Chapter 3: Gathering the Grid

"I hit it where it was broken," Kaelen said, his voice cold and steady, though his heart was still hammering against his ribs. He didn't lower the iron bar completely. In a world where the rules were wiped clean, a human could be just as dangerous as a monster. "You didn't run like the others."

Henry let out a grim, breathy laugh, shaking his head as he looked down at his own trembling hands, then at the spot where the beast had exploded into pixels. "Run where, bro? The whole damn city is changing. I was down by the junction two minutes ago—the entire banking district just collapsed into a massive, three-hundred-foot black tower. My phone died the second the sky turned into a grid, but this annoying blue screen keeps hovering in front of my face, telling me to choose a tag or face 'automated integration'."

Kaelen glanced at Henry’s floating interface. The countdown on Henry’s screen was flashing down to its final thirty seconds. "Then choose it now," Kaelen commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Don't let the system random-assign your parameters. Type your name and confirm it before the timer hits zero."

Henry looked at Kaelen, saw the absolute seriousness in his eyes, and bit his lip. He lifted his hand and quickly tapped the floating text box, confirming his identity.

A sharp flash of brilliant blue light enveloped Henry's right wrist. He winced, gritting his teeth as the system barcode burned into his skin, binding his soul to the network.

[ Synchronization Complete. ]

[ User: Henry (Lvl 0) finalized. ]

[ Class Assignment: Prospective Vanguard (F-Rank) ]

"Damn, that stings," Henry muttered, rubbing his wrist, though a sudden, subtle change settled over his posture. His grip on the iron pipe grew noticeably steadier as his base attributes normalized. He looked at Kaelen, a strange spark of determination overriding his fear. "We stand a better track record if we pair up, bro. Look down the main road—more of those static-bleeding things are crawling out of the alleys near the market square. We can't fight an entire horde with scrap metal."

A sudden chime echoed in Kaelen’s mind, but it didn't come from the standard system. His flashing red Admin panel overrode his main vision, displaying a high-priority regional notification.

[ EXTENDED INTERFACE ALERT: REGIONAL SIGNAL DETECTED ]

> Event: Regional Supply Drop Imminent.

> Designated Drop Zone: University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) - Main Quadrangle.

> System Designation: Sector 4 Temporary Safe Zone.

> Time Remaining Until Drop Impact: 14 Minutes, 52 Seconds.

> Warning: Supply contains Tier-1 Core Infrastructure Resources.

Kaelen’s eyes narrowed. UBTH. The hospital grounds were massive, fenced off, and strategically defensible. If the system was designating it as a Safe Zone and dropping high-tier cargo there, every desperate survivor and armed gang in the sector would be heading that way within the hour.

"Henry," Kaelen said, lowering his iron bar and looking directly at him. "The University of Benin Teaching Hospital grounds are being turned into a Safe Zone. There's a high-value supply drop landing right in the middle of the quadrangle in less than fifteen minutes. If we stay here, we get swarmed by the creatures spawning in the alleys. If we make it to the hospital, we secure a fortress."

Henry’s eyes widened slightly, then a sharp, competitive grin broke through his pale expression. He adjusted the weight of his utility vest. "UBTH is less than two miles from here if we take the bypass. But the roads are going to be a war zone, bro."

"Then we run fast, and we hit hard," Kaelen said, turning toward the eastern exit of the street.

[ Party Invitation Issued to User: Henry. ]

[ User: Henry has joined the party. ]

[ Shared Experience Modifiers: Active (1.0x Base) ]

With their interfaces linked, the two men burst into a sprint, leaving behind the ruined shop fronts of the old world as they charged headfirst into the digital heart of the apocalypse.

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