Avery sat down, leaning against her bed, baseball bat still clutched in her white-knuckled grip. With her free hand, she combed through her silky black hair, the sensation still alien.
"What the fuck is actually happening right now?" she whispered to the empty room.
The chaos outside continued—screams, crashes but her dorm room offered a momentary sanctuary. She glanced at the wasp's mangled corpse, its ichor staining her carpet. That thing had been real. The transformation had been real. The floating status screen was real.
After sitting in stunned silence for several minutes, Avery's mind began connecting dots from years of anime, games, and survival horror stories she'd consumed. The system, the monsters, the apocalyptic conditions...
"This is actually the end of the world," she realized, a strange calm settling over her. "The literal apocalypse."
She laughed, the sound coming out higher and more melodic than she was used to. "And of course my gender changed too. All those stories where people wake up in mansions or castles and complain—at least they got to live comfortable lives while exploring their new bodies. But me? I immediately have to fight for my life. The world can be so unfair."
Her gaze drifted to the scroll that had dropped from the wasp. It remained on the floor where she'd left it, pulsing with faint blue energy.
"Gravity Magic Scroll," she murmured, picking it up carefully. The parchment felt warm between her fingers, almost alive. "Learn spell?"
As soon as the thought formed in her mind—the mere intention to learn it—the scroll began to dissolve. It crumbled into motes of light that swirled around her fingers before sinking into her skin knowledge flooded her consciousness.
"That was... easy," she breathed, flexing her fingers as new power hummed beneath her skin. "All I had to do was want it."
A blue window materialized before her eyes:
[You have learned the External Active Skill: Gravity Magic Rank 5]
[Warning: You can only learn 3 more External Active Skills]
[Use your skills wisely]
Avery blinked at the notification, particularly the warning. "Only three more? That seems unnecessarily restrictive for the apocalypse."
She stood up, extending her hand toward her desk chair. Focusing on the mental triggers that now existed in her mind, she envisioned the chair becoming lighter. A faint purple glow emanated from her palm, and the chair wobbled before rising several inches off the floor.
"Holy shit," she whispered, letting the chair drop with a clatter when her concentration broke. "I can do magic. Actual magic."
The crimson-eyed demoness stared at her hands in wonder. Despite everything—the monsters, the transformation, the end of the world—a thrill of excitement ran through her. Whatever was happening, whatever she had become, she now possessed power that had previously existed only in fiction.
"Okay," she said, gripping her bat with renewed determination. "If this is some kind of system apocalypse, I need to get stronger fast."
Another loud bang against her door cut Avery's moment of wonder short. Her heart leapt into her throat, the new magical energy buzzing through her veins instantly redirected by primal fear.
"Shit, shit, shit!"
The door shuddered against its frame with another impact. Whatever was out there wanted in—badly.
Avery's eyes darted around her small dorm room, seeking anything that might help. No time to think, only react. She lunged for her bed, digging her newly clawed fingers into the mattress and frame.
"Come on, demon strength, don't fail me now," she grunted, surprised when the bed flipped onto its side with unexpected ease. She dragged it against the door just as another bang hit, the sound of splintering wood telling her the door wouldn't hold much longer.
The makeshift barricade wouldn't be enough. Avery scrambled to her small bookshelf, yanking it away from the wall with a crash of textbooks and knickknacks scattering across the floor. She wedged it against the bed, creating a hasty defensive wall.
A sickening crack echoed through the room as the door began to splinter. Through the widening gaps, Avery caught glimpses of grayish skin and vacant eyes.
Her hands trembled as she gripped the metal bat. The weapon felt both inadequate and essential as her only physical defense. The new weight of her tail swished nervously behind her as she backed up, giving herself room to swing.
The door finally gave way with a thunderous crash. Two figures stumbled through the opening, climbing awkwardly over her barricade. Male students—or what used to be male students. Avery didn't recognize either of them, but their campus hoodies were stained with dark patches she didn't want to identify.
Their skin had taken on an ashen pallor, and their movements were jerky but determined.
"Stay back!" she shouted, voice cracking. The zombies paid no attention, continuing their relentless advance.
Instinct took over. Avery thrust out her left hand, channeling the newly acquired knowledge of gravity magic. Purple energy flowed from her palm as she visualized increased weight pressing down on the intruders.
The effect was immediate. Both zombified students slowed dramatically, their movements becoming labored as invisible force pressed them toward the floor. They didn't stop completely—whatever drove them forward was powerful enough to fight against her magic—but they were significantly hampered.
"It's working," she whispered in disbelief.
The nearest zombie groaned, reaching for her with stiff fingers despite being partially pinned. Its mouth hung open, revealing bloodstained teeth. The humanity in its eyes was gone, replaced by a hungry emptiness that chilled Avery to her core.
She couldn't hold them forever. Already, she felt the strain of maintaining the gravity field, a pressure building behind her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, though she wasn't sure why she felt the need to apologize.
Avery stepped forward and swung the bat with all her might. The metal connected with the first zombie's head with a sickening crack. The creature stumbled but didn't fall. She swung again. And again. And again.
Her arms moved mechanically, each impact sending jarring vibrations up to her shoulders. Blood spattered across her face and chest. She kept swinging until the first zombie stopped moving, its skull a ruined mess.
The second one clawed at her ankle, nearly catching her off guard. Avery jumped back, redirecting her gravity magic to focus entirely on the remaining threat. With the full force of her power concentrated on one target, the zombie was almost completely immobilized.
Tears blurred her vision as she raised the bat again. The boy's face was still recognizably human—young, maybe a freshman—but his eyes were clouded and hungry.
"I'm so sorry," she repeated, bringing the bat down with decisive force.
When it was over, Avery stood panting in the sudden silence, her bat dripping red onto the carpet. Her stomach lurched at what she'd done, but the cold reality settled in her chest.
This was survival now. This was the new world.
A translucent blue window materialized before Avery's eyes as the first zombie stopped moving:
[Soul Essence acquired: Level 4 Zombie – +4 Stamina]
[Level Up! You are now Level 2. You have gained 2 free stat points.]
The notification hovered, waiting for acknowledgment. Avery stared at it, her bloodied hands trembling around the bat's handle. She'd just killed something—someone—and the system was rewarding her for it.
When the second zombie finally stopped twitching, another notification appeared:
[Soul Essence acquired: Level 3 Zombie – +1 Stamina]
Her legs gave out. The bat clattered to the floor as Avery collapsed to her knees, her new tail curling protectively around her body. She bent forward, arms wrapped around her stomach, and began to shake uncontrollably. The coppery smell of blood filled her nostrils, and bile rose in her throat.
Oh god, oh god, oh god," she chanted, rocking back and forth. "I killed them. I just killed two people."
Her stomach heaved. She barely managed to turn her head before emptying its contents onto the floor. Tears streamed down her face, mixing with splattered blood and vomit. Her new body might look powerful, but inside she was still the same Avery who'd never hurt anyone before today.
The shaking continued for several minutes as her mind processed what had happened. Eventually, her breathing slowed, and a cold clarity began to replace the panic.
"They weren't people anymore," she told herself, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "They would have killed me."
As her racing thoughts settled, Avery began analyzing the system's rewards. The stronger zombie had given her more essence. Was it because it was her first kill? Or because it was a higher level? Maybe repeated kills offered diminishing returns? She didn't know the rules yet.
But one thing became painfully clear as she looked at her shattered door and the broken barricade—she couldn't stay here. The noise from the fight would attract more of those things. If a group of zombies attacked at once, her makeshift defenses wouldn't hold.
"I need to move," she muttered, pushing herself to her feet. "Now."
Avery picked up her bat, grimacing at the gore coating its surface. This was her reality now—kill or be killed. Level up or die. The apocalypse wasn't going to wait for her to process her trauma.
She glanced at the notification still floating before her eyes. Two stat points. A small advantage, but in this new world, every edge mattered.