Ding!
Sun energy collected: +25
Total: 75 Sun
Yhakal wasted no time. He dropped a Sunflower behind the Peashooter, locking it in on the rear tile. The soil was warm, strangely responsive—like placing down a game piece on a board that knew what was coming.
But this wasn't a game. Not really.
The first enemy shuffled onto the yard—tall, pale, and glassy-eyed. Dressed in a green hoodie and patched jeans, it looked almost human if not for its slack jaw and vacant stare. A soft groan escaped its lips.
"Flesh...free… brains…"
Yhakal grimaced. "Still less annoying than influencers."
The Peashooter fired.
Paff. Paff. Paff.
The green pellets smacked the zombie in the face and chest. It slowed. Then stumbled. Then dropped.
Zombie defeated!+5 XP
A familiar jingle echoed across the sky. He couldn't help but smile. "Still works."
But that was just the start.
The next wave came quickly—five more zombies, one in each lane.
Some staggered like drunks, others moved with purpose. A few looked oddly athletic, wearing track pants and grim determination.
Across the neighborhood, panic erupted.
To his left, someone tried to climb their own fence, abandoning their yard completely. To the right, a guy was hurling rocks at the oncoming horde, ignoring the sun or the seed packets floating in front of him.
Yhakal tapped his HUD and placed another Sunflower. The key to survival was sun economy—basic PvZ logic.
More sun meant more plants. More plants meant more firepower. He didn't have time to explain this to everyone.
He grabbed another orb—+25 sun—and planted a second Peashooter in lane three.
"Stay in rhythm," he muttered. "Get the pattern. Left, right, center. Delay, damage, delay."
The backyard grid wasn't just a battlefield—it was a puzzle. A living, hostile puzzle.
Suddenly, a message pinged across his vision:
Emergency Alert – Neighboring Yard Breach Imminent
Neighbor: Ellis, Lane 2Status: No plants placed
Incoming threat: 2x Hostile Entities
Yhakal looked over the fence.
A teenage boy—barefoot, wearing only pajamas—stood shaking beside a barren lawn. His HUD floated uselessly in front of him, ignored.
"Hey!" Yhakal called. "You need to plant something!"
"I don't know how!" the boy cried. "I don't even play strategy games!"
Of course. No Plants vs. Zombies in this world. They didn't know what to do.
A second alert flashed:
Shared Roots Unlocked
You may donate 1 basic plant to a neighbor every 60 seconds.
Without hesitation, Yhakal opened his interface and dragged a Wall-nut into the boy's grid. It landed with a satisfying thunk, just in time to block the pair of zombies closing in.
"Buy yourself time. Focus on planting Sunflowers. Don't attack yet—just stall."
The boy blinked. "Wait… are you a developer?"
Yhakal nearly laughed. "No. Just someone who's played this before."
Back in his own yard, things escalated.
More zombies entered. One wore a bicycle helmet. Another had a shopping basket over its head like armor. He planted another Peashooter. Then a Potato Mine. The timing had to be precise—it needed a few seconds to arm.
He watched the countdown.
The zombie lumbered forward.
Click. Pop.
The explosion was oddly muted—more of a fwump than a boom—but it flattened the target instantly.
"Still satisfying," Yhakal said to himself.
He collected sun as it dropped, never letting it fall out of reach. He planted with speed now—muscle memory from long nights on his laptop flooding back into real life.
Sun total: 150
New plant unlocked: Cherry Bomb
Effect: Area of effect explosive
Cooldown: 40 seconds
He smiled. "Now we're talking."
Then came the next threat.
A thin figure in a running vest appeared in the top lane. Its arms pumped. Its head twitched side to side with every step.
New Enemy Detected: Runner-Type
Speed: High
Threat: ★★★☆☆
Warning: May bypass early defenses
"Oh no you don't."
He collected two more sun orbs and dropped the Cherry Bomb directly in the lane's middle tile.
BOOM.
The explosion sent a shockwave through three adjacent tiles, taking the runner and two others nearby with it. Ash and smoke blew into the air. A couple of falling leaves floated down afterward like confetti.
Triple Kill
Bonus XP: +20
Plant Efficiency: Grade A
Yhakal exhaled slowly.
This wasn't just survival now. This was rhythm. Flow. Strategy.
He glanced across the neighborhood. Other yards were a mess—some abandoned, some chaotic. One had three Sunflowers crammed into the front row like a confused bouquet. Another had nothing but Wall-nuts and no offense.
"We're gonna get wiped," he murmured. "Unless they learn. Fast."
Wave 1 Complete
Survivors: 39%
Your Yard Status: ✨ Perfect Defense
Bonus Unlocked: Plant Upgrade – Peashooter → Split Pea (Tier II)
He stared as the front-line Peashooter began to glow. It shook slightly—then popped a second head from its stem, facing backward.
"Split Pea already?" he said, amazed. "That was mid-game tech back in the original."
He opened the upgrade menu. It showed branching paths—familiar to him, but undoubtedly alien to everyone else here.
Tier II Upgrade Available
Frontline DPS (Twin Pea)
Rearguard Vision (Split Pea)
Elemental Type: Locked (Requires Chapter 5)
The next waves would be tougher. He could feel it in the air—like the calm before the real storm.
Off in the distance, a new form emerged—taller, bulkier. Something dragging a wagon filled with sacks. Its outline flickered.
New Threat Approaching
Description: Unknown
Warning: Not plant-based.
Yhakal narrowed his eyes. "Looks like Wave 2's gonna be a rough one."