“Level one?” Yin asks. I didn’t even realize I was thinking out loud until she came up behind me. My clothes are all wet. At Lvl 1, that’s a problem. We need a fire.

“Kill zombies and you’ll get to become a Hunter.” I don’t hide my knowledge. Though it’s probably invaluable right now, in a few days, more and more people are going to discover that life is a game now. “The more you kill, the stronger you get.”

“I…” Yin doesn’t know what to make of my statements. I shrug.

She’ll figure it out it out soon anyway.

“What’s your name? Why did you help us?” She watches as her friends start to take off their wet clothes. One of the girls is hesitant to remove her shirt in front of so many males, even with a bra underneath. The guys see me looking and give me dark looks even though I just saved their lives. Whatever. Not like I care. I turn my gaze downriver.

“Your friend might still be alive.” My voice is neutral. “There’s a chance she drowned. Or got picked up by something once she landed.” Now that the moon has risen, the world is cast in a strange silver glow. After so much time fighting in my other life, it’s hard to remember everything about the world before the Calamity. But I do remember how dark it was at night if you didn’t live in the city. If only I could go back to that darkness. It was creepy, but at least it was safe. Now you can see so much more, but all you’ll find is monsters. This is a world of monsters.

“You’re right.” Yin peers into the dark river. At night, it’s like a sapphire ribbon winding out of the crumbling buildings and into the woods. In those trees, anything could be lurking, and probably is. “We should go look for her!” She wants to go to her friends. However, I grab her wet sleeve.

“Not a good idea.” I say curtly. “You guys are too weak. It’s going to get cold soon, you need to build a fire.” The cute girl stops with a worried expression. She’s loyal. But still a newbie.

“We can’t just leave Crassia…” She murmurs, “Besides, if we started a fire, wouldn’t that just attract more of those things?” Most of the bodies in the river have been carried off by the current. But two of them still linger at the water’s edge, stark reminders of the future awaiting all of us. I shake my head, watching her friends shiver.

“Go inside one of the buildings so nothing sees the light. Also, you guys made too much noise already. If anything was here it would have came earlier. You should never scream unless you’re trying to fight more undead.” I raise my voice so the others can hear. Under the heavy moonlight, I can see them blush. The girl with pink hair catches my eye.

“Do you…do you think you could look for Crassia for us?” She does her best to put on a winning expression. “Please? You’re so strong!” Her compliment sounds good, but it’s just a cover for her own weakness. The males stare at me as if they can’t do the task themselves.

So useless. Even when we were newbies, Sasha and James were never this afraid. I guess that’s the difference between regular people and the strong.

Without answering, I walk away. She becomes afraid as I start to leave. “Wait! Where are you going?”

“You wanted me to find her.” I shrug, gazing up at the gleaming moon. Under tonight’s sky it seems almost covered in blood. My fist goes up as if to hold it in my hand. I can’t believe I’m back here again. At the beginning.

“Rui, stop it!” Yin hushes her friend before calling out to my back, “You don’t have to do this!” However, I am already entering the thicket of trees. Following the river, I’m not sure why I’m bothering to help these people. I’m not a hero anymore. These people are strangers. I don’t have to do this. But some part of me can’t let it go. Even if I do this, it won’t make up for what I did. Nothing can make up for that. As I trudge into the woods, I hear footsteps behind me. “I’m coming with you.”

“…” I keep walking further. The dark shroud of the treetops shuts out the iridescent moonlight and turns the forest into true night. A gentle burble comes from the winding river which twists left and right trying to find its way to the ocean. I’m reminded of people. We’re just like the river. Always following the path of least resistance. The girl behind me however defies the norm. I can hear her teeth chattering as the world grows cold. Now it belongs to the dead, not us.

“Why are you helping us?” She huffs through cold lips. I do not answer. To be honest, I don’t know myself so I can’t say even if I wanted to.

*Crack*

Twigs break underneath her clumsy steps. I shake my head irritably.

Newbie. She’s just a newbie.

As we walk, occasionally glimpses of moonlight break through the dense foliage and illuminate the trail. Though I keep my eyes on the riverbank, looking for footsteps in the mud or any signs of her friend, I see nothing. Something moves in the endless shadows. I pause, raising my nose, trying to smell the familiar stink of undead. There’s something out there. Wait…

“Crassia!” Yin dashes forward before I can warn her. A familiar red head with sopping wet hair emerges from the tangled trees. Dragging her feet over the gnarled roots, she’s covered in mud and pale as a bleached sheet. Crassia walks out of the bushes. The barbed hooks from their grasp leave bloody smears on her white skin. “You’re okay!”

She got out of the river? Without leaving footsteps?

I look back at the shoreline. Indeed, the riverbank is clean and clear despite being extremely muddy. It’s like she just…floated out the river. Instantly, the hairs on the back of my neck stand erect. I know what monster stands before us now, and it’s no human. Running forwards, I yank Yin back by her hair. It’s the only thing I can reach. Her still-wet ponytail is cold in my grasp, but doesn’t break. She stumbles as her head snaps back. Hurt eyes gaze at me in bewildered anger.

“What the hell!” She yelps. However, I have no time for this girl’s useless rage. What lies ahead is far more dangerous.

I thought that only Fresh Undead would spawn in the first few days. But I guess depending on where you started, you might not be so lucky.

The redhead ghosts over the tree branches, leaving no footprints. River-water oozes from her clothes and spills to the ground, but when it lands, it disappears. Crassia opens her mouth, a faint keen coming as she gasps.

“Help-me. I’m-so-cold.” She chokes, spluttering words having a hard time leaving her waterlogged lungs. There’s no smell. Her corpse died in the water only recently and hasn’t begun to rot yet. Yin still tries to break free of my grasp and get herself killed. She pushes against my arms which form a cage around her.

“Oh my god, you’re alive!” Yin cries out, turning back to yell at me, “Let me go! What are you doing?”

I do the opposite of what she asks, tightening my arms around her soft body and holding her back. The girl is cold, freezing, her body unused to the wild at night. Gradually, as Crassia stumbles closer, and her swaying mop of soaked hair drifts back in the wind, Yin stills.

“Crassia? Are you okay?”

“She’s already dead.” I announce grimly. Yin doesn’t believe me. She twists around in my hold, unable to see that her friend is gone. I have my gaze fixed above the enemy’s head. A number floats there, and I curse.

A Drowned Soul. Lvl 5.

 If I kill her, I’ll hit Lvl 2 instantly. I can’t keep leveling like this or no one will be able to stop me if I die and the Gray takes over. But we can’t run. Something this strong, it will keep following us until it dies or eats us. The ruckus it makes will attract other things in the woods. I heard noises on the way here. We’re not alone.

“Crassia?” Finally, Yin has realized that I am not holding her back for nothing. “Are you…okay? You’re so pale!” In response to her question, the Drowned Soul that wears her friend’s form as skin laughs. It is a bone-chilling noise, one which contains all the despair of someone who has lost everything. Air, warmth, life, everything was taken from Crassia when the river pulled her under. Now she hungers to regain the impossible by taking it from others. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“So-cold…” Crassia moans again. I back away, dragging Yin with me as the creature takes a shambling step forwards. Her limbs are jerky, the joints locked up by water. It gives her a stuttering stride which makes it look like she’s going to fall at any time. However, her feet do not catch on anything on the ground. I point at the glaring giveaway.

“Don’t you see it? Drowned Souls leave no footprints. Her true self is at the bottom of the river. But this thing in front of you which wears her skin doesn’t know that. It hungers to replace what was lost. It hungers for all that makes you living.” My explanation is dispassionate. I realize I’m talking like I’m explaining this all to a new Hunter. Suddenly, the solution is clear.

“What…what do we do? How can we help her?” Yin shudders. Perhaps she believes my words, perhaps not. She stills in my arms and I stop pulling her back. Instead, I let her go. She turns back to look at me as I reach into my coat and withdraw my cleaver. “What are you doing? Are you going to kill her?!” I shake my head slowly. Turning the blade around, I offer her the handle. There’s only one way to help these newbies.

“I can’t kill her. If you want to live, you’re going to do it.”