Dancing with the Deaths

Chapter 1 - Ground Zero

The pungent smell of synthetic lemon was the first thing that hit Marsel's nose.

It wasn't the fresh scent of newly mopped floors that usually greeted him every morning at seven. This was the thick, chemical odor of spilled floor cleaner, mixed with something far more metallic and fishy. Blood.

"Ugh, my head," Marsel groaned, trying to lift his body off the cold, sticky ceramic floor.

The world spun. The long fluorescent lights on the ceiling of A-117 Supermarket flickered as if having an electrical seizure, creating a nauseating strobe effect.

Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

The electrical buzzing sounded like a giant fly trapped inside his ear.

"Hey, who spilled So Klin here?" Marsel shouted, his voice hoarse. He clutched his throbbing head, then realized his hand was wet. Not water. Thick red fluid.

His eyes widened. He stared at his palm. Blood.

"Damn it," he hissed, his heart instantly pumping adrenaline through his body. "What is this? An earthquake? A robbery?"

He looked around. The gondola shelves, usually neatly stocked, were now toppled like a failed domino setup. Sardine cans, instant noodle packets, and soy sauce bottles were scattered everywhere, creating a sea of consumer debris. At the end of Aisle 3, near the snack section, someone stood with their back to him. A familiar red-and-yellow uniform. It was an A-117 staff uniform.

"Dika?" Marsel called out, trying to stand despite his shaky legs. "Dik! You okay? Help me up, you idiot. I think the cigarette rack fell on me."

The figure didn't answer. Its shoulders twitched with an unnatural rhythm, as if the bones inside were being forcibly rearranged. A wet cracking sound came from its direction.

"Dik?" Marsel took a step back, his manager's instinct screaming that something was wrong. "Dika, what's wrong with you? Stop messing around. The store is destroyed; Mr. Budi will freak out if he sees us just standing here."

Dika turned slowly.

Marsel held his breath. Dika's face... was gone. Or rather, it was covered by a metallic gray texture resembling a frozen computer glitch. His eyes were just two blinking points of blue light. His mouth hung wide open, dripping black saliva that sizzled when it hit the floor. Above his head, red text floated in the air, transparent yet real:

[Ekorupt Drone - Lv. 1]

"What the hell..." Marsel backed up again, bumping into a stack of promotional toilet paper. "Dik, what happened to your face? Did you put on an I*******m filter or something?"

"Grrrr... Grrrrr..." The sound coming from Dika's throat sounded like a broken dial-up modem mixed with a wild animal's growl.

"Okay, confirmed, you're not Dika," Marsel muttered, cold sweat running down his back. "I don't get paid enough to deal with staff possessed by robot ghosts."

Dika—or the creature that used to be Dika—lunged.

"Waaaa!" Marsel jumped aside, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Dika slammed into the snack rack, causing dozens of chip bags to burst and scatter. Its movements were stiff and jerky, but its strength was clearly inhuman. The metal shelf bent as if it were made of wax.

"Are you crazy?! What did you eat, Dik?!" Marsel yelled in panic. He turned and ran full speed toward the checkout area. "Help! Somebody! There's a maniac in Aisle 3!"

There was no answer. Only faint screams from the back storage room and the sound of distant sirens wailing. Marsel leaped over a puddle of spilled cooking oil, his shoes squeaking loudly.

Screech!

He slipped, falling hard against checkout counter number 4. His ribs hit the corner of the desk.

"Son of a bitch!" he cursed, wincing in pain.

He looked back. Dika was already up again, walking with a fast, dragging gait. Behind Dika, emerging from the darkness of the dairy aisle, were two other figures. A woman in a house dress and the store security guard, Mr. Asep. Both had the same gray skin, with the text [Ekorupt Drone - Lv. 1] floating above their heads.

"Mr. Asep too?" Marsel scrambled behind the checkout counter, his breath ragged. "What kind of plague is this? Digital rabies?"

He searched for a weapon. Anything. But on the counter, there was only the EDC machine, plastic bags, and a handheld barcode scanner with a frayed cable.

"Okay, Marsel, think," he whispered to himself, his hands shaking violently as he grabbed the scanner handle. "You're the manager. You have to manage this situation. Step one: don't die. Step two: fire Dika if I survive."

Dika reached the counter, leaping over the conveyor belt with stiff movements. Its gray, sharp-nailed hand reached for Marsel's neck.

"Don't touch me!" Marsel screamed.

In reflex, he swung the handheld scanner with all his might toward Dika's head.

THWACK!

The impact was hard, but that wasn't what sent Dika flying. The moment the scanner tip touched Dika's metal-hard forehead, a burst of blue electricity exploded.

ZING!

Marsel's world went white for a moment. A mechanical voice, cold and emotionless, spoke directly inside his brain.

[System Detected.]

[Initiating Emergency Protocol...]

[A-117 Checkout Scanner Connected to User Bio-Signature.]

"Huh?" Marsel blinked, his vision returning.

Dika was thrown into the gum rack, his body convulsing as if hit by a high-voltage shock. The scanner in Marsel's hand no longer looked like cheap plastic. It glowed with a neon blue light; luminous circuit lines crawled from the scanner handle up Marsel's arm, merging with his skin.

"What is this?" Marsel stared at his hand. "Am I a cyborg?"

"Grraaaah!" Mr. Asep, now an Ekorupt, roared and leaped over the next checkout counter, swinging his now-bent security baton.

"Whoa, hold on, sir!" Marsel yelled, instinctively pointing the glowing scanner at Mr. Asep like a gun. "I haven't scanned your groceries yet!"

A transparent blue holographic screen appeared before Marsel's eyes, blocking his view of Mr. Asep's horrific face.

[CLASS UNLOCKED: FORTRESS MANAGER (LEVEL 1)]

[Active Skill: Weakness Scan (Basic)]

"Scan? I have to scan him?" Marsel shrieked hysterically. Mr. Asep was already swinging his baton.

Marsel pulled the scanner's trigger. A red laser beam, like the one he usually used to check the price of rice, shot out and scanned Mr. Asep's body from top to bottom in a fraction of a second.

BEEP!

[Target: Ekorupt Drone (Former Security Guard)]

[Weak Point: Left Knee (Old Gout Injury)]

"Holy hell, the system knows Mr. Asep has gout!" Marsel exclaimed, astonished and horrified.

Without wasting a second, Marsel kicked with all his might at Mr. Asep's left knee, which was marked by a flashing red circle in his new vision.

CRACK!

"Sorry, sir!"

Mr. Asep howled—a painful digital sound—and fell forward, losing his balance. Marsel didn't waste the opportunity. He jumped onto the checkout counter, then kicked Mr. Asep in the face with his dress shoe, slicked with oil.

The Ekorupt was shoved backward, colliding with the woman in the house dress who was just about to attack. They both tumbled among stacks of magazines and promotional chocolates.

"Back off! All of you, back off!" Marsel brandished his scanner, trembling. "I... I have a barcode, and I'm not afraid to use it!"

His breath hitched. His heart pounded so hard his ears hurt. He stood atop checkout counter number 4 like the captain of a sinking ship, surrounded by a sea of merchandise and monsters who used to be his neighbors and coworkers.

Suddenly, all the lights in the supermarket went out completely. Pitch black.

"Oh, come on," Marsel complained in the darkness. "Don't tell me the power's out! Hey, power company, work with me here!"

Silence for a moment. Only Marsel's ragged breathing and the low growl of Dika, who was starting to rise again in the dark.

Then, a low humming sound began. Not from the lights, but from the floor, the walls, and the metal shelves around him. Lines of blue light began to illuminate the ceramic floor, forming a giant, intricate circuit pattern that spread from the entrance to the back storage room.

The light illuminated the faces of the Ekorupts, who stared hungrily at Marsel. But this time, the light didn't feel hostile. It felt... obedient.

A giant dialogue box, as wide as the main entrance, appeared in the air right in front of Marsel's face. The text glowed golden, unlike the red color on the monsters.

"Now what?" Marsel whispered, wiping the sweat mixed with blood from his temple. "Don't tell me I have to update Windows first."

He read the text.

[FORTRESS SYSTEM INITIATED]

[Location: A-117 Supermarket]

[Authority: Marsel (Fortress Manager)]

[Status: Red Zone]

"Fortress Manager?" Marsel laughed bitterly. "Does this come with a raise?"

Dika's growl grew closer. He had already climbed the cigarette rack next to Marsel, ready to pounce from above.

[Warning: Biological Threat Detected within 2-meter radius.]

[Would you like to activate the Initial Defense Protocol?]

[Y / N]

"YES! Yes, you idiot! Why are you asking?!" Marsel yelled, pressing the 'Y' button in the air with a trembling finger.

CLANG!

The steel rolling door behind the counter—the one that usually jammed and needed to be hammered shut—suddenly slammed down at supersonic speed, hitting Dika squarely in mid-air before he could touch Marsel.

CRASH!

Dika was thrown back, smashing into the supermarket's front glass wall, shattering it into a thousand cracks. The other Ekorupts retreated, blinded by the blue light radiating from every corner of the store.

Marsel slumped onto the checkout counter, his legs weak as jelly. He hugged his scanner tightly. He looked around. The supermarket walls were now overlaid with a transparent blue light grid. The merchandise shelves vibrated subtly, as if alive.

A final message appeared, pulsing slowly in time with Marsel's slowing heartbeat.

[A-117 Supermarket. Activated as Defense Core.]

[Wall Upgrade (Level 1) available.]

[Welcome to the Apocalypse, Mr. Manager.]

*