Thrown into the Apocalypse

"Tick, tick, tick, tick." The sound of a clock sounded in my ear as I groggily began to wake up. Last night had been a long, annoying time. My boss, lieutenant Fox had ordered me to do a recount on the armory, which wasn't even my billet.

"Tick tick tick tick." The repetitive sound of the clock once again reached my ears as I slowly opened my eyes. "Who the fu..." I paused, looking out around me. Where there should have been bed racks, and footlockers, there was nothing but darkness and clocks, ticking away.

I felt like I was floating in an endless ocean, my bodyweight, and clothes having no effect at all in my current predicament.

I closed my eyes. Surely I had to be dreaming, perhaps if I closed my eyes, I would wake up. Seconds turned to minutes as I kept my eyes closed, but nothing happened. Eventually I opened them, only to be met with a horrific sight.

In front of me was a humanoid figure, devoid completely of skin, and eyes. Its head was tilted at an unnatural angle, as if it was something trying to mimic a human, but terribly as it slowly began to crawl on all fours towards me.

I tried to run, to find some place to hide, or something to fight the being off, but it was to no avail. The glowing hand of the creature latched onto my face as I felt a searing pain spread throughout my body.

My vision went black as the pain lingered, before something popped up in front of me.

[Integration in process. Please do not sleep, move, or die...]

[Integration process: 57%]

The screen remained in my front view as the percentage slowly counted upwards, until it reached ninety nine, before the pain finally subsided.

[Congratulations. You have been chosen. Loading information.]

Without any warning, the screen expanded, displaying various information about me.

[Name: Theron Kostopoulos]

[Age: 18]

[Height: 6'5]

[Weight: 210 pounds]

[Race: Human]

[Skills: None]

[Buffs: None]

[Debuffs: None]

[Level: 0]

[Strength: 0]

[Endurance: 0]

[Dexterity: 0]

[Agility: 0]

[Magic: 0]

The amount of info displayed was a bit overwhelming, however, I didn't have time to dwell on it before a giant wheel was displayed over the information.

[Spin for beginner skills.]

[Spins: 3/3]

I clicked on the button, my mind too numb to question what all was going on, as I watched the wheel spin. It took only a few moments for the arrow to land on a word, before the skill popped up in front of me.

[Skill, LIMITLESS acquired. Would you like a description?]

I reached to click the button, but the screen seemed to read my mind, quickly going on to explain the skill I acquired

[All limits have been removed from you, allowing for infinite growth. Things like racial restrictions, and needs such as food, water, and sleep have been removed.]

[Skills and magic locked by race have been unlocked in the store.]

The window disappeared as the wheel once again, before I clicked the spin button. Once again, the wheel spun, before landing on another skill.

[Skill, NATURAL TALENT acquired. Would you like a description?]

Like before, I clicked yes.

[Natural Talent: All things pertaining to learning, reception, and application of said knowledge have been multiplied by five times, making you a natural prodigy at whatever it is you wish to learn.]

I closed out the window before moving onto the next skill

[Skill, SOLDIER acquired. Would you like a description?]

[You are a natural killer. You remain calm in stressful situations, and do not suffer from any mental debuffs. Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance are boosted by five points.]

[Congratulations on your skills! Moving onto magic.]

The same wheel from before popped up, only, instead of having three skills I could get, I only had two spins for "magic."

Obviously, I clicked the spin button.

[Magic, CREATION acquired.]

[Magic originating from the concept of creation. As it is right now, it is very limited in what it can make, however, with more experience, more complex things can be created.]

I clicked the spin button again.

[Magic, DESTRUCTION acquired.]

[Originating from the concept of destruction, this magic gives you the ability to completely destroy something. It is in its infant stage, and is severely limited, however, with regular use, it will naturally grow stronger.]

[As a bonus, all of the user's personal possessions have been moved to their inventory.]

[Good luck, Survivor.]

I didn't have time to question what was going on, before I awoke in the middle of the road wearing a worn down red t-shirt alongside hiking pants and running shoes. Looking around, I could see various houses sprinkled around, yet their structures reminded me of old Russian houses.

Cars were sprinkled around the houses, each beat up, and burnt. I walked through the main road, reaching a house. I was very unsettled, the two deathly quiet outside of the birds chirping, and crickets. I knocked on the door, but there was no response, not even the sound of footsteps.

Eventually, after waiting a couple moments, I twisted the doorknob, the door immediately opening as the skeletal remains of a person lay in front of the door. The smell of decomposition reached my nose as I winced, and gagged. "What the hell?.." I murmured. Had their been a war through here? Perhaps this was a Ukrainian area that I found myself in.

I took a step outside. For some strange reason, I didn't feel stressed out from the situation, or panicked in any way.

[Skill SOLDIER has prevented you from negative mental illnesses.]

I was taken aback as the screen popped up, before the realization of what was going on finally set in. The thing I saw wasn't a part of a dream, and I wasn't in Canada. Wherever the hell I was, I needed to survive.

I recalled my training from boot camp. While my country's military wasn't the best, we certainly did prepare for survival situations. I forced myself back into the house, closing the door behind me as I rummaged through the cabinets, finding canned food.

I set it on the counter, before remembering the skills I possessed. "I should keep some on me just in case," I tell myself, using my common sense, however, I soon realized that I didn't have any place to put them.

Seeing a door to the far left of the room, I slowly approached it. I could hear a gurgling sound inside. Admittedly, the sounds of gurgling mixed with the low groan, gave me an inclination as to what could be behind the door, yet I hoped I was wrong.

As a precaution, I went back to the kitchen section, opening the silverware drawer, before withdrawing a kitchen knife. The handle was made out of wood, which had been withered with age, but it didn't matter. All I needed was one good jam, and things would sort itself out.

I approached the door once more, before slowly opening it, pushing it open as I took a step back, hugging the wall as I readied myself for any threat that would come, but nothing did. I waited minutes for anything, but it proved to be useless. Not wanting to waste any more time, I walked inside, keeping a defensive posture.

The sight I saw was something I don't think will ever leave my head.

The entire room was sprinkled with blood, the heavy smell of iron, and decay reached my nose as I saw a human corpse sitting in a chair. I couldn't tell if it had been male or female, due to how utterly ravaged it was.

Its intestines were sprinkled on the floor, its arms completely separated from the body alongside its legs. It's glassy eyes looked toward me as it let out a gurgling sound, biting at the air, unable to feed, yet unable to die.

I was disgusted, yet at the same time, I felt pity for who the person once was. "I'm so sorry," I said to the body, before the reanimated corpse let out a noise I could only interpret as a cry.

Maybe there was a tinge of humanity left in them. If so, then I shouldn't allow the being to suffer. I approached the corpse with my knife in hand, before lining the blade up against its eye.

As it is, trying to use a knife of any sort to pierce through a human skull was pointless. The amount of power required was too much for me to exert, however, going through the eye to reach the brain? That was an achievable strategy.

"God, I hope you haven't suffered this long, but even so, be free."

My words to the corpse were tacky, but then again, I didn't ever imagine being in this situation. The kitchen knife pierced through the corpse's eye easily, I could feel the barrier of bone, before the knife plunged past it, reaching the brain. As it did, I felt the corpse stop twitching. The gurgling sounds ceased as the sound of silence lingered in the air.

I pulled the knife out, quickly wiping the knife on the bed sheet as I stood there, silently staring at the corpse.

[Congratulations on your first kill. Five Gold is being added to your account.]

[Quest: "The first is always the hardest" has been completed. Adding ten Gold to your account.]

It was too easy. I felt no remorse, no sorrow over what I had done. Hell, I felt relieved when I plunged the knife inside. I felt right, like what I did was objectively the right, and smart thing to do, yet the lingering thought of who the person I had just killed could've been lingered on my mind for a moment, before I focused back in on the real world.

"Stop being an idiot, and look for anything valuable," I told myself, before immediately opening up the wardrobe placed against the right side of the room. I found clothes, that were big, even on me, however, I much preferred them over the Worn t-shirt, and hiking pants I had now. I stripped, leaving on my underwear, before putting on some black cargo pants, wool brown wool socks, a red flannel, and a leather bomber jacket.

I was about to slip on my running shoes, but spotted a pair of hiking shoes, which, conveniently enough fit me quite well.

The clothes were a bit heavy as far as fabrics go, but with how cold it was outside, I found it comfortable enough to continue with. There wasn't anything else of value within the wardrobe, so I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me as I continued to rummage around the house.

By the time I finished, I had acquired eight steak knives, a kitchen knife, a meat cleaver, and a baseball cap, which I swiftly put on. With no way to store the item, I got crafty, pulling the table cover for the dining table off, before tying it into a bag. I put the canned food inside, alongside my extra shirt. I didn't dare put the knives inside, as I knew it would only lead to disaster, so, with the extra pockets from my bomber jacket, and flannel, I stashed the blades.

With everything sorted out, I opened the door to the outside world, a new weariness slightly creeping onto me, but I ignored it.

I had been trained to go to war, I should consider this a test of said training. Stepping outside, I took a deep breath, relishing in the fresh air as I slung the makeshift cloth bag over my shoulder, carrying my kitchen knife in my dominate hand as I walked through the streets.