The night passed with agonizing slowness, each hour stretching into what felt like eternity.
Len Fang had stayed awake for most of the time, keeping watch by the window, his eyes scanning the darkness for any threats. He had good control over his sleep due to his years of hardship before regression—countless nights spent on guard duty, sleeping with one eye open, training his body to function on minimal rest.
It was a skill born of necessity, and one that served him well now.Not only that, but the system that had traversed through time with him had shown him useful information throughout the night. With a thought, he could see a count displayed in the corner of his vision: the number of people who are in the building alongside him and his brother.
The number remained constant at the same count as before—just the two of them, plus the original residents who had been inside when the apocalypse began.
So he knows nobody had entered from outside to reduce the safe zone space. His efforts at the entrance had ensured that.
As dawn broke, painting the sky in shades of red and orange that seemed almost mockingly beautiful, the view outside revealed the aftermath of yesterday's carnage.
The morning everywhere was filled with blood—literally. The streets were painted crimson, bodies lay scattered like discarded dolls, abandoned vehicles sat with doors hanging open where their occupants had fled and died.
And the monsters were nowhere to be seen.
Of course they weren't, because they had returned by twelve last night, exactly twenty-four hours after they first appeared.
Len Fang had watched it happen—rifts forming once more, glowing tears in reality that acted like vacuums, absorbing the monsters and pulling them back.
Even the ones that didn't want to go, that fought against the pull, were dragged through the portals screaming and taken back to whatever hellish place they came from.
The rifts had closed after that, sealing shut and leaving behind only the destruction they had wrought.
Nobody now has come out or said anything since the carnage they had witnessed. The building remained silent except for occasional sounds of weeping or prayer from behind closed doors.
He was sure they were all curled up in their apartments, hoping desperately for the government and military to arrive, to fix everything, to make the world normal again.
And in truth, they will come—the authorities would eventually respond.
But not in the way people think, not with rescue and relief. That was a story that will soon play out, and not a pleasant one.
Well, that was for later. Right now, something more immediate demanded his attention.
Now the event will soon take place, and he needed to prepare.
Len Fang moved away from the window and made his way to where Marel was sleeping fitfully on the couch, tossing and turning with nightmares.
He shook his brother's shoulder gently but firmly.
"Marel. Wake up. Time to eat."
Marel groaned and opened his eyes slowly, disoriented for a moment before the memories of yesterday came flooding back. His face went pale.
"Was it… was it real?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Yes. Now eat. We need energy for what's coming." Len Fang handed him some of their preserved food.
They ate in silence, Marel forcing down food his stomach didn't want while Len Fang ate mechanically, fuel for the body rather than pleasure.
Then, after about one hour later, exactly as Len Fang had been anticipating, the system's voice suddenly rang out worldwide.
Every human being on Earth heard it simultaneously, the words appearing both as sound in their ears and text before their eyes.
[ ATTENTION ALL SURVIVORS ]
[ THE FIRST EVENT WILL NOW COMMENCE ]
[ EVENT NAME: RESOURCE SCRAMBLE ]
[ OBJECTIVE: SURVIVAL AND ACQUISITION ]
Marel jumped at the sudden voice, his food nearly dropping from his hands, but Len Fang remained calm, listening intently.
[ PARAMETERS: Across the world map, Resource and Reward Zones have been designated and scattered across various locations. ]
[ The first person to reach a zone will receive an immediate buff and will assume control of that zone. ]
[ That person must then defend the zone against other survivors who attempt to claim it. ]
[ If the controller cannot maintain control of the zone for the designated time period, or if they are removed from the zone by force, they will die. ]
[ If other survivors cannot successfully claim a zone or hold control for the required duration, they too will die upon failure. ]
The message was brutally clear—participation was optional, but failure meant death.
[ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The size and capacity of zones is dependent on the area and population density. Places with more people will have fewer zones with smaller capacities. Some locations have two zones, some have one, some have none. ]
[ Winners who successfully maintain control and complete the event will gain substantial rewards, including a secret reward that can help them in the next event and significantly increase their chances of survival. ]
[ The Resource Zones will be clearly marked with a giant green pillar of light reaching into the sky to alert you of their location. ]
[ TIME UNTIL EVENT ACTIVATION: THREE MINUTES ]
[ PREPARE YOURSELVES ]
[ MAY THE STRONG SURVIVE ]
The announcement ended, leaving silence in its wake.
Throughout the city, throughout the world, people were processing this information with growing horror. Another death sentence. Another impossible challenge.
But Len Fang was already moving.
"Marel, on your feet. Now!" His voice was sharp, commanding.
Marel scrambled up, his face pale with fear. "Len, what do we—"
"There are very few zones, and they won't be easy to find for most people. But I know." Len Fang grabbed a bag with their essential supplies. "I know where they are. I need to find a two-person resource zone for us, and we need to move immediately."
He grabbed his brother's hand firmly and started pulling him toward the door.
"Don't stop running and keep moving no matter what you see or hear," Len Fang instructed as they rushed downstairs, taking the steps two at a time. "Do you understand me?"
"Yes, but—"
"No buts. This will be a hard day, Marel. Maybe the hardest yet."
They burst through the ground floor entrance into the blood-stained street, and Marel flinched at the sight of the bodies, but Len Fang pulled him forward relentlessly.
"And the worst part," Len Fang continued as they started running, "is not only people you will have to defend against in those resource zone locations. There are also Resource Hounds."
"Resource Hounds?" Marel gasped out as he ran, struggling to keep pace.
"Small little creatures who feed on resources like animals feed on prey," Len Fang explained, his breathing controlled despite the exertion. "They spawn specifically during this event, and they will want to have access to any claimed zone very much. They're fast, vicious, and relentless."
Marel's eyes widened with fear, but he nodded and kept running.
Len Fang's mind was racing through his memories, calculating distances and routes. In his previous timeline, he had heard about the resource zones and had participated—but he'd been too far away, too weak, too unprepared. He had nearly died, trying to hold unto it but he managed and he had reached the required time of 2 minutes, managing to survive.
Not only that, he still remebered where few were located, had seen the patterns, had memorized the information for a second chance he never thought would come.
And now that chance was here.
They ran through abandoned streets, past wrecked cars and corpses, Len Fang's hand never releasing his brother's.
In the distance, faintly, Len Fang could hear other survivors beginning to emerge from their hiding places, drawn by desperation and the promise of rewards.
The event was about to begin.