Return of the last survivor

After 35 minutes, everyone was gathered in the lobby of the base, chattering with each other.

"What do you think this is about?"

"No idea. Boss must have something important to say I guess?"

At this moment, Merlin appeared in front of them. Suddenly, the entire hall quietened down. Even those new members who hadn't met with Merlin up till now, knew the authority he held here from the reactions of those around them.

"Alright. Firstly, I would like to introduce someone new."

As he said that, Merlin used pure mana to pull Kyle out of the crowd.

"Little Kyle here will be the leader of Group 7."

Instantly, a round of chatter began, but was cut by Merlin's continuing voice.

"He is what is known as a player. In the next 4 minutes, each of you will receive a notification from Arcania. If you have read any novels or comics, you should have an understanding of the situation. For those who are still clueless, Arcania is like the system you use in RPG games to see your character's statistics. I will also explain further when that happens. But first, let me show you something."

Merlin took out his pistol and shot Kyle's left hand. Many in the crowd unconsciously closed their eyes to avid seeing needless bloodshed.

However, when they opened their eyes, they saw not blood on the floor, nor a hole in Kyle's hand. Merlin then reached out and pulled a piece of scrap metal up from the floor.

Displaying it to everyone, Merlin continued.

"Arcania allows you to grow stronger. Currently, Kyle here is at Tier 0 Level 4. His body is strong enough to deflect such low calibre bullets. A player is someone who has had access to the system since the beginning of the Apocalypse 3 days ago. I am also one of such people. Since I have become this strong, It would not be strange for someone else to become strong as well. An example is Little Kyle here. He should be about 60% as strong as me. Ah it should be here by now-"

Suddenly, everyone's ears rang and a blue projection appeared before their eyes.

Gasps of shock came from around the lobby, and everyone explored this new development.

Patiently waiting for around a minute or so, Merlin then continued to explain.

"As you can see, you will have your status displayed in front of you. The stats should be self-explanatory. Let me tell you a little about the system. In order to grow stronger, you need to kill zombies. For every killed zombie, you will receive evolution points, and stat points. Stat points are used to increase your stats, while evolution points are automatically sent to the levelling sub-system. Every time you level up, the max limit on each of the stats will increase. If you have any questions, ask the players here.

Moving on to a different topic, you should have all noticed something right? I have a blue arrow hovering above my head right? This is what you call a 'Player's Mark' and it is the indication that the person is a player. You can see one on Kyle's head, Alice's head, and Max's head. These guys are player as well. You can ask them for guidance to levelling.

My only order to all of you, is to be careful of all players. Even though you have the system now, you are all too weak compared to players. If you see one, just return to base as soon as possible. Your life might be in danger. The base has its own Players, and so is the safest place you can go to if you notice a player.

Also, for those greedy few who intend on stealing kills from others, let me tell you that Arcania gives stat ad evolution points based on contribution to the battle, and not who gets the last hit.

Your team leaders will remain the same, and your daily movements will also remain the same. Children will be allowed to chill in a few of the rooms on the first floor. The rest of you will be divided into groups. Life will be tough from here on out. Eating, sleeping, and even going to the washroom will be done when your team is given breaks. Your life will be hard. But in return, you will survive. From now on, 1 group will go out to collect food, and another will go out to find their families and a few friends. Don't get too many people, as food will have to be provided by you for everyone you get. Instead of getting friends, who might also want to bring their family and friends, you should focus on your own family. I will not sugar-coat anything.

Many people will die, and life will be tough. But to those who will be able to survive this Apocalypse, I hereby welcome you to my group; Epizón."

With this, Merlin disappeared once again and returned to his room, to train the Law set and both recover and increase his mana.

Before he did that, he accepted the reward for clearing the dungeon.

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You have acquired the Master Skill [Magic Runes]

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Without looking into the details of the skill, Merlin immersed himself into practicing the law set.

While practicing the law set, Merlin was making his next plans. He had to find to location of the Mana crystal vein. However, the vein would not appear until the first mana burst, which would be at the end of the first year. Furthermore, the number of Tier 1 being on the planet was too little, and it would be incredibly inefficient for Merlin to run around the world trying to search for Tier 1 creatures to kill.

Instead, he decided to focus on levelling his skills, and practicing the elemental law set.