'Tch. gotta level up? And that too to level 10?' Ryan thought when he saw this screen in front of his eyes:

< Your inventory needs to be level ten or higher to hide the presence of the items >

'Let's check my current stats.'

< Host: Ryan Walker >

< Level 6: 300/700 >

< HP: 35/40 >

< Blood level: 10/40 >

< Blood store (Lv. 1): 0/25 >

< Attack: 30

Defense: 25 >

< Sp. Attack: 20

Sp. Defense: 15 >

'Damn. am I that weak? These stats are nothing. I may really be this weak, can't believe how low my stats are. I haven't been focusing on training myself either so,'

< Inventory (Lv. 6): 4/10 >

< Skills (2) >

< Bloods: 2,500 >

'Bloods? Oh right, Bloods!' he totally forgot about something known as Bloods. He remembered the time when he had read about Bloods while exploring his System.

This was the official currency of the System, to be used in the System to trade items in the store.

'I should check out the store then, let's see what this Bloods can do.'

Another purple screen appeared in front of my eyes. On the top of the screen was written in dark bold letters: SHOP.

Below were a few options from which he had to select one which would lead him deeper into the store.

< 1. Items

2. Weapons

3. Skills

4. Equipment >

'Come on. Why didn't I check out this first?!' Ryan furiously selected the first option.

< Items:

Purple Blood tubes (Cost: 100 Bloods)

15 liters Blood flask [Advanced-tier] (Cost: 5K Bloods)

Void Dimension Cube [ Advanced-tier] (Cost: 5k Bloods)

Bulletproof Badge [Advanced-tier] (Cost: 3K Bloods) >

Whatever is shown below those four items were blurred out. It simply told that Ryan's level was not high enough to buy those items from the shop yet.

Ryan opened the Weapons tab next.

< Weapons:

A Platinum Dagger [Intermediate-tier] (Cost: 5 Intermediate cores)

A Steel Gladius [Intermediate-tier] (Cost: 3 intermediate cores)

A Marble Katana [Basic-tier] (Cost: 3 Basic cores) >

'Again??' The weapons below those three weapons were blurred out. Ryan could not see what other weapons the System had for him.

'Still man, I can't buy those weapons. I don't have a single core with me.'

The next and the last thing Ryan checked was skills.

< Upgrade your skills & your Assets: {Cost is per level}

Vision Lv. 4 [Upgrade Vision by one level] (Cost: 500 Bloods)

Blood Fists Lv. 3 [Upgrade Blood Fists by one level] (Cost: 1K Bloods)

Blood Store Lv. 1 [Upgrade Blood Store by one level] (Cost: 1K Bloods)

Inventory Lv. 6 [Upgrade Inventory by one level] (Cost: 1.5K Bloods) >

Below these four skills, he didn't see another skill. These four skills were the ones he already had, he didn't see a new one, a new skill which he could learn.

'Why? Just why the inventory's price is high?' Ryan tsk-tsked at the same time he decided to upgrade his inventory.

< Process with upgrading your inventory to level 7. It will cost you a total of 1.5K Bloods.

After upgrading the inventory, it will be able to store five more items.

Are you sure you want to upgrade your inventory and use 1.5K Bloods? >

He had already decided. If not Level 10 then at least level 7.

< Upgraded Inventory to Lv. 7

Inventory: 4/15 >

'Good. that's better. But I still need it to be level 10 if I want to stay safe from Brandon.'

He was worried about Brandon right now, what would he do if he encountered Brandon in the morning? Not just the morning, he didn't even know how long will it take for him to level up to level 10.

All he knew was, he will have to hide from Brandon until he levels up. For the coming days, weeks, he will have to keep himself away from Brandon in the hope that one day, the bond between Brandon and his items will break.

That is when Ryan will be able to walk freely. Although I wish I level up as soon as possible instead of waiting for the bond to break, he thought.

Ryan took a glance at the time, it was six o'clock already. There was no time to waste, he wanted to rest and take out all of the stress he suffered from.

As soon as his eyes closed, he fell asleep. But his rest didn't end there. After a few minutes of falling asleep, he had the same dream again.

Yes, the dream he saw while he was sleeping in the airplane with Naomi on his laps. That horrifying dream which he thought was just a dream and not his precognition.

Well, this time, the dream made sure to make Ryan realize it is more than just a dream. All those same events flashed from his eyes once again.

Pete turned into a horrifying creature, its neck was torn open, blood pouring from its eyes. Not only Pete, but many other familiar faces turned into those creatures which looked like zombies.

Pete charged at Gwen first, he tore her clothes, pulled her breasts, made a mess out of her boobs first before tearing the rest of her body.

Same with Naomi, no Traits seemed to work on them. Pete charged forward, he tore her clothes, grabbed her boobs, pulled them to the verge that they might really come off.

Devon who was trying to save Naomi was attacked by a horde of a few zombies at once. Before he could hide underground, the zombies assaulted him.

Tore his flesh, ate his flesh, made a mess out of his body. The zombies got away from his body. The only thing left was a mess of blood and flesh.

The sight which Ryan had only seen in movies had now turned into a reality. A sight of gore without being censored.

From another corner of the room, Pete opened his disgusting, frightening mouth to eat Ryan next after Gwen and Naomi.

Suddenly, Ryan woke up. He sat in his bed with his hand on his forehead, panting hard for air.

'This is it. This. is. Not. a dream. Definitely not a dream.' he threw himself out of his bed, 'I gotta stop this from happening.. This is one hell of a gruesome reality.'