Echoes of a Lost World

chapter 07

Just to be safe, I turned off all the lights in the villa.

 "Oh," I thought, "this is a great opportunity to try out one of the cars downstairs."

As I opened the door to the basement and flipped on the lights. There were ten different cars parked there, each one more impressive than the last. Different styles, sizes—a car lover's paradise. It was simply a dream come true.

As I stood there, trying to decide which one to drive, the system's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"You can drive?" it asked, its tone dripping with sarcasm.

I was a little surprised since it rarely initiated conversation. "No, I can't," I admitted, "but how hard can it be?" I added with sky-high confidence.

I eventually chose a Hummer, thinking it looked tough and reliable. But the moment I turned it on, I made a wrong move, and the car jerked backward. I barely avoided crashing into the wall. If it weren't for the system screaming, "Hit the brakes!", I probably would've wrecked the thing.

"You're useless," it said with an air of arrogance.

I stepped out of the car, feeling a bit humbled. "Yeah," I muttered, "that was dangerous." I almost destroyed that masterpiece.

"You can just use your feet," the system said casually.

"Are you crazy? From here to outside the villa's grounds is already 3 kilometers. I'd die of exhaustion!" I complained, not thrilled at the idea.

"Not really, you're not the same as when you first came here," it replied, almost cryptically.

I didn't fully believe it, but deep down I knew the truth. Driving would be more dangerous than walking, given my lack of skill. So, I grabbed my bow—a magnificent one I found in the space—and started walking outside the villa. And, just as the system said, I didn't feel tired at all. After a short walk, I stopped in my tracks, shocked at what I saw.

This wasn't the same view I had two weeks ago when I explored the area, let alone when I first arrived. As a joke, I had planted the corpse eater trees around the villa's perimeter like a protective wall, thinking they'd keep wandering zombies at bay. Since I hadn't received any notifications of nearby zombies, I figured the place was safe.

But what I was seeing now was far from what I imagined. The trees had grown to towering heights, about 20 meters tall, and were heavy with fruit, so much that the branches were bending under the weight. From what I knew, each fruit required at least three to four zombies to ripen. These trees had consumed all those zombies without me even noticing. Just the thought sent goosebumps crawling up my arms.

So, if the area around the villa had transformed like this, what about the outer wall? With that thought in mind, I kept walking, and after about 20 minutes, I finally saw them—enormous trees towering far beyond what I'd imagined.

"I'm a genius!" That was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the trees. They were thriving, clearly getting more than enough nutrition from both my power and the zombies they had consumed. It was like paradise for them. As I approached, the branches moved closer, drawn to me, trying to absorb more of my power. But I could tell it wasn't out of malice, more like a child being tempted by candy.

"A pervert, you mean," the system commented dryly.

"Could you stop reading my mind? I'd like a little privacy, you know," I replied.

"I would if you didn't go around comparing corpse-eating trees to children," it shot back.

"Aw, are you jealous because I thought they were cute? Don't worry, your grumpiness is still my favorite," I teased as I continued walking.

"Shut up."

"Really, you're the cutest. By the way, what's your name? I never asked you that," I said, still in a playful mood.

"It's 'system' for you," it replied, clearly annoyed.

I chuckled. Typical.

"Come on, I can't keep calling you 'system.' How about I give you a name? 'Woffy'—isn't that cute? It's the name of my neighbor's cat. She had the same arrogance as you. Came over for food every day but wouldn't even let me touch her," I said jokingly, thinking back to the past.

"Don't you dare call me that ridiculous name," the system replied, sounding angrier than usual.

"Come on, it's cute!" I kept teasing, trying to get under its skin.

"No, it's not," it snapped back, then added, "You've already used your questions of the day. Don't call me again today."

"Aw, stay with me! Aren't you bored over there?" I asked, still hoping to pull it into more banter.

"Not enough to tolerate your teasing. Bye."

And just like that, it disappeared.

I chuckled to myself. The system really was like that cat—aloof, temperamental, but oddly endearing. Funny how it claimed I called it, when it was the one who came to chat first.

As I got closer to the towering trees, I finally saw how they consumed zombies. The trees' branches swiftly snatched the creatures and devoured them, one by one. So, that's how they feed. It dawned on me that I couldn't kill any zombies myself now—my bow was basically useless. I used my power, and a branch eagerly extended toward me, as if understanding my desire, creating a platform for me to stand on. It lifted me high enough to get a clear view of the fight below, which was over in seconds.

That's when I saw them.

Humans. It's been so long since I'd seen another living person. A group of five—four men and one woman. One of them was severely injured, his wounds looking pretty bad.

Just as I was about to retreat, a zombie that had been hiding behind their car launched an attack at the man carrying the injured one. Without a second thought, I nocked an arrow and let it fly. Thank God for archery club back in high school because the arrow hit its mark perfectly, a bullseye.

Ding!

A notification appeared, telling me I had completed the mission to kill a zombie. But before I could even think about hiding, I felt four pairs of eyes lock onto me.

Well, it looks like I've been noticed.

Hello, survivors!

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