After waking up with a vague recollection of the past, our MC finds himself as a humanoid tester in a corporation. He doesn't know who he was, or why he was there, the only thing he knew is that he has to test the humanoids sent to them or death awaits him. The only way to escape this predicament is to participate in the annual freeing of workers: Runners Survivors.

Run or Be Captured. 

Fight or Be Killed

Welcome to the Runners Survivors! Run for your life!

Ready!!! Start!!!

After waking up with a vague recollection of the past, our MC finds himself as a humanoid tester in a corporation. He doesn't know who he was, or why he was there, the only thing he knew is that he has to test the humanoids sent to them or death awaits him. The only way to escape this predicament is to participate in the annual freeing of workers: Runners Survivors.

Run or Be Captured. 

Fight or Be Killed

Welcome to the Runners Survivors! Run for your life!

Ready!!! Start!!!

*DISCLAIMER* Personally edited book cover but image does not belong to me.

Circus Runners is about a boy who escapes his abusive father

A pandemic dystopian thriller

New York is a deserted place that is now crumbling. Edge-Runners are the only ones able to survive. As the world continues to crumble, Edge-Runners take what they can from buildings about to fall and pawn them off for necessities. 

Fierce Edge-Runner, Audri Collins, is humanity's only hope. Her only friend, Parker Casen has been stricken with this virus and now she must find an antidote. 

The fight for both their lives is jeopardized when Audri and Parker must go through mental and physical challenges to get the much-needed medicine. 

Armed with an antidote and wit, the two try their best to save each other, but can they outfight the race against the clock?

When the population of the earth gets too high what's the solution? a simple game played from ages 9-50. Silence. 5 predators. 190 runners. a fight for survival. If you drop a pen it can cost you your life! be careful where you step, and most importantly- stay absolutely silent.

A/N - Hi, Hi, Hi… I changed my mind and my skills can not level up to evolve anymore. So yeah.
*****
The pain in my stomach hurt but it didn't hurt as much as some of the beatings I received every day at school. I smiled wearily at my position while picking up the sword that I dropped when slamming against the tree.
I jumped up and down to try and shake off the pain before running towards the huge white wolf. It started to growl as I got closer, waiting for the right chance to pounce on me. 
Once I got close enough, I produced some rainbow flames in my throat and then spit them out towards the wolf's face. Even though it barely left a mark on its face, I used the chance that it closed its eyes to slide under its belly and stab upwards. 
It howled in pain as I pulled out my sword and appeared from behind the wolf. Since it was still in pain and hesitating with its moves, I cut the back of both of its ankles. The wolf limped down, unable to stand on its hind legs, and continued to howl. 
I let out the breath I was holding causing some smoke to trail out with cold mist replacing it once it dissipated. I kneeled on one knee, feeling the kick in my stomach come back to bite me. 
The wolf slowly turned its head around in my direction as I felt a chill go down my spine. The chill caused me to snap out of my emotion extinguish state and I could feel one emotion overwhelm me… fear. 
The wolf started to growl as I could feel the bloodlust emitting from its body. A crown made from snow appeared on its head and I knew it was about to use its special skill. 
I have never read about this type of boss but once I saw that crown, I knew immediately it was about to use its special skill. 
The snow around me started to swirl as I felt my footing give out. I slipped and fell but when I tried to stand up, I realized I was sliding down a ditch that the white wolf made. At the bottom was the white wolf with its jaws wide open. 
I tried to stop myself by clawing at the snow, but it was softer than any type of snow I had felt before. It was like I tried to grab onto a cloud. 
"Fuck this…"
I came up with a basic plan on the spot which was to just swing my sword at it once I reach its jaws. 
As I stopped my struggling, I picked up speed and slid right towards its jaws. As soon as I made contact with its teeth I jumped off as it bit down. I just barely dodged my toes from getting bit off. 
I did a front flip and used the momentum to swing my sword downwards, onto the top of its head. As I swung down it was stopped by the snow crown that I thought would scatter but it was harder than steel. 
tsk
I click my tongue as I land on the wolf's head and jumped behind it. The wolf turns its head towards me and tries to kick me with its leg. I was able to land softly and roll out of the way since the snow that the wolf was standing on, was soft but not enough to make me sink in. 
It sees my roll and reacts instantly, turning its whole body and lunging at me with jaws wide open. I react by jumping up with all of my power, sending me much higher into the air than I expected. 
The wolf dived headfirst into the powder snow as I gripped my sword tightly and sunk it straight into its head. Blood burst out as I barely dodged it. I didn't want to stain my new clothes already. 
The powder snow that I slid down had hardened as a 1-mile radius around the wolf's corpse, turned to ice. The edges of it slid up making spikes that protruded from the ground. 
Once I landed next to the corpse, I reached out to the slipping white wolf's bloodlust. As soon as I "grabbed" it, my vision went dark and in front of me was a huge 10-meter tall white wolf with light blue stars as eyes. It had a massive crown made of snow and its eyes felt like it was peering into my soul.
The pressure and bloodlust that it emitted made me feel like a mere ant in its presence. A cold sweat ran down the back of my neck as I held back the urge to scream for help. 
"That thing didn't even use all of its bloodlust or maybe it wasn't able to fully grasp it?" I say, trying to distract myself. 
The massive wolf brought its face in front of me and I could tell by its eyes, that it was looking down on me. It was the same eyes that all of my bullies had displayed when punching or kicking me to the ground.
I didn't realize until a few seconds later but I had released my bloodlust causing the white wolf to back up slightly. I thought it was puny but if I grasp it hard enough… 
I took a deep breath before releasing all of my bloodlust, I burst it out towards the wolf but the wolf didn't retaliate at all… I quickly realized it was just the embodiment of its potential. It couldn't fight back besides intimidate me with its overwhelming power, size, bloodlust, and pressure.
Even the bloodlust that it emitted couldn't fight back as it let itself be devoured by me. I felt myself absorb all of its bloodlust and it grew… my bloodlust at least tripled in potenecy… 
Soon the wolf had disappeared and my vision returned to normal. The white wolf corpse was in front of me but its snow crown had fallen apart. Its eyes had no signs of life and some of its muscles were still tightened.
I placed my hand on the corpse and thought of it going into my inventory and it worked. The entire corpse was gone, besides some blood that stained the powder snow below me.
[25 XP gained]
[You have leveled up]
[Congratulations on killing your first solo boss]
[You can pick between 3 of the rewards below]
[All rewards given are based on the boss and its dungeon]
[1. [Skill Book: Royal Snow Crown]
[2. [Potion: Snow Wolfs Blood]
[3. [Item: Skill Enhancer Book]
[4: [Item: Level Up Book (x5)]
[5: [Weapon: Frostbite]
"*sigh* I have to think this over carefully. Skill book, potion, item, item, and weapon… I'm taking the skill book and maybe the potion? The skill enhancer should be nice but let me check on [Snake Necromancy] first.
[Snake Necromancy]
[Due to your relation with snakes, you can bring them back from the dead. They are loyal to you and will protect you at all costs.]
"Is that it? That means it can't level up anymore… but maybe it can evolve? Possibly?" I mutter while supporting my chin with my hands. 
I crossed my legs once I sat down and thought for a while until I came to a final decision. 
I picked the skill book, potion, and weapon. Picking the skill enhancer was way too risky. There was a possibility that [Snake Necromancy] couldn't evolve anymore. Same with passive skills, they might not be able to evolve. 
Using it on [Weak Quetzalcoatl's Ancient Fire] was a waste since there was a guarantee for it to evolve and grow stronger. It might give me a headstart now but then I would be dropping the weapon choice. 
The weapon choice was my last decision since I already had a weapon and could buy magic weapons in New York. But the reason why I chose it, was because it might be something that I can't find on earth. If I outgrow it and it is useless, then I could just sell it. This will also give me insight into how valuable the weapons from the system are.
[Would you like to use the Skill Book?] 
"Yes," 
[Obtained the skill: Royal Snow Crown]
A soon as I saw the new notification I appeared in front of the portal. It was currently pouring rain and the government dungeon runners were still stone cold. They hadn't moved an inch. 
I made sure they didn't hear me as I scanned the area for my skeleton snakes but saw none. The only ones that remained were the ones attached to my left ankle and right arm. 
It seems they didn't come through the portal with me. I'll just re-summon them and order them to kill all of the government people here.
[Snake Necromancy]
[Snake Necromancy]
[Snake Necromancy]
[Snake Necromancy]
I used it four times and before they slithered out of the ground. I ordered them to kill the surrounding government dungeon runners which they happily complied.
The clicking of their bones could be heard from under the government runners causing them to scout the area. They saw me and only me, causing some panic amongst them. 10 of 25 government dungeon runners ran towards me with the intent of restraining me, but they were too late. 
The skeletons of 24 snakes came slithering out of the concrete. They slithered up the government dungeon runners and bit their necks. They all had a pointless struggle beside one, who was spared since I ran out of MP to summon another batch. 
I'll just kill him myself… 
I reached into my inventory and pulled out the macuahuitl which I placed back in my inventory right after my fight. I tightly grabbed it while the government runner panicked. He fumbled with his phone which I assume was for back up but… I had already sliced off his arm. 
It fell to the ground as he screamed in pain. Thankfully nobody heard or saw the massacre due to the location of this portal being pretty hidden on the outskirt of New York. 
I extinguished all emotions and released my bloodlust. He had fallen on his butt and his crotch area became wet. I finished him off with one clean cut to his neck, which sent his head flying. 
I felt nothing.
No fear. 
No disgust. 
No anger. 
No sadness. 
No joy at what I had done. 
My reaction to killing somebody slightly surprised me but quickly accepted that this is how I was now. He was somebody who threatened my life so he had to die. 
The rest of the government dungeon runners had all died as the skeletal snakes raised their upper bodies in triumph.
I looked up at the cloudy sky as the rain poured onto my face.
"The rain is pouring harder..."

First Novel - Arpious of the Planes
Third Novel - Fenrir's Kin
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3/21/25, in other words, it was March the 21st, 2025. Humanities technology advanced exponentially throughout the years. 

The only thing that they hadn't focused on for a while was space. The endless abyss that they call space was still unknown to them. 

Once they colonized their solar system, they thought it wasn't enough. They sent a search party out of their solar system but soon lost contact.

Not long after, Earth lost contact with all of the other planets. Then a huge earthquake shook the earth itself and then portals opened up around the world. Soon monsters came out ravaging and flattening cities.

Only a brave group of humans entered the portals which they then found multiple discoveries on the other side. They found stones that gave them different abilities and monsters a different world with a boss that lets them exit the portal, which was soon called dungeons. 

Those 6 friends were then later on called the 6 Primordial Braves. 

With the news of this, countries all over the world sent in people to retrieve stones, and then they would crush them, granting them abilities. They would then go back in to retrieve more and hand them out to the public.

500 years passed...

This isn't the story of a hero. It's the story of a weak girl who was ridiculed and bullied every day because of her low status. And due to her cowardly nature, she was unable to fight back, making more people pick on her. 

While she was laying in an alleyway, with bruises and cuts all over her body, she saw a green, semi-see-through panel that appeared in front of her. It was like a notification you would see in the VR games from 400 years back. The green panel had a black text that said...

[Would you like to become an Ancient Being?]

-------------------------------------------------------------------

!Spoiler Below!
.
.
.
At the beginning of the novel, there will be a lot of going back and forth between the MC's personality. Plus, most of the problems, in the beginning, will be centered around herself.

Also, at the beginning of the novel, there is an act of short and sweet revenge that lingers just a bit longer through the story, but this novel is not revenge-based.

The Yuri aspect won't be as heavily used compared to my first novel. The girlfriend is mainly used to help the MC get through the mental box and distorted feelings that the MC has to suffer through at the beginning of the novel.

You might dislike the characters that I made Lucy's friends, but I promise you'll change your mind later on. I think... unless I do something else with them.

Okay, that should be it! 

Phew... that was tiring. Time to drink my fourth cup of coffee today...

-------------------------------------------------------------------

500 Power Stones by the weekend = 1 extra chapter 
750 Power Stones by the weekend = 2 extra chapters

Twitter - @equuipwebnovel 
Discord - equuip#6686 

Cover is not mine. If the owner wants it removed, plz contact me through discord (Rarely check twitter). 
Source- https://www.deviantart.com/aoiogataartist/journal/Aoi-Ogata-PAYPAL-Commission-OPEN-828543085

  Chapter 16
       Trevor Anthony & Rose
                    Sunlight Town
                         12:10 AM
                 Location: The Comic Book Store
                                   June, 28th, 2025
Trevor is listening to Build Me Up ButterCup while Anthony makes his robotic arm, welder mask on, and finally listening to hooked on a feeling by blue swede on his headphones he had stored in his backpack for all this time without using them. Rose sharpens her shovel with a rock on a chair. Anthony hums to the beat of his song while tapping on his small work desk, while tinkering with scrap metal, forming Trevor's second to last finger for his new  hand. Anthony grabs the last few pieces of scrap metal he needed for the hand, and lifts his welder mask down, covering his face. Anthony grabs the TLG filler rods from before and starts to trace the edges of the small pieces of metal together, then taking out some spare tack welds he had, connecting the small pieces of metal to form the last and final finger of the hand. Anthony finally attaches the finger onto the hand, and lifts his creation in the air. "Trevor! Your hand is officially complete!" he says, setting the hand on a small chair in the underground bunker. Trevor picks the hand up off of the small chair. "Click the button on the thumb to activate it. "Anthony says, pointing to the button. "Okay" Trevor says, clicking the button. Suddenly, some blue rays of light connect to Trevors arm, and the hand flies onto his arm, fitting perfectly. "Good as new." Anthony says. Trevor moves around his robotic hand, Trevor then tenses his forearm and a blade comes out from the bottom of the palm. "Woah, guess I won't need this bayonet knife." Trevor says then putting the knife down.
 Trevor then tenses his forearm again and the blade gets sucked into the bottom palm. Trevor gets an old milk jug and places the robotic hand on, Trevor then tenses his forearm and the blade goes right through the jug. Trevor then tenses his forearm again and the jug drops to the floor, Trevor picks up the jug and puts it on a table. "Hey, this is pretty dope." Trevor says inspecting his robot hand. Trevor then looks over to the broken radio scanner. "We still haven't fixed that though." Said Anthony grabbing the busted radio scanner. Trevor widens his eyes. "How about we go look for some materials at night." he says. "Way, like WAY WAY too dangerous. The Night Lurkers will be awake by then." Anthony replies. "Then we take a trip down Cavern Avenue. Peters junkyard, they could have the parts we need there" Trevor says. "How do you know the parts are there?" Rose says. "Know because I know okay." Trevor says. Trevor looks at Anthony. "Do you guys trust me?" Trevor asks. "Alright. Let's go. Rose you in?" Anthony says. Rose looks at them. "Okay, I'm in," she says. "Okay, but when do we go?" Trevor said  "How about now?" Replies Anthony. "Sounds good to me." Said Trevor. The group packs up their gear and starts to head out.
  They all walk on Cypress Way, then cut to Commercial Boulevard. Trevor has his bat resting on his right shoulder, looking left, then right. Rose's shovel dangles from her backpack while Anthony has his nose dug in a map. "From here we should be arriving on Cavern Avenue." Anthony said, looking up at a street sign. We all turn left and spot Peters junkyard. "There it is!" Rose points. They all walk down the block, then turning to the gate. Trevor pushes it open and the doors swing inside. Bunches of scrap metal and old cars are thrashed all over the place. Trevor, Rose, And Anthony walk into the junkyard. "I'll go to this pile over here, then you guys take your own." Said Trevor. Rose looks over to a pile of cars, then seeing the car her friend rode in.  "Rose, are you alright?" Anthony asks, looking at Rose. "Yeah!" Rose says back, then walking to a pile. Rose then cuts into a flashback, remembering a friend. All those good times. Until the outbreak, that was the last time I saw them, us in the school yard. Then running our separate ways, trying to escape the endless zombie hoards.
 We just panicked, we didn't even say anything to each other, we were too scared. I ended up just hiding in an alleyway, just running and running- "ROSE! STOP SLACKING OFF!" Trevor yelled. "Okay!" Rose replies. Tossing things over her shoulder,  Anthony takes a flashlight out of his back jean pocket and turns it on. Anthony then looks around, and starts to scramble through a pile. Trevor then finds some wires, "Is this gonna help?" Trevor says to Anthony. "Yes indeed it will." Anthony replies. A loud thumping noise comes from the distance, it shows itself. A gargantua sized zombie with scrap merged on the outside of it arises from the junk. "What the hell is that." Trevor says while pointing at the zombie. "RUN!" Rose yells, they all run in the opposite direction. "You guys distract him, I'll get on a high point and try to see if I can find an opening." Rose says. "Sure thing." Said Trevor "OVER HERE YOU BIG FATTY!" Anthony yells. Trevor then picks up a car steering wheel and yeets it at the zombies face. Rose climbs on a pile of scrap waiting for the zombie to get at the right distance. Anthony reaches to his back and pulls out his limited edition 5 star replica made with titanium Captain America shield, that he hadn't used in a while. "Take this!!" Anthony yells, spinning around in a circle and letting the strap under the shield go, as the shield goes flying and stabs the zombie in its chest. The zombie roars as plastic and garbage fly straight out of the zombie's mouth, smashing onto the ground. The zombie rips the shield out of its chest and tosses the thing onto the floor, as the shield lands on the ground. Anthony looks down at his shield. Trevor sprints to the zombie and places his robotic hand on the leg and activates the blade, the blade sticks into the zombies leg. The zombie roars in pain and picks up Trevor, then tosses him into a pile of junk. Rose looks at the Zombies back, ready to jump on. She winds up her leg, then running to the edge of the junk pile. Rose jumps off the edge, flying through the air. "ROSE!" Anthony yells. Rose suddenly whips out her shovel, and thrusts it into the zombies back, as red blood drips from the wound. "RAHHHHHHHHH!" The zombie yells. Rose lifts herself up, using her shovel, and grabs onto one of the scrap parts, pulling her up to the neck. Rose then grabs her shovel, lifting it up. Anthony widens his eyes, then looking at his shield. Anthony starts to run to his shield, but Trevor stops him. "What are you doing Anthony? It's just a shield!" He says. "I can't leave it behind, that thing is made out of freaking titanium!" Anthony says, continuing to run. Anthony then starts sliding on the mud, grabbing the shield quickly. "Got it!" Anthony says. Rose stabs her shovel into the zombies neck, as the zombies head falls next to Trevor, knocking him over. The Zombies body slowly tipped over, then fell down. Anthony lifts his shield up, as Rose's shovel falls from above and hits the shield, shaking Anthony's hands. "ANTHONY!!" Trevor yells. Trevor stands up, to see Anthony's shield on top of him. "That was way to close, NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Trevor yells to Anthony. "Strongly seconded." Anthony replies, as dirt and dust falls off of Anthony's face. Trevor speedwalks to Anthony, then pulls him up. "Nice job Rose." Anthony says "Thanks." Rose replies. "That zombie's roar attracted runners," Trevor says. "What in tarnation is a runner?" Rose says "They are zombies attracted by noise and they run faster than normal zombies." Anthony says. Suddenly, the sound of thumping feet come from near them. Anthony holds his shield out. "Here they come," Trevor says, activating his wrist blade. "Get ready, were in for one hell of a fight." Anthony says. CRASH! The right gate of the junkyard comes crashing down, as a group of runners scarrel across the floor, knocking scrap parts and mud all over the place. The runners then look up at the trio, snarling menacingly. "Let's do this-" "GET IN!" Rose yells pulling up with an old Jeep. Trevor and Anthony run to the car immediately getting inside. "GO GO GO! PUT THE PEDAL TO THE METAL!" Anthony yells while pulling out his cheeto launcher. Anthony shoots at some runners staggering them, Trevor then pulls out a cherry bomb and lights it with the bottom of his boot. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Trevor yelled then legit yeeting the cherry bomb into the crowd of staggering runners. Kaboom! Body parts fly in all directions. The car swerves around, and Rose hits the gas pedal, sending the Jeep boosting forward. The sound of the engine roars across the junkyard, making the Runners even more angry. The runners accelerate after the car, skimming the metal, trying to thrash the car. Anthony looks out of the window and shoots the cheeto launcher again, but this time only hitting one zombie. The runner slides across the street, then instantly smashing face first into a building. "Another one down!" Anthony says, sliding back into the car seat. "Rose, get us out of here or were gonna attract even more of these things!?!" Trevor yells. Anthony then pulls out a speaker and plays the subway surfers theme at 10 volume. "Rose is trying to concentrate, and it's 2025 not 2012!" Trevor yells, then picking up the speaking and rolling it down to a zombie. The zombie trips and falls flat on it's butt.  "Yeah, but it fit the scene dude!" Anthony says. Rose looks back at them.  "Guys! Stop messing around!" Rose yelled. "Uhh Rose! keep your eyes on the road!" Anthony says while covering his face.
 Rose looks back at front then turns back to Trevor and Anthony. "BRACE YOURSELVES!" She turns the wheel of the car, almost skimming the building she was about to hit. The back of the car crashes into the building, as Trevor flies out of the car. The windshield shatters, and  the Jeep lays on the ground, as a trail of smoke leads into the sky from a small fire that had started. Rose is slouched over where the windshield used to be. "Guys?" She says in a weak voice, then holding her head. The blurry vision starts to clear. Rose looks behind her to see Anthony in an upside down position. . "I'm, Okay." He says lifting a thumbs up. "Where's Trevor?" Rose says looking left and right. Blood drips from her forehead, she spots Trevor on the front of the jeep, which she couldn't see because of blurred vision. "Trevor, are you, okay?" Rose says, shaking Trevor to try and wake him up. Trevor slowly gets up holding his ribs, "I think I'll be okay." Trevor then coughs as he says the sentence. Anthony slides out of his chair, and falls onto the ground, then kicks the car door open, and tumbles out of the car. Anthony looks at Trevor, and suddenly, 2 Runners emerge from the shadows and start to walk over to Trevor. Anthony reaches into the car and quickly grabs his rusty captain america shield. "Trevor!" He says,  standing off of the ground and swinging his arm, as the shield flys through one of the runners chest. "Anthony retracts his shield back to his hand, and gets ready to slice the next runner, but the runner punches Anthony in the face, as Anthony falls to ground, and his shield falls next to him, rattling to a stop. Rose widens her eyes and climbs out of what used to be the front window, taking her shovel out and wacking the zombie, as the final runner falls to the ground. Rose sighs and Collapses to the floor. Blood drips from Anthony's mouth, where the runner had punched him. Anthony lifts his head up. "Is Trevor okay?" He asked, as his head fell back down. Rose nods slowly. "He's fine Anthony." Rose replies. "Good. we need to find a way to get the Jeep back up and running." Anthony says. Trevor looks around, and then spots the small fire. Trevor then rolls off of the front of the car and opens the car hood. Smoke comes out and Trevor waves his hand left and right to clear it. He puts his two hands in there and starts to look for a problem. "I see, there is a leak in the engine and it caused a fire which we need to put out, also we need to fix that leak then re oil the engine or we won't be able to steer properly.  "Alright, we should get onto that now, so we don't have to stay in the city all night. And The night lurkers could be waking up soon." Anthony says. Anthony grabs a water bottle he had taken from the comic book store and pours the water onto the fire, and after some time, the fire is out. Trevor looks around. "Anyone know where a gas station could be for some oil?" Trevor asks. "Obviously our local gas station." Rose says. "Okay, we split up. You two go to the gas station for some fresh oil to fuel the car, and I'll stay here to fix the leak in the car." Trevor says. "Sounds like a plan," Anthony says, grabbing his Captain america shield. Rose gears up and grabs her shovel. "Break." Trevor says. "Break" They all say together.

When a full blown zombie apocalypse breaks out, Friends Anthony and Trevor have to fight monsters and zombies of all shapes and sizes. will they survive the apocalypse? or will they die trying?

Dear readers,
So... it's been at least three weeks since I started writing this book and it has come to my attention that I haven't been checking the quality of my book...
And for that, I apologize >_< 
It's a given that I would focus on my first book, Runners Survivors, but! Not only did I not focus on this book, but the quality of this book also reached the lowest of my expectations. 
That's why I put it upon myself to improve the quality of this book!
The updates are slow as it is but I would take time on proofreading and improving the quality of this book. Once I reached the latest chapter, I would persevere to uphold the standard until I reach the end!
And also! About this book, I've already laid out the outline so there's already an ending! By doing so, I could follow through with my chapters and meet everyone's expectations!
I hope you won't take it hard on me >_<
But! I've got some great news!
I finally finished all my school stuff so I have more time to write! With this free time, I will continue to improve and get this book to the top! 
Hope you support me through all these and I hope you all add this book to the library and give it power stones! It means the world to me!
Hope you have a great day! If not, then tell me if you had any problems in the comment section below and we can talk about it :) This is a welcoming community so tell me anything!

WPC #148 submission. 

Update: Winner of WPC#148 Bronze Reward

Tang Yongrui was about to reach the Transcendence realm when a zombie virus broke out all over the globe. Instead of continuing his cultivation, he chose to 'protect' his sect from the zombies but they were greatly outnumbered. 

He suffered a single bite and that's how his life ended. 

But life is sometimes fair as it is unfair. He was given a chance to live again. 

Waking up five years after the Virus Outbreak had started, Tang Yongrui has to work from the ground up to ascend from the Mortal Realm to the Transcendence Realm, rebuild his sect, and annihilate the zombies that ruined his life. 

But to his surprise... he woke up as a one of the infected ones?! 

Oops!

A typical zombie story is pretty predictable. An average Joe or Jane is mucking around on a normal day and zombies come out of nowhere to turn the world to shit. They fight to survive, try to save friends or family members, and seek out a method of long-term survival while they wait for the walking dead to desiccate. Sometimes they figure out a cure. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they end up fighting not only zombies, but each other. It's a crapshoot.
My story is a little different. Oh, sure, it started the same way. November 3rd, 2038. It was a hot winter like most in the past decade. I was an eighteen-year-old high school student with a chip on my shoulder, attending military school because I was a little shit who didn't respect my parents. To be fair, they didn't respect me, either. My dad didn't understand why I couldn't love the woman he abruptly brought into our lives and she convinced him to get rid of me for my own good. It's cliché when I look back on it—one of those scenarios I didn't think could happen outside of a family film until it actually happened.
At first, people thought the zombie virus was a hoax, maybe leftover Halloween shenanigans. Fake news for the win. But the virus spread fast and unedited video footage spread even faster. By the time the first of the dead reached the wilderness boot camp where I was living, every student had been deputized, organized, and armed under the command of the ex-military staff. We held our own for a while and the fences held long enough for us to think we might actually pull off the whole business of surviving. Of course, our chances severely diminished the minute some bureaucratic idiot decided our camp would make a perfect location for funneling survivors.
We lasted four days after the initial group arrived, making it a total of nine days since the first netcaster used the word 'zombie' on-air without repercussion. That's where things went off-script for me because I didn't survive. Like everyone else, I was eventually tagged by a biter and infected. I'd seen plenty of netcasts by then. I knew it took less than an hour for the infected to die and rise again. I'll admit I was very tempted to end it all before I could become another shuffling threat to the people around me. Too bad for them, I never really liked giving up without a fight or, at the very least, getting in a sucker punch or two.
Here's where I get into the science portion of the story. Every zombie tale has one, usually as a way to say, "These zombies are unique!" They rarely are. It's either a mutant variation of the latest hot-button illness, a vampire fantasy masquerading as zombies, or a heaven-and-hell drama with either Lucifer, aliens, or the government posing as the big bad behind it all. It's all very predictable when it comes to zombies in pulp fiction.
I got the illness version, which I'm certain is the only reason I'm still around to tell the tale. Like with any virus, there are three ways to survive. One: you avoid contracting it. I was fucked the moment one of them took a chunk out of my ear—yes, my ear. I'm lucky it didn't get ripped off completely in the attack.
The second way to survive is to be one of the lucky bastards who were naturally immune. When those guys were bitten or scratched or traded DNA with a zombie, nothing happened. Of course, they were still dead as anyone else if they were wounded too badly or they picked up a nasty—albeit relatively normal—infection, but they didn't have to worry about turning into an undead.
I wasn't that lucky.
I survived via the third method—natural selection. It's like a lottery where gamblers can rig the odds if they use the right medicine. It takes a combination of the virus mutating from repeated transmission over a short period of time and having an immune system capable of adapting to the version one receives. I'm guessing the guy who bit off the tip of my ear was the umpteenth person down the line to transmit the plague. By then, it'd mutated enough to not kill its host, allowing it and me to survive.
Surviving through natural selection changes a person. If I fought off something like the flu, the change would have been unnoticeable. My immune system would have simply grown a little smarter. No big deal. Right? This was the zombie apocalypse. It was a big deal, which made the changes big, too.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
So there I was in the middle of a paramilitary boot camp for unruly boys—sorry, military school. Boot camps meant for shock therapy had been made illegal long ago. I'd been bitten, but I managed to get away from my attacker without being its full course meal. Guys I'd known for most of a year were getting chomped on left and right and I'm fucking pissed because I already knew I was a dead man walking (no pun intended).
The only reason I survived the initial attack was that the zombie turned on the other guy in my foxhole and had him for brunch instead of me. That was something most zombie movies got wrong. Zombies were ravenous, but they weren't wasteful. They wouldn't stop eating and attack if they noticed another person while they were in the middle of chomping down. That would be like asking a coyote to ignore a freshly hunted buck in favor of chasing down the others that got away. They also wouldn't chomp down on someone who fought back when there was easier prey in reach.
When the zombie appeared, my foxhole buddy had become a frozen rabbit compared to me. His loss became my gain, freeing me to scramble further away from the foxhole and pick up the first weapon I saw. I'd learned fast our rifles made shitty clubs once we ran out of bullets—too much plastic. They were cheap crap meant to be used for target practice, not real combat. Mine had broken into pieces against the skull of the zombie who attacked me and the metal bent out of shape without killing it.
What I did find was a flagstone from the stupid-ass retaining wall we'd been building as one of our instructor's sadistic methods of 'building character' prior to the outbreak. I suppose it's a good thing none of us had known what we'd been doing when mixing the mortar because it popped off without a problem and suddenly I had a weapon.
It was a very good weapon. I held it like an open book and brought it down on the zombie's head. Its skull cracked. The stone didn't. Unfortunately, it was already too late for my foxhole buddy. His neck was gone along with half his face. His open eyes—I'll never forget that blank stare.
Knowing I was going to die just like him sapped every trace of fear from my body. And once the fear was gone, I realized how foolish I'd been to panic. Zombies were like rabid animals. Some were fast and capable of running, but they had no focus. They attacked blindly, charging toward prey with single-minded determination. Others were shufflers too weak to run and more than happy to pick up the scraps the front-runners left behind. The rest of the zombies were the troublesome ones—the apes.
When a shuffler hit an obstacle, they'd bounce off like an automated vacuum cleaner and change direction. Runners kept going, attempting to claw through obstacles prey put in their paths. Apes were different. They could jump, climb, and seek alternate routes. Make no mistake, they were still rabid feeders searching for fresh prey, but they retained just enough brainpower to put them in the same league as the apes we'd evolved from. One of the instructors had theorized the difference between them could be related to their sight—shufflers were blind, runners could see shadows, and apes could differentiate shapes. No one had found a reason to contradict him. Of course, we weren't planning our tactics around his theory, either.
I didn't see any apes in the current patch of the undead. The zombies in front of me were mostly shufflers with just enough runners to make the horde dangerous. Once the runners were taken out of the equation, a small group with weapons could pick off the rest.
So that's what I did. I strolled toward the main grounds, bashing in the heads of any shufflers in my path, and aimed for the distant screams of living humans. I found a group of four runners beating at the doors of the main office. The building stood on a raised foundation, putting the windows too high off the ground for the undead to reach. From the shouting I heard within, I assumed the people inside were bracing the door against the pummeling.
To be clear, I wasn't intending to save anyone when I bashed my rock against the first zombie runner's head. My thoughts were too mixed up for anything resembling self-sacrifice or martyrdom. I just wanted to kill some of the fuckers who'd killed me.
The first runner dropped and the other three turned toward me. I should have been lunch at that point, but one of the zombies tripped on the stairs and knocked down the other two. I took advantage of the moment, smashing the skull of the topmost zombie in the zombie pile. The two zombies trapped below the dispatched undead grabbed at my ankles and tried to pull themselves free, but my impression of a Neanderthal was perfect. Two more quick hits and they stopped moving.
I went back and hit them all again to make sure they weren't merely stunned, then I straightened up and glanced toward the building's closest window. Two familiar faces peered back—Sergeant Jacobs, one of the lesser asshole instructors, and Private Coombs, my platoon's kiss-ass.
I used my sleeve to wipe the blood spray from my face, then I flipped my middle finger at them. Don't ask me why. Maybe, somewhere in the back of my muddled thoughts, I wanted to call them out for running and hiding instead of fighting. Or maybe it was because they were literally looking down on me thanks to the window's height off the ground. I didn't know. I didn't really care. 
Ten minutes had already passed since I'd been bitten. I had fifty more I could still use.

For Daniel Bryant and Arthur Hanson, being bitten by a zombie isn't the end.  It's only the beginning.

Warning: BL

Notice: This story is considered complete and will not be expanded once the last chapter uploads.  This is one of the many stories I've written in the last ten years and never released.  I'm releasing it now as something of an apology for readers of *Mage Me Tidy* and *Deep Sea Party* who haven't seen any updates during the last month due to me being distracted with moving and various other personal issues.  Please enjoy.  Authors are welcome to use what's here as the foundation for the creation of other ZED Units.

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