God Of War System : Apocalypse King

CHAPTER 4: MOMENTS OF DEATH

The speedboat engine roared monotonously, slicing through the increasingly choppy waves of the Bali Strait. But that sound was less terrifying than the breathing of Satria, who lay on the stern deck.

*Krrhh... Hhhkk...*

His breathing was wet, as if thick mucus was clogging his throat. The young man's body convulsed violently every few seconds. The sweat pouring from his pores was no longer clear; it was a murky yellowish color and smelled foul.

"Look at that! Look at his neck!" Andy yelled from the helm, his finger trembling as he pointed. "His veins are turning black! The black is spreading to his face!"

Cindy didn't answer. She knelt beside Satria, cradling her boyfriend's head in her lap. Her tears had dried, replaced by a vacant stare filled with terror. She tried to wipe the sweat from Satria's forehead with the torn edge of her shirt, but his body heat was so extreme it felt like it was burning her palm.

"He's still Satria..." Cindy whispered faintly, more to convince herself than to answer Andy.

"He's not Satria anymore!" Andy suddenly cut the engine. The silence of the sea immediately engulfed them, broken only by the sound of waves slapping against the hull.

"Why did you turn it off?" Abigail asked, her voice anxious. She sat hugging her knees in the corner, keeping her distance from Satria as if he were a ticking time bomb.

Andy stepped away from the helm. His face was hard, his jaw clenched tight. In his hand, he held a large wrench he had grabbed from the toolbox.

"We have to throw him overboard. Now," Andy said coldly.

Cindy looked up, her eyes wide with disbelief. "What did you say?"

"You heard me, Cindy. He drank that mutant's blood! He's infected! Do you want to wait until he wakes up and eats your guts?" Andy stepped closer, his shadow falling over Satria's body. "The professor spoke, Cindy! He spoke! Do you want Satria to turn into an intelligent monster who will kill us all?"

"He saved us, Andy! He sacrificed himself so you could start this damn boat!" Cindy screamed, her voice breaking.

"And thank you for that! But logic is logic. The infected must be discarded. That's the rule in every zombie movie!" Andy bent down, reaching out to grab Satria's legs. "Move, Cindy. Let me do it. You won't have the heart."

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!"

Andy froze.

In Cindy's hand, a sharp fillet knife gleamed under the afternoon sun. She had found it lying near the bait container earlier. The tip of the knife was now aimed directly at Andy's stomach.

"Whoa... easy..." Andy took a step back, raising both hands. He still gripped the wrench tightly in his right hand. "You're going to kill me for a living corpse? We've been friends since freshman year, Cin!"

"Satria isn't dead yet," Cindy hissed. Her eyes were wild, like a tigress protecting her cub. "And if you dare touch him by a single inch, I swear, Andy... I will plunge this into your gut."

The atmosphere on the boat became intensely tense. The sea breeze whipped Cindy's messy hair around her face.

"Abigail!" Andy called without turning around. "Help me! Explain it to her! If Satria turns here, in the middle of the sea, on this cramped boat... we have nowhere to run! We'll all die!"

Abigail looked at Cindy, then at Satria's body, whose skin was now starting to turn a pale gray. The black veins on his neck seemed to pulse, as if worms were crawling beneath his skin. The sight was horrifying.

"Cin..." Abigail's voice trembled. "Andy... Andy might be right. Look at Satria. He's in pain. Maybe... maybe it's better if we end his suffering?"

"You too?" Cindy looked at Abigail with a wounded expression. "You're both cowards. Have you forgotten who held the hotel's glass door shut earlier? Who beat those dogs back?"

"That was the past, Cindy! This is the future!" Andy snapped. His patience was gone. "Move, or I'll hit you too!"

Andy swung the wrench, not to strike, but to intimidate Cindy into moving away.

But Cindy didn't flinch. Instead, she pushed her knife forward, grazing Andy's arm.

*Sret!*

Fresh blood dripped from Andy's forearm.

"Argh! You're insane!" Andy clutched his wound, his eyes wide with rage. "You actually stabbed me?"

"Back off," Cindy said coldly. Her hand was shaking violently, but her defensive posture was perfect.

Andy stared into Cindy's eyes. He saw the madness born of desperation. He knew this girl was reckless. And fighting a desperate person on a small, slippery boat was a huge risk.

Andy spat onto the deck floor, mixing with the blood from his broken nose. "Fine. Fine! We wait."

He retreated to the helm, throwing his wrench onto the floor roughly.

*Klang!*

"We'll wait until he wakes up and rips your throat out first. Don't expect me to help you when that happens," Andy grumbled, roughly restarting the boat engine. "We'll leave him there. But if he starts to growl... I'll shoot him with this flare gun. Got it?"

Andy raised the orange flare gun resting on the dashboard.

Cindy didn't answer. She lowered her knife but didn't let go of it. She returned to embracing Satria, stroking the young man's hair, which was wet with slimy sweat.

"Hold on, Sat... please..." Cindy whispered into Satria's ear.

***

Six hours passed.

The sun began to set in the west, painting the sky with stunning purples and oranges—an ironic contrast to the tension on the boat. They had cut the engine again to conserve fuel, letting the current carry them slowly.

Satria's condition worsened.

His body was now burning hot; a thin vapor even seemed to rise from his skin as the night air began to cool. His breathing became very shallow, almost inaudible. The black veins that had been confined to his neck had now crept up to cover half of his left face, forming a terrifying spiderweb pattern.

Cindy remained faithful to her position, even though her legs were cramping from hours of stillness. Abigail sat hugging her knees across from them, occasionally glancing over fearfully. Andy sat at the bow, smoking with trembling hands, his eyes constantly vigilant on the horizon and occasionally glaring at Satria with hatred.

Suddenly, Satria's body gave one hard jolt.

Then silence.

His broad chest stopped rising and falling. The 'krrhh' sound of his breathing, which had accompanied them until now, vanished instantly.

Silence.

Cindy felt Satria's body become heavy in her lap. She pressed her ear to his chest.

There was no heartbeat.

"No... no, no..." Cindy began to shake Satria's body. "Satria? Wake up! Satria!"

Andy turned, flicking his cigarette butt into the sea. He smiled bitterly. "I told you. He's dead. The human body can't withstand that poison."

Andy stood up, retrieving his wrench. "Now, move, Cindy. Before that corpse rises again as a zombie, we have to dump him into the sea. This is for all our sakes."

"He's not dead yet!" Cindy screamed, tears streaming down her face again.

"His heart stopped, Cin! Accept it!" Abigail stood up too, approaching slowly. "Let him go... please..."

Cindy shook her head violently, hugging Satria's head tightly to her chest, as if her own heartbeat could transfer to him. "Don't touch him!"

Andy didn't care anymore. He stepped forward, ready to pull Cindy away by force. "I'm sorry, Cin. You'll thank me later."

Andy reached out, intending to grab Cindy's shoulder.

Just as Andy's fingers brushed Cindy's shirt, Satria's eyes snapped open.

*ZRAP!*

They were not the empty white eyes of the undead. Nor were they the red eyes of a starving monster.

Both eyeballs were Liquid Gold. They shone brightly in the twilight, with vertical pupils like those of an ancient reptile.

Andy stumbled backward in shock, nearly tripping over his own feet. "Damn! Who are you? Satria or a zombie?"

Satria took a long, deep breath, as if he had just emerged from the seabed after hours of drowning.

"HAAAHHH!"

The sound of that intake of breath was so powerful it sounded like a vacuum suction. The black veins on his face receded at lightning speed, as if sucked back into his skin, leaving behind clean, faintly glowing skin.

Satria tried to sit up. His movements were stiff, like a robot. He stared at his own hands, then at Cindy, who was frozen with her mouth open.

"Sat... ria?" Cindy called uncertainly.

Satria turned toward Cindy. The golden gaze was sharp, intimidating, yet there was consciousness there. Not the vacant stare of a wild beast.

However, through Satria's vision, the world looked different. Everything was overlaid with digital data. He saw text above Cindy's head: [Status: Healthy - Emotion: Love/Fear]. He saw text above Andy's head: [Status: Minor Injury - Emotion: Hostile/Terror].

And most strikingly, a red box flashed in the center of his vision, accompanied by a siren alarm sound that only he could hear in his brain.

[WARNING! CRITICAL ENERGY!]

[God of War System Assimilation Process: Successful]

[Assimilation Energy Cost: 99%]

[Core Energy Remaining: 1%]

[TIME REMAINING BEFORE PERMANENT SHUTDOWN (HOST DEATH): 59 MINUTES]

Satria clutched his chest, which felt hollow and empty. It felt like a sports car with a bone-dry tank being forced to run. Hunger. He felt a hunger that didn't come from his stomach, but from every cell in his body.

He tried to speak, but his voice came out like grinding metal. "Hungry..."

"Hungry?" Andy laughed hysterically, backing away. "Hear that? He's hungry! He wants to eat us!"

Andy aimed his flare gun at Satria's face. "Don't move, monster!"

Satria looked at the muzzle of the flare gun. In his eyes, the gun had a label: *[Low Threat - Accuracy: 20%]*.

"Andy... put it down..." Satria said weakly. He tried to stand, but his legs gave way. He collapsed back onto the deck, leaning on one hand.

[WARNING: 58 MINUTES REMAINING]

[SOLUTION: FIND YIN ENERGY SOURCE OR HIGH-LEVEL MUTANT CORE IMMEDIATELY]

Satria didn't understand what Yin Energy was, but he knew one thing: if he didn't do something within the hour, he would die. Truly die this time.

Suddenly, the water on the starboard side of the boat exploded.

*BYAAAR!*

A shark. But not an ordinary shark. It was the size of a minivan. Its fins were covered in bony spines, and its eyes glowed red. The Mutant Shark leaped from the water, its jaw full of serrated teeth wide open, ready to devour anything on the boat deck.

"WATCH OUT!" Satria roared.

His new instincts took over. Although his energy was critically low at 1%, his body moved on its own.