchiha or something, but not a single day passed before I figured out what kind of world I was in. A world overrun by a zombie pandemic.
After a month of stumbling around, I found five people hiding in a grocery store, and we had a jeep.
We agreed to go from Tokyo to the countryside so there would be fewer people—fewer zombies—and maybe we could farm or rely on rivers.
After a month of planning and gathering supplies, we headed toward the nearest rural area, Kanto.
Once we arrived, we picked a house in the middle of a field with no other houses around so we wouldn't be caught off guard by zombies—or humans, for that matter.
And now, after half a year in this world, I'm alone again. The whole team died.
And the damn blue screen is still stuck on: Loading system.
Half a year and the system hasn't worked.
Ding…
Loading system…
…System activation condition met…
Ding
…Sharingan (one tomoe)…
…Condition met...
"Aaaagh!"
My back arched from the pain that exploded inside my skull. It was like a hot knife stabbing into my eyes. I fell to my knees, hands pressing against my eye sockets.
Sob… hh… stop…
Then… the pain stopped.
I raised my hands hesitantly. My vision… was different. Everything was sharper, more vivid. I could see clearly even though the house was nearly dark. But most importantly… a glowing text floating in the air in front of me:
[System: Gate of Worlds]
[User: Izuna]
[Ability: Sharingan (one eye – one tomoe)]
[Energy Points: 100/100]
[Gate Status: Ready to Open (Naruto World)]
"What is this…?"
---
Chapter Two
I stared at the floating blue screen—the one I'd looked at every day for six months, hoping it would work.
[System: Gate of Worlds]
[User: Izuna]
[Ability: Sharingan (one eye – one tomoe)]
[Energy Points: 100/100]
[Gate Status: Ready to Open (Naruto World)]
So—it seems my name was useful after all. Hah—a sigh.
Sharingan—ha.
I started searching through the pile of useless junk scattered around the room until I found a cracked mirror.
I looked into my eyes—but they were just black.
I tried to focus—they didn't turn red.
Was the sudden improvement in my vision just an illusion—
or had I done it without realizing?
I refocused on the floating screen.
[System: Gate of Worlds]
[User: Izuna]
[Ability: Sharingan (one eye – one tomoe)]
[Energy Points: 100/100]
[Gate Status: Ready to Open (Naruto World)]
Should I try to open the gate?
I looked at the blood on my feet—from tripping while we were running this morning.
First, I need to prepare—I don't know where in the Naruto world I'd end up—it could even be a desert—
And I might not be able to come back—so I'll get everything ready first.
I sat down and leaned my back against the cold wall—the foul smell of the house and the sweat soaking my clothes seeped into my nose.
I looked at the mirror again—concentrated a little—
And let out a dry laugh.
Who am I kidding—I looked down at my ankle. There was a clear bite mark.
Even though I lied to Henori yesterday, saying it was just a wound—
my annoying habit of believing my own lies had surfaced again.
Usually—it takes a day or less to fully turn into a zombie—according to my companions—I'd never seen anyone turn before—most of them got eaten entirely.
At least—I wasn't a prisoner like Gureno—he was a guy about twenty-five.
When we split up—Henori and I went to the pharmacy to grab some useless meds we didn't know how to use properly—and we knew they wouldn't help with a zombie bite—but we were trying—or hoping.
As for Gureno—he went to a nearby supermarket.
Unfortunately—there was a mutant plant there—
it had taken control of dozens of people using its nectar's hypnotic magnetism—making them help it bring food—even humans, even zombies.
I was bitten on the back of my ankle—yesterday.
That means—I have very little time left—
an hour or two—I don't even know.
Someone might say—since you're about to die—why not just go to the Naruto world—or try opening the gate?
But I can't—no—I won't. I know how much I thought I was special, the hero of this world like in the novels, because I had a system—
But after watching so many people die in front of me in all kinds of ways—and how I froze in place so many times—I learned the truth—I'm not lucky.
I can't open the gate—because I'm about to turn into a zombie—what if I end up in a remote village with no ninja—
I'm not claiming to be a hero—but at least—I won't let anyone die because of me—no—I'll never allow that.
Ding
[System: Gate of Worlds]
Quest Rank (???):
Open the gate for the first time
Reward: Sage Body (Senjutsu)
Failure Penalty: Erasure of the host's current world
(╯°□°)╯︵┻━┻
Seriously—now?!?!?!?!?!?.