Chapter 4: Checking Out The System

The system notification and panel dazed me for a second. Some memories returned as well but It wasn't anything special. Just my previous life story and a few tidbits.

I initially thought it would be cool but I was just a reckless prick who lived for life or death situations. I lived for the adrenaline of the fight and gambling so I wasn't lying when I said I was there for the money but that was only part of it.

My old dumbass self gave up a life saving wish because because he couldn't be bothered thinking too hard about it. Someone must've dropped me as baby in my previous life cause if not, fuck me I was fucking idiot. Well to be fair, I was in a shitty family so it was very likely.

If Rob made me smart and fixed the hole in my brain as a third wish then I wouldn't even mind. The memories didn't give me much. I was surprised and wanted to sort through the new memories but I quickly regained my composure and dismissed it because what was happening in front of me at the moment was more important.

I open my eyes and Ma nods smiling then walks over to the couch to sit beside Pop's who's already there waiting. My heart just hurts looking at them because even if they haven't done the deed, I've already seen what happens. Pop's turns on the TV and the news in one reporting the situation and then he turns to me

"Now get out of here. You know I don't like being interrupted while I watch the news" He says smiling

I just look at him and Ma for a few seconds in silence. I knew I didn't deserve them. They were too nice and sweet for a bastard like me but just as I wasn't the old me anymore, I wasn't the young me either. They were both me and I accepted both of my lives.

If it was me before I received my memories, then I would've bawled my eyes out but I had gained life experiences and I noticed that I subconciously started taking deep breaths and slowly exhaling. I felt myself calm down so I was able to keep a straight face.

"Alright you grumpy old man. I'm going down to the shops then I'll swing by the station and see Rick. You need anything?" I say jokingly

"Hahaha you must think you're grown now talking back to your Pops like this. No Sonny, we're good" He replies smiling

I nod at him and turn around and start walking down the stairs of the porch. I reach the edge of the street when I hear a shotgun go off and I stop and clench my fist hard. My hand starts bleeding but I ignore it and try to start walking again when I hear another shot go off.

My heart rate increases and I start taking quick short breaths as my mind gets clouded with rage. The experiences from the past life hardened me so I didn't shed a tear but instead, all I felt was anger at myself and the walkers who dare to hurt them.

I just stand in a natural position and start doing some breathing exercises to calm my mind. Remembering the feeling from earlier, I close my eyes and try to eliminate all the noises and distractions until I hear nothing and start feel my heart beat slow gradually until it rests at 40 Bpm. I slowly open my eyes and notice the system panel open with new notifications

(New!) [Meditation (Passive) Lv1/10:

-A method of breathing that relaxes the body and calms the mind and spirit.

*Increased EP regeneration

*'Calming Effect' lowers heart rate and Relieves body and mental tension]

'Must be a technique I used in my previous life to help me calm. Considering that I did it unconsciously, I must've used it to the point that it became muscle memory. I wonder what kind of life I lived for it to have turned this technique into a passive IRL. Well I'll figure it out later, time to test my hard earned skills on the three Walkers coming towards me.

I'm still pissed off at the Walkers but now my head is clear. I run up to the one closest to me and raises my hands into a boxing stance to test it's strength. The Walker gets excited and starts moving faster. It gets close enough and tries to grab me but I duck under his outstretched hands and lean towards the right side of it's body before throwing a right hook (Mike Tyson Style, baby) to it's temple and causing it topple over and fall to the ground. I walk over and stomped it's head into the ground which needed three hits before it broke.

I can see why no one tried to fight these guys unarmed cause these motherfuckers were tough! It felt like punching a wooden board and my hand was stinging. The second one gets close when I suddenly remember my second wish. I move back to create some space and pull up my system panel then proceed to the Inventory Tab. I see the axe and putting my hand through the panel, I pulled it out of inventory.

It was a Felling axe that had a 36 inch curved handle but it was felt heavier than most axes cause it had to be at least 10 pounds. It didn't sound like much now but just thinking of running and fighting with this thing already started to hurt my arms.

The most surprising thing was that there were runes carved into the handle and on the side of it was a notch that went from 1 to 10. It was currently on 0 and I tried to move it to 1 but it slipped out of my hands and hit the ground with a loud thud. I tried picking it back up and couldn't even make it budge because It felt like It weighed a ton and a half. I switched it back to zero and made a mental note to test it out more later.

I lifted the axe back up and the Walker was now inches away from me. I held the axe horizontal and pushed the handle into it's mouth before I sent it to the ground with a spartan kick to the chest. I lifted the axe above my head and brought it down on walker's head, ending it's struggle.

I put the axe back into my inventory and now I wanted to test one more thing, the actual strength of the zombies. I was pretty confident in myself and thought they would easy in the first wave but the first walker shook my belief. I decided to grab it's hands and let it struggle out of my hold to see how strong they were. The third Walker moved towards me but before it could raise it's hands to stretch it out, I grabbed it's wrists and held it down.

Wtf, how the hell are they so strong?! I felt like I was holding down a bull by it's horns while it was pushing against me. I took back all the thoughts I had about the cast being pussies and wasting their bullets and not killing them with knives. I just realized how lucky I was with the first Walker. If it had gotten a hold on me, I would've been fucked,

I backed off and resummoned my axe before swinging it at it's temple, lodging the axe inside it's head and let go of the handle and watched it fall down. I took a breath before I removed the axe and wiped the Walker blood on it's own clothes.

I turned around and walked back to the house. I know that in the show, Rick found them there and left them where they were but I wasn't going to. I reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped before taking a few deep breaths before walking up and using the axe to hack the door open. Once I get inside, I walk into the living room and I see them there, both slumped against each other with half their heads missing.

My memories might have hardened me by I couldn't help shed a tear as I looked at them. I didn't have water works like earlier but I was still heart broken. I turned around and walked upstairs to my parent's room and grabbed two bed sheets out of the drawers before I walked back down and threw it over them. I walked over to the tool closet and grabbed a shovel before making my way to the back of the house and start digging two holes next to each other, 6 feet deep.

Once I was done, I put the shovel down and walked back inside and carried them out one by one and laid them down in the holes. I pick up the shovel and start burying them. I crafted two makeshift cross out of sticks and twine when I hear a chime.

I Ignore it and stick it at the head of their graves. After that, I stood there and brought my palms together and offered them a prayer. They were religious so it was the least I could do and I just hoped they were going to a better place. A panel with words on it popped up in front of me

[Dear Boy,

This is R.O.B, I heard the prayer and wanted to let you know that your parents are going nowhere but up and when they reincarnate, they'll be reborn in a safe and peaceful world where they'll never have to worry ever again.

Godspeed.]

I look at the words, shocked before a smile appears on my face and start laughing. Rob doesn't seem too bad and my annoyance about letting him choose my third wish lessened, immensely. With my heart a bit lighter, I turn around walk into the house

Btw, I tried praying again to ask R.O.B what my third wish but all I got in response was a silence and some leaves blowing in the wind. Annoyed again, I raise my hand up and put down all my fingers except one as a sign of respect.

The sky was growing dark and the Walkers seem to be more active at night even though they didn't have a weakness to sunlight like the 'I Am Legend' zombies. Another example of the rare breed of "Fuck that shit" undead. I look around the house and for wooden planks and board the hole I made in the door and the windows. I move to the kitchen afterwards to find a bite to eat before I walked upstairs to my room and jumped in bed.

10 years, a whole decade I've spent in this house with countless memories made but for the first time in this life, I felt uncomfortable here. Any second now, I'm expecting Ma to peek around the corner into my room and ask me if I'm okay and if I needed anything then she would walk away and I would see the light to the hallway turn off and hear the door to their room close but none of that happened.

I finally understood that the saying 'You can buy a house but you can't buy a home'.

My memories were making me as comfortable as possible, regardless of how I was feeling, which I appreciated. I swear I could be in a jungle with rain pouring and still find a way to sleep. My old self was reckless and dumb but he had a few tricks up his sleeves and was a certified badass. I didn't agree with him about his views on human life but I accepted that violence was a tool and in certain situations, It was necessary. After my little psychological field trip, I decided to sleep and closed my eyes and drifted.

*************************

I was woken up the next morning to the sound of growling that sounded too close for a comfort. I summoned my axe and jumped out of bed and walked to my door before I put my ear to it and I could tell it was on the other side. They must've pushed against the boards all night and loosened it.

My palm felt like it was difficult to close. I looked down and saw that the my wound was missing but the blood had dried and it was caked in my palm. I forgot to wash it last night because there was too much on my mind.

I pull the door open and step back while swinging the heavy axe down on the Walker's head and the growling finally stopped. I hear a chime from the system but I decide to look at it while I have breakfast. I went down stairs and found the boards on the ground but I did bother since I was leaving soon so I just left it.

I walked into the kitchen and got myself some cereal and poured enough milk for my cereal and drank the rest since it was gonna go bad anyways so I'd rather not waste it.

I sat down at the table and brought up my system and decided to look through the notifications

[You killed a Walker] x4

(New!) [Crafting (Active) Lv1/10]

- Increases the speed of crafting and dismantling items and show quality and durability of an item. Costs 10 EP

* Small increase in DEX

*Small chances of getting back items used in crafting]

[

1/4

Name: Matt Hardy

Class: The Gamer

Level: 1 (30%)

HP: 100/100

EP: 130/140 (1 EP/min; Full in 10 mins)

STATS :-

STR: 20

VIT: 10

DEX: 14

INT: 16

WIS: 17

LUK: 5

Point: 0

Money: 0

]

So I just needed 7 more kills to level up, nice. The crafting skill doesn't seem like much now but if the chance increases as I level it up then soon, I would be able to produce things infinitely as long as I had the materials for just one item and enough EP. Broken and OP just how I like it.

I click on the Skill Tabs and smile when I see the two reason why I wanted the Gamer System in the first place.

[

SKILL :-

[Gamer Mind (Passive) Lv Max

- Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows Peaceful state of mind

*Immunity to Psychological Status Effects]

[Gamer Body (Passive) Lv Max

- Grants a body that allows the User to live the real world like a game.

* Sleeping restores HP, EP and all status effects

* All aspects of the User are quantified into numerical values]

Yes! Just what I wanted. Although I'm not willing to test it, I assume that I would be able to recover from a Walker scratch or bite as long as I sleep it off. My survival is pretty much concluded but I need to be stronger cause I can still die to blood loss and also, you can't wake up from sleep if there's a bullet in your head. Just like the show, the biggest threat wasn't the Walkers but other humans.

I might not agree with old Matt but I would be happy to clean up those assholes who abandoned their humanity just because the world went to shit. They don't deserve to live and I was more than willing to play Judge, Jury and Executioner to punish them.

Once I fully inspected the system and adjusted my Edge Lord levels accordingly, I decided It was time to go visit our sleeping beauty of a sheriff and figure out how the hell this dude survived by sleeping through the outbreak and walking up a month later.

It was time to reunite with my old friend, Rick Grimes