Chapter 11: Parasite Apocalypse Instance

Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Parasite Apocalypse Instance

Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, four days had passed.

Over those four days, Seraphina Sullivan barely set foot outside, completely absorbed in renovating her safe house.

She added soundproofing insulation to the Wall to dampen any noise.

She applied privacy film to the windows, worried someone might use a drone to peer inside.

Like an ant building its nest, she slowly transformed her apartment into an indestructible fortress.

’Real-world supplies are so expensive...’ Seraphina Sullivan thought, shaking her head with a wry smile as she watched the rapidly dwindling balance on her banking app.

She decided to save most of her supply runs for the dungeon worlds. After all, she could loot freely there, emptying an entire supermarket without spending a dime.

Of course, that was only if she could find supplies before anyone else got to them.

In the real world, she only bought materials to fortify her apartment.

For the last two days, Seraphina Sullivan stopped all her renovation work.

She spent the time quietly contemplating things, adjusting her solar power system as she waited for the second survival game to begin.

The evening breeze brushed across her face, carrying a slight chill.

’What kind of dungeon will it be this time?’

She couldn’t shake the thought from her mind.

She felt a mix of anticipation for the unknown and a deep-seated fear of the danger.

Her fingers toyed with the three items laid out before her.

They were the spoils from her last dungeon, now her greatest assets.

Then, on the evening of the final day before the next dungeon, a bombshell news alert popped up on her phone.

#Player Franklin Ross Murdered#

Seraphina Sullivan’s pupils constricted. She quickly tapped on the trending story.

In the video, the young man who had once flaunted his Flight Ability online was now just a cold corpse.

And his real identity was exposed.

Franklin Ross had previously detailed his experience of being selected by the "Survival Dungeon System" during a livestream, where he’d shown off the Extraordinary Ability he acquired.

But just the other night, he was found dead in his own apartment.

The most horrifying part was what the killer had written on the Wall in blood: "The next Player will be me."

The comments section exploded:

"For real? You can become a Player just by killing one?"

"Seriously? Any other Players around? Let me have a go at killing one!"

"What happened to all those people who were constantly showing off their superpowers? They’ve all suddenly vanished."

Seraphina Sullivan was stunned.

’Can an ordinary person really become a Player by killing one?’

There was no proof, but whether it was true or not, it was a harsh reminder for Seraphina. She had to hide the fact that she was a Player.

’As I thought. Keeping a low profile and lying low is the only way to survive.’

Seraphina Sullivan let out a long sigh of relief, thankful she had chosen to remain hidden from the very beginning.

’Exposing your Player identity and flaunting your Ability right from the start... that’s just asking to be killed.’

As darkness fell completely, Seraphina Sullivan turned off all the lights and sat quietly in the dark.

The cold light of her phone screen illuminated her resolute profile.

Only a few hours remained in the "seven-day preparation period" announced by the system.

She took a final inventory of her equipment.

She had no idea how difficult this next dungeon would be. After all, the Aberrations in the Alien Apocalypse, a dungeon the system had classified as simple, had been horrifyingly powerful.

So, she had prepared a month’s worth of food.

That way, even if the dungeon was terrifying, she could just hole up somewhere and survive until the end.

A familiar, mechanical voice suddenly rang in her mind:

[Ding! The seven-day preparation period has ended.]

[Ding! The Disaster Game is about to begin.]

[Ding! New Players are being randomly selected!]

[Ding! Teleportation countdown: 10, 9, 8...]

Seraphina Sullivan took a deep breath. As the countdown reached zero...

[Ding! Beginning teleportation to the dungeon: Parasite Apocalypse!]

Seraphina Sullivan’s vision went black, and it felt as if the entire world had been put on pause.

A bird outside her window froze in midair. Even her own heartbeat seemed to stop for an instant.

When she came to, a thick, putrid stench instantly assaulted her nostrils.

Seraphina’s eyes flew open. She found herself standing on a dilapidated school field.

A cracked rubber track, a rusted basketball hoop, and a collapsed school building in the distance—this was clearly the field of an abandoned school.

"BLECH—" The acrid stench, mixed with the cold rain, made Seraphina’s stomach lurch.

She looked up at the gloomy gray sky. A fine rain fell ceaselessly, yet it couldn’t wash away the bizarre smell permeating the air—an interwoven miasma of rot and something sickeningly sweet.

’Parasite Apocalypse?’ The color instantly drained from Seraphina’s face.

She quickly scanned her surroundings, the fine hairs all over her body standing on end.

’What kind of parasite could bring about a full-blown apocalypse?’

’Parasitic worms? Fungi? Or some kind of unknown alien life-form?’

’Even more terrifying... with this stench everywhere, what if there are parasitic spores floating in the air?’

’Are there lethal parasites mixed in the rain?’

All sorts of horrifying possibilities flooded her mind at once.

At that thought, Seraphina moved faster than she could think.

She quickly pulled the Anti-Poison Mask she had modified in the first dungeon from her Space.

With a CLICK, the mask sealed snugly over her face.

As the filtration system kicked in, the nauseating stench was immediately cut off.

Seraphina took a few deep breaths of the purified air, and her racing heart began to slow.

Raindrops splattered against the lenses of her Anti-Poison Mask, forming a fine web of droplets.

Seraphina warily scanned her surroundings.

"I need to find somewhere safe first..." Seraphina muttered to herself.

Seraphina found a dilapidated, secluded house to shelter from the rain and began to review the survival objectives for this dungeon.

[Main Mission: Survive in the Parasite Apocalypse for ten days!]

[Reward: Return to the real world upon mission completion!]

[Mission Two: Kill 100 parasitic organisms.]

[Reward: Body Transformation Pills]

Looking at the two missions for this dungeon, Seraphina’s attention fixed on the main one: survive for ten days.

’A ten-day survival mission.’ Seraphina’s gaze was locked on the first objective.

The mere thought of surviving for ten days in this world, so full of unknown dangers, was enough to make her blood run cold.

She instinctively traced the edge of her Anti-Poison Mask’s seal, making sure there wasn’t a single gap.

What unsettled her most was that the system had provided absolutely no specific information about the parasitic organisms.

’What do they look like? What’s their method of infestation? What happens after they infect a host?’ She had no clue about any of these crucial details.

’I can’t touch any of the food or water here,’ Seraphina thought, biting her lip.

Not knowing how the parasites spread, she couldn’t use any of the local food or water. She couldn’t even collect supplies unless they were in perfectly sealed containers, like canned goods, not without knowing more about the threat.

She was thankful she had prepared supplies in the real world. The food and water stored in her Space would last her at least half a month.

’And Mission Two... The task implies that these parasitic organisms have offensive capabilities.’

This made Seraphina wonder just what kind of parasitic organism could both infest a host and possess powerful offensive abilities.