The Choice

"What the hell is this?"

In my vision, four paths appeared. Ash, Frost, Inferno, and Abyss—choices that looked ominous at first glance. I hadn't seen a single human face in four days, which only made me more uneasy for no good reason. I fidgeted, my leg bouncing anxiously as I pondered for a while. I couldn't put off the decision forever, no matter how anxious it made me. Even if I tried to shove it away, it wouldn't disappear like the Status Window.

"Why won't it go away?"

Besides, for everyday life, it seemed better to clear this choice quickly. The red text covered half my field of view.

Tsk... In the end, I decided to pick the top one, the Path of Ash. It looked marginally better than Frost, Inferno, or Abyss.

"What is this?"

Was this a real game? It was skill selection, sure. But why make it so damn ominous? I felt the steam leaking out of me as I clicked N and tried the others one by one.

The rest were similar skill acquisition prompts. But the last one, the Path of the Abyss, had that super ominous line about awakening the existence of the Abyss after 10,000 uses.

Pass on that one.

It looked appealing. A subspace would make moving around so much easier. And since time didn't flow inside, it was obvious it'd help store perishable food or items for future survival.

But...

That different font bugs me.

For some reason, the Path of the Abyss looked better than the others. Performance so good it felt like you'd be missing out if you didn't pick it. But that font, like it was written by another entity warning me, really grated.

Screw it.

It sucked, really sucked, but I decided against the Path of the Abyss. I hated "what ifs." For similar reasons, I skipped the Path of Inferno. I didn't want to travel with some unknown spirit entity.

So, Path of Ash or Path of Frost...

Ash was defense, Frost was offense. Six seconds of invincibility versus an AoE that could nail a 5x5-meter area—I pondered briefly.

Offense is covered by Ice Spear for now.

The Ice Spear (E) I'd gotten first was versatile in many ways. I could melt it for drinking water, and unlike the description saying "launch," I could summon it anywhere and smash it into heads. Plus, becoming Mage (Beginner) doubled my mana, letting me fire 28 shots every five hours now.

One bite and I'm done.

No matter how careful I was, if a zombie slipped into my blind spot and bit me, I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turn. So I quickly made up my mind. Path of Ash it was.

I selected Ashes Veil and activated it right away. It felt like an invisible second layer draped over my body, and the skill took effect.

"Good."

I spent the one skill point I'd gained after much deliberation on Ice Spear. I'd considered upgrading Ashes Veil, but Ashes Veil (D) only reduced occupied mana by 1 without extending invincibility time. Sure, at A-rank it might increase uses, but immediate effects seemed slim. Plus, bigger Ice Spears meant more water later—not a bad deal.

With Ice Spear at [D], I opened my Status Window.

Status Window

Max mana had doubled, hourly regen doubled. Ice Spear at D was about 20cm bigger, and Ashes Veil was new. Otherwise, just the (Beginner) tag on Mage.

Nice.

This setup wouldn't croak anywhere easily. Unless I stupidly crawled to a city intersection and yelled "I'm here!" I'd be fine. 50cm ice spears—24 shots in four hours—had to hit harder than 30cm ones.

Time to test.

I headed to the balcony. Same chaotic parking lot view: corpses, blood, crashed cars, smashed storefronts.

"Ice Spear."

I summoned one first. Floating there, roughly twice the previous size. I launched it at a zombie corpse on the asphalt.

—Splat!

—Shatter!

Watermelon-burst sound, ice spear shattering. Predictable, but the zombie body was pulverized too. Unlike piercing a second-floor zombie's chest before, now the upper body was gone. This power could handle two or three zombies per spear if piled up.

But.

No proficiency gain.

Unlike before, firing didn't raise it. Toggling Ashes Veil on/off didn't either.

What do I need to kill?

No new criteria now, surely. But no wandering zombies, no test subjects in the villa. I gave up quickly. Plenty outside anyway. Zombies in hordes, no doubt...

...and humans.

Humans would need killing eventually. Zombie stories always had human conflicts. Post-outbreak, lawless Korea—predictable. Zombies threatened humans now, humans at 1:1.5 disadvantage. But with weapons and numbers, reversible. No superpowered zombies yet—just fast, strong ones. Barricades or sturdy doors for defense, smart play to kill them.

Plenty of survivors: never got COVID-23, dodged early infected, quick adapters. Unemployed loners like me, tons. But without grouping, tough ahead... If grouped, shelters holding with emergency rations, huddling for warmth, awaiting rescue. Leader-led camps maintaining mini-societies—definite.

Not just them.

If mini-societies existed, so did rejects: raiders, outlaws, thugs. Society's trash. Law gone, they'd rejoice. Fear of law/prison held them back before—now? Zombies first, who thinks of that? Violence and strength would rule humans. They'd covet what they lacked, prey on their own.

I'd meet both types. If the latter...

No choice.

Then, magic tests on humans unavoidable.

Far future stuff.

Of course, unless they messed with me, I'd avoid fights. Whether that works, who knows.

Whatever.

I lay on the bed, pondering. Apocalypse with superpowers and murder.

Like I was the zombie story protagonist. I chuckled dryly and closed my eyes.