The air inland was heavier, thick with the stench of blood and rotting vegetation. Kane and his group advanced cautiously, their boots crunching over broken debris and dried earth.
The drones circled in a protective net overhead, their feed showing eerie stillness across the ruined coastline village. But Kane's eyes locked on a pulsing crimson marker in his HUD.
"Something's ahead," he whispered, holding up a fist. His group froze in formation. "A big one."
Lena's grip tightened on her blade, her breath unsteady. "Big like…?"
"Boss-level," Kane said grimly. His jaw tightened. "Level 8. And it's been what—eight hours since the Apocalypse began?"
Maya swallowed hard, adjusting the stock of the rifle Kane had given her. "If they're already that strong…"
"Then we don't have much time before stronger ones show up." Kane's tone was clipped, controlled. His soldier's instincts had already taken over.
They moved forward into the village square, the center filled with toppled carts and shattered wells. The ground trembled.
A hulking silhouette emerged from behind the broken walls. Its body was a grotesque fusion of man and beast, over three meters tall, its chest armored in jagged carapace, its flesh veined with pulsing crimson energy. Its head was elongated, with an open maw lined with serrated bone-teeth, drooling black ichor.
Above its head, the system tagged it in burning red letters:
[Boss Mutant – Level 8]
The air itself seemed to vibrate with its roar, windows cracking, the force rippling through their bones.
Reina clutched her toys closer, the smaller figures growing as their bodies swelled into their new, towering forms, standing around her like loyal giants.
But Kane didn't flinch. His voice rang sharp:
"Missile drones—lock on!"
Overhead, twenty drones swiveled in perfect formation, target lasers converging on the monster's chest.
The boss roared, pounding a fist against its chest. The ground quaked as it stepped forward.
"Fire!" Kane barked.
The sky rained fire.
Missile after missile streaked down, contrails burning white against the darkened sky. The square vanished in a cataclysm of explosions, the thunderous shockwave flattening walls and sending dirt into the air.
A fiery dome swallowed the boss whole.
When the smoke finally cleared, nothing remained of the creature except a smoldering crater and chunks of molten bone.
Silence fell, broken only by the crackle of fire and the faint hum of drones.
Then the system's chime filled the air.
[System Notification] First Boss Slain! Congratulations, Survivor Kane Wylder. You are the first to slay a boss-class mutant.
Title Acquired:Boss SlayerEffect: Permanent +40% Experience Gain (applies to you and your party members).Recognition: Your name is recorded as the first to slay a boss creature.
Rewards Obtained:
1x Gift Box (Boss Kill Reward)
A shimmering chest of light materialized before Kane. He stepped forward and willed it open.
It dissolved into radiant motes, leaving three items suspended midair:
[Experience Orb: +1000 EXP]
[Skill Points: +2]
[Random Skill Scroll]
Kane didn't hesitate. "Accept."
The orb burst apart, flooding him and every member of his party with blinding light.
[System Notification]You have gained 1000 EXP.
Level Up!
Kane Wylder: Lv. 8
Lena: Lv. 5
Maya: Lv. 5
Reina: Lv. 5
Party Exp Share Applied.
Kane staggered slightly as the rush of power ripped through him. His muscles tightened, bones felt denser, his perception sharpened until he could hear the crackle of flames hundreds of meters away.
The others gasped as their notifications chimed. Lena flexed her arm, wide-eyed. "I feel… faster."
Maya blinked, her rifle steady in her hands. "Like my reflexes just doubled."
Reina giggled softly, her guardians pulsing with faint light as though they too had gained strength.
Kane's HUD flashed again.
[Title Equipped: Boss Slayer]Effect: Permanent +40% Experience Boost. Applied to you and your party.
Kane smirked. This was bigger than just his own progress. The entire group would snowball faster now.
But then came the real test: his stats.
Free Stat Points: +14 (7 per level)
Natural Stat Growth: +1 to all stats per level (+2 total)
Allocation:
+4 Strength
+4 Agility
+4 Endurance
+2 Intelligence
Kane's Stats (Level 8):
Strength: 26
Agility: 26
Endurance: 29
Perception: 20
Intelligence: 22
Kane clenched his fists, testing his body. Power surged like never before—he felt faster, stronger, harder to break. The kind of strength that could tear through squads of mutants alone.
He exhaled slowly, forcing himself calm. Titles, rewards, levels—it all meant nothing if they got careless.
Kane glanced at the charred crater where the boss had fallen.
"That was just one," he muttered. His voice was low, but the others caught it. "One boss. Eight hours in. Imagine what's waiting for us tomorrow."
The group fell silent, their faces pale. Even with their new strength, the reality of the world's descent weighed heavy.
Kane finally looked back at them, his expression firm. "We'll grow stronger, faster than anything else out here. That's the only way we live."
The random skill scroll glowed faintly in his storage, waiting to be opened. Kane ignored it for now. Bigger priorities lay ahead.
"Form up," he ordered. "We move deeper. This was just the beginning."
"Form up. This was just the beginning."
Kane's voice carried with the weight of command, but he didn't stop there. His eyes flicked to the swarm of drones circling like metallic hawks above.
"Drones," he ordered, voice sharp. "Kill every hostile in the nearby radius. Sweep the area. Nothing survives."
The drone network responded instantly. Assault models broke formation, dispersing like a lethal storm cloud. Their gunports opened, muzzles glowing with kinetic energy.
The village echoed with the staccato rattle of gunfire, the piercing shriek of missiles cutting through the air. Buildings collapsed under the barrage, mutant shrieks cutting off as their bodies were torn apart mid-roar.
Each kill sent a faint ripple of notification across Kane's HUD:
[System Notification] Mutant slain. +50 EXP. +2 Coins. Mutant slain. +60 EXP. +3 Coins. Mutant swarm eradicated. +250 EXP. +15 Coins.
EXP Total: +1300Coins Earned: +89
The others watched in stunned awe as the drones worked with surgical precision, not a single hostile left standing. Blood pooled in the cracked streets, but the mechanical swarm made no sound beyond the hum of their engines.
"This…" Lena whispered, watching the efficient slaughter. "This is power."
Maya tightened her grip on the rifle Kane had lent her. "And it's his."
Reina clapped softly as her toy-giants shrank back to their smaller forms, sensing the danger had passed. "The bad things are all gone," she said innocently.
Kane said nothing. He moved.
While the drones maintained their sweep, Kane began scavenging what was left of the fishing village. Rusted scrap, melted beams, broken tools—every piece of metal he could find was dragged into his storage.
[Resources Acquired: 348 Metal Units]
In one half-collapsed shack near the shoreline, he spotted something out of place: a simple wooden fishing rod, half-buried under rubble. The line was frayed, the reel scratched, but it was intact.
Kane picked it up slowly, brushing dust from the handle.
A small smile tugged at his lips. "Not everything is war."
The others blinked in surprise as he slid it into storage alongside scavenged nails and iron pipes.
"Fishing?" Maya asked, incredulous.
"Peace," Kane replied flatly. "Even in hell, you need a place to breathe."
By the time the drones finished, the entire village was silent—cleansed, stripped of life and danger. The machines now hovered low, scanning the ground and collecting scraps automatically, their systems programmed for efficiency.
The shoreline beyond was calm, the ocean glittering under the waning light. Kane led them to a half-buried fishing boat at the docks. It was cracked along one side, but the system interface flickered when he touched it. A prompt appeared:
[Damaged Vessel Detected]Condition: 42%Repair Cost: 120 Metal UnitsActivate Repair? [Yes/No]
"Yes," Kane said.
The metal in his storage dissolved instantly into streams of light. The cracks sealed, the wood reinforced with a faint steel shimmer. Within seconds, the boat was seaworthy again.
"Get on board," Kane ordered.
Lena helped Reina up while Maya checked her rifle one more time before stepping onto the deck. The drones followed above, half forming a protective canopy, the rest scattering outward to continue their purge.
As the boat pulled away from the dock, the thunder of missiles echoed behind them. Plumes of fire rose from the ruins of nearby villages and the forests beyond, the drones firing relentlessly at every hostile they detected.
Kane stood at the helm, eyes narrowing at the horizon. "Island ahead."
Notifications continued to ping across his HUD as kills racked up in the distance:
Mutant swarm eliminated. +400 EXP. +30 Coins. Hostile avians destroyed. +250 EXP. +20 Coins. Coastal mutant nest eradicated. +800 EXP. +60 Coins.
Total EXP Gained: +2450Total Coins Earned: +199
Every few seconds, more flowed in. His experience bar ticked upward, coins stacking in the corner of his interface. Each drone kill was his reward.
The sea air was sharp and salty. Reina sat at the bow, her legs kicking playfully as she stared at the ocean, unbothered by the death behind them. Lena kept a hand on her blade, watching the skies. Maya sat cross-legged, quietly reloading magazines Kane had crafted for her.
And Kane?
He set the repaired fishing rod against the deck.
Soon, when the fighting slowed—if it ever slowed—he would sit at this very spot and cast the line into the ocean. Not because he needed food. The drones could scavenge for that.
But because sometimes, even in an apocalypse, the mind needed something simple. Something human.
The island loomed closer, dark and jagged against the horizon. The drone network surged forward, missiles primed, their engines screaming.
The purge wasn't over. It was only just beginning.