Chapter 5: The More Skills, The Better

Feeling a bit sentimental, Memphis pulled out his backpack and stuffed all the found items inside. After some thought, he searched through 5 of his colleagues' wallets, hoping to have something to hand over if he met their families.

He also took Hughie's coat, a long and thick one, perfect for protection.

Using Miley Cramer's skirt to wrap his hand and Jonny Byrne's remaining cap, Memphis finally covered himself completely.

He looked around the office one last time, seeing the rotting corpses of his comrades, quietly mumbling:

"Sorry... I will avenge you all..."

He turned towards the door, a determined plan forming in his mind.

But first, he had to escape this building.

Memphis's office was located at the end of the hallway on the third floor of the building. To reach the staircase on the other side, he had to pass by the secretary's office, the director's office, the second office, and then the separate security room along the hallway, before finally reaching the emergency exit stairs.

He carefully moved the storage cabinet, pressed his ear against the door, and listened intently.

Wheeze... wheeze...

"There are people, no, there are zombies, and more than one..."

Memphis mumbled in the room. He heard rustling and wheezing sounds outside, and there were two to three different sounds, likely coming from different zombies.

Gently turning the doorknob, trying not to make any noise, Memphis peered out.

Right outside the door was a zombie in a company uniform. From the shape of its back, it seemed to be Fergus Clark, a colleague from the neighboring office.

Three meters away were two zombies, one male and one female. The zombie on the left had its chest gnawed to a ragged state, with only one cyan, swollen breast remaining, looking like it was about to burst. The zombie on the right was tall and muscular, clearly one of the company's security guards.

As soon as Memphis cracked open the door, the Fergus Clark zombie turned around, as if it smelled fresh human flesh. Its blood-smeared mouth opened wide, and its single red eye glared at him.

With quick movements, Memphis immediately swung the door wide open, holding his breath, and swung the bat forward.

Thud!

Since Memphis had the advantage of preparation, the zombie didn't have a chance to resist. Its ugly head was smashed, and its rotting body collapsed to one side.

The remaining two zombies instantly heard the noise, turned with hissing sounds, and quickly advanced towards him.

Among them, the security guard zombie clearly moved faster, almost as quickly as a normal person walking, with its arms outstretched, ready to grab its prey.

Memphis felt a bit tense. This zombie was two heads taller than him, with a bulky body, making it difficult to deal with. Its long arms swayed threateningly, and if he got caught, escape would be nearly impossible.

He initially wanted to maneuver around it, attack from behind, but the narrow hallway and the zombie's flailing arms made that impossible. He had no choice but to strike its wrist with the bat.

Thud!

The baseball bat hit the zombie's arm but bounced back, causing Memphis some pain. He quickly retreated, with the zombie in hot pursuit.

Roar...

A beast-like growl echoed, and Memphis struck two more times, one hitting the zombie's throat, but it still didn't kill it. It only broke one of its arms, making Memphis silently curse his luck.

He could only muster his willpower, and a sharp two-meter-long ice spear appeared in his hand, which he thrust into the zombie's eye socket.

Thunk!

The ice spear easily pierced through the zombie's skull, freezing its entire head solid, preventing any blood from spurting out. The zombie instantly froze, its body collapsing to one side, dead beyond doubt.

Memphis quickly pulled out the ice spear, his hand channeling energy as he threw it at the remaining female zombie.

However, his spear-throwing skills were terrible. The spear only hit the zombie's chest, piercing through it, causing it to pause momentarily before it continued to stagger forward, albeit at a much slower pace.

Memphis focused his mind again, and a second ice spear appeared in his hand. This time, he didn't throw it but instead directly thrust the ice spear into the female zombie's head, ending its miserable existence.

'Still, it cost me 1 point of intelligence.'

Memphis calculated in his mind. So, simply conjuring an ice spear would cost intelligence points. His plan to spam ice spears from a distance was dead before it even began.

He quickly stopped maintaining the skill, and the ice spear in his hand evaporated rapidly, leaving only a faint puddle of water.

At this moment, Memphis noticed an item dropped beside the guard zombie's corpse. It was a small, white, ethereal book about the size of a fist, clean and free of blood.

"What is this?"

Memphis, curious, poked the book with his baseball bat. Seeing no danger and realizing it resembled a loot drop, he eagerly picked it up.

"Ding! Passive Skill Book Level 1: Scout's Eye! Skill Attribute: Allows scouting of basic monster attributes. Skill Activation: No consumption. Note: Scouting power depends on the skill level and the owner's level."

"Ding! Learn now?"

Damn, this is a great skill, no consumption, and it allows clear scouting. Memphis delighted, immediately chose:

"Learn! Quickly learn!"

"Ding! Learning successful!"

Following the mechanical voice, Memphis felt a slight warmth in his eyes. He tried looking down at the two corpses at his feet.

"Infection Type Level 1, can infect living beings into the same type."

"Infection Type Level 3, can infect living beings into the same type."

"Huh, level 3? No wonder it's stronger than usual. Wait, does this mean I get more experience?"

Memphis looked at the corpse at his feet and quickly pulled up the attribute table.

"Host Memphis Jackman. Purebred Human.

Occupation: Commoner.

Level: 2 (Exp 5/20)

Strength: 8/10

Agility: 7/10

Stamina: 8/12

Intelligence: 6/10

Recovery: 7/10

Endurance: 7/10

Breakthrough: 11%

Active Skills: Ice Manipulation.

Passive Skills: Scout's Eye.

Skill Points: 1

Potential Points: 0

Bright Points: 9

Weapons: Baseball bat."