LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 3: Apocalypse
At the stroke of midnight, time on Earth seemed to freeze.
[Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt! World Announcement!]
[Hello there, my dear survivors! Good afternoon!]
[I am the Arbiter of Order! But you can also respectfully call me 'Lord God.']
[Welcome to the new world I've created just for you lucky folks!]
[The entire world is now data-driven. You've all been granted a personal data interface, and everyone gets a one-time opportunity to change their name.]
[Oh, by the way, the remaining seven billion people? I've turned them into zombies, and they're coming to hunt you down!]
[But don't worry! Death isn't the end—because, you know, you only get one life.]
[Also, all your food and water sources have been destroyed by yours truly. No chance for hiding and scraping by!]
[Now, a quick warning—spoilers ahead, so tread carefully!]
[First: All survivors will receive a wristband, which will serve as your key interaction tool.] [Second: Once you score your first kill, you'll unlock an opportunity to awaken a special ability.] [Third: By defeating zombies, you can gain experience points, coins, gear, items, and supplies.] [Fourth: You have a seven-day grace period. After that, zombies will grow far more aggressive and evolve rapidly.]
[In this world, anything is possible! Prepare for the challenge ahead!]
[Alright, a one-minute countdown begins now. Let's get this party started!]
[Enjoy the rich despair of this apocalypse!]
The Arbiter's voice sounded eerily innocent, like a mischievous child.
The message was transmitted to every survivor worldwide in an instant. Many dismissed it as a prank or hallucination.
But Astrea knew better. He had faced this nightmare before.
Despite his rebirth, he cautiously reviewed the rules. They were exactly as he remembered.
Without hesitation, he activated his wristband.
[Survivor 'Astrea,' welcome to the apocalypse!]
[Scanning… There are currently 209 survivors named 'Astrea' detected on Earth.]
[Would you like to rename yourself, or should the system automatically assign you "Astrea-47"?]
Astrea's lips twitched as he stared at the screen. Seeing the suggested name "Astrea-47" almost made him burst out laughing. "What's next? Am I supposed to be AK-47 now?"
[Apologies, survivor. The name 'AK-47' is already taken! Would you like the system to automatically rename you to 'AK-47b'?]
"Rename me to 'Lone Wolf,'" Astrea sighed, shaking his head in exasperation. The wristband's interface was still embarrassingly primitive—its intelligence barely above that of a glitchy chatbot.
[Ding! Confirm renaming to 'Lone Wolf'?]
"Confirm!"
Wolves are pack animals, known for their cooperation and teamwork during hunts. But wolves also possess a powerful sense of vengeance, never forgetting those who wrong them.
In any pack, however, the lone wolf is an anomaly—one who rejects control, choosing instead to take full responsibility for their own fate.
Astrea had chosen this name for a reason: vengeance.
In the apocalypse, the most dangerous enemy was never the zombies—it was always other humans.
Astrea had seen it all: brothers turning against each other, spouses murdering one another. No one was immune—not even himself. He had trusted others before, only to lose everything in the end.
Not this time.
This time, Astrea would walk a solitary path of revenge, climbing the mountain of his enemies' corpses, growing stronger with every step.
He opened his status panel.
Name: Lone Wolf
Class: None
Level: 1
Experience: 0/10
Strength: 10 (affects physical attack power) Spirit: 10 (affects magical attack power) Constitution: 10 (affects defense) Agility: 10 (affects movement and attack speed) Luck: 0 (affects item drop rates and random events)
Storage: 0.1 cubic meters
Equipment Slots: None
Primary Talent: Plunderer's Hand (SSS-tier)
Secondary Talents: None
Skill: Seize the Opportunity (1/1)
The four core attributes—strength, spirit, constitution, and agility—formed the foundation of every survivor's abilities. The Arbiter of Order allocated these starting stats based on a scan of each individual.
The minimum value was 1, the maximum 10. For an average adult, 5 was considered the baseline.
Astrea's stats had been completely average before—just 5 points in each attribute.
But after ten long years in the apocalypse, his combat skills and reflexes had been honed to near perfection.
Now, reborn with full stats, Astrea could hardly contain his excitement as he opened the talent panel.
World's First Kill!
And it had granted him an SSS-tier talent!
In this world, whether human, zombie, or mutated beast, growth potential was determined by talent.
Talents were ranked from the lowest, F-tier, to the legendary SSS-tier. The probability of awakening a high-tier talent decreased exponentially:
E-tier talent: 10% chance D-tier talent: 1% chance C-tier talent: 0.1% chance B-tier and above: Practically impossible for most survivors
For the top tiers, the odds were staggering:
S-tier: 1 in 1,000,000 SS-tier: 1 in 10,000,000 SSS-tier: 1 in 100,000,000
In the apocalypse, talents were as diverse as the survivors themselves. The higher the rank, the more powerful and awe-inspiring the effects.
For example:
F-tier: Scavenger – Survival supplies drop rate +50% D-tier: Regeneration – Healing effectiveness +100% A-tier: Lifesteal – Recover health by dealing damage
However, once talents reached S-tier and beyond, they became godlike abilities capable of turning the tide of any battle.
S-tier: Divine Release – Critical hit rate +100%; every attack is guaranteed to crit SS-tier: Dance of Death – All attacks ignore defense and shields, dealing true damage
In this world of despair, a saying echoed among survivors like a mantra:
"There are no bad talents, only people who don't try hard enough."
This phrase served as a source of hope, urging survivors to explore and master their abilities to their fullest potential.
In this brutal world, finding a place to belong meant carving out your path through blood and fire.
In his past life, Astrea had achieved greatness with his A-tier talent—Heart of the Mage.
It was this talent that propelled him to the rank of Firelord, a title revered by many. His story became the prime example for those who spread motivational platitudes, claiming that anyone could succeed through hard work and perseverance.
But reality was far less forgiving.
When Astrea looked around at other top-tier survivors, he noticed a pattern: nearly all of them possessed S-tier talents or higher.
Those so-called words of inspiration? They were nothing more than empty slogans for the masses.
The truth was that hard work alone wasn't enough. Success was built on the foundation of talent, luck, and relentless sacrifice. Every breakthrough Astrea achieved in his previous life was paid for with his sweat, blood, and tears.
It was just like the saying: Some are born worthless, and some are born in paradise.
This time, however, Astrea was no longer bound by those limitations. He glanced at his talent panel:
[Talent: Plunderer's Hand (SSS-tier)]
Talent Rank: SSS-tier, unique talent
Seize the Opportunity: Survivors with this talent gain the ability to plunder the talents of other living beings. With each level gained, the survivor can plunder one talent, rendering the target incapable of using it.
(Note: Special talents are immune to plunder.)
Current Uses: 1/1
Astrea's mind raced as he read the description. His heart pounded in his chest—he couldn't remain calm.
As the Firelord in his past life, he fully understood how critical talents were in determining one's fate.
A SSS-tier talent was so rare that it seemed almost mythical. The odds of awakening one were a staggering one in a billion.
Think about it—Earth's population was around 8 billion before the apocalypse. Even with 1 billion survivors, only ten of them would ever possess an SSS-tier talent.
And Astrea was one of them.
But that wasn't the most shocking part.
According to the talent description, he could plunder a talent from another being every time he leveled up. This was a power beyond imagination—a way to dominate and shape the world to his will.
Meanwhile, the other survivors? They'd only get their one and only talent from the first kill they made. For them, that was the ceiling. But for Astrea, his potential was limitless.
To awaken a second talent, survivors needed to reach Level 60.
This meant that most survivors wouldn't possess more than one talent until the mid-stage of the apocalypse.
Considering that the maximum level was 100, Astrea could theoretically acquire up to 100 talents.
With his ability to plunder talents, if he ever encountered someone with a powerful skill, he wouldn't hesitate to take it for himself.
The best part? There were no restrictions on his targets.
His talent wasn't limited to plundering other survivors. Any living creature could become a target. If he couldn't find a suitable talent among humans, he could turn his sights toward boss-level zombies. These monstrosities often had terrifying, god-tier abilities far beyond what any ordinary survivor could dream of.
As the one-minute countdown ticked down, Astrea took a deep breath and closed the panel. The air was heavy with anticipation, the tension of impending chaos tightening in his chest. Yet deep inside, a spark of excitement burned alongside the anxiety.
This was it. The apocalypse was about to begin.
At the moment of its arrival, Astrea—now the first survivor to awaken an SSS-tier talent—was rewarded with even greater fortune.
[Congratulations, survivor 'Lone Wolf,' for becoming the first to awaken an SSS-tier talent! You have obtained the unique achievement: Chosen One!]
[A world announcement is about to be broadcast!]
[Do you wish to hide your name?]
Astrea didn't hesitate for even a second. "No!"
He was ready to face this new world head-on.