Sophie felt as though she had lost her mind.
A man she had only met that very day, and yet here she was, standing on the edge of something she could hardly believe.
The sound of running water echoed from the bathroom, each splash stirring up an unfamiliar storm inside her. She wasn't normally the type to act rashly, and yet the memory of his figure standing before her earlier—confident, sharp, and heroic—made her heart harden with determination.
No, this wasn't madness.
This was release.
---
The clear "ding dong" of a phone notification broke through her haze. Sophie glanced over at her phone, almost absently.
[Sophie, where are you?! I heard you were attacked at the hospital earlier today!]
[Are you okay?!]
[Tell me where you are. Do you need me to take a cab to pick you up? Do you want something to eat tonight?...]
The string of worried messages came from Evan, the childhood friend who never seemed to give up. His concern was real, but Sophie's lips pressed into a thin line.
Her fingers hovered over the screen, thinking of typing back, but just as quickly she froze.
The sound of water stopped. The door creaked open.
The man walked out of the bathroom.
Sophie felt as though all the blood in her body rushed straight to her head. The phone slipped from her hand without her even noticing. At that moment, no message, no reassurance, no "boy waiting patiently at the edge of the pond" mattered in the slightest.
Because the man in front of her was far too perfect.
The muscles sculpted across his body gleamed faintly with droplets of water, each curve and line defined as though carved by an artist. She had never seen such perfection on any man, and her heart raced uncontrollably.
---
Across from her, Noah—calm, cold, and forged in the fires of a world she could not yet imagine—watched her.
He hadn't expected it. This young nurse, whom he had only met today, still carried her innocence. The realization left him unsettled, a flicker of guilt tugging at his otherwise icy heart.
But Noah had survived decades in the apocalypse, and that cruel life had stripped nearly every warmth from him. A small pang of guilt was nothing compared to the hard, unflinching resolve he carried.
He didn't linger on emotions. He went straight to the point.
"You work in the hospital," he said in a low voice. "Can you get access to infected blood samples for testing?"
Sophie blinked, startled. "Blood samples?"
"Yes," Noah said firmly. "Can you get me some? HIV. Ebola. Anything."
The color drained from Sophie's face. "H-HIV?" she stammered, horror flashing in her eyes.
Noah sighed inwardly. To her, the word meant danger, despair, death. To him, it meant possibility, power, evolution.
He stepped forward, gently ruffling her hair. "What are you thinking? I don't have anything like that. If you're worried, you can test me tomorrow. But I need those samples. Can you get them?"
Relief washed over Sophie. She pressed a hand against her chest, still shaken. "That's… really hard. The laboratory is strict about this, and… and..."
Her voice trailed off nervously.
Noah's expression cooled. "If it's too hard, forget it. I'll find someone else."
He shifted as if to leave, and panic flickered in her eyes.
"It's not impossible," Sophie said quickly. "It's just… not easy."
Noah gave her a faint smile, his tone softening. "Don't worry. I promise you I'm not doing anything illegal. You've seen my IDs. I'm a student at Central University. I just need them for some private research, and I'll destroy them once I'm done."
His words worked like a spell. He felt a flicker of guilt for taking advantage of her trust, but time was precious. The world was already sliding toward collapse.
He had only hours, maybe days, to prepare.
---
Later, as Sophie slept peacefully against his chest, Noah's gaze turned distant. His features hardened again, the mask of the survivor sliding back into place.
In the apocalypse, women without power were little more than commodities. Objects to be traded, consumed, or discarded. Only the strongest could rise above that fate.
He remembered countless faces from his past life. Some had become weapons in their own right. Others had been broken, tossed aside as nothing.
And yet, looking down at Sophie—the first woman to enter his life again after rebirth—he resolved, silently, that he would protect her. For now.
Because this time, everything would be different.
---
Noah's focus shifted inward. With a thought, his status window appeared before him, floating like a digital projection.
[Noah (Forerunner) (Zombie Slayer)]
[Evolver Number: 001]
[Talent: Virus King (SSS)]
[Level: 1 (10/500)]
[Strength: 14 (+1)]
[Agility: 16 (+1)]
[Constitution: 16 (+1)]
[Spirit: 15 (+1)]
[Charm: ???]
[Luck: ???]
[Assets: 1 gold coin, 10 copper coins]
His stats had grown, each increase coming from the title "Zombie Slayer." He had also gained his first handful of coins, though he already knew exactly how to spend them.
The real prize wasn't the coins. It was his talent.
[Virus King (SSS): You possess absolute control over any bacteria or virus within your body. Any virus can become your weapon. Each time you absorb or encounter infected organisms, you gain evolution points and unlock new abilities. Current evolution points: 1.57.]
The words glowed faintly, pulsing with potential.
That was his advantage. His greatest weapon.
The source of his rebirth.
---
He had earned most of his points today by slaying zombies. Every contact with the infected fed into his body, absorbed by his talent, and converted into evolution. What would have killed others only made him stronger.
And that fear he once carried—the dread of becoming nothing more than a petri dish crawling with disease—was gone. The Virus King didn't get sick. He consumed sickness.
Noah didn't allocate his points immediately. Instead, his eyes turned toward the grand evolutionary tree that unfolded in his vision. Among its many twisting branches, one in particular caught his attention.
[Evolution of Infectious Diseases: Control over traditional diseases—transmitted through contact, fluids, droplets, and more. Advanced stages unlock unknown methods of spread.]
(Note: Because of large viral sample intake, point cost reduced by 50%.)
His lips curved into a grin. "Fifty percent reduction? Perfect."
Without hesitation, he invested 0.5 points to unlock the branch. The remaining point, he poured into strengthening control of the Blacklight Virus.
The moment he did, his body reacted.
Boom!
His heart thundered inside his chest, beating faster, harder, echoing through his veins like a war drum. His cells burned with energy, splitting, mutating, reshaping.
Power rippled through him.
Evolution had begun.
---