I sat with my back against the cracked wall of my little hideout—a small room in the basement of a mall that might've once been a storage closet. The system screen still glowed faintly in front of me.
Evolution Available
Choose an evolution path:
Medium Zombie
Body reinforced. Basic zombie abilities doubled. No major change in appearance, but durability and reflexes increase significantly.
Low-Rank Ghoul
Evolution toward a fast and feral predator. Focuses on speed and agility. Appearance becomes more terrifying.
Lesser Vampire
Unstable path. Grants a small bonus to healing and blood manipulation. However, due to the undead body, effects are limited. Appearance becomes more humanlike, but the bloodlust aura intensifies.
I stared at the options. Choices that—strangely—felt like they were about to determine my entire life path. Even though I was a zombie. A walking corpse. But… maybe exactly because I wasn't human anymore, this choice might give me direction.
Ghoul was tempting. Lesser Vampire sounded cool. But…
"I… still want to stay at least half-sane," I muttered.
I knew that if I wanted to maintain my consciousness, I had to pick the stable path. The one that wasn't too extreme.
"I choose… Medium Zombie."
[Evolution Confirmed]
Evolution beginning…Progress: 5%... 10%... 20%... 50%... 99%...
Evolution Successful!
Rank increased: Zombie → Medium Zombie (Rank 1)
Stats have been upgraded. All base stats doubled.Skill levels increased by +3.Reward: New skill unlocked – Dash
Description: Dash allows the user to move at high speed for a short time. Normally consumes stamina, but the current user has no stamina system...Skill can be used limitlessly, with a short cooldown.
I closed my eyes.
My body… felt warm. Not the warmth of a human, but like sparks of electricity running through frozen muscle and dead flesh. My bones tightened. My muscles felt like they were being reconstructed. Not painful. But uncomfortable.Like wearing a new body that fit too perfectly.
Then my status screen popped up again.
[STATUS]
Name: Sylvia
Race: Medium Zombie (Rank 1)
Level: 0/20
Stats
HP: 2000/2000
MP: 0/0
STR: 300
VIT: 2000
INT: 20
AGI: 24
LUK: ERROR
Active Skills
~ Bite (6/10)
~ Claw (9/10)
~ Dash (1/10)
Passive Skills
~ Regeneration (8/10) – 8 HP/sec
Title
~ Reincarnated
~ First Evolution
I stood slowly. My movement… was different. Lighter. Quicker. My legs no longer dragged. My hands no longer trembled.
I tried running a bit down the hallway.
ZUP!
I shot forward like an arrow. In one blink, I crashed into the wall.
"Ow—okay, I need practice, but this is amazing!"
This body…
I'm not just any zombie anymore.
And maybe—for the first time since I died—I feel like there's hope.