It took him a few minutes to leave that stupor, but eventually got off the bed.

Lucien remembered getting beat up by gangsters, but now all he wanted was to leave quickly so he wouldn't have to pay more for overstaying at the hospital.

A few eerie sounds came from outside the room, but the thought of paying additional fees scared him more.

Lucien finally opened the door and stepped into the hallway, but what he saw made him shut the door as fast as he could.

The hallway was filled with wandering zombies!

He covered his mouth with his hand and sweat started to form on his forehead. He fell sitting down behind the door.

Lucien peeked outside the only window in his room, what he saw below were crowds of zombies loitering around the hospital's entrance.

He furrowed his brows.

He slapped himself in the face. It hurt. But he looked outside the window and it was the same as before.

Lucien started to bite his nails, the current reality started to sink in.

When suddenly, the sound of a screaming voice rang from upstairs. 

"If there is anyone left inside this building, please come to the rooftop, I repeat, please come to the rooftop!"

Lucien came back to his senses.

He scanned all across the room.

The infusion stand! He quickly picked it up with both hands and went towards the door.

He lowered his head. Hands gripped tightly onto his new found weapon.

He looked up and an aura of determination reflected in his eyes, then went outside to the battlefield.

His room was located at the middle of the hallway, and all he needed to do was to get to the end where the staircase was and reach the rooftop.

But right now, there were 3 zombies that blocked off his path. Just seeing them all made his body go cold.

His thoughts started fighting each other and he couldn't bring himself to move.

But the zombies wouldn't wait for him to make a decision, one of them noticed him cowardly trembling outside the door and rushed for him.

He swinged the stand with as much force as he could, closing his eyes and hoping for the best.

When he opened them, the zombie that was trying to rush him was knocked down on the floor.

A spark of hope appeared in his eyes.

A proud smile emerged from his lips. 

He saw that the other zombies haven't noticed him yet and tried going for a sneak attack.

Another zombie fell to the floor.

Now there was the last zombie, and it was the closest one to the staircase. 

Lucien looked down and gulped, the infusion stand became crooked!

He looked up and met eye-to-eye with the remaining zombie.

He dropped his head and looked down. His shoulders slouched and he started trembling again.

He stared at his shoes, hoping for a miracle to happen.

That's right, the bottom part was unharmed! He still had a chance!

Lucien flipped the infusion stand upside down, and hit the zombie hard.

The previous zombie that was knocked down slowly got back up and followed the dashing figure.

Lucien ran until he lost his breath. The rooftop was just a few steps away, and to him it looked like the open doors to heaven.

"Sir, we have to leave! There's no more---"

Lucien struggled to catch his breath, as he saw the shocked look of the soldier and the calm look of his sergeant.

"Well, we managed to get one." 

The low-ranking soldier avoided his gaze in shame, and couldn't look up to his sergeant.

Lucien wiped off his sweat, any second later and he would've been zombie meat.

The helicopter landed safely in the military's base with only one person rescued.

When they got off, a scrawny looking man spoke.

"Only one person?"

The sergeant buried his hands in his pockets. 

"It's better than nothing."

He turned his head to look at the soldier he was on the rescue mission with.

"You. Teach him the ropes."

The soldier nodded submissively. He beckoned for Lucien to follow him.

Lucien followed just behind the soldier.

"In order to stay here, you need to earn your keep. Everybody does something to contribute towards the base. You just need to do what you're best at."

What I'm best at? Lucien thought about it deeply.

"We're here." The soldier stopped outside the metal door.

Lucien opened the door, the tension inside the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

It made him want to turn back.

But it was already too late. Leaving now would mean that everything he endured up to this point meant nothing if he were to just return back to the starting point. 

He didn't want to back down now, especially without trying.

So he made his way to an empty seat near the stage, trying his best to mask his uneasiness.

The judge asked the man on the stage who looked to be in his mid-thirties—the top three things he was good at.

The man said he was good at farming, playing go, and gambling.

The judge raised an eyebrow when he said the last two, but considered his first answer.

He skimmed through a pile of paper first before speaking to him again.

"You said you're good at farming, yes? I'm assigning you to the farmer's group and you'll be on duty from monday to saturday."

The man bowed his head and thanked the judge gratefully.

It was now Lucien's turn.

Lucien went up the stairs in unhurried steps, the weight in his heart was finally subdued as he knew the judge's question and how to answer.

The judge then asked Lucien to demonstrate his best fighting skills.

Lucien answered, "I'm good at cooking, fashion, and playing videogames!"

The judge was stupefied.

Lucien blinked. Inside, he was already panicking. 

The judge furrowed his brows and looked at Lucien like he was crazy.

"Excuse me?"

Lucien was at a standstill, he racked up his brain to try and come up with a fighting move when a certain ritual came to mind.

Lucien took a deep breath. He raised his head and looked at the judge straight in the eye.

He pulled out the imaginary pocket knife from his back pocket and tossed it in the air, then quickly catched it and posed in a cool way.

"To defend the last remnants of humanity...”

"You have to become one with the abyss."

His edgy quotes caught the attention of the judge.

Lucien without hesitation, slashed into the air like it was a zombie. He targeted it's neck and also didn't forget to move in a way where his hair flipped with the momentum.

After this flashy stunt, he grinned in a smug way, and wiped the imaginary zombie blood that spilled on his face.

“You call that a death rattle? Pathetic.”

Next, he did a spinning heel kick to the zombie's chest.

As the imaginary zombie tried getting back up, Lucien stepped on it's back.

"Kneel. Or I’ll make you."

The judge began biting his nails.

Now, for his ultimate SP skill and his finishing move, he closed his eyes then sharply opened them. He delivered the words with sincere passion, laced with his coolest "I'm secretly powerful" voice.

“I am the blade between dimensions, forged in heartbreak, tempered in solitude, and sharpened by betrayal. Be grateful I let you die at my feet.”

As he says this, he jumped as high as he could, and slashed the zombie from it's head, along with the words,

"Moonlight's Nightingale Pierce!"

Once the performance was over, the judge clapped unrestrainedly with delight.

"Bravo!" The judge praised, wholeheartedly approving of his moves.

Lucien just closed his eyes while catching his breath. In fact, he didn't want to open them now because of the extreme shame.

"I was right, the youth is really powerfull and they should be the one in charge of defending the base." The judge rubbed his chin and commended his bright thinking.

He turned to look at the sweating mess Lucien. This time, he didn't look through his papers to try and find a spot for him but directly assigned him to be the leader.

"Alright kid, you'll be the leader of team Oranges. You'll be on duty every day of the week, but don't worry, soldiers get paid the most here since they're in the front lines." 

Sweat dripped into Lucien's eyes.

Lucien vented in his heart. He clenched the part where his heart is in his hospital gown and felt that the judge was incredibly biased for thinking that only the young should go out in the battlefield.

But despite his complaints, he actually felt quite relieved. Atleast he was accepted in the base. He wouldn't have to worry about food and shelter for now.