"Ugh... really."

Having his umbrella almost snatched away by the fierce wind, Leon complained to himself.

He was just returning from lectures when this heavy rain had started, forcing everyone to bring out their umbrellas and hasten their steps.

Thankfully, the situation wasn’t too surprising. Over the past one month, it had been raining heavily—and abruptly.

The weather would just switch, changing from intense sun to dark rainy clouds in a few minutes.

Arriving at the lobby of the dormitory half-soaked, Leon was glad that his bag was waterproof.

If it hadn’t been waterproof, his books would have been soaked too.

"Oh goodness! My project!"

Someone cried in a corner, trying to squeeze out water from his project notes gently.

The material was completely soaked, making the guy feel helpless.

Leon merely glanced at the scene and went upstairs.

His roommates were not yet back, definitely caught up in the rain too.

"Should I cook before they come back?"

Removing his clothes and dumping them in the washing machine’s dryer, he stood before the gas cooker, contemplating.

He was used to cooking together with his roommates, so their current absence made him feel a bit lazy.

"Ah, Mark would complain that I added too much spice. Let me just leave it until they come back."

Finding a perfect excuse to disengage, he turned around and headed for his bed-space.

Suddenly, he froze. His body trembled faintly, feeling as if something had passed through him.

’What the hell...?’

He frowned, checking his arms—goosebumps. It definitely wasn’t just an imaginary feeling.

His confusion only lasted briefly. A glowing screen appeared before him, along with a calm ethereal voice.

[Planet Earth has gained the recognition of Star Stream. Phase 1 Evolution is about to begin.]

’Huh?’

Leon blinked, dazed. He rubbed his eyelids and ears, confirming that they weren’t malfunctioning.

There was really something floating right before his eyes. A glowing screen with words.

’What the hell? One of Peter’s inventions? Could this be a game he recently created? It’s really impressive.’

Although Peter was indeed a computer scientist, a student, there was no way he could create something this... advanced.

Even Leon doubted it.

A piercing scream shattered his thoughts, followed by shouts of panic and fear.

Leon immediately rushed to the windows, peeking outside.

It was chaos. Absolute chaos.

Students ran around like kids playing police and thieves. The thieves were the humans, while the police were... zombies?

The guy who had been mourning over his ruined project material earlier, lunged at a girl who had slipped in the rain and fallen.

With monstrous strength unexpected from a skinny person like him, he knocked her to the ground and bit her neck, chewing on her flesh like a rabid beast.

Her scream became like that of many others in the heavy rain.

Leon’s heart sank, a sense of foreboding washing over him.

’Zombies?’

Several movies and novels he had read as a teenager flashed in his mind, reminding him of the harrowing nature of zombies.

Down below, the zombies rushed at the humans, digging their teeth into their victim’s flesh and turning them.

As a result, more zombies spawned.

’Where did the virus even come from?’

Clenching his teeth, Leon locked the windows and turned around.

’What to do...?’

His heartbeat was accelerating, and he was filled with adrenaline. At the same time, he was filled with confusion. What was he supposed to do?

Bang!

The windows shattered, interrupting his thoughts. A wet, injured hawk crashed into the room, its wings broken and twisted as it tried to fly.

It wasn’t a normal hawk, though. Its size was clearly unnatural, and the blood on its feathers...

Leon moved before he could think. He grabbed the gas cylinder by the cooker, removing the hose from it.

Then in one swift motion, he smashed the cylinder against the struggling hawk.

The creature cried out, its bones snapped, then went still.

[You have slain a Level 1 Mutated Hawk! +2 Strength points gained!]

Seeing the screen flash before his eyes again, Leon’s heart cooled.

’This... is really like a game.’

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a VR game. He could actually die if he wasn’t careful.

Before he could relax, he tensed again. Another bird, bigger and larger, was barreling through the rain and straight at his shattered window.

It seemed that was the eagle that had injured the mutated hawk.

’Crazy...!’

Grabbing the gas cylinder tightly, he swung it with all his might as soon as the creature flew into the room.

Bang!

The collision was solid, and the large eagle was smashed into the wall, denting it.

It wasn’t dead, merely dazed from the blunt force of the attack.

Leon moved before it could regain its senses. He grabbed a knife from the kitchen set, then drove it into the eagle’s skull.

There was a slight resistance, then the blade sank in.

[You have slain a Level 2 Mutated Eagle! +2 Agility points gained!]

[You have leveled up to Level 2! +4 Stat points available for use!]

Ignoring the messages, Leon focused on the beast under his grip. After confirming that it was dead, he removed the knife from its head, the blade covered in gross brain matter and blood.

Finally, he could pay attention to the messages.

’Stat points? Like a status—’

Abruptly, the screen changed, displaying a new set of information.

[Name - Leonel Wayne]

[Class - None]

[Level - 2]

[Race - Human]

[AGL - (9/10)]

[STR - (8/10)]

[STA - (6/10)]

[Mana - 100]

[Stat points - 4]

[Observation: A bottom feeder with mana luck]

Reading through the information displayed, Leon was astonished. It was just like the games he had played and the novels he had read—mostly on pirated sites, though.

’Ugh, that wasn’t necessary.’

Grumbling, his gaze scanned through the stats, immediately understanding them.

If he was right, the human body had a limit of 10 for each bracketed stat. His agility and strength was close to the limit, while his stamina was still average.

Leon was never an athletic guy anyway. In fact, he was quite skinny.

’Wait...’

He suddenly frowned, looking at himself in the mirror. His body had grown larger and his muscles were denser like an athlete. He really didn’t look skinny anymore.

’This change... I don’t have the luxury to think about this.’

He didn’t want to waste brain cells thinking about how that had happened. If he remained too idle, there was no telling what else would come for him.

Taking a deep breath, his gaze brushed over the mana points which read a hundred, and the derogatory observation.

’I really don’t know a lot happening right now, but it’s survival of the fittest.’

He went to the kitchen counter, grabbing a few more knives and hanging them by his belt.

The rain was still falling heavily outside, but it was already showing signs of reducing.

The window of his room had been broken, so he needed to leave before something else barrelled into the room.

Putting on a sweatshirt, he wore his shoes, grabbed a bottle of water, and left the room.

Instantly, he regretted it. The hallway was crawling with zombies.