Looking at it again, this was strange.
All his life, Jon had known fire to be red, orange, sometimes blue—but never silver. So why was it that color?
Then suddenly—
SHAA!
The calm, flickering fire around Jenny burst outward in a sharp wave, surging with sudden intensity. Jon instinctively stepped back, shielding his face from the wave of heat. The flames roared for a moment, then began to settle.
'Should I be worried?' he thought. She wasn't screaming. No signs of pain. That had to be a good thing... right?
Gradually, the flames receded, shrinking inward like a tide returning to sea, until all that was left was Jenny, unharmed.
Unchanged.
Yet... something about her was undeniably different.
She stood tall, exuding a quiet strength. With a smile of calm confidence, she raised her hand. A small orb of fire hovered above her palm, silver, flickering gently like the flame of a candle. It hovered there, suspended by some unseen force, and then slowly began to grow.
Five centimeters... ten... fifteen.
Then it stopped, pulsing softly with contained power.
"Wow," Jenny breathed, eyes wide. "So, this is my main skill?"
Jon blinked. He felt something between awe and concern bubble in his chest. He gave a small nod. "Yeah… and I think killing those things—zombies—is how we unlock these."
"Ah…" Jenny's amazement faded, replaced by the heavy shadow of memory.
The field was still littered with corpses—students they'd known. Friends. Classmates. People they'd shared classes, meals, and laughter with. Now reduced to mindless, snarling monsters or lying cold and lifeless on the ground.
The thought of killing more of them clenched her stomach with dread… but then something strange washed over her. A cold calmness. Not the warm kind that comforts, but the type born from necessity.
In this new world, survival wasn't about who you used to be. It was about who you could become.
With a resolute sigh, she tightened her grip on the stick she'd found earlier and nodded. "All right. Let's do this."
She turned to Jon, who, oddly, looked troubled.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I can't find it," he muttered, crouched beside the zombie he'd killed. He patted the ground, brushed debris aside, and eyes scanning.
"Find what?"
"The orb. There's no glow, nothing. It's not here."
Jenny's heart skipped. "You mean...?"
He met her gaze. "Yeah. I think... we only get one per kill. Maybe less."
It made sense. Grim, unfair sense.
Jenny looked down at the body again. "So not every zombie gives you a skill orb…"
Jon nodded slowly. "Which means… I might be stuck with just the one skill."
He didn't say it, but it was written on his face. Regret.
His skill wasn't flashy. Wasn't destructive. And now, it might be all he had.
"Hey," Jenny suddenly said. "They're coming."
He looked up. Ten more zombies were stumbling in their direction. Groaning. Snarling.
And behind them? The other surviving students huddled together on the raised platforms. They couldn't run. Not without leaving the others behind.
"That's… a lot," Jon said, his anxiety rising—until that familiar wave of stillness overtook him again. His passive skill, keeping panic at bay.
"We can't let them get closer," Jenny said, eyes locked forward. The silver flame hovered above her hand again.
"Right."
Jon extended his hand. The cold fog crept forward from his fingers, latching onto the zombies, but he grunted in pain.
He could slow their limbs, but not all of them at once.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Jenny didn't wait. Three glowing orbs of silver fire shot from her hand, streaking through the air and slamming into the lead zombie. It dropped, flames sizzling through its skull.
Still, the others pushed on.
Jon clenched his fists. Three of the zombies slowed, staggering, arms frozen in mid-swing.
"Jenny, now!"
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Another one collapsed. This time, his coordination helped—his fog made them vulnerable.
"Huu…"
"Haa…"
Four down. Six left. And their mana was nearly gone.
"I'll take three. You take three," Jon said, lifting his now dented pump.
Jenny nodded. "All right."
They split up.
Jon moved left. He pushed all his remaining mana into freezing his targets' limbs and charged.
Whack. Whack. Whack.
It was brutal. No finesse. Just pure, desperate survival. But eventually, his three fell.
Ding.
A sound echoed in his mind:
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED LEVEL 3 ZOMBIE REMAINS]
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED LEVEL 2 ZOMBIE REMAINS]
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED LEVEL 3 ZOMBIE REMAINS]
[YOUR LEVEL HAS INCREASED]
His breath caught. His muscles ached. But something inside—some deep, buried part—felt stronger.
Jenny, on the other side, hurled her last flames. When her mana ran dry, she didn't hesitate. She picked up a broken metal rod and beat the last one down.
Together, panting, bruised, and bloody, they stood among the bodies.
Then Jon noticed it.
A glimmer.
No—four glimmers, faintly pulsing near the fallen zombies.
"Are those…?" he whispered.
Jenny was already on her knees, reaching. "Yes!"
He exhaled deeply, relief flooding him. His shoulders sagged. He hadn't realized how much he feared being left behind, trapped with only a weak passive skill. But this… this was hope.
"They don't drop every time," Jenny muttered, holding the four orbs. "We killed ten and got four."
They each took two and returned to the platform, ignoring the wary stares of the other students.
Some huddled away from them. Others clutched makeshift weapons, eyes wide. Maybe it was the blood on their clothes… or the power they'd just witnessed.
Jon didn't care.
They had survived. And they would keep surviving.
He sat down, holding the orb, and whispered, "Let's see…"
Crack.
The first orb shattered. A faded scroll unfurled in his hand.
[YOU HAVE LEARNED 'SKILL': INSTANT CALCULATION (FIRST REALM) LEVEL 1 – INCREASE CALCULATION SPEED BY 5%]
"Instant calculation?" he read aloud. At first, it seemed underwhelming. But then his mind raced.
Split-second decisions. Rapid analysis. Predicting enemy movement…
This could save him.
With an expectant heart, he reached for the second orb.
It cracked—this time, revealing a weapon.
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED 'ITEM': OBSINE BROWN METAL SPEAR (UNRANKED REALM) LEVEL 3]
He gripped it.
'Nice,' He didn't know anything about weapons, but this one was sturdy, far better than his bent pump, which he placed down gently.
Jenny was examining a sword she had likely gotten from her rewards.
Jon looked around.
The sky was growing darker.
"We need to leave this stadium," he said, voice low. "Fast."
Everyone froze.
"What if these things are outside too?" Tunde asked.
"They probably are," Jenny answered quietly.
"But the female dorms are close," Jon suggested, "We can head there. Maybe we'll find the security or shelter."
A murmur of agreement came from the survivors at the sound of shelter.
The fainted survivors were carried, and with Jenny and Jon at the head and flank of the surviving group, they began moving.
They climbed down the platform, through the waist-length gate, carefully and quietly.
The stench of death made some gag. The sight of twisted bodies made others freeze.
Jon urged them on. "Keep it together. We don't have time."
Zombies were still far away but approaching.
The east gate led to the cafeteria, the north to the sports complex, and the west gate was where the female hostels were located.
Jon led, Jenny watched their rear.
The group moved in silence. Shuffling footsteps, shaky breaths, but no one dared to speak.
Then—
They reached the gate.
Jon opened it with hope, not only he, but everyone was expectant.
A part of them wanted to believe that everything that was happening was not the case for everyone.
And that hope died. It was naive to think that in the first place.
Dozens of zombies stood beyond. Waiting. Watching.
And as the gate creaked open—
They turned, and their eyes locked onto them.
Then, they began to move.
The group froze.
Jon stood still, eyes widened, and his spear clenched tight.
The nightmare wasn't over. No, it was just beginning.