SHIRO'S FIRST MISSION

"Come on. Takashi, do it for me." His voice contained sorrow as he pleaded "I want to stay myself until the last moment." He vomited another mouthful of blood and started rolling on the floor, writhing in pain.

He was slowly transforming and Takashi noticed it.

"Hisashi, hang on. Please hang on." Rei pleaded.

"Hisashi don't die!" She cried and yelled.

Hisashi gave up the ghost.

A few seconds later, his fingers twitched and Takashi took up his bat. "Rei, get away from him." Takashi slowly approached him.

She turned and saw him coming closer with his bat. "No! You can't do that! He's not turning… He's not turning into one of them! Hisashi is different!"

"Get away from him." Takashi repeated.

Hisashi's body twitched and Rei noticed.

"Hisashi? Look, Takashi, there's no way Hisashi is going to die…" Her voice cut midway when she saw him rise like one of Them.

He rose from the floor and stood still.

"Hisashi? What's wrong?" Rei asked.

He stood there, his hoarse voice sounded like the growl of a beast.

"Hisashi?" Rei tried to touch him but Takashi pulled her away before matters got worse.

Takashi pushed Rei behind him. "This can't be true." She was already crying.

Takashi spoke. "It's unbelievable, I know. It's messed up. But…"

"Don't do it!" Rei pleaded, her eyes filled with tears.

"It's really happening." Takashi firmed himself and rushed at Hisashi with his bat.

"No!" Rei screamed.

With one heavy hit to the head, Takashi killed the undead Hisashi.

"Why? Why?" Rei asked Takashi.

"He would have eaten you if I did nothing." Takashi answered, devoid of emotions.

Rei retorted with sobs. "I didn't want you to save me. I didn't want to see Hisashi like this. I was willing to get bitten by him and become one of Them rather than surviving by doing stuff like this!"

"I don't think he would want that for you." Takashi replied.

She sobbed. "How do you know that? Oh, I know. You must've hated Hisashi, am I right? Because he was dating me!"

Takashi didn't bother replying. He looked at her and then at Hisashi's corpse which was covered at the head. He turned towards the stairs that had brought them up here and headed downstairs.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Rei asked in shock and fear.

Takashi replied to her question. "I don't want to be a bother to you so I'll go down and smash Them."

"What are you talking about? That's too much for you to take care of by yourself." Rei chased after him.

He didn't reply.

"Hey, Takashi?"

He climbed the blockade they had made before.

"No! Stop it! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I really didn't mean it!" Rei held him from behind.

He just stared at her.

"So please, stay with me." Rei begged and cried.

He climbed down and hugged her tightly. He would forever remember today. The day he had killed his best friend.

*****

All hell had broken loose at Hiroma Academy, Shiro's school. These undead had entered every nook and cranny in the school but luckily for them, quite a lot of people had survived.

They packed themselves into classes and blocked the door with tables and chairs.

Shiro was currently in the toilet, his comfort zone. He had bolted into the toilet as soon as the disaster spread.

A blue panel was facing him. It contained new information he didn't know about.

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PLAYER NAME: SHIRO KISUKE

PLAYER LEVEL: 1

PLAYER TITLE: NONE

EXP: 0/100

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HP: 22 STAMINA: 35

STRENGTH: 05 AGILITY: 08

INTELLIGENCE: 10 SENSE: 07

VITALITY: 10

POINTS LEFT: 02

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

INFORMATION UPDATE:

THESE NEWLY MUTATED HUMANS ARE KNOWN AS UNDEAD. THEY EAT HUMANS AND DO NOT GET SATISFIED. THEY CRAVE FOR MORE THE MORE THEY EAT.

THOSE WHO ARE BITTEN BY THEM DIE, AND WHEN THEY RESURRECT, THEY WOULD HAVE BECOME UNDEAD TOO. THEY FEEL NO PAIN AND ONLY DIE WHEN BEHEADED OR STABBED IN THE HEAD.

YOU'RE TO KILL 20 OF THE UNDEAD.

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Shiro read through the information. "So the kill count referred to this undead. That's a little less irritating to know." He looked around the panel and noticed a change in one of the numbers. "And what's this? I have two extra points left. Is it possible to allocate it? Allocate two points to strength." He said it and his strength stat rose by two.

"Woah. I can feel power flowing through me. It feels just like the powerups in those online games I played." He threw a few punches and smiled.

"I should probably go out there and fulfill the missions if the rewards are going to be more like this. Could be better." Shiro stood up from the toilet seat he had been seated on all along.

He opened the toilet and walked out, heading for the door of the restroom.

Bang.

Something hit the restroom door. Shiro's body shivered and slowly, he tiptoed into the toilet he had just come out from.

Ding.

Another message arrived and the transparent panel popped up.

{MISSION: KILL TWENTY UNDEAD

DETAILS: THE UNDEAD ARE CURRENTLY ROAMING AROUND AIMLESSLY IN THE SCHOOL AND EVEN OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL. KILL THEM AND REDUCE THEIR NUMBERS AND INCREASE THE CHANCE OF SURVIVAL OF OTHER HUMANS.

MISSION REWARD: SURVIVAL, LEVEL UP, +3 STAT POINTS.

MISSION FAILURE: DEATH! PAINFUL BLOODY GRUESOME DEATH.

IF YOU FAIL TO KILL AN UNDEAD WITHIN THE GIVEN COUNTDOWN, YOU WILL DIE.

TIME LEFT: 00:07:58}

Shiro wasn't in a happy mood after what he'd just read. "Now it's forcing me to kill them within seven minutes or I die? What the hell do you mean I die? I'm safe here, aren't I?"

Bang!

The sound at the door was getting louder.

"It would be great if it was just one of them out there. It would be best to kill it before the noise attracts more of them." Shiro stood with a solid resolve.

He walked out of the toilet and found a mop sitting in a bucket in a corner.

He broke it off its head and then broke it into two pieces.

"Phew. I've killed chickens and goats before and I hope it won't be much different this time." He breathed and then walked toward the restroom's door.

Clack.

He opened it and found no one there.

"What the…" He stretched his head to look outside. "...HELLLL!!"