Gradually, the screams die down.

  One after another is silenced. Either their lungs are hoarse, or they’re cut down by monsters. People stop driving their cars through shop windows, and the initial carnage is dealt with in a few hours. Police are all about, like scurrying little cockroaches. The fire department is desperately trying to save people from rubble - cutting into goblins with those red axes.

  Throughout the carnage, I don’t mind them too much. Some of the older people try to tell me off about restricted areas and being safe and all that, but I just walk on. They don’t matter, not anymore, and as long as they aren’t dangerous, I don’t let them slow us down.

  Inu pulls me up over another piece of rubble, the car alarm beeping beneath us, and the ranger store comes into sight. It’s a minor tourism attraction, and the windows are already shattered. “Think people took all the maps?” Inu asks.

  I shake my head. “Not while the internet still works.” My phone beeped a while ago with an emergency alert, but I paid it no mind. Right now, satellite footage of Earth was still available - not live, though, since a dome of eyes blotted out the sky.

  Whenever I look up, some of those eyes seem to have disappeared, and new ones emerge. It’s rather creepy. ‘Voyeurs,’ I chide the things up there in my mind.

  Inu nods. “Right. They probably just grabbed the rations.”

  As we approach the station, though, there are more screams. And growls. Not the kind of growls the goblins make, which is more of a humanoid snarl. Genuine, deep growls, like those of a wild animal.

  [Wolf lv. 3]

  Its snout is drenched in red blood. I see the bodies of a few late teens around. A school excursion out here? They must have huddled in there for safety. The teacher is nowhere to be found, and there aren’t enough for it to have gotten the whole class, but there sure are a few.

  Behind me, Inu retches, disgusted at the sight of the creature, or maybe the corpses. I simply walk forward, the axe firmly in my grip. There’s a dagger in my second hand. Sharp obsidian, with a too-small wooden handle.

  Fear bubbles in my chest. I curiously examine the emotion, then gently embrace it. It’s okay to be afraid. But it doesn’t control me. The wolf snarls louder, giving me a terrifying bark, but I keep my pace toward it steady and measured.

  I [Select] it.

  A tether builds between me and the wolf. Curiously, I play with the skill. What does [Selection] mean? Well, obviously I select something, targeting it to some degree. But with what?

  When figuring out the stats, my intent was to figure out their purpose. I was selecting them while wanting to gather information. I don’t need to know more about the wolf. Instead, I [Select] it as a target to receive damage, and suddenly it doesn’t look as terrifying anymore. In fact, I feel like I can take it.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Slowly, gently, I step towards the creature. We’re 10 steps apart, then five, then three. At that moment, it lunges.

  It’s terrifyingly fast, flying at me. It’s also predictable. Almost lazily, I step to the side, snapping out my knife, and catching the wolf.

  Carried by its own momentum, a large gash appears in its side, tearing the weapon from my hand. My wrist hurts, having been wrenched to the side, but the pain is minor. My skin also still itches. I hate the feeling. The wolf howls in pain and fury, snapping towards me. For a moment, I feel almost bad for the hungry animal.

  Then, I [Select] it as the target for my second skill. [Suppression] snakes out of me, leaving me gasping for air. My vessel feels strained, and the air begins to tingle up against my skin. But while I’m left gasping for breath, the wolf finds itself [Suppressed].

  Suddenly, its heart struggles to pump blood. Its legs struggle to move. Its blood struggles to clot, and more of it pools from the gnarly wound. The wolf crashes to the ground and rolls - breaking off the obsidian knife inside of it.

  By then, it’s already dead.

  Inu walks towards me, handing me a new knife with shaky hands. I accept it calmly, watching as the wolf dies.

  [You have killed a lv. 3 Wolf]

  I nod at the notification, slowly accepting the pointless death, then turn to the ranger station. The windows are shattered, and the door blown off its hinges. Inu walks inside, and I follow her, this time. She knows it better, though with the mess it’s in, I don’t know how much that matters.

  Wrappers and pieces of dried meat are strewn all over the floor. There are also the bodies. They don’t smell too bad yet, but ants are already crawling over the floor. I select one of them.

  [Lv. 0.01 Ant]

  I blink. “Huh,” I say. “Ants have levels.”

  “What?!” Inu’s head snaps to me.

  “Ants have levels. In fact, I imagine everything that classifies as ‘alive’ might, then.”

  “Terrifying,” she says, shaking her head. “A bacteria that kills a human… how much would it grow? How long until a plague wipes us all out?”

  I grab a packet of orange juice from one of the shelves, poking the straw inside, then sip from it. “Dunno,” I reply, brushing my hair aside again. “Troublesome for real.”

  The girl stares at me for a long moment. I look at her short, black hair, the braids in it coming undone already. She looks at me with those hazel eyes and a button nose, and I just wait. “You’re not concerned at all,” she notes.

  With a shrug, I sip some more orange juice. “Nope,” I say. “This is all very real, I’m pretty sure. But… whatever. I’ll just save who matters to me. Don’t care about the rest of humanity.”

  “Who matters to you?” she asks. It’s a loaded question, but thats okay.

  I smile. “It’s a short list. You, Thatch, Opal, Sylves. Everyone else is too far away to worry about.” I had online friends, and some might’ve already left me messages, but out of all of those, only a few really matter. If I reach them, I reach them. We’ll see.

  Inu looks at me. “Well,” she says slowly. “I’m glad I made your list.” There’s a tiny, faint smile on her lips.

  “Agreed,” I say. “Couldn’t think of a person I’d rather be spending the apocalypse with.”

  Sure, there were people who were better equipped. I’d imagine that farming levels early would be pretty easy with a gun, for example. I could’ve tagged along with a police officer, with some street thugs, with anyone who’s a bit more hardened than the empathetic girl with me.

  But I don’t wanna.

  “Right,” she says. “Thanks, Snow. I’m glad to be with you, too.”

  “You should. I saved your life a couple times already,” I deadpan.

  At that, the girl gives me a long look, then snickers. “Oh, shut up,” she says. “I was fi-”

  Then there’s a hiss, and she screams as an arrowhead pokes out from her shoulder.