The road grew longer, each step an echo reminding him of the hours he had been walking without finding anything, each minute a reminder of the silence that deafened everything, the sky populated only by grey clouds, and Williams, Williams could only hate his luck, his life, his condition as a user, he hated everything, he wanted everything to disappear, he wanted to stop being a user... leave the system, but he knew that was not possible. He knew almost nothing about users, but he did know the basics: anomalies were attracted to them. Wherever users went, anomalies would appear and... leaving the system was impossible.
After walking for so long, he arrived at a place that looked like a small town in ruins, but in better condition than his home. Corpses protruded from the rubble, most of them small animals, and the rest just remnants of what were once people, now reduced to pieces of flesh scattered like confetti.
I hear the female system voice again, with its characteristic electronic tone: "Starting tutorial: you can access vitality gems in most creatures. Depending on the creature, the vitality stone and the EXP acquired from them vary." The voice said calmly and helpfully.
Williams looked at the window that appeared in front of him, with an almost hopeless look, regaining his strength and spirits upon hearing that, but regretting not having taken advantage of the opportunity in the rubble where he was, suddenly feeling uncomfortable for even thinking of desecrating other people's corpses, but dismissing those thoughts as he thought about how he would end up if he didn't do whatever it took to survive in that world where morality was just dead weight.
He quickly set about searching through the rubble for bodies, moving rock after rock. With each rock he moved, he injured his hands, hurting them without causing serious damage, just superficial scratches. He paid no attention to this and was more concerned with finding bodies and extracting stones of vitality from them. After an exhaustive search, he had found some dead crows, a lifeless person, apparently a middle-aged man, and a dog whose lower half had been severed for some strange reason.
The dog made him nauseous, yet he reached out his hand and exclaimed, "Extraction!" Without even knowing what to say, he acted not only on impulse, it was as if the System had downloaded the necessary information directly into his mind. As soon as he finished speaking, a faintly glowing black stone emerged from inside the canine. With trembling hands, Williams grabbed the stone, observing it with curiosity and care, as if it would break in his hands. He put the stone in his pocket and did the same with the other corpses.
After a short time, he had extracted all the vitality gems, speaking aloud again with his fist clenched from the nerves of the scene and the images of the dog still in his head. "Use vitality stones!" A bright light flashed from his pocket, disappearing along with the vitality gems in a flash that left a burning sensation on Williams' leg, as if he had been burned with a cigarette right on his leg. The female voice suddenly echoed in Williams' mind
[System]
_You have levelled up, acquired: 50XP, 7 stat points, stalker's cloak. Congratulations, you have just completed the mission. Starting the resurrection event_
Williams was perplexed by what he had heard. He had forgotten about the event, which now did not go unnoticed by him, realising that he was facing a situation that could either benefit him or be his ruin, marking the end of his life, which had been anything but memorable during his time in this meaningless world.
As soon as the voice spoke, the young man relaxed for just a few brief moments. He did not know if what he had received was good or bad. There was no time for that. He did not care much. Any equipment would be welcome. He had nothing anyway, only with a dagger and statistics he did not even know how to take advantage of. "Equip stalker's cloak," he exclaimed more firmly and confidently, and a dark grey cloak, like a funeral, appeared on his back, clinging to him. Hope overflowed in his eyes... until the uncomfortable moment came to return to his reality, to remember that an unknown event was about to begin.