Chapter 6: Complete Chaos

[Exiting Awakening Space.]

Damon’s eyes were heavy as he pried them open.

The first thing he noticed was the painful soreness around his abdomen; the pain was almost unbearable.

Bringing his gaze down, Damon saw that he was shirtless and his abdomen was wrapped in a large bandage, clearly from the blow he sustained from that mutated human. The white wrapping was stained with traces of his soaking blood.

"You are awake, master Damon—please take it easy and don’t move too suddenly."

"How are you feeling?"

Damon raised his dull blue eyes, now duller and weaker from loss of blood, to look upon the visage of his butler, standing over him alongside a gorgeous woman.

Harvey appeared to have changed from his previously torn shirt into a clean white long-sleeved one, which was tucked into a pair of black pants with lacquer colored suspenders, his rectangular glasses resting on the bridge of his nose.

His missing right arm appeared to have been bandaged at the root to restrict blood flow, but the bandage was slowly being coated with specks of leaking blood; the same was true of the bandage around Damon. Both of them were clearly in bad shape, and though Harvey was in a worse state, he was calm as a cucumber.

In Harvey’s left hand was a steaming teacup he gently handed over to Damon with his usual poise, acting as if he wasn’t missing a literal arm.

Damon accepted the hot tea, taking slow sips that dulled the soreness and pain from his injuries. It was his favorite flavor of tea, which wasn’t much surprising since the former Damon was essentially another version of himself.

Seated to the side of his large bed was his nanny; on her lap lay a now-awake Leo, who, though seeming pleased that Damon had regained consciousness, made no move to remove himself from his current position on the lap of Damon’s nanny.

Both Damon’s butler and nanny exuded their own special kind of poise.

Harvey, with short blond hair, green eyes, and above-average height, was a dashing, handsome man whose stoic expression was almost as blank as Damon’s expressionless face.

Mildred, a woman of great beauty and a curvy figure, currently looking at Damon with a calm but clearly concerned expression on her face, is known for her efficiency and orderliness. She had striking champagne-colored hair, tied neatly and professionally behind her. Her eyes were ruby red and always vigilant.

She, too, had bandages around several parts of her body- her arms, as well as her right leg- with parts of her nanny outfit torn and light cuts and bruises on her exposed skin and face, but she was still in a much better state than Harvey and Damon.

These two familiar but unfamiliar people had been there through most of the alternate Damon’s life, and because Damon only cared about one thing, which was to sleep and not be disturbed, he never really knew much about them, only that they were efficient to a satisfying degree in taking care of all his needs.

As Damon cast a glance around him, seeing as everything appeared to be calm inside his room, except for the loud chatter outside his now-broken door, Damon concluded it was safe to assume the immediate threat in his penthouse had been resolved to some degree—

Probably by the two people before him right now. Damon couldn’t even find the body of the mutated human who had tried to feast on him before he passed out, no matter how much he looked around.

"I’ve been better, Harvey."

"And thank you—you saved my life."

Damon said weakly as he handed the cup of tea back to Harvey, who collected it whilst responding calmly—

"I apologize that you had to go through that at all, Master Damon."

"You should rest now, young master. Your injuries—"

Mildred said, standing to guide Damon back into a resting position, but Damon resisted gently. This wasn’t the time to sleep, even though he really wanted to more than anything.

He needed to understand the situation, and from the looks of the large kitchen knives and other cold weapons assembled neatly on one side of the bed, his attendants were clearly preparing for something before Damon woke up.

"I am fine, Mildred—"

"Rather, you don’t look too good, Harvey."

"Fill me in on the situation—what happened to your arm?"

Damon said to Harvey, effortlessly assuming the role of the alternate Damon he had merged with, as he brought his legs from inside the bed over to the edge, sitting up while wincing from the pain, and Mildred helping from the side.

MEOW

"Now you are worried about me, are you?"

Damon remarked playfully at his cat, which was now rubbing against his side, as he gently brushed his hand over his fur. Luckily, Leo seemed completely like his former self, even though he had strangely gone into a coma earlier.

Considering all that had transpired in this short span of time, he still needed to keep an eye on his cat. Still, Damon wondered if he was imagining things, as Leo’s eyes strangely seemed more intelligent than usual.

But other than that, he was acting like his usual self, so Damon was satisfied that his cat was at least okay.

"Young master—where did that cat come from?"

Mildred suddenly asked a question she clearly had been meaning to ask Damon, but giving him time to get his bearings.

"He seems to be quite fond of you, young master.—"

"Right about when you went unconscious, he had suddenly turned up and was lying on your chest."

Damon could feel the concern and confusion in Mildred’s tone. Though Leo was clearly harmless and cute, a lot of change had changed in the world, most of which Damon still doesn’t know about, and clearly Harvey shares similar concerns as he stood there awaiting Damon’s response.

As far as Harvey and Mildred are concerned, Damon does not have any pets.

And, being that these two oversee every facet of his day-to-day life, he certainly has to think up something half-believable to explain how a black cat suddenly appeared inside a sealed room in a sky-rise penthouse suite. And Damon obviously seems to be familiar with this cat, and the cat with him as well.

The fact that a pet could suddenly appear in the life of their charge without either of them knowing when or how must be quite confounding to the meticulous duo.

Given the situation, Damon couldn’t tell the truth that he was an alternate version of their actual young master, who had come to this reality with his cat.

So, he did the best thing he could, given the situation—he lied.

"I found him in my bathroom a few hours earlier, before this all started. Brad or one of his friends must have brought him in here. I gave him a little snack, and now the little guy won’t leave my side."

Damon didn’t feel guilty about placing such a lie on Brad; he didn’t like Brad much, and that’s saying a lot since Damon doesn’t really care about most things. The fact that he cared enough to not like the young man for reason he wasn’t entirely sure of yet was saying something.

Damon did his best to sound as convincing as possible. It did help that his face was like a blank slate, as usual, as he spoke.

Yet, he couldn’t tell if his attendants were convinced or not; it was just Leo sending him unusual side glances that almost seemed to say, ’good work on the smooth lying, mate.’ Of course, Damon must be imagining things.

"Anyway, that’s beside the point. Tell me what happened, Harvey."

Damon said to Harvey, redirecting the focus of the conversation.

"Right away."

Harvey intoned as he went straight into giving Damon the details as best and as precisely as he always was.

"Did you perhaps experience the loud sound as well as the glowing characters, master Damon?"

Harvey inquired, to which Damon nodded in understanding. By now, he knew this event was probably on a global scale.

"Mildred and I were following your order to wait on master Brad and his friends."

"I knew it."

Damon murmured, realizing his attendants had waited behind since the alternate version of himself wasn’t clear enough to send his cousin out after coming upon them drunk and passed out all over his living room.

"Pardon, Master Damon?"

"It’s nothing; please continue."

"Of course—"

"Mildred was in the Kitchen stocking up for the few hours we would be apart from you, and I was in the living room when the countdown ended from that weird voice."

"Seeing some of master Brad’s friends suddenly transforming into what had attacked young master, I was a little late to react with the needed lethal force, thinking they were just having a fit—"

"But when they began feasting on the others, and after losing my right arm to two of them, I took lethal action and emptied a couple of rounds into some of them."

As Damon listened to this man narrate such a horrible experience with such calm, he realized just how much he didn’t know about his attendants. He wasn’t even addressing the fact that he had a gun when he isn’t a guard.

Now that Damon thought about it. From his memories, he had a separate security detail, most of whom stayed on the lower floor of his penthouse, around his exclusive elevator and fleet of cars.

"However, no matter how many rounds I emptied into them, they just kept coming. And it seems they could sense the presence of other non-changed humans, so while some feasted upon and fought their former friends in the living room—"

"A few went straight for the kitchen, engaging Mildred in a battle of her own, while just one came for your room, Master Damon."

"Fortunately, I discovered a shot to the skull was quite effective at putting them down for good, so I rushed to your room, but I was a little late to prevent your injuries."

As Damon listened, he pictured the level of ordeal these two must have gone through, yet both seemed so calm and collected. Thinking Harvey was done with his report, he was surprised as the man suddenly asked—

"Did you perhaps awaken a class, master Damon?"

"Oh—you know what this class awakening is?—"

"Did you awaken ?"

Damon asked Harvey with hopeful expectation. He hasn’t really had the chance to check what he had awakened, but there appears to be an impulse at the back of his mind, telling him to say the words, ’Origin system,’ ever since he had awakened.

"No, unfortunately, neither Mildred nor I awakened a class, but it appears master Brad did, as well as two of his friends."

"Apparently, only some lucky ones did. At least that’s what’s being discussed among other things on the chat channels."

"Chat channels?. You mean like Invergram?"

Damon asked, imagining Harvey must be referring to online media. He hasn’t really checked his phone since he arrived in this new world, but Harvey’s next words threw him for a spin yet again.

"No, master Damon. Those have stopped working."

"Try saying the words ’Origin System’."

Damon chose not to delve into what Harvey meant by his first statement and was doubly surprised that he had said the same words that had been on the back of his mind. Damon was prepared to say the words as he only thought about them—

But that seemed to be enough, as a floating, glowing, purple system interface materialized before him, divided into segments with some active and other greyed-out options. At the top were the words ’Origin System, ’ then in smaller caps—Trial Version One.

"Is this a game?"

Damon muttered aloud, and following Harvey’s words about a chat channel, he brought his hand to click on that particular floating section, but before he moved his hand, it was already open with a message—

[Proceed With Participant Name Or Set New Alias?]

Looking at this prompt from the system, Damon didn’t ponder it much and simply set his alias to how people usually regarded him back in his own world. It was a play on his name, his appearance, as well as what he was best known for.

It was actually amusing to Damon now that he thought about it. His nickname in this world, as well as in his former one, was strangely alike, but since they led different lives, there was an alteration. While the Damon in this world was nicknamed the White Prince; in his former world, his alias was—

[Alias ’White Demon’ Registered Successfully.]

[Welcome To Your Regional Chat]

[Regional Chat (#058-34)

Marcus Virex33: "Please, you all. I need help. My secretary has turned into a zombie, and she’s chasing me around my bedroom!"

Fiona Grimvale15: "What’s the military even doing ?. I’ve been hiding in my house for hours."

Roland Pyre: "I was bitten on my cock!!!. Someone pleassssee tell me what happens when one is bitten on their cock!!.

AllSeeingEyes: "@Marcus Virex33, What’s your secretary doing in your bedroom ?"

BudgetBatman: "I’m so fucking scared. And what’s with this Origin System?!!"

LagLord69: "@Marcus Virex33, Who’s going to get help to you? Even the military and authorities are all turning into zombies."

CryMorePls: @Fiona Grimvale15, why not go out and get some fresh air? Might be good for you."

AllSeeingEyes: "@LagLord69, Yeah. It’s a shitshow, man."

CelsetialGoddess92: "Anybody in here awakened classes above Low grade ?"

Orion Blackridge: "Yeah. I awakened a mid-grade class."

BudgetBatman: "Turns out. I also don’t have a class. Can things get any worse?"

Marcus Virex33: "Can anyone send help, please? Are the authorities of Newhaven not in this chat?!"

SweetLikeLemon: "Sadly, just Low-grade here."

Liora Ashen: "Guess I should be happy. I have a High-grade class."

Roland Pyre: "I’m still waiting for a reply here. And I’m getting dizzy now."

RockHard69: "You Peasants. Bow to this Daddy with Top-grade class. Maybe I’ll come to save you if I’m in a good mood. Only ladies, though."

AllSeeingEyes: "@Fiona Grimvale15, just remain in hiding"

Sarah Mitchel21: Big Daddy @RockHard69. I am at N45 South Dempture, Newhaven. I can do anything and everything. And I mean EVERYTHING.

ShyButterfly: "I have Unique-grade Class....or is it class group ?"

Olivia Parker: "What do I do...sob.. My helicopter pilot turned into a zombie. He fell out, but I don’t know how to fly a chopper."

Rachel Adams: "@RockHard69, this sweet girl still has a very tight place. All ready and waiting for you. I am at 16th Street, Wellington. Hurry up, Daddy."

AllSeeingEyes: "@Roland Pyre, Sorry, man. But you cooked."

BudgetBatman: "@RockHard69, I can also cook and clean. Anything the others can do, I can do better. I am at the Warehouse at Toolson Block B. Please Hurry"

Peter Parker43: "Is that you, Big Sis? @Olivia Parker ?. We’ve been worried sick."

OneInchRod: "@ShyButterfly STFU Liar."]

As Damon read through the rapidly flowing chats, only one statement came out of his mouth—

"It’s complete chaos"