Then it hit him. He groaned and covered his face with his hands.
“What the hell?!” he moaned, feeling a wave of exhaustion—not physical, but mental. “Did I seriously think I could slash monsters with a dull katana?!”
He shook his head, silently berating himself for the reckless stunt. In the last iteration, he hadn’t been sure there would be another restart. But now... now he knew. And if the system had given him another chance, it meant his actions had mattered.
David took a deep breath and opened his status screen. A semi-transparent window flashed before his eyes:
Name: David
Level: 2
Abilities:
- Sleep Resistance (Lv. 5)
- Rage (Lv. 1)
He stared at the new ability. Well, that explained what had happened at the end of the last cycle. The system had literally given him a berserker mode. Useful? Maybe. Dangerous? Hell yes.
He blinked and looked at the second ability. Five? Already level five? He knew he’d been awake for a long time, but he didn’t expect Sleep Resistance to level up that much. That would explain why, even after waking up, he didn’t feel as wrecked as usual (he was definitely not a morning person).
“Well, at least I got something useful out of last time,” he muttered, rubbing his neck.
Now he didn’t just know he could restart—he knew he could grow stronger with each try. And now, he had to use that chance properly.
David headed back to the office, already aware of the weak points from the last iteration. First, he reinforced the building’s defenses, bolstering the barricades where the dogs had broken through before. Then he made his way to the reactor, determined not to put it off any longer.
Wiring went much faster than before. He now knew where each cable went, which connections were the most troublesome, and he could fix mistakes right away without wasting time. Everything was going smoothly… until he got electrocuted.
A sharp jolt of pain shot through his arm, and a surge of anger overwhelmed him. In the next second, he slammed his fist into the electrical panel. A loud crack echoed through the room, sparks flew, and he realized he’d just destroyed part of the system he’d spent hours repairing.
“Damn it, what the hell was that?!” he gasped, catching his breath as he surveyed the consequences of his outburst.
His fists clenched again as the irritation began to boil inside him—but then he remembered his new ability.
“I really need to be more careful. I don’t even want to know what happens when this ability levels up a few more times... Will I even be able to turn it off?” David said aloud, thinking.
Inhale... exhale. He made a mental note: this new ability required control. If he wanted to survive and finish the job, he needed to manage himself better.
“Alright,” he muttered, assessing the damage. More work now, but nothing critical. He could handle it. The key was not making that mistake again.
Pulling himself together, he grabbed his tools and resumed working on the reactor, keeping his anger in check.
After another half a day (and only two more rage bursts!), David finally finished the wiring. He set his tools aside, took a few deep breaths, and went to his computer. Time to fix the bugs in the code.
After finishing an energy drink, he tossed the can into the trash—and made the shot! Could you even gain a skill for a good throw? David paused for a moment. Maybe he should also go easy on those drinks. Not exactly healthy. Then he snorted, imagining a status line: “Poison Resistance 1.”
Bug fixes went way faster than he expected. Each patch gave him a strange sense of satisfaction. He was working quickly, barely feeling tired.
“Sleep Resistance is a damn fine perk,” he thought.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
His eyes should have been closing by now, and his body should be demanding rest, but he still felt alert, though he knew this wouldn’t last forever.
Either way, he wasn’t planning to stop. The sooner the reactor was operational, the better his chances during the next wave.
Once the coding was done, David leaned back in his chair and exhaled. That’s it. He’d done it. Almost.
But before powering up the reactor, he had to make sure the perimeter was secure. He grabbed his revolver and hunting rifle, checked the ammo, and stepped outside.
This time, the dogs hadn’t broken through the defenses. He climbed onto the truck that blocked the main entrance and picked them off with the rifle.
After finishing off the last monster, he focused, feeling that same strange shift inside. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the sensation. If he interpreted it correctly, he was about halfway to the next level.
Returning inside, he locked the doors, reloaded his weapons, and went to the reactor. His hands trembled slightly from fatigue, but the anticipation of success kept him going. He shut off the temporary power, rerouted everything to the reactor, and hit the activation button.
A low hum of electricity surged through the building, and lights flickered on in the hallways. David smirked. It worked! He did it!
And then everything went dark.
A breaker had tripped.
“Crap,” he muttered, slapping his forehead. “I must’ve screwed something up.”
David mentally reviewed the number of dogs he’d killed. It was a decent count. Time was running short. If he started fixing the wiring now, the bigger, meaner ones would be here before he finished. No, he needed better gear.
He sat down at the computer and opened the city map. Thankfully, he had an offline version saved from a previous work project. His eyes scanned the streets until they landed on a police station. There had to be an armory there. The only question was how to get to it.
He could take his pickup, but driving while shooting at dogs? Too risky. Then an idea hit him.
“Kevin…” he murmured, turning to a nearby desk.
Kevin had been a tech nerd and anime fan—and he drove an electric car with autopilot. David stepped over to his workstation. Next to it lay a pile of clothes, which, David assumed, was the last place Kevin had been before vanishing.
He rummaged through the not-so-clean clothing and… there they were!
David clenched the keys in his hand and allowed himself a brief smile. Now he had a plan. All he had to do was get to the station and not get ripped apart on the way.
David climbed into Kevin’s electric car and quickly figured out the controls. He found the autopilot function on the dashboard, input the route to the police station, and hit “Go.” The car rolled forward—then stopped in front of the truck blocking the entrance. David stared blankly at it.
“Oh, right.” He paused the autopilot, moved the truck, and got back in.
The car smoothly resumed its journey, gliding silently through the empty streets. Once it picked up speed, David climbed out through the roof hatch, gripping the edges tightly and raising his rifle. He knew monsters might appear, and he wanted to be ready.
Sure enough, within minutes, the first one leapt out from an alley. The same demonic hound as in previous loops—elongated jaws, dripping black fur, glowing red eyes. It charged after the car but couldn’t keep up.
David raised the rifle, exhaled, and fired. The first shot missed, hitting a building. The second struck its leg but only enraged it. He aimed more carefully and pulled the trigger. The third bullet hit its skull. The dog yelped, tumbled across the asphalt, leaving a dark smear. The car drove on.
A few minutes later, David reached the police station. The car parked nearby, and he headed to the entrance.
Cautiously moving through the building, phone in one hand as a flashlight, revolver in the other, David finally came to a heavy door marked “ARMORY” (Go figure!). He pulled the handle—locked. Scanning the room, he noticed an officer’s discarded uniform. Checking the pockets, he found a keycard. A click—door unlocked.
Inside was the jackpot: shelves stacked with weapons and crates of ammo. Guns. Lots of guns. He began loading up with whatever he could carry, starting with shotguns and shells.
At that moment, the armory window shattered, and a demonic dog burst in. David barely had time to spin and shoot—the shot hit, but the beast kept moving. Two more rounds, and it collapsed.
Knowing he had to move fast, he dashed outside. He repositioned the car closer to avoid wasting strength hauling gear. After a few minutes of dragging crates and guns, everything was stashed in the trunk and back seat. He shut the door, climbed back into the hatch, and commanded the autopilot via voice to return to the office.
The car sped through the empty streets, David sticking out the hatch, hunting rifle at the ready. The AI guided the vehicle toward the office—but suddenly, a massive creature blocked the road. A huge dog stood directly in their path, glowing eyes locked on him.
The autopilot didn’t attempt to run it over. Instead, it stopped.
David didn’t hesitate—he raised the rifle and fired. The first shot grazed it, but the second hit its head, dropping the beast.
“Nice!” David exhaled—but before he could enjoy the victory, there was a thud. A second dog rammed the side of the car.
David nearly dropped the rifle but held on as the AI desperately tried to recalculate. With a dead monster blocking the road, it simply refused to proceed.
“Just go already, you dumb hunk of metal!” David barked. “Go around it, get on the sidewalk, take me home—now!”
The system’s response was not what he expected:
Playing: "Take Me Home, Country Roads…"
Familiar music started blasting through the speakers.
“Oh, come on!” David didn’t have time to finish cursing the car’s AI—another impact rocked the vehicle.
The second dog slammed into the side again. The car tipped, then rolled. David, still halfway out the hatch, struck his head against the pavement.