The moment they stepped through the shattered entrance of the supermarket, something sharp rang inside Deon’s head.

Ding!

He flinched instinctively.

A translucent screen unfolded in front of his eyes, bright blue letters suspended as though projected directly into his vision.

[Contestant System has been activated.]

[Welcome, Participant Deon Day.]

"...What now?" Deon muttered.

Around him, several others had stopped walking as well, confused voices going up into the air immediately.

"What is this?!"

"There’s something in front of me!"

"Is this some kind of hologram?"

The man in the gray suit reached forward cautiously, fingers passing straight through the floating panel. Even the woman in the red dress had gone silent for once, staring at the screen with narrowed eyes.

Deon frowned and focused again.

The panel shifted at his thoughts, several tabs appearing beneath the main display:

Leaderboard

Party

Stream

Seems similar to some kind of game menu or UI? I should check them all out.

He thought about the Leaderboard first. Instantly, a list expanded in front of him, counting off each individual contestant and their points.

[Leaderboard Rankings]

[1. Levi Knox – 2 Points]

[2. ________]

[3. ________]

...

[100. Deon Day – 0 Points]

The names of each contestant were listed in order. But saying order was a stretch, as everyone else was tied for the same place.

Only one name was ahead.

Levi Knox...how the hell does that actor have Points already? Tch...I won’t let him get a head start on me.

He closed it and selected Party next.

[Create Party]

[Join Party]

[Maximum Members: 5]

’Party Bonuses may apply during Scenarios.’

Party bonuses? Ahh I get it, this was the incentive for groups to stay together. I knew it’d be a team thing somehow.

He glanced sideways at Hana, who was still nervously poking at the air in front of her own screen.

Not the worst option...

He dismissed the thought for later and moved on, eyes landing on the last tab.

[Stream]

For some reason, a strange discomfort crawled up his spine. Deon hesitated before tapping it anyway.

The panel darkened, reopening into a different interface.

[Live Broadcast Active]

[Current Viewers: 1]

[Chat: Locked]

[Donations: Unavailable]

[Visibility Rank: Lowest]

What? What the hell is all this? A stream? I’m not even streaming right now, though?

He stared at the panel for a second longer than he meant to, finally realizing the anomaly that was on it.

Viewer: 1

In the middle of this ruined city...someone was watching him? It felt even worse than being dropped from the sky.

Deon instinctively looked over both shoulders, hoping he’d catch somebody standing behind him with a camera. Yet, there was no one.

"...Creepy bastards."

Without another second of thought, he slammed the panel shut. Beside him, Hana looked over with a worried expression. "U-um...is yours weird too?"

Deon glanced at her for a moment before answering flatly. "Yeah, but now’s not the time for that."

The supermarket had long since lost any sense of normalcy. Much of the food had already been overturned, their contents scattering across the floor. Most of the fresh goods were already gone, along with a lot of the canned goods.

Yet for all the ruin around them, it still felt safer than the streets outside. At least...for the moment.

Deon’s eyes moved carefully through the front section of the store while the others argued over the strange panels still floating in front of them.

Then it came again, the sharp chill from earlier. Goosebumps raced up both arms so suddenly that he stopped walking mid-step.

Deon turned toward the source, toward the front windows. The street beyond the cracked glass looked empty, but he knew it was just a facade.

"Barricade the place," Deon said suddenly.

Several heads turned toward him. "The windows. Doors too. Move whatever you can."

The man in the gray suit blinked. "What? Why?"

"Because I said so," Deon snapped, already grabbing the side of a fallen display shelf. "Either help or stand there and die confused."

For a second, no one moved.

Then the suited man recovered first, taking off his jacket before stepping forward. "Everyone, help him. Now."

The others hesitated, but survival was a language most people understood quickly enough.

One by one, they began dragging carts, racks, and loose shelves toward the front of the store.

Beside him, Hana struggled with a smaller basket rack before Deon wordlessly took one side, helping shove it into place.

"T-Thank you," she breathed.

"Save it," he muttered. "Push."

Only one person hadn’t moved. The woman in the red dress stood near the register counter with her arms folded, watching everyone else work like it was entertainment.

"...You’re not helping?" the suited man said, irritation finally creeping into his voice.

"Help? I am of noble birth," she gestured vaguely toward the shelves they had pushed up. "I don’t do manual labor."

"Lady, this isn’t the time for—"

"Leave her," Deon cut in flatly, not even looking her way.

Instead, he shoved another rack across the floor and slammed it against the cracked window. "We don’t have time to argue with dead weight."

"Dead wha—?!" she started, but nobody cared to listen.

Within minutes, most of the front windows had been covered. Layers of shelves, carts, and counters formed a crude wall between them and the ruined city outside.

"Good enough..." the man in the gray suit exhaled, wiping sweat from his brow as he stepped back. "At least now we have some breathing room."

A few of the others nodded weakly, already looking relieved now that something practical had been done.

But Deon didn’t move, eyes stayed fixed on the barricade. The feeling hadn’t gone away. If anything, it had gotten worse.

Goosebumps still crawled across his skin in waves. It felt like his body was screaming at him to run away.

"...Deon?" Hana asked quietly.

She had stepped closer without him noticing, her hands clasped in front of her sleeves.

"Are you okay? You look...really tense."

"...No," he answered honestly before walking past her.

The others were talking again now, discussing their next plans.

"See? We’re fine."

"We should search for food next."

"There has to be bottled water somewhere..."

Deon ignored them all and approached one of the front windows. A narrow gap remained where two shelves hadn’t fully aligned, leaving just enough space to peer through.

That was when he saw them. A shape crossed between the wreckage so quickly Deon almost thought he imagined it.

But he was proven horribly right as five more joined the first shape, charging towards them.

They looked like hounds whose fur had been completely shaven off, body raw and pink. Some ran on all fours while others walked on hind legs.

One vaulted clean over a car while another scaled the side of a broken-down bus for three steps before leaping back to the pavement.

"Shit...THEY’RE COMING!"

Everyone jolted just as the first creature smashed into the glass entrance hard enough to crack it instantly. A second slammed into the barricade beside it, then a third.

"Hold it!" the man in the gray suit shouted, rushing toward the front entrance first. "Don’t let them break through!"

He threw his shoulder against the nearest checkout counter, trying to brace it back into place. Two others scrambled after him, shoving their weight beside his.

The woman in the red dress screamed and stumbled backward instead, nearly slipping on scattered glass.

"They’re getting in! They’re getting in!"

"No shit!" someone barked back.

Another impact struck the doors hard enough to rattle the entire front wall.

"Push!" the suited man yelled through gritted teeth.

Deon clicked his tongue and moved as well, planting both hands against the counter before driving forward with the others.

Damn it...there’s...too...many!

Beside him, Hana hesitated only a moment before hurrying over to help, pressing both palms against a smaller cart near his side

"D-Deon..."

"Push."

One of the shelves tipped sideways, canned goods spilling across the floor.

"Keep it steady!" the suited man shouted.

For a second, it almost felt like they might hold, until—

CRASH!

A deafening shatter came from somewhere to their right. Everyone’s heads snapped toward the sound.

The side entrance was completely blown open, the glass doorway near the pharmacy section had exploded in a shower of shards. One of them had gotten in, sniffing around before turning to the group at the front door.

But worst of all, it wasn’t just one...

More started coming in from the same spot. One person barely had time to scream before the first hound hit him chest-first, driving him backward into a shelf.

Blood sprayed across the medicine aisle.

Another creature vaulted over him and landed on all fours atop a counter, head twitching wildly as it scanned the room.

Deon slowly released the barricade, eyes narrowing as more shapes flooded through the broken side entrance.

His fight-or-flight reaction was at an all-time high now, but one side edged out the other, and it was very clearly—

"...Run."