"This game is a joke!"

Chloe's voice came through the family channel, followed by the pop of a champagne cork.

I was already in the recording studio.

It was small and dark, just as they'd said, but the soundproofing was perfect.

I could hear their faint laughter from upstairs, like it was coming from another world.

[Phase 2: Choose Your Talent.]

A new menu popped up.

[Option A: Weapon Mastery - Drastically improves accuracy and handling of all weapons.]

[Option B: Enhanced Physique - Increases strength, speed, and endurance.]

[Option C: Pocket Dimension - Grants extra inventory space.]

[Option D: Short-Range Teleport - Allows instant travel within a 50-meter radius.]

[Option E: Bio-Stasis - Slows down personal metabolism and viral activity.]

[Selection Time: 15 minutes.]

The family channel exploded with excitement.

"Weapon Mastery! Definitely Weapon Mastery!" Uncle Marcus shouted.

"We need people who can fight and run," Sarah added. "Enhanced Physique is good too."

Liam's voice cut through, calm and commanding. "Everyone pick a combat talent. We need a balanced team."

"I'll take the Pocket Dimension," Chloe cooed. "I can carry extra guns and supplies for all of us."

"Smart choice, honey," Liam praised. "Every good team needs logistics."

"Then I'll take Short-Range Teleport," Liam continued. "I can rescue teammates or scout ahead."

The others all called out their choices. Almost everyone went for Weapon Mastery or Enhanced Physique.

I stared at the description for Option E.

[Bio-Stasis: Drastically slows metabolism. Suppresses viral and toxic agents in the body. Side Effect: Reduced movement speed.]

It looked completely useless.

Choosing to make yourself slower in a survival game was suicide.

But I remembered everything.

[Player Ava has chosen: Bio-Stasis.]

The channel went quiet for a few seconds.

Then came the laughter, louder than before.

"Hahaha! What did she pick?"

"Bio-Stasis? What kind of garbage Talent is that?"

"Does she want to slowly starve to death in the basement?"

Chloe's laugh was the sharpest. "Oh my god, Ava! You're a genius! First the most useless sanctuary, now the most useless Talent! Are you trying to set a new record for stupidity?"

"Maybe she has her own plan," Liam said, though he sounded unconvinced.

"What plan? A plan to die faster?" Sarah shrieked.

A private message pinged.

[Liam: Ava, what are you doing? If this is about getting my attention, it's not the way.]

[Liam: I know you have a crush on me, but this is too much. You don't have to hurt yourself to prove a point.]

[Liam: We can talk after this is over. Just... be safe, okay?]

I almost laughed. Of course. Liam thought I was still in love with him.

In my last life, I was the lovesick fool who followed him around like a puppy.

This time, I just wanted to watch his perfect world burn to the ground.

[Talent selection countdown: 3... 2... 1...]

[Selection complete.]

[Talent Assignments:]

[Weapon Mastery: Marcus, Sarah, David, and 5 others.]

[Enhanced Physique: Emma, James.]

[Pocket Dimension: Chloe.]

[Short-Range Teleport: Liam.]

[Bio-Stasis: Ava.]

"The perfect team comp!" Liam announced on the channel. "We have firepower, mobility, and support. This game is already ours."

The others cheered.

"One less piece of dead weight to carry," someone muttered.

"Let her rot in the basement."

I muted the channel and started checking the studio's equipment.

It was even better than I remembered.

On top of the soundproofing, it had an independent air purifier and a stash of emergency rations.

There was even a small generator.

Grandpa had clearly built this place to last.

I could feel a subtle change in my body.

My metabolism was slowing, my heartbeat evening out, my breaths growing deeper.

It felt strange, like the whole world was in slow motion.

The sounds of celebration drifted down from the family channel.

They were already handing out weapons and making patrol schedules.

A party of the dead, and they didn't even know it.

The app's cold tone pinged again.

[Talent selection is complete. The Reckoning begins.]

Day one. The game began.

Gunshots echoed from outside.

I watched on the studio's security monitor as dozens of slow-moving figures shambled around the estate.

Their skin was a sickly grey, their eyes vacant. They moaned, mouths hanging open.

Zombies.

But just as I expected, they were incredibly slow. They looked like they could do little more than bite.

The family channel was on fire.

"This is too easy! These things are slow as turtles!"

"One-shot headshots!"

"This isn't a survival game, it's target practice!"

Chloe's voice was the most excited. "Darlings! Watch this!"

On screen, she raised a sniper rifle and aimed at the nearest zombie.

BANG!

The zombie's head exploded.

Chloe immediately held up her phone for a selfie, the headless corpse in the background.

"Perfect shot!" she bragged on the channel. "We should celebrate!"

"Celebrate what?" Liam's voice cut in.

"Our victory, of course!" Chloe giggled. "These slowpokes are no threat at all! We should have a party!"

She paused, then her voice got even more excited.

"I know! Let's crank the estate's sound system! Blast some music! It'll make this zombie hunt way more fun!"

"Good idea," Sarah agreed instantly. "These things are deaf and blind anyway."

"I'll go turn it on!" said Marcus.

A few minutes later, deafening rock music blasted through the estate.

The thumping bass and crashing drums vibrated all the way down to the basement.

Even through the soundproofing, I could feel the intense vibrations.

My family was on a killing spree, laughing and shooting to the rhythm.

"This is awesome!"

"We're apocalypse hunters!"

"Bring it on! More!"

Their laughter and screams mixed with the music, creating a head-splitting racket.

My private messages pinged.

[Liam: Ava, are you okay? Is it too stuffy down there?]

[Liam: I can protect you if you want to come up.]

[Liam: Even though you chose a strange talent, I won't abandon you.]

Before I could reply, Chloe's voice dripped into the channel. "Oh, Liam, darling. Why are you wasting your breath on that coward?"

Her tone suddenly turned sharp.

"She chose to hide in the basement, which means she doesn't trust us! If she wants to be a lone wolf, let her!"

"Chloe, be nice," Liam tried to placate her. "Ava is still my stepsister, our family."

"Family?" Uncle Marcus chimed in. "Real family sticks together, they don't hide in a corner!"

"Exactly!" Sarah agreed. "She's just trying to be different!"

"And she hasn't said a word on the channel," another cousin, David, added. "Who knows what kind of scheme she's plotting?"

"She's just spreading bad vibes," said Emma. "I vote we mute her. We don't need her ruining the mood."

"Good idea," Marcus agreed instantly. "We need unity in wartime. No room for pessimism."

"What does everyone else think?" Sarah asked.

A chorus of agreement.

"Mute her!"

"I support it!"

"She doesn't talk anyway!"

Only Liam hesitated. "Isn't that a bit much..."

"Darling," Chloe interrupted him sweetly, her tone leaving no room for argument. "You have a whole family here to protect, including your fiancée. She chose to isolate herself. We're just respecting her choice."

[System Alert: Channel Admin Liam has muted Player Ava.]

I looked at the notification and a cold smile touched my lips.

Everything was going according to plan.

I got up and started reinforcing the studio's soundproofing, pulling extra acoustic foam from a storage locker and sealing every crack around the door and walls.

When the music outside hit its peak, I felt it then—a strange thrumming deep in my blood. Something ancient and hungry was waking up inside me, agitated by the noise.

But just as quickly, my Bio-Stasis kicked in. My metabolism slammed on the brakes, and the agitated microbes settled back into a deep, quiet slumber.

The truth of the game was simple.

The virus wasn't spread by a bite.

It was activated by sound.

The party upstairs raged on, my family lost in the thrill of the slaughter.

They had no idea that every gunshot, every scream, every beat of the music was waking up the plague inside them.

And my "stupid" choice, the one they mocked and isolated me for, was the only thing keeping me alive.

"Another round!" Chloe yelled on the channel. "Crank the music to max! Let these zombies feel the power of rock!"

The music got even louder.

Through the monitor, I watched my cousin David spray a crowd of zombies with bullets. Then he suddenly doubled over. He slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a hacking cough.

When he pulled it away, I saw it: dark red veins crawling up his neck like angry vines.

But David just shook his head and thumped his chest.

"Probably just drank too much," he said to the person next to him.

No one paid attention.

The party wasn't over.

Absolute silence.

It was the most precious luxury I'd ever known.

I took stock of my supplies in the recording studio: thirty cans of food, twenty bottles of water, a water purifier, and enough energy bars for a week.

There was also Grandpa’s old whiskey and a first-aid kit stocked with every medicine imaginable.

Best of all, deep in a storage locker, I found a full surveillance monitoring station and a pair of noise-canceling headphones.

My Bio-Stasis drastically reduced my needs.

Normally, this food would last four days. For me, it would last two weeks.

Cheers thundered from above.

"Zombie shooting contest starts now!" Sarah's voice was shrill. "Whoever gets the most kills is today's MVP!"

Gunshots rained down.

"Twelve!"

"Fifteen!"

"I'm at twenty already!"

Every shot was followed by wild laughter and screams.

They were treating the end of the world like a carnival.

The rock music from the speakers got faster, the bass so heavy the whole estate seemed to shake.

"This isn't exciting enough!" Chloe's voice announced. "I have a surprise for you all!"

On the monitor, I watched her reach into what looked like an ordinary handbag and start pulling things out.

One by one, military-grade weapons appeared.

"Holy hell!" Marcus gasped. "Where did you get those?"

"The perks of a Pocket Dimension!" Chloe said proudly. "I cleaned out the family armory!"

She kept pulling them out: assault rifles, sniper rifles, grenades, even a couple of rocket launchers.

"Now we're talking!" David shouted, grabbing for an assault rifle. "Give me one!"

"Wait." Chloe's smile vanished. She pulled the arsenal behind her. "This is valuable equipment. And I will manage it."

"What do you mean?" James frowned.

"I mean," Chloe lifted her chin, "I decide who gets what. It's my talent. My supplies. My call."

The air went still.

"Are you kidding me?" Sarah's voice turned sharp. "We're a team!"

"Exactly, we're a team," Chloe said sweetly. "And as the quartermaster, it's my job to distribute resources properly."

"Who made you quartermaster?" Marcus grumbled.

"Because I'm the only one who can put them back in the pocket," Chloe said, as if it were obvious. "If we need to move fast, scattered weapons will just slow us down."

"That's bullshit!" David coughed, his voice hoarse. "Why do you get to decide?"

"David, you okay?" Liam asked, noticing his cough.

"I'm fine!" David snapped, but his eyes were losing focus. "I just want a decent damn gun!"

He lunged, trying to rip the rifle from Chloe's grasp.

"Get your hands off my stuff!" Chloe shrieked, yanking it back.

David's movements turned violent.

His eyes started to turn bloodshot as he growled, reaching for her.

"David!" Several people jumped in, holding him back.

"Let go of me! Let go!" David thrashed wildly, his strength shocking. "I want the gun! Give me the gun!"

On his neck, the dark red veins grew more prominent.

"What's wrong with him?" Sarah backed away in fear.

"Could be the alcohol," Liam said, trying to stay calm. "David, listen to me. Take a deep breath."

Strangely, Liam's calm voice seemed to work. David slowly stopped struggling.

He blinked, the wild look in his eyes fading.

"I... what just happened?" David looked around, confused.

"You got too excited," Liam said, patting his shoulder. "Go rest for a bit."

"Probably just exhausted from all the fighting," Marcus said, giving him an out. "We all need a break."

"Yeah, just tired." David nodded and walked toward a sofa.

But I saw it clearly on the monitor. As he turned, a flicker of something alien flashed in his eyes.

The virus was waking up inside him.

During the chaos, Chloe had already stashed all the weapons back in her Pocket Dimension.

"See? This is why we need centralized management," she said, patting her handbag smugly. "When emotions run high, anyone can do something dangerous."

The others looked at each other but finally gave in.

After all, no one could take that pocket from her.

The music started again, but it wasn't as loud this time.

David's sudden outburst had put everyone on edge.

I muted the family channel, put on my noise-canceling headphones, and pulled up a silent film I'd downloaded onto a tablet.

Black and white pictures. No sound.

This was the world I needed.