The stifling air of the Philippines, Muntinlupa New Bilibid Prison visiting room could not bring any comfort.
Only a heavy, suffocating depression enveloped Elias.
Separated by a thick, scratched acrylic security glass, a frail man in an orange jumpsuit sat on the other side.
This was Arthur, Elias's father. A man who had worked honestly his entire life, only to be thrown into this hellhole on a false accusation!
"I'm close, Pa. I found the evidence," Elias said, his voice trembling slightly over the cheap intercom.
Arthur shook his head, a bitter smile on his weary face. "Elias, let it go. Don't ruin your future for me."
"Bah! Nonsense!" Elias gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with stubborn determination. "I won't let you rot in here for a crime you didn't commit!"
Suddenly, the intercom emitted an ear-piercing screech!
"Bzzzt—!"
The fluorescent lights above flickered wildly before bursting into a shower of bright sparks!
Before Elias could react, a deafening explosion ripped through the heavens!
"Boom! Boom! BOOM!"
The solid concrete foundation of the prison shook violently!
Elias was instantly thrown from his stool, crashing hard onto the cold tile floor!
Outside the high, barred windows, the sky underwent a terrifying mutation. The bright morning sun was swallowed by a bruised, apocalyptic crimson!
"Rumble..."
A heavy rain began to pour outside.
It was not normal water. It was a thick, viscous, blood-red liquid carrying a sickeningly sweet metallic stench!
The crimson rain seeped through the ventilation ducts. The moment it touched the air inside, people began to collapse like puppets with cut strings!
"Cough! Cough!"
Arthur convulsed violently on the other side of the glass, clutching his throat in absolute agony!
"Pa!" Elias roared, slamming his fists wildly against the acrylic divider.
"Bang! Bang!"
But it was useless! The overwhelming stench of blood filled Elias's lungs. His vision went completely black, and he collapsed into unconsciousness.
***
Time seemed to lose all meaning.
When Elias finally opened his eyes, a nauseating stench of raw copper and rotting flesh assaulted his senses!
"Crunch! Slurp!"
The wet, horrifying sound of tearing flesh echoed through the dead silence of the visiting room.
Elias slowly raised his head. The faint, blood-red light filtering through the window revealed a scene straight out of purgatory!
A few meters away, a woman in a torn floral dress was hunched over a dead prison guard.
She was violently ripping chunks of meat from his bloody neck, swallowing them whole!
Her skin was a mottled, ghastly grey, and thick black blood wept from her milky white eyes!
Elias bit his lower lip tightly, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Zombies!
He suppressed the intense urge to vomit and spun his head toward the glass partition.
"Pa!"
His pupils shrank to the size of pinholes!
On the other side of the glass partition, the holding area was a total sea of blood!
Arthur was standing, but his posture was grotesquely twisted.
The gentle father who had raised him was completely gone! In his place was a mindless, man-eating monster with a slack jaw dripping with dark, congealed blood!
"Roar!"
Noticing Elias move, the zombie that was once his father let out a wet, guttural hiss and threw itself violently at the glass!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The monster clawed frantically at the acrylic, leaving smeared, bloody handprints across the divider!
Elias fell to his knees, endless despair and agony tearing at his heart. The father he had fought so hard to save was gone forever!
"Damn it! Why! Why did it have to be him!" Elias cursed to the heavens, his fingernails digging into his palms until blood seeped through his fingers!
Just as despair was about to swallow him completely, a cold, translucent blue interface materialized silently in his vision!
[ARSENAL SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
[Host Biometric Scan Complete. Status: Alive]
[Current Rank: Second Lieutenant (2LT) - Armed Forces of the Philippines]
[Command Authority: Superior to Squad Leader (Sergeant / Staff Sergeant)]
[SYSTEM STATUS]
[Infantry]: UNLOCKED (Deployment Limit: 1 Infantry Squad | Requires Red Cores to Summon)
[Vehicles]: LOCKED (Requires Rank Upgrade: First Lieutenant / 1LT & Red Cores)
[Aerial Support]: LOCKED (Requires Rank Upgrade: Captain / CPT & Red Cores)
[Ammunition & Supply]: UNLOCKED (Basic Munitions & Gear)
[NEXT RANK PROMOTION: First Lieutenant (1LT)]
[Promotion Requirement: 500 Red Cores]
[Unlocks: Platoon-level Summoning & Light Tactical Vehicles]
There was no artificial intelligence speaking to him. No emotion or voice. It was just a silent, cold interface floating directly on his retinas, waiting for his command!
Elias forced himself to calm down.
The Infantry category was already unlocked due to his starting officer rank of Second Lieutenant (2LT), granting him command authority over squad leaders and enlisted troops!
However, he was currently restricted to summoning a single Infantry Squad. Larger military formations like platoons and heavy assets like tactical vehicles were strictly locked until he earned a promotion to First Lieutenant (1LT)!
Below the main menu, a golden notification icon blinked silently!
[Inventory: 1 Item Available]
[Novice Gift Pack]
[Open? Y/N]
"Yes!" Elias answered in his heart without hesitation!
[Opening Novice Gift Pack...]
[Reward 1: Gene Modification Serum (Administered Automatically)]
[Reward 2: Hand-to-Hand Combat Experience (Intermediate Level)]
"Boom!"
Before Elias could even process the prompt, a terrifying surge of heat exploded within his chest!
It felt as if boiling magma was being injected directly into his veins!
"Argh!"
Elias bit down hard on his lower lip, tasting his own metallic blood as he suppressed a scream of agony!
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
The sound of his bones breaking and rapidly reforming echoed loudly inside his skull!
His previously ordinary muscles swelled with explosive power! A foul, black viscous substance oozed from his pores, violently purging all impurities from his mortal body!
At the exact same time, countless combat maneuvers, grappling techniques, and lethal killing strikes flooded his consciousness!
It felt as though he had endured ten years of brutal martial arts training in a pitch-black room, converting knowledge into raw muscle memory!
[Gene Modification Complete!]
[Current Physical Attributes: Strength & Speed Enhanced to 3x Peak Human!]
Elias slowly stood up and tightly clenched his fists!
The surging power flowing through his veins was intoxicating! He felt as if he could punch straight through a solid steel plate!
"Crunch..."
A horrifying sound shattered his concentration!
The female zombie who had been devouring the guard slowly turned her head. Her dead, white eyes locked directly onto Elias!
"Roar!"
She abandoned her mangled meal and lunged toward him with terrifying speed, her bloodstained teeth aiming straight for his throat!
In the past, Elias would have been paralyzed by fear!
But now, looking at the pouncing monster, a cold, ruthless sneer curled at the corner of his mouth!
Too slow!
In his eyes, the zombie's ferocious lunge was like a slow-motion replay!
Relying on his intermediate combat instincts, Elias didn't retreat a single inch.
He easily side-stepped the attack, pivoting his waist and channeling the terrifying power of three peak adult men into his right arm!
"Bang!"
A heavy, violent punch landed squarely on the female zombie's temple!
"Crack!"
The sickening sound of a skull shattering echoed through the room!
The terrifying force behind the blow sent the monster's body flying like a broken kite! It crashed heavily against the concrete wall with a loud thud, completely devoid of life!
Elias lowered his fist, his heavy breathing echoing in the quiet room.
Amidst the bloody mess of the zombie's shattered head, a faint crimson light caught his eye!
Embedded deep within the ruined brain tissue was a marble-sized, blood-red crystal. It hummed with a strange, translucent glow, pulsing rhythmically like a tiny beating heart!
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
The heavy, violent slamming against the acrylic divider jolted Elias out of his thoughts!
He turned his head toward the partition.
Across the glass, his undead father was still wildly throwing his weight against the acrylic, leaving fresh smears of dark, congealed blood on the barrier.
Arthur's milky-white eyes stared straight through Elias—dead, vacant, and driven only by a cannibalistic urge to devour human flesh.
Elias stared at the monster wearing his father's face, a sharp pang of grief tightening in his chest.
There was no cure. The gentle man who raised him was gone forever.
If he wanted to survive this hell, break through that locked prison barrier, and put his father's tortured body to rest, he couldn't afford a single moment of weakness!
Elias hardened his gaze. He crouched down beside the dead female zombie, gritted his teeth, and reached his hand directly into the shattered skull.
His fingers wrapped tightly around the warm, pulsing crimson crystal, pulling it free from the blood and filth.
The moment his skin touched the crystal, the translucent blue interface flared brightly in his vision!
[Detected: Low-Grade Red Core x1]
[Absorb and Convert to System Funds? Y/N]
Elias stared at the blinking system prompt in his retinas, his grip tightening around the warm gem.