1 The Path (Edited)
"Huh?! Why does the moon seem huge and bright today?" wondered the bulky man walking on the sidewalk.
The moon's bizarre emergence at the east side of the horizon caught the bulky man's center of attention.
Dusk had not yet disappeared, and the Sun setting silhouette was still present. It was not supposed for the moon to show its brilliance since it was always overshadowed by the sun's lustrous light. However, the moon brightened even the dusk of the sun.
While the bulky man lost attention to his surroundings, he bumped into a young man, probably aged 18, who was shorter than him. The young man's head bumps into his bulky shoulder, causing the young man to grimace in pain.
"Oi! Watch out where you're walking, kid!" The man berated.
"I-I'm sorry." The young man bowed, feeling apologetic.
"Next time, you better keep your eyes open in front and carefully watch where you are going." The man snorted before turning his head to the moon once more.
He was angered because the young man interrupted his moment, so he couldn't help but reprimand the kid even though it was his fault. He would not concede to admit his mistakes, and as he recognized he bumped into a young teenager - but treated it as a kid - his ego immediately kicked in.
He continued walking, ignoring the young man. Seeing the bulky man pass at him, and sensing he was a bit far, the young man murmured something loud enough for the bulky man to hear it.
"It was his fault, yet he scolded me like I was wrong? I clearly saw him walking! However, because his attention was on the moon, he did not notice his pace was difficult to understand, and he eventually bumped into me. How was that my fault?" He complained under his breath.
The man did not have the leisure to scold him, the moon's brilliance totally mesmerized him. His breathing quickened, and his pace was indeed bizarre—for five steps, it was straight, and two steps later, he made a zigzag walk.
Five minutes later, ahead of him was a road, and the sidewalk he had been strolling disappeared and was replaced by a roadway. However, the bulky man continued to walk absent-mindedly, and his eyes reflected the moon's brilliance.
In only one step, the bulky man would be walking on a dangerous path.
"Hmm?"
A man in his twenties noticed the bizarreness of the man, and he immediately reached out to stop him and exclaimed.
"Oi! Watch out!"
But the man was bulkier and taller, so he could not even budge him. The bulky man ignored him and continued walking to the roadway.
BEEEEEPPP!!!
A loud sound of a horn resonated throughout the streets, and all the people—walking on the sidewalk or sitting in their cars—turned their heads and watched as the man was about to get hit by a car.
The car driver did not hesitate to place strength on his leg to kick the brake. The tires immediately came to a halt but were still pushed by inertia. The car zigzagged, and the driver immediately tried to control the steering wheel, trying to prevent further accidents on the busy street.
The car's tires left a deep mark on the road, and the back tires produced a white cloud of smoke. Eventually, It enshrouded the car and stopped just before the bulky man.
The driver immediately opened his windows and popped his body out.
"You fuck*r! Do you want to die that badly? Go to the bridge and jump into the river! Why do you need to implicate everyone in your death?!" The driver was raging in anger.
The man he yelled at came to a halt and turned his head toward him. The driver noticed the peculiarity deep inside his eyes. He saw the moon floating in his pupils. The bulky man's eyes should have reflected him and his car, but it was still the round moon. Concerned and afraid, the driver stuttered, "Y-your eyes."
The surrounding people simultaneously turned their heads, and they also noticed the bulky man's bizarreness.
The bulky man's body suddenly wriggled, and his head slowly deformed like he was mutating. The man's mouth inflated, soon overshadowing his head.
His mouth opened wide, his round teeth eclipsed his eyes and nose, and his upper torso slowly changed. His upper limbs glued together into his body, and his skin crawled out and wrapped it. The bulky man's appearance now was similar to a worm.
A humanoid grotesque worm!
"M-Monster." A man on the sidewalk trembled and exclaimed, scurrying away in fear.
One after another, they ran in fear; some immediately picked up their child and ran while using their hands to cover the child's eyes. Some called 911 wanting to report the situation, but it appeared the network connection had disappeared, so they could only sprint away to save their lives.
The driver was stupefied but startled by the man's cry; he immediately sat on his seat, grabbed the gear, and readied himself to shift like he was in a race.
He was still one step too late as the mutated bulky man suddenly attacked him, and he could not react. The mutated man slammed his body on the car while his round mouth, covered with sharp, razor teeth, broke the windshield, and bit the driver's body.
"Ah!"
People cry in shock, witnessing such a brutal scene. They were petrified, and their body couldn't move before they were grabbed by someone sensible.
Chaos enshrouded the street, and cars collided with each other, creating a wave of fire. People, one by one, slowly fell to the mutated worm, soaking the streets with blood, causing the escapees to be filled with despair as they ran for their lives.
***
Draven, the young man who bumped into the bulky man earlier, continued to walk and was about to reach the crosswalk. The previously chaotic street was another crosswalk, with one of their directions leading to the center of the city.
However, the direction in which Draven was walking was outside of the city, where poor people who could not provide themselves with shelter resided.
"Hmm?"
Draven sensed a frantic activity happening on his back. He turned his head and was startled to spot a man running as if his life depended on how fast he was. The man brushed past him, and Draven stumbled on the ground.
"Oi." Draven shouted.
But the man did not even turn and continued running in fear.
"Just what the heck is going on?" Draven grumbled and slowly stood up.
He turned his head and noticed a bizarre, strange form wiggling its body in his direction. It was the bulky man earlier, who had mutated into the worm; he was slithering his body with his sharp teeth upfront.
"What the-"
Draven could not continue his curse, perceiving the mutated worm slithering faster than the average speed limit of the car. Furthermore, there was not only one but a countless number of them, attacking every living being and toppling every infrastructure that dared to stop them.
The milky worm's sheer strength tore down the building's foot, and slowly, the building, without its footing, instantly crushed down, and debris flew everywhere in sight.
'RUN! JUST RUN!' Draven screamed at his thoughts.
He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and ran like his life depended on it. His body was above average since he consistently trained his body with cardiovascular exercise. Hence, he immediately overtook the man who had brushed past him earlier.
"Holy shit!"
The man exclaimed after he saw Draven overhaul him. He previously made use of Draven as bait while trying to hide from the mutated worm chasing at him earlier. Now that Draven had passed him with a facial expression no different from his, he was certain Draven realized something and likewise used him as bait. It was without a doubt that the milky worm was now targeting him.
He stopped in disbelief, and decided to make a dying wish.
"My little girl. I'm sorry that I can't see you growing up. However, your dad will still continue watching you in the heavens. I hope you can have a better life with your mother as you grow up and take care of her when she grows old."
Tears were surging out of his eyes before his body was grabbed from the mouth of the mutated worm. He shrieked from the excruciating pain but tried to fight back before he died.
***
"Just what was that milky worm?" Draven shouted as he ran.
He continued to sprint despite losing his breath, weariness finally kicked in. He then saw a crosswalk in front of him, and thought if he could change his detour to the left, he knew there was a place to hide.
Hope clouded his heart, causing his mind to appear to forget his body's exhaustion. However, he noticed something coming out of the direction that he was about to take, and another milky worm wiggled out on the crosswalk.
Draven immediately came to a halt and was in disbelief. Hope was only a step away from him, but why was it replaced by despair?
His heart was clouded by helplessness, and he turned around to see the milky worm with its razor-tipped mouth covered in viscous blood dashing at him. It was obvious the milky worm did not even take dozens of seconds to feast on his food earlier and was now running at him.
Repeatedly turning his head sideways, he saw both milky worms blocking his path. His eyes flashed with sharpness, and he attentively looked everywhere for a small path for him to take. It did not long before a bright idea occurred in his mind..
"There's still hope yet."
He positioned himself and was ready to act according to his plan. He continued to wait before both of the milky worms closed their distance to him by only five meters. When he felt assured that this distance was all right, he immediately jumped and rolled over upfront.
He hastily stood up, hurriedly looked at his back, and saw that the milky worms had collided with each other. Furthermore, both of their razor teeth were already positioned to attack him, the oblivious milky worms did not anticipate their prey to be cunning enough to use their offensive attacks on each other, so their death was inevitable.
"Nice!"
Seeing that both of the milky worms had stopped moving, he could not help but exclaim, feeling ecstatic.
However, he did not notice he was standing on the road, and a truck was charging at him uncontrollably at a speed of 150 kmph. The driver died, so its body put pressure on the gas, and no one could stop the unstoppable, mighty truck that reached its highest speed.
Boom!
The truck's head and Draven collided with each other, causing Draven to straightaway fly to the crosswalk and his body was received by a Post on a sidewalk.
Argh!
He puffed out blood, feeling his insides, spines, and bones broke and were destroyed by the impact. His eyes were wide awake, filled with shock and disbelief. He tried to stand up using his limbs but failed, he felt numb, perceiving his senses were disappearing.
'Did I die from the truck? Not from the monster?' He thought. 'Just how unlucky am I? Or am I only fated to die early?'
Darkness shrouded his vision and his heartbeat stopped. He lay on the ground, covered with viscous blood, and the truck rammed at him once more since it did not cease from the collision. If Draven were aware of this, he would be caught between laughter and tears. Just how much hostility does this truck have toward him?
However, he could not bother himself to understand it because a monotonous, genderless voice entered his ears.
[You have died! The requirement has been met. Preparing the new participant for his Path…]
[Welcome to the Path! Your path has been chosen.]
[The Path of the Undead welcomes you.]
[Congratulations on finding your Path! Prepare yourself for your first trial!]
