"And to think that something like this is possible..." a female voice murmured excitedly.
This voice belonged to none other than a young woman, however strangely she looked quite a lot like a clown girl, yet even stranger would be the fact that she was staring at nothing.
At least if someone else saw this situation, for her it was nothing strange, because at this moment a kind of screen made of letters and numbers had just appeared, with 3 very flashy letters at the top of the screen.
Clown Template System.
- A few minutes earlier -
Forest, Georgia, USA.
The wind lightly shaking the leaves of the trees, the rays of the sun filtering through the foliage, the sound of wildlife becoming clearer at the beginning of the day.
Above the tree level, crows fly by in search of food.
Their energetic and quick movements, ready to start the day.
Caw caw caw!
And I...
I wake up suddenly, sitting up.
???
In a somewhat dazed state I look around, the first thing to notice are the trees, dirt, grass and rocks.
A few seconds pass in silence, then I bring a hand to my eyes, close them and rub them lightly.
And then I analyze my surroundings again.
"What the fuck is this??" I say in disbelief, and...
"My voice?"
"Voice?"
"A woman's voice?" I ask myself strangely, and indeed, there's no other way to describe it besides that, it's definitely higher-pitched than normal, though it sounds good.
'Is this a dream?' I think confused and bring my left hand to my head, I could swear I had gone to sleep in my bed.
I stop mid-movement, and look at my hand.
White.
Well, to be more precise, very white, too white, the kind that doesn't even look real.
About to check my other hand, something else draws more attention on my chest, or rather, breasts?? Yes, a pair, that even seem big, though covered by a shirt.
A very dirty shirt by the way, although it seems the original color was light gray.
Besides that, I also have dirty jeans torn in several places, a dark red sock and black shoes.
After a brief analysis, I lightly pull my shirt forward, and as expected I'm also wearing a pink bra.
I let go of the shirt in silence.
And then I lie back down on the grass, a few seconds pass, maybe a minute or less while I look at the trees, speaking nonsense words just listening to my voice.
Until I sit up and stand slowly, realizing that I also seem shorter than usual.
"This is too real to be a dream" I murmur a bit excitedly, taking small steps from side to side "Which means.."
Either I was kidnapped and my body modified for some reason or I reincarnated like in those animes and stories.
'I don't see why someone would do the first to me, I was never anything special, just a 25-year-old man in a mediocre job spending free time playing, reading or watching and exercising from time to time, but reincarnation? That's too absurd.
Or would it be transmigration? Probably yes, and this body seems to be at least that of a teenage girl.
I stop and take a deep breath.
Hmm, the air in this forest feels strange, it's very different from the city's.
"Alright, it's fine, now I just-"
*Rustle*
I quickly turn toward the sound and see..
"Z-zombie??"
Yes, no doubt, the strange way of walking, sickly appearance with pale rotten skin missing some pieces, only half of the right arm with dirty torn clothes, growling in an animalistic way, eager to devour a human.
"Ggrgrr" It growls and limps slowly in my direction.
For a few seconds I just stare surprised, but soon recover, realizing the danger it represents.
'About 10 meters away, seems to be a slow-type zombie?' I quickly analyze.
I take a few steps back and observe the environment, nothing new, the closest thing to a weapon here would be the stones on the ground, or those branches... No, they're too thin.
"Damn it"
I have to get out of here!!
I walk quickly forward, almost always keeping an eye on the following zombie and the surroundings.
Passing by a tree I notice a stone the size of two adult fists with an apparently sharp tip on one side, I approach, pick it up and keep walking quickly.
'If I throw the stone I'll probably miss and even if I hit, I doubt it'll be enough to kill this zombie' I think in a hurry, trying to find a way to end this easily.
Because if there's a zombie, there must be more nearby, right? I hope not.
I must have already walked more than 50 meters trying to get away from the zombie, at this point I notice a steep downhill on the right with several rocks along the way, the trees gradually became more spaced during this time, giving way to a more rocky terrain.
With a plan in mind I give a light run there, creating more distance from the zombie and go down carefully among the rocks, then maintain a considerable distance.
"That's it, come on" I murmur and prepare mentally for what comes next.
"Arrrggh"
With a final limping step, the zombie, clearly not thinking much about what it's doing, tumbles down 4 meters hitting face first on the ground with a sound of something breaking and liquid spilling.
'Now!'
I quickly approach the zombie from the right side, where it has no arm, hold the stone with both hands and aim at the zombie's head while it's still down.
"Haa" And I hit its head hard.
*Thud* *Splash* A wet and nauseating sound echoes, and dark red blood starts to flow where it was hit.
The zombie that was about to move stops for a moment, I step back slightly in disgust, but soon compose myself and hit it again.
And again, with 10 more blows in the same spot, crushing the zombie's head and dirtying my hands with blood.
"Huff...huff" I breathe deeply several times repeatedly and soon regret it due to the horrible smell of the zombie and the blood.
I move a safe distance away and observe the zombie to know if that was enough to kill it.
While I wait I can't help but notice that all this action ended up making me a bit tired, which is kind of sad considering it wasn't much effort, but it makes sense, I'm a woman now, and i don't seem a particularly strong one.
After 30 seconds with the zombie motionless, I'm almost sure it's dead, now calmer I'm about to approach it to check the loot, because yes, it has a backpack on its back, something I noticed only after its encounter with the stone, but then...
< Ding! >
< Minimum requirements reached! >
< Initiating activation protocol! >
< Loading... 1% >
???
I stare stunned at the dark red screen with letters and numbers in black that appeared in my field of vision out of nowhere.
"A-a system?" I quickly recognize.
I look from side to side, and the screen follows my gaze staying on the right side of my vision.
And then, in less than 10 seconds it reaches 100%.
< System activated >
< Welcome host, all functions activated and ready for use >
That was the last message, after that an X appeared at the top left of the screen.
Still a bit lost I tried to extend a finger to click the X, but even before getting close the message was already gone, with other words appearing.
'It works by thought?' I wonder in doubt and proceed to read what appeared.
[ Clown Template System ]
< Template >
< Status >
< Inventory >
< Travel > (locked)
"And to think that something like this is possible..." I murmur excitedly.
At this point maybe I'm not as surprised as I should be, but rather excited by the possibilities, I suppose becoming a totally different person after going to sleep and encountering a zombie for the first time causes that.
First of all I take a deep breath and calm down and then check my surroundings, upon doing so I notice that the system screen disappears from my vision, good.
Seeing nothing unusual, I go to a hidden spot beside huge rocks 20 meters away that allows me to see what might happen without being seen, if something happens.
And then I focus on the system again, at that moment the same screen as before appears.
'That's right, it works with thought'
'First there's the system's name, clown huh?, I've read several fanfics with template systems, however the template is usually from an overpowered fictional character, this one seems quite different from the usual'
Next to the name there were two exclamation points, focusing on it new words appeared.
< A wise man once said: I wish clown girls were a real race of people, and with his infinite chad aura, this wonderful system was created >
???
With a confused look, I just ignored that part, maybe I'm not ready to understand that.
Now to the other exclamation point.
< Welcome Gift available, confirm to collect >
< Confirm > < Back >
'A Gift? Thanks hehe, confirm'
< Knowledge of Magic tricks acquired >
After that last sentence I could clearly notice a lot of knowledge about various magic tricks suddenly appearing in my head out of nowhere, as if I had trained and performed for years.
'T-this is amazing, and no headache? Suspicious'
After calming and composing myself for a moment, I focus on the system again.
Noticing that there was nothing else in this part, I focus on the next function.
'Template'
The letters disappear and new ones appear, this time they are:
< Template available, confirm to start integration >
< Confirm > < Back >
'Based on the system's name, it's probably a clown-related template?'
If I could I would definitely be rubbing my hands in anticipation, though it's better to avoid that because of this disgusting zombie blood.
'Time to find out... confirm'
Suddenly I feel an electric sensation pass through my body, but very brief, so fast I even wondered if it was my imagination.
'Is that it?' I ask myself in doubt, doesn't seem like anything changed.
I open the template function in the system again, and as expected the words changed.
< [Harley Quinn (Suicide Squad) Template] in integration process, 1% integrated >
< Template item available to collect, confirm to collect >
< Confirm > < Back >
'Harley Quinn? A clown girl huh, could it be that all fictional clowns can be a template? And could they and their worlds be real? So many questions...' I ask myself squinting my eyes.
'Pretty interesting system indeed, but template item? That's new'
And once again the exclamation point appeared, focusing on it other words appeared.
< There are 3 ways to increase a template's integration: train, face threats (the greater the risk the greater the increase) and act like a clown >
'Interesting, I can do the first and second, but act like a clown? I have my doubts about that'
'Alright, confirm item'
< Item collected and sent to inventory >
'Next, status'
< Name: ??? >
< Race: Clown >
< Physical Strength: 0.9 >
< Physical Resistance: 3 >
< Vitality: 0.9 >
< Agility: 1.0 >
< Mental Capacity: 1.2 >
< Powers: None >
< Skills: Magic Tricks (only relevant skills will appear here) >
'No name and race clown? Not having a name makes sense, but that race... I'm not human anymore huh'
'Although there's nothing explaining, if I had to guess, it's probably related to the fact that my skin is very white like a clown's, and I still haven't looked at my new face, but I already have an idea of what it'll look like' I thought resignedly.
Yes, I have an idea. Why? Because I can see the tip of my light red nose from the side.
Sigh.
Now focusing on the rest, seems decent overall, with physical resistance being quite high, probably due to my new race, and based on these numbers, the human average should be 1 I suppose.
'No power, no surprise, and only one skill, the one I got from the welcome gift, only relevant skills? And driving isn't one for example? Or do only system or combat skills appear? Either way, I can understand that later'
'Next, inventory'
< Baseball Bat, a large metal baseball bat, quite durable >
There was also an exclamation point here, which said:
< Only template items can be stored in the inventory >
'Well, at least I won't have to rely on a stone anymore'
I thought about taking the baseball bat from the inventory right away, but ended up changing my mind after remembering my blood-stained hands.
'Clean first'
'And lastly, travel'
< Locked for now, remaining time: 365 days >
'1 year? I wonder if what I'm thinking will happen when that activates...'
After exploring all the system's functions, I closed the screen with a thought (very convenient), and pondered what to do next and my current situation.
'With the appearance of this zombie, I must be in an apocalyptic world, a fictional one? Wouldn't be a surprise after everything that happened, if it's a slow-type zombie it could be the world of The Walking Dead, or one of its variations or even Highschool of the Dead? Definitely not World War Z'
Although honestly I can't remember many worlds with slow zombies, the fact I don't like this type of plot doesn't help either, no particular reason, I just find it kind of boring and repetitive overall.
'But focusing on what to do... First find food and water, water especially for now, I can already feel my mouth a bit dry, finding civilization would be ideal too, that way I could train to complete my template in a stable environment, and what I can do for now would be...'
I looked toward the river in the distance, about 100 meters away.
'Washing up would be good' I thought, since I woke up in this place I've been with these dirty clothes of someone who calls the forest home and smell bad, besides bothering when touching the skin and now even have blood too.
"Yep, sounds like a plan, and I didn't forget about you Mr. zombie" I murmured eyeing his backpack.
Priorities heh.