The night after Kyle first saw the Cerberus, he didn't sleep.
Every creak of the cabin, every shift of the wind, every rustle outside made his body tense like a drawn bowstring. His hand never left the survival knife, even as fatigue dragged on him like lead weights.
By the time sunlight bled into the Arklay Mountains, he had already made up his mind.
Thirty days.
Thirty days to get strong enough to live through hell.
---
[Daily Quest Unlocked]
Push-ups (100)
Sit-ups (100)
Running (5km)
Weapon Training (1 hour)
Reward: 5 Credits, +1 Endurance, +1 Strength (on completion for 7 consecutive days).
---
Kyle chuckled bitterly when he saw the floating panel. "Of course. Gamified workouts. Can't even escape PT here."
Still, his soldier's instincts kicked in. Orders were orders, even if they came from a blue hologram.
He started with push-ups. By the time he hit fifty, his arms shook. At seventy-five, sweat stung his eyes. By one hundred, his chest burned, but the System chimed.
---
[Push-ups complete.]
---
"Yeah," he muttered through clenched teeth, collapsing onto the wooden floor. "Just like basic training all over again…"
By the time he finished the entire routine, Kyle was a wreck. Muscles screamed. Breathing ragged. But deep inside, there was a flicker of pride he hadn't felt in years.
He had a mission again.
---
The days bled together after that.
Mornings were for physical training. Afternoons for scouting the forest, learning terrain, memorizing landmarks. Evenings for knife drills and shadow sparring, practicing techniques he remembered from close-quarters combat training.
The cabin became both barracks and war room. He used scraps of old paper and charcoal from the fireplace to draw crude maps of the area. He plotted distances, water sources, and potential ambush points.
Every day, the System rewarded him small credits for training and survival milestones. Slowly, the number grew.
---
[Credits: 115]
---
The first thing he bought was a 9mm Handgun.
When the weapon appeared on the desk in a shimmer of blue light, Kyle stared at it like it was a holy relic. The weight, the metal, the smell of oil and powder—it was real. Not just a hologram.
He checked the chamber. Empty. Bought a magazine. Loaded it. The sound of the slide snapping forward filled the cabin like a war drum.
For the first time since waking in this nightmare, he felt armed.
---
Kyle spent his afternoons hunting small game—squirrels, rabbits, even a deer once. It wasn't just for food. It was practice. Learning how the handgun handled. Testing accuracy, recoil, reload speed.
The System tracked his progress.
---
[Skill Progression: Firearms Proficiency → Advanced.]
Reload Speed +10%
Accuracy Stabilization (minor bonus)
---
But it wasn't all practice shots at harmless prey.
Three nights in, he heard the growl again. This time, there were two.
The Cerberus pack.
Kyle crouched in the shadows of the cabin, handgun drawn, as glowing eyes prowled outside. He held his breath as they sniffed the door, claws scratching against the wood.
His finger tightened on the trigger—then eased. Ammo was precious. He couldn't waste it.
The dogs left after what felt like an eternity. Kyle's shirt clung to him with sweat.
Not yet. Not until I'm ready.
---
A week passed. His Strength rose to 15, Endurance to 16, and his stamina improved so much he could run kilometers without collapsing.
He unlocked new items in the Shop.
---
[Shop Update]
Shotgun (500 Credits)
12 Gauge Shells (10 rounds – 100 Credits)
Survival Backpack (150 Credits)
First Aid Spray (200 Credits)
---
The backpack was his first major purchase. Finally, he could carry gear instead of stashing everything in the cabin like some paranoid hoarder.
The System even let him "equip" it, slotting items into neat glowing tabs only he could see. Almost like an inventory system, but weight still mattered.
Kyle tested it with rocks, seeing how much he could haul before fatigue set in. Slowly, his carrying capacity increased.
---
At night, he studied. Not books, but memories. Lore.
He replayed the timelines in his head—the Mansion Incident, the R.P.D., the city burning. Who survived. Who didn't. The branching chaos of it all.
"Leon enters on the same day Claire does… Jill's stuck in the city when it blows… Chris is out of town during the mansion mess… Barry, Rebecca…"
He muttered names like prayers, trying to decide where he could insert himself.
One thing was clear. If he wanted allies, he had to get inside R.P.D. or S.T.A.R.S. before the outbreak.
But how? He wasn't from Raccoon City. No records, no ID. Just a man who appeared out of nowhere.
The System answered for him one evening.
---
[Optional Quest: Infiltration]
Objective: Gain entry to R.P.D. or establish contact with S.T.A.R.S.
Reward: Unique Firearm Blueprint + 200 Credits.
---
Kyle smirked. "Guess you're pushing me toward the main cast, huh?"
But his gut twisted with nerves. Meeting Jill, Chris, or Leon wasn't like meeting video game characters. They were real now. And if he screwed up, he could get them killed.
No save points. No retries.
---
The second week, danger escalated.
Kyle stumbled upon a clearing in the woods where he found blood—fresh, still warm. A mangled deer carcass lay torn open, ribcage split wide.
The growls came before he realized his mistake.
Cerberus. Three of them.
Their eyes locked onto him, hungry, glowing in the dusk.
Kyle's heart slammed against his ribs. He raised the handgun, every instinct screaming to run, but his legs rooted in place.
The first dog lunged.
BANG!
The shot cracked through the trees. The Cerberus yelped, flipping midair, blood spraying.
Kyle pivoted, fired again. BANG! Second one dropped, but the third barreled through.
Teeth snapped inches from his arm as he twisted, knife flashing. Steel bit rotten flesh. Hot blood sprayed across his face. The beast snarled, claws raking his side, but Kyle jammed the blade deeper, shoving with every ounce of strength—
The Cerberus collapsed, twitching, before going still.
Kyle staggered back, chest heaving, blood dripping from a shallow wound on his ribs.
For a moment, all he could do was stare at the bodies. His first true kill in this world.
Not rabbits. Not deer. Monsters.
The System chimed.
---
[Battle Complete]
Enemy Defeated: Cerberus (x3)
Reward: 60 Credits, +1 Strength, +1 Perception.
Skill Progression: Close Quarters Combat → Intermediate.
---
Kyle spat blood and wiped his knife clean.
His hands shook. His breath came ragged. But despite the pain, despite the terror, a grin tugged at his lips.
"I can do this," he whispered. "I can fight them."
---
That night, as the moon painted the mountains silver, Kyle stitched his wound with trembling fingers, disinfected with the last of his cabin's supplies.
The pain was sharp, but his mind was sharper.
If three dogs almost killed him, what chance would he have against Hunters? Lickers? Tyrants?
He gripped the handgun, staring at the faint reflection of his scarred face in the barrel.
"Then I just get stronger."
The System seemed to hear him.
---
[New Quest Received]
Title: "Hunter of the Arklays"
Objective: Kill 10 Cerberus in the mountains.
Reward: Shotgun Discount Coupon (50%), +2 Endurance.
---
Kyle's lips curled into a savage grin.
"Fine. Bring them on."
But deep in the woods, unseen, more growls answered. The pack had noticed. The hunter was now marked prey.
And thirty days was already running out.