Skill Invoker System

The rain was pattering as Drake Miller ran through the walkway, hurrying to go home to his girlfriend, Regina Adams.

"Regina is going to kill me. I can't believe I'm late," he murmured upon arriving at the door to his apartment.

Panting, he contemplated, "But it wasn't like I planned to come home late. I had to get her the birthday gift from the store. I hope she likes it."

Drake stared at the bracelet box in his left hand. In his right hand, there was another box, much smaller, bearing something other than a birthday gift—an engagement ring.

"I can't wait to see the smile on her face when she says yes to me. Then we would be finally official. This is going to be the best night of my life," he breathed, his eyes gleaming with joy. One more nervous breath, and he turned the doorknob.

The moment he pushed the door open, he was careful not to raise attention to himself. A mischievous smile formed on his face as he planned to sneak up behind Regina, grab her by the waist, and playfully frighten her.

He walked into the sitting room, but it was as dark as the corridors.

"What happened to the light?" Drake murmured in a low voice. He used the dim light from his phone's screen to flash at the light switch, and he flicked it on.

His eyes widened at what was happening on the wider sofa, far from where he stood.

There was a man on top of his girlfriend, their naked bodies gliding against each other.

Eyes narrowed, Drake gripped his chest in pain at the reality before his eyes.

They stopped and separated quickly, the man putting on his pants, and Regina wrapping the duvet around herself.

"Dra- Drake, please, I can explain..." Regina gulped. Her eyes widened.

Drake Miller, still frozen in shock, the engagement ring case slipping from his hand, crashed hard on the floor.

"Drake, it is not what you think. I just—" Regina couldn't finish her statement before Drake clenched his fists.

"It is not what I think? Is that what you take me for? A fool? How could you be so shameless, Regina?" He yelled, and Regina trembled.

The rage boiling in Drake made him vibrate as he struggled to maintain his anger.

"You brought a guy to my house to satisfy your sexual needs? How could you be so heartless to do this to me? I went through hell to get a ring, so that I could propose to you tonight, and coming back home I see you letting another guy have sex with you?"

His heart throbbed uncontrollably as the rage became more difficult to control with every passing moment.

"Talk to me, you cheat!" Drake yelled, and she sprang up from the sofa in anger.

"Okay, fine! You caught me having sex with another man, so what?" She yelled back at him.

"I do not even wear your ring yet, so why do I have to explain myself to a loser like you?" Regina blurted, her words cutting deep into Drake like a kick to the gut.

"So what, is that what you're saying? You cheat on me, and you're telling me you do not owe me any explanation?"

Drake's anger now transforming into genuine confusion. Regina woke up every day to tell him how blessed she was to have him. Even in the early morning of that same day before Drake went to work.

"Yes, you heard me right. I do not owe you any explanation. After all, you're not my husband; I have the right to give myself to anyone I want. Besides, this is not just anyone," Regina said, a smile crossing her face as she turned to the guy sitting on the sofa.

"This is Leo, the best thing that has ever happened to me. In case you don't know, I'll let you know the truth. Leo is my husband; we've been married for 3 years now," Regina said, as she kissed Leo on the lip.

Shock gripped Drake harder, and his mouth fell open as an unexplainable pain coursed through his vulnerable heart.

"You were always too desperate for love, so you were just the right fool for me. I never loved you, not even for a minute of all the times we spent together," she said, a wicked smile on her face.

"Leo here lost his job, and we were having a hard time, so we came up with the plan to make you fall for me. Thanks to your desperation for love, I took all your money to invest in Leo's businesses," she said.

Leo, enjoying the show beyond doubt, stood to his feet and walked to stand beside Regina, wrapping his hands around her waist.

"So, if anyone is supposed to be happy here, it is you. I bet any real girl would never like you anyway, but my wife gave you herself just for her love for me. You should be happy for the privilege, fool," Leo said, and they both erupted in loud laughter.

"You fooled me, all this time, you were married. You only used me to get money, two of my companies went bankrupt because of you, and the last one is just at the verge of collapsing," Drake said, his heart aching.

"Well, Drake Miller, I think you got it wrong there. You no longer have any company left, not even the crumbling one you mentioned," Regina said, and she then shared a knowing smile with Leo.

"What do you mean by that?" Drake asked, uncertainty clouding his voice.

"Well, remember that night I insisted we both get drunk? I made you sign off all your properties to Leo. I would have left you that day, but I still wanted to stick around long enough to take this house from you too," Regina revealed, and Drake's heart stopped for a few seconds.

"That's a lie!" Drake yelled, his heart echoing in his ear.

"I can never do that, not even if I'm drunk," Drake screamed, refusing to believe the cruel reality.

"You may also check your account balances; I swept both accounts clean and left the last one with a little money in it. I bet it was the account you used in purchasing this ring," Regina said.

Drake could not bring himself to believe that the wealth he had amassed for over 15 years had been swept out in a single day.

His hands were shivering violently as he grabbed his phone from his pocket and tried to check his account balances. His phone slipped from his hand when he saw a 0.00 reading in his account.

He raised his head, shivering in shock and rage that coursed through his body, and then he lunged forward at them.

Slap!!

Slapping Regina in the face, Regina quickly retaliated, slapping back. And then Leo quickly kicked him in the gut and pushed him to the floor.

Before Drake could get up, Leo rushed over and laid brutal punches all over his face.

"How dare you lay a finger on my wife?!" Leo screamed as he continued to beat him.

Regina pulled him off Drake.

"You're lucky my wife stopped me," Leo said. At this time, Drake could barely hear his voice; there was blood all over his face, and he was drowning in immeasurable pain.

"I will report this to the police; you'll regret everything you've done to me," Drake coughed those words out, blood flowing from his mouth.

"That is if you live to tell the story," Leo said, and before Drake could comprehend what he meant...

Bam!!

Leo pulled out a gun from nowhere and shot a bullet into his chest.

"Leo, No!!!" Regina screamed in fear.

Drake's neck weakened instantly, and his head fell to the side. He gasped one last breath, and he was gone.

"We have to get out of here, now!" Leo yelled.

+ + + + + 

It was only about 30 minutes after Regina and Leo had left that the blood from Drake's open bullet wound on the chest started to mingle with the heirloom locket he was wearing around his neck.

Drip, Drip!

The blood seeped into the locket, and suddenly, a tiny light emitted from its center, and it burst open.

Gasp!

Drake jolted his back up from the floor, his heartbeat returning. His eyes widened as he saw the bullet wound sealing up.

"What's happening? I should be dead," he murmured.

Suddenly, he heard a loud noise from outside, people screaming on top of their voices, and he ran to the window to check.

When he got to the window, his mouth dropped open at the first sight he saw—hundreds of dead humans raiding the streets, killing people.

"Zombies? Impossible…" He muttered in shock as fear gripped him.

In the midst of the confusion, he heard a female robotic voice call out from nowhere.

"SYSTEM ACTIVATED!"

UPGRADE COMPLETE

STRENGTH: 20%

SPEED: 30%

DEATH CHEAT: 3 LIFE PACKS

INFORMATION: Earth has taken a drastic turn in the minutes you were laying dead. An apocalypse has broken out on earth. The world is at the verge of its end.

GOAL 1: SURVIVE!