GEAR UP!

"Mama Mia,I ain't doin that again!"

Exhausted,he sat down not minding the dirt at all,he felt like if he didn't,he would probably collapse.

Right then the system's voice echoed in his head while the now farmiliar interface popped up in front of him.

[NEWBIE MISSION STATUS:COMPLETED]

[MISSION RATING: D]

[The status panel has been activated,your stats can be viewed now. The system store and other amenities are available now. Mystery wheel of fortune has been awarded.]

[COMMENT: The host is like a calf,fearless and at times dumb. Has a chance at survival. Do better next time.]

"WHAT! Despite all that I only got a D. You're clearly cheating me!"

[The system's overall rating is based on what you naturally did. User you suck!]

Listening to the system's unfeeling response,Ryan found out that he had no words to refute. He really didn't think that his fighting skills really sucked but he wasn't going to admit it to the system. He had his own pride.

"Humph!"

Ignoring the system,he called up the status panel.

"Status."

STATUS

NAME:Ryan Renfield

RACE:Baseline human variant

PROFESSION:Technomancer

LEVEL: Apprentice wrench monkey.

Strength:1.2

Dexterity:1.0

Intelligence: 1.5

Gear points:0

SKILLS

[Advanced maths: Newbie]

[Advanced physics: Newbie]

[Computer science:??????]

And that was it,that was all he could find in his status panel.

"Hey system,what's up with the status panel only having four entries and what the hell are GP's. Also what do you mean by " wrench monkey."

When he mentioned the last part of his sentence,a puzzled expression made it's way into Ryan's face.

Was the system referring to him as a wrench monkey? It'd better not be!

[ GP's refer to Gear points a kind of system currency. It's functions include helping to boost your stats and purchasing goods from the system. Basically it has a lot of uses.]

[And yes I called you a wrench monkey. You are at the lowest level of the Black gear system. The gradual accumulation of Gear points will help you to level up and unlock new abilities. Also this is not the full panel there are also sections under each major entry. You can just go through the system menu.]

Following the system's suggestion,he skimmed through the system menu and saw everything he needed to know about the system.

[Black Gear System menu]

Status

Missions

Skill tree

Design & fabrication

Shop

Inventory

Lottery

"Hmmm,so that's how it is." With a nod, Ryan understood what the system was and how it functioned,at least the basics. He couldn't help but compliment the layout as it was truly intuitive. Not everyone liked a cluttered interface and he was among those someone's.

Basically,he had to build stuff and complete missions to earn Gear points,which in turn could be used by him to level up. He could also use them to enhance stuff and buy things from the system store. There were a whole bunch of instructions and information that would go for a while if he decided to go through everything.

However,for now he could only skim through the basics leaving the intricacies for later.

"Let's get out of here."

Standing up he patted the dirt off his bum while grabbing the wrench.from the floor. It was time to return back to the campus grounds.

...….

"RUN!!!"

In front of the student cafeteria a bunch consisting of an equal mix of boys and girls could be seen running for their lives. They were trying to make it into the cafeteria while a dozen other human figures were chasing them from the back.

At first it might seem like the pursuers were normal human beings but a closer look would reveal that they seemed to be somewhat different.

For one they walked in a very strange way,like someone had their bones bent into various odd angles. Some of them were splattered with blood while some of them had part of their organs dangling out of their abdomen.

Another point to note was the crazed looks they had on their faces. Their eyes looked lifeless yet they seemed to also contain a beastlike ferocity to them.

Couple that with their beastlike snarls and their throaty growls,it needed no further observation to tell that these were zombies.

Like zombies from the movies!

While it might sound like something out of resident evil,these were the real deal. It wasn't some Tiktok turd prankster playing tricks on the innocent.

"Nooo! Jason help me."

The shrill cry of a lady rang out as she was successfully grabbed by one of the Zombies. She was actually pushed back by the Jason guy.

The others dared not look back abandoning her as they all hurried to the cafeteria's entrance. Even the Jason guy who was probably her boyfriend also ran without daring to look back.

While they had the advantage in numbers with four more people than the zombies. The fear of being caught by these monsters dulled their sense of compassion.

The lady was dejected as the zombies had surrounded her. She could already see death knocking on her door. While she knew that it was impossible for the others to help her she was still heartbroken especially when her boyfriend didn't even look back.

Unable to witness how the zombies would tear into her,she tightly closed her eyes while expecting the deadly bite.

But it never came.

CRACK!

Instead,she heard the the sound of bone being crushed by something heavy and felt a sticky liquid fall on her body. Sone even spilled on her face but she quickly wiped it away as she tried to look at who saved her.

She was stunned when she saw a tall and slender figure swinging a huge wrench with dead beat accuracy.

Each swing was on point bursting the skulls of the Zombies. They couldn't even reach a meter near him before they would have their head bashed through like a watermelon.

What stunned her even more was that he had no emotions on his face as he killed them. It was just like he was chopping grass on the lawn or harvesting cabbages.

The others running had also stopped as they watched the spectacle behind them. They found it hard to believe that someone actually had the guts and was fighting those zombies that terrified them like they were babies.

The whole scene caused their blood to pump seriously. The only thing out of place was the gigantic wrench.

And thus for a while they just stood on the steps of the cafeteria watching as the zombies got decimated.

After about ten minutes all the zombies were dead.The youth was bloodied all over with bits and pieces of brain matter and flesh clinging to the wrench.

"Don't come closer!"

He started walking towards the girl with a smile on his face and she couldn't help but yell while scrambling back involuntarily.

You couldn't really blame her as he really looked like a devil that escaped from hell due to the blood on him. Seeing this he paused a bit before wiping his arm across his face cleaning the blood off.

Once the girl saw his face,she couldn't help but gasp.

"RYAN!"