Infinite Leveling In The Apocalypse

A Night

Dr. Kim Soo-yeon took a deep breath, her shoulders slumping. "All we can do now is try to survive," she said, her voice steady but filled with a somber resolve. "We could move around and see if there are any other survivors we can team up with. Increasing our numbers might increase our chances of survival."

She looked at each of them, her eyes reflecting the harsh reality they faced. "But trusting people, given the way the world is now, will be a hard thing to do. Desperation makes people do unthinkable things. We have to be careful, but we can't lose hope."

Hyun-soo suddenly gritted his teeth, out if nowhere he punched a shelf in frustration, the metal buckling under the force. The group watched in shock as the massive shelf, loaded with all sorts of equipment, crashed to the floor. His hand was bleeding, but he didn't seem to care.

"Calm down, Hyun-soo!" Jin-ho shouted, rushing over to him. "You're going to hurt yourself even more."

Hyun-soo shook his head, flexing his injured hand. "I'm alright. I just needed that," he said with anger and exhaustion.

Min-joon exchanged uneasy glances with Ji-woo, both of them clearly worried about his state of mind.

Hyun-soo took a deep breath, regaining his composure. "The next course of action should be finding somewhere to spend the night."

Jin-ho nodded reluctantly. "This place might be our only option. Outside is probably already crawling with ghouls."

Eun-joo, the woman with short blond hair, spoke up. "The ground here could end up being too cold. If you're saying we should sleep on it, it could end up being the cold that kills us first instead."

"She's right," said Seung-min, taking a look around the room. "We need to find something to keep us warm or we'll be in serious trouble."

Hyun-soo nodded, his expression turning serious as he considered their options.

"We'll need to further fortify this place as best as we can."

"Min-joon, Jin-ho, help me with the barricades. Seung-min, Ji-woo, start searching for anything we can use for insulation or bedding."

Min-joon and Jin-ho moved to gather debris and furniture, piling it against the entrance to reinforce their makeshift shelter. Hyun-soo directed them with skilfully, his mind focused on securing their temporary refuge.

Meanwhile, Seung-min and Ji-woo scoured the storage unit, pulling out discarded blankets, tarps, and whatever else they could find that might offer warmth.

As they worked, Eun-joo kept watch near the entrance, her eyes looking around the darkening horizon beyond the small space in the door. The sun dipped lower, casting long shadows that stretched across the deserted landscape. The air grew colder, a biting chill that seemed to seep into their bones.

"We need to hurry," Seung-min said, his voice tense as he joined Min-joon and Jin-ho in reinforcing the barricade.

Hyun-soo nodded in agreement, wiping sweat from his brow as he surveyed their progress. "We're almost there. Just a little more and we'll be as secure as we can be for tonight."

Ji-woo emerged from the storage shelves, arms laden with blankets and tarps. "Will this be enough?" she asked, her voice tinged with concern as she laid the supplies out on the dusty floor.

Hyun-soo inspected the pile, nodding. "It'll have to do."

"We'll huddle together for warmth. It's going to be a long night."

Once they had fortified the entrance and gathered enough insulation, they gathered in the center of the room, arranging the blankets and tarps into makeshift beds. The dusty floor provided a hard surface beneath them, but it was better than the cold ground outside.

As darkness settled over the base, they huddled together for warmth, sharing what little food they had managed to scavenge earlier. The atmosphere was tense yet oddly comforting.

"We should set up a watch," Eun-joo suggested quietly, her eyes still fixed on the entrance. "Rotate shifts so we all get some rest."

Hyun-soo nodded in agreement. "Good idea. Min-joon, you take first watch with Jin-ho. Eun-joo and I will take second. Seung-min and Ji-woo, you'll take the third."

Min-joon glanced around at the weary faces of his companions, seeing the exhaustion etched on their faces. Despite the adrenaline that had kept them going earlier, exhaustion now weighed heavily upon them all.

"I'll take the first watch," Jin-ho offered, his voice surprisingly steady despite the tension of the evening. "You rest, Min-joon."

Reluctantly, Min-joon nodded, settling into a corner of their makeshift shelter. He leaned against the cold concrete wall, his mind racing with thoughts of what tomorrow might bring. The events of the day had been overwhelming, from the discovery of Dr. Kim Soo-yeon to the realization of just how precarious their situation had become.

As Jin-ho and Eun-joo kept watch, Min-joon's thoughts drifted back to the strange skills and quests he had encountered.

The Tactical Insight skill had it's perks, but its sudden activation outside of combat had startled him. He wondered what other surprises the system held in store for him, and whether they would prove to be blessings or curses in his fight for survival.

Sleep, when it finally came, was short and riddled with nightmares. Min-joon dreamt of being trapped in an apartment complex, each turn revealing another ghoul or mutilated body. He woke with a start, gasping for breath, the feeling of fear fresh in his mind.

A ray of red moonlight peeked through a crack in the makeshift barricade, casting an uneasy glow across the room. Jin-ho sat beside him, his eyes heavy with exhaustion but his standing alert.

"Rough night?" Jin-ho asked softly, his voice raspy.

Min-joon nodded, running a hand through his already mussed hair. "Just nightmares."

Jin-ho patted him on the shoulder. "First watch is always the hardest,, so you don't have anything to worry about at this point" he said. "Your turn to take over?"

Min-joon stretched, his muscles as he yawned. "Yeah, I got it." He rose to his feet, replacing Jin-ho near the entrance.

Min-joon squinted through the crack in the barricade, his eyes adjusting to the red moonlight filtering through.

Suddenly, a faint, shimmering red bar materialized in the distance, hovering just above eye level. It resembled a health bar, complete with a number slowly ticking down – 100%, 99%, 98%… Min-joon became confused.

Then, he saw it. A cluster of red dots came into view, bobbing strangly in the darkness. The dots grew closer, revealing themselves to be beady red eyes, reflecting the moonlight like pinpricks. A jolt of adrenaline shot through him.

Suddenly, a system notification blared in his mind, clear as day:

[Warning: Monster Approaching!]

Min-joon's breath hitched. Monster? This was insane.

Before he could dwell on it any further, the source of the red eyes came into view. A massive black spider scuttled across the deserted base, its body bloated and segmented, its legs tipped with wickedly sharp claws. It was unlike anything Min-joon had ever seen, a nightmare given form.

"Shit!" he yelled.