The knife appeared instantly in his grasp, just like the skill promised. He repeated it several times, pulling the knife in and out, laughing each time at how seamless it felt.
"Holy… this is actually perfect. No messing around with bags and zippers, no bending over awkwardly in an alley."
[To view the contents of your inventory, say: "Inventory list."]
"So, since I don't have my controller here… everything's voice command, huh? Alright then—Inventory list!"
The air shimmered in front of him, and a faint, translucent screen flickered into being. Simple text scrolled across, glowing faintly as if projected directly into his vision.
[INVENTORY]
[Bottled Water]
[A Protein Bar]
[Bandages 3x]
[Flashlight]
[Starter Map]
"Not bad… real basics, but enough to get me started. This… this could actually work. Hmm, dimensional bag of survival. Who knew my gamer dreams would actually become a literal zombie apocalypse toolbox?"
Sid squinted at the glowing list, eyes locking onto the two things his body screamed for. Water and food. His throat was still dry from shouting when he fell, and his stomach knotted from nerves and adrenaline. He tapped the screen with his finger, almost out of habit, then laughed.
"Right. Not touchscreen. Voice command. Okay—Inventory: Bottled Water."
In an instant, a plastic bottle materialized in his hand, cold to the touch, droplets of condensation running down the side. He twisted the cap, lifted it, and gulped greedily. The water was crisp, clean, and refreshing in a way he never expected. Each swallow cooled his throat and filled his chest with relief.
"God… that's the best water I've had in my life. Better than any overpriced gamer fuel."
He leaned against the railing, savoring it, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Next, he couldn't resist.
"Inventory: Protein Bar."
A familiar, rectangular packet appeared. Sid stared at it with a smile.
"No way… this is it. The starter food item. Every player hated these things. You could practically live on them for weeks, but the taste in-game? Cardboard dipped in chocolate. That was the meme."
He tore open the wrapper and took a bite. His eyes widened.
"Whoa… this is actually… good. Like, real good."
He chewed slowly, letting the chocolate and peanut flavor coat his tongue. The texture was soft but dense, filling him up in a way that felt real, not just numbers ticking on a screen. He chuckled between bites.
"This is legit survival food. Damn, I feel alive right now."
A thought struck him, and he blinked twice. Instantly, a faint overlay shimmered into existence at the corner of his vision—HUD Awareness. Bars pulsed softly, updating in real time. His stamina bar ticked upward with each swallow, the yellow bar rising faster than he ever remembered it doing in the game. The water quenched his thirst, the protein bar fueled his body, and the HUD confirmed it all.
He downed another gulp of water, then leaned back against the wall, exhaling. His stomach settled, the weight of exhaustion easing just a little. For the first time since waking up in this dead world, the hunger, the thirst, the shaking adrenaline… they all quieted down.
"Alright… If the basics feel this good, maybe surviving here won't be hell after all."
Sid had just finished the last bite of the protein bar when the calm voice slipped back into his ears.
[Congratulations on completing the first tutorial. Now, proceeding to the second tutorial mission…]
[Second Tutorial Mission: Stay Quiet, Stay Alive]
[Objective: Sneak past the horde of wandering zombies without alerting them.]
Sid lowered the bottle in his hand, his smirk fading into something more focused.
"Oh boy. Here it comes. The stealth tutorial… In the game, this was always the annoying part. You'd crouch-walk at snail speed while the AI either ignored you completely or spotted you from across the map like they had sniper eyes."
His voice echoed faintly, and instantly his stomach sank. He clamped his mouth shut and crouched, eyes darting around. The alley spilled into a wider street, but the only way out was blocked.
More than twenty figures clogged the path ahead, shuffling and dragging their feet across the cracked pavement. Their groans were soft, but their sheer presence was suffocating, pressing against him like a wall of rot and decay.
The system responded with that maddeningly neutral tone.
[Warning: Hostile zombies are sensitive to sound and smell. Direct confrontation is not advised at your current state.]
"Come on! I could wipe them all out right now. Do you know who I am?? Ugh, fine. I'll play your way, but don't think I won't make this look easy."
He adjusted the belt bag, the faint sour stench of the corpse gear still clinging to his clothes. It made his nose wrinkle, but he had to admit. When the nearest zombie's head turned, its cloudy eyes slid past him like he was nothing. The smell worked. He was cloaked in rot.
"God, this is disgusting. I reek like a sewer, but hey. If this is camouflage, then I'm practically speedrunning this stealth crap."
He took a careful step forward, then another, knees bent low. The cracked asphalt groaned faintly. Immediately, his HUD flashed in the corner of his vision his stamina bar pulsing. Every crouched step drained it faster than he expected.
"You've got to be joking. Sneaking eats stamina now? Since when is this a mechanic?!"
He hissed, lowering his voice again when one zombie's head twitched. He froze, sweat prickling the back of his neck. Only when the corpse turned away did he let out the breath he'd been holding.
He crawled forward, slow and deliberate, teeth grinding. Wall of zombies loomed ahead, blocking the open street like broken statues, their rotting forms shifting restlessly. One dragged its nails against the side of a burnt-out car, the screech echoing sharp enough to make his skin crawl. Sid flinched but pressed on.
Every step tested his patience. His heartbeat thundered against his ribs, louder in his ears than the groans of the dead. The tutorial wanted him to crawl like a rat, and he hated every second of it.