Meanwhile, as every living being in the newly formed Ω2 realm struggled to survive, a mysterious entity observed from the void.
It was a creature made of darkness. Its humanoid silhouette flickered in and out of existence, distorted symbols flashing across its form, warping the surrounding space like a glitch in reality.
As it watched, another figure materialized beside it.
He was broad-shouldered, bare-chested, wearing only loose harem pants and a beast-fur tied across his waist. His body was covered in jagged scars, marks of the countless battles he experienced. At first glance, he looked human. But the sheer power radiating from him was enough to break space with every subtle move.
"Why the hell am I on overseer duty?" He grumbled, his voice filled with irritation. "I've got better things to do."
Then he caught sight of the realm before him and froze.
"No wonder. A Main Realm," he muttered, eyes narrowing.
He turned his gaze toward the blazing star at the heart of the newborn star field, an Origin Furnace. His pupils dilated as he felt the raw energy pouring out of it. It was already rank B and rising.
"If it's already at B... it'll hit A once stabilization finishes," he said aloud, more to himself than anyone else.
"Tch. Lucky bastard." His tone soured. When his own universe ascended, their realm had barely made it to Ascended, stuck with rank E energy. They had to claw and bleed for every promotion, every step toward the Extraordinary stage.
But these people? They started with a main realm.
With that alone, it meant they could reach the Extraordinary stage if they survived. Maybe they could even break through to the Named stage.
Even in the multiverse's vast tapestry, a Named existence was no small thing.
But such opportunity never came without risk.
"How many worlds were fused into this one?"
"Six," the dark figure answered.
"Six?" The man leaned forward, eyes narrowing as if trying to pierce through the layers of the realm with his gaze.
"Damn. They're facing a real disaster," he muttered, focusing on the chaos spreading across the six massive supercontinents floating over the newborn realm's vast ocean.
Fehl. Undead. Hive. Swarm.
There was no doubt it was going to be a bloodbath. He even felt a hint of pity for them. 'But whoever manages to rise from this is going to be scary.'
"What's the System planning to do?" he asked, glancing sideways at the administrator. He hated dealing with these emotionless constructs. But who made him unable to resist the system?
"Multiple individuals with unique potential detected. Protocol Omega activated," the administrator replied.
"Protocol Omega?" he scoffed, shaking his head. "The old fogeys are going to lose their minds trying to get a piece of this. You know what's at stake."
Because in the multiverse, there was one iron law: the higher your starting point, the higher your ceiling.
And a realm like this, a Main Realm forged from six worlds with an Origin Furnace at its core? There was no doubt. At least one of its inhabitants would reach the Eternal Lord stage.
And that was enough to tip the balance of entire multiversal factions.
The administrator remained silent.
The System was vast, possibly omniscient. But it was not all-powerful. Plenty of beings had the strength to resist it. And despite all its reach, the System still relied on people like them to fight its wars across the multiverse.
"You can't stop outside interference completely." The man clenched his fists. "My small body can't take this."
"You just need to make sure no one cheats," the administrator ordered. "You won't be alone."
The man stiffened. That... was unexpected.
He knew how much it cost the System to secure his help. If they were bringing in someone else too, it meant they were deadly serious.
As if on cue, a soft, melodic voice rang out in the void.
Then, a figure stepped forward. Slender. Graceful. Effortlessly radiant.
His eye twitched. "Sfiel."
"Kortiez," she replied with a bright smile.
His temple throbbed. Of all people... it had to be that bitch.
****
Aurora College spanned nearly 500 acres. The library was on the northern edge, while the medical center they were heading to lay far to the south. Between them stretched an area with numerous sports facilities.
With the park being eastbound and potentially brimming with enraged wasps, they couldn't cut through it. That left them with no other choice but to move in the open.
Still, it wasn't a problem. They walked through seldom-used paths and avoided any big zombie 'gatherings.
Even so, it wasn't foolproof. They ran into a few stragglers and sometimes had no choice but to cut through small hordes of zombies. But it was nothing they couldn't handle. Green Hunter and Green Shredder proved especially handy as they sliced through zombies like butter.
As they walked behind the Brown Field Stadium, they spotted a lone zombie shuffling along the path. As usual, it let out a roar and charged toward them.
Jay met its charge head-on. With a sweep of his leg, he brought it down face first and planted his boot on its back, pinning it to the ground.
"Your turn." Jay handed the Green Hunter to Angela.
Angela stepped forward, grabbing the blade tightly, her hand shaking. The zombie writhed underneath Jay's foot, its mouth snapping wildly at her. Once, she should have been a lively girl, full of dreams and passions. But it was all taken from her. And now, she was reduced to a mindless, flesh-eating monster.
I am freeing her. She took a deep breath and plunged the blade into its head. The flesh and bone gave way with a sickening crunch. The zombie twitched a few times, then went still. In front of her, the system icon blinked twice, a confirmation of the kill.
"Congratulations." Jay took the blade back. "How does it feel?"
"Awful." Angela admitted, her face pale.
"You'll get used to it." Lexie chimed. "Next time, you'll fight on your own."
"That's what scares me."
After that small episode, they continued their journey. With no murder bugs coming out of nowhere, they made steady progress toward their destination.
On a good note, the few zombies they killed along the way had pushed both Jay and Lexie to level five.
With the level-up, his Athlete skill activated. He immediately felt the difference. Even just four points brought a noticeable boost. For someone at his level, that wasn't negligible; it was roughly equal to half a level-up.
Still, the way the skill enhanced him felt different from the direct addition of free attribute points. The Athlete bonus was almost like the subtle enhancement brought with each level-up. It settled into his body gradually, almost like the natural payoff from long-term training.
In contrast, allocating free attributes felt more aggressive. It was like forcing growth through stimulants. But that was expected. Compared to the forty-five points gained through five level-ups, the four from Athlete were just a trickle. The boost came faster, but it strained the body more.
Lexie had a similar skill, Catflex. It boosted Agility by two and both Dexterity and Constitution by one. With her level up, she felt it kick in and shot Jay a grin.
Besides that, Angela hit level two. Speaking of her, she held out surprisingly well. They weren't moving slowly, but she kept up with them without a word of complaint. She was adapting fast, and it showed.
Still, it wasn't all good news. One of the zombies they met had reached level four. It was the proof that those things were getting stronger, fast. Still, in Jay and Lexie's eyes, it made no difference. Higher level or not, it still lunged blindly and fought like the rest, with senseless aggression.
But for the rest of the survivors, it was clearly bad news.
"What do you think?" Jay asked as they approached a two-story building near the Avery-Niels Medical Center. It had a balcony and a clear line of sight on the hospital. They planned to use it to conduct some reconnaissance.
"Alex was right," Lexie started. "Even if they aren't looking at us, they will still react if we step anywhere between five and ten meters from them. It seems the range varies with their level. As for when we are in sight, I am not too sure. Anyway, it's much larger."
"The good news is, they can't sense us through physical obstacles. At least, for now. It could change at any time."
"This is fascinating." Angela muttered, listening to their exchange.
"That's not how I'd describe a zombie," Jay replied flatly.
"That's not what I mean. Even before all this, reanimated corpses were already a thing. Supposed dead body moving again. But that was often a response to an external output. They wouldn't move on their own or even chase someone to eat them. I even wonder whether they are really the same as the zombies we think of."
"I checked. They can't be deader than they are." By now, Jay had been in close contact with enough zombies to not doubt whether they were dead or not.
"That's just absurd."
"Welcome to the freak show." Jay shrugged as they came to a stop in front of the building. A small coffee and souvenir shop.
Jay pushed open the door. Immediately, the thick scent of blood, hardly masked by the bitter aroma of fresh coffee, hit them.
Inside, it was a mess. Blood-stained walls, overturned furniture, shattered cups. Various trinkets and goods were scattered across the floor. And, of course, zombies. Three of them, hunched and twitching beside the slumped body of what used to be a waiter.
The zombies roared, lunged, and then fell.
"Sigh, I used to get coffee here," Angela whispered. "Sean was a good kid."
Jay and Lexie looked at her and shook their heads. Those were hard times indeed, and loss something they would have to live with.
They stepped over the corpses and made their way upstairs. A lone zombie was hammering at a door.
Jay took it down.
"Anyone inside?" Angela asked.
"Probably. Otherwise, it'd be downstairs with the others." Jay pushed the door open. "Unless it woke up here…"
Most likely, the zombie had chased someone and got stuck when they hid themselves inside.
Soon, they confirmed their assumptions. They swept through the floor and found three people holed up in the manager's office.
"Angie? What are you doing here?" a middle-aged woman exclaimed, shocked.
"Ash… Thank God you're okay." Angela rushed in to hug her.
"I got lucky." Angie returned the hug. "What about you?"
"I'm fine."
"Angela," said a serious-looking man with short brown hair.
"Darren," she acknowledged him with a curt nod before turning to the boy peeking from behind the desk.
"Come here, Lucas. Aren't you going to say hi to aunty?"
The boy walked over and hesitantly hugged Angela's leg.
Jay and Lexie both softened at the sight. It was the first child they had seen since the world fell apart. It was a comforting sight, a reminder that it wasn't all grim, and there was still hope.
"He wasn't in school?" Angela asked, gently ruffling his hair.
"No. Rough morning. I called in sick for him," Ash explained.
"Lucky," Angela knelt and hugged Lucas. It was chilling to think what might've happened if he'd been out then when everything went to hell.
Ash gave a slow nod. "Anyway, who are your friends? And what are you doing here?"
"That's Jay and Lexie." Angela smiled. "I owe them my life. Jay, Lexie, this is Ash and Darren. Old friends of mine."
"Enchanté."
"Come. Have this." Lexie knelt and handed Lucas a small snack.
"Thank you for saving Angela." Ash smiled at them and nodded to Lucas, who was looking at her eagerly.
"Are you a rescue team sent by the military?" Darren asked, his gaze falling on their weapons and gear.
"No, we aren't." Jay shook his head.
"But you can help us, right?" Darren pressed. Since they were with Angela, they were probably good people. Besides, they looked capable. It made sense to stick with them.
"Yes… But you'd have to wait. We have to go to the hospital first."
"What? That place is full of those monsters." He stared at them with wide eyes. "Why would you go there?"
"Dangerous, huh." The arena was dangerous too, but they'd escaped. They'd find a way again.
"Are you going with them?" Ash grabbed Angela's hands.
"Yes," Angela replied, dodging Ash's gaze.
"Why? Are they forcing you?"
"No!" Angela immediately shook her head.
Lexie chuckled. "Do we look like bad guys?"
Ash looked her over. Her silence said more than words.
Lexie's lips twitched. "Tch. Come on, Jay, we have better things to do."
They left the office and returned to the staircase. They had initially planned to scout from the balcony. But after seeing a ladder, they chose the rooftop instead.
From there, they had a clear view of the hospital's courtyard. And as Darren warned, it wasn't looking good.