The elevator doors stood wide open.
A man in a hospital staff uniform stood inside.
His head lolled to one side. His left arm hung at an unnatural angle, and his skin was so pale it was nearly gray.
The elderly nurse raised a hand to cover her mouth.
“Mr. Somchai...”
The thing lifted its head.
Its eyes were cloudy white.
It opened its mouth.
“Hungry...”
A hoarse, rasping sound escaped its throat.
The security guard took a step back.
“Mr. Somchai?”
Bow got goosebumps all over.
“Don’t get near it!”
Too late.
Somchai’s body shot out of the elevator.
It was moving far too fast for a corpse.
The security guard instinctively raised his arm to block it. Its teeth clamped down hard on his sleeve cuff.
“Whoa!”
The two of them went down, rolling across the floor.
Screams erupted throughout the hallway.
Everyone who could still walk ran. Some patients tried to drag their IV poles along with them. Hospital beds crashed into one another until the hallway was nearly blocked.
“Close the door!”
Dad yanked open Phod’s room door.
But Mom was still outside.
“Mom!”
Bow rushed out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
At the same time, the security guard shoved the corpse off him with his knee.
It rolled into the wall.
Then it got right back up.
It didn’t cry out in pain.
It didn’t even hesitate.
“What the hell is wrong with this thing?”
A voice rang out from behind them.
The golden-eyed young man who had been the first to pass the Selection stood there trembling. He raised his hand.
A spark flickered above his palm.
Bow recognized him.
The one who had gotten everyone on the floor to start pressing [Accept].
“Burn it!”
someone shouted.
The young man swallowed.
“I... I don’t know how!”
“You had fire a second ago!”
“Having fire doesn’t mean I know how to use it!”
The corpse lunged at him.
“Oh, shit!”
The young man instinctively flung out his hand.
Whoosh!
A fist-sized flame shot out.
It missed the corpse.
Instead, it hit the plastic trash can beside the wall.
The fire caught immediately.
“Great job!” Bow shouted. “You’re gonna die in a fire before the ghost eats you!”
“I’m trying!”
The corpse leaped again.
This time, the security guard grabbed a metal chair and swung it with all his strength.
Crash!
The body went down.
The man didn’t stop.
He struck it again.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Until its head went still.
The hallway fell completely silent.
Only heavy breathing remained.
The security guard dropped the chair, his hands trembling.
“Is it... dead?”
Bow looked at the body on the floor.
“It already died once, man.”
No one laughed.
The elevator made another noise.
Creeeak...
Everyone turned around.
Several more figures stood packed inside.
The elderly nurse went pale.
“There were more than ten bodies in the morgue...”
Bow muttered a curse under her breath.
“Fantastic.”
Dad grabbed a spare IV pole.
“Everyone, get inside the room first!”
“What about everyone else, Dad?”
“Help whoever you can!”
The firmness in his voice stopped Bow from arguing.
The people nearby hurried into the patient rooms. Some of them worked together to drag a storage cabinet in front of the elevator.
The fire-powered young man stood on the other side.
“I’ll help.”
The security guard looked at him.
“Know how to control that fire?”
“No.”
“Then don’t burn down the hospital.”
“Yes, sir...”
Bow almost laughed.
This was humanity’s first generation of Awakened?
One security guard. One trash-can incinerator.
The future looked damn bright.
A roar came from the elevator.
The cabinet blocking it began to shake.
“Back!”
The security guard shouted.
Everyone retreated to regroup.
But then he suddenly collapsed to one knee.
Blood began running from his forearm.
The bite from earlier was deeper than they’d thought.
“Hey!”
Bow ran over.
“I’m fine. Go help the others first.”
“Quiet.”
She pulled his arm closer to inspect it.
The blood wouldn’t stop flowing.
Something inside Bow responded.
It felt like warm water in her chest being drawn down through her arm.
She didn’t know what to do.
So she did the only thing she could think of.
She placed her hand over the wound.
“Restoration.”
Nothing happened.
“...Huh.”
The security guard stared at her.
“Miss?”
“Wait. New power.”
She closed her eyes.
When I passed the Selection just now, it healed me on its own.
That means it knows what’s damaged.
So I don’t have to tell it what to do...
I just have to send it in.
Bow tried to recall the feeling of that cool current flowing through her heart.
This time, something moved.
A faint green light seeped from her palm.
The security guard’s eyes widened.
The bleeding gradually stopped.
The torn flesh didn’t close completely, but the smaller blood vessels began to knit back together.
Bow smiled.
“See?”
Then the world spun.
She staggered and had to brace herself against the floor.
“Bow!”
Dad rushed over and caught her.
A window appeared in front of her.
[Remaining energy: 23%]
[Warning: Using an ability beyond its limit may cause the user to lose consciousness]
Bow stared at the number.
Healing just that much... and it cost this much?
She looked at the injured people filling the hallway.
For the first time, she truly understood—
She couldn’t save everyone.
Not because she didn’t want to.
But because she didn’t have enough.
The cabinet in front of the elevator toppled over.
Bang!
Three corpses crawled out.
“Get inside!”
Dad shoved Bow back into the room.
The fire-powered young man stood beside the security guard.
This time, he didn’t wave his hand around blindly.
He stared at the first corpse.
He drew a deep breath.
“The fire came out when I was scared...”
The security guard raised the chair.
“Then be scared of the right one.”
“You make it sound easy.”
The corpse lunged.
Flames exploded from the young man’s palm.
This time, they hit the corpse square in the chest.
It fell, but kept thrashing.
The security guard leaped in and immediately smashed its head.
Bow watched from behind the door.
You have to destroy the head.
She would remember that.
In the new world, one sentence of knowledge might cost one person their life.
Behind her, Phod’s heart monitor began beeping again.
Beep...
Beep...
His eyelids twitched faintly.
No one noticed.
On the system window floating above his body, new text appeared.
[Creature type detected: Undead]
[Building world database...]
[Recording preliminary weakness complete]
[Destroy the brain / soul core]
[Foundational data received: 1]
[Player 0’s awakening condition...]
[In progress]
And for the first time since his heart stopped beating—
Phod’s finger
moved.