Gary looked around for Leah in that neighborhood but didn’t find her. He waited for a few hours at his house, hoping Leah would return, but she didn’t. So, he had no other choice but to go looking for her. He roamed the streets which were already getting quite dangerous at this point. He saw a dead dog rise out of the tar road and madly growl like a maddened zombie beast.
He couldn’t help but greatly worry for Leah, not knowing what she was doing or where she went, let alone how she’d survive in this doomsday-esque day, where anybody could kill anybody without giving any reason whatsoever.
There were trees everywhere, and he was yet to meet a single human even though he had walked many miles.
“Everyone seems to have turned into trees, so why didn’t Leah and I turn?” Gary voiced his mind, not at all expecting that the system would answer his question.
[You’re wearing an energy crystal, aren’t you? That thing saved you and your girlfriend.] Ai responded.
“What?” Gary was pleasantly surprised. “A-Are you saying this little shungite pendant saved me?”
[That’s a pure energy stone, and it’s mixed with your pure energy, which gives it the power to repel the dark energy. Your blood is also pure. That’s why even though there may be others who were wearing similar energy stones, they still got turned into trees. Only those who are pure in flesh and heart would have survived that dark explosion, which means only the virgins and faithful couples wearing some kind of pure energy stones would have survived that dark energy blast.]
“That’s…” Gary didn’t know what to say. “I-It’s still hard to believe that a tiny stone can do such a thing.”
[Oh, it can. Once you raise your levels, you’ll be able to see how even a tiny dust particle floating in the air will have a purpose. Nothing that’s ever created is useless, and it will not perish until it serves its purpose. The same is the case with you. You will not die unless you serve your purpose.]
“My purpose…”
[Yeah, it could be saving the world, or just becoming monster poop.]
“Geez…” Gary shook his head. “You don’t have to be so harsh.”
[I’m just putting facts out there, so you wouldn’t think you’re not going to die just because you have me, Ai, who can help you save the world.]
“You don’t have to tell me that. I know that you don’t make me invincible because Chun Fu had you and still died, didn’t he?”
[Yeah. That’s right. So, let’s start leveling up. You need to get stronger if you want to defeat the seven keys.]
“We can worry about the seven keys after I find Leah.” Gary was greatly worried about her, hoping she didn’t touch the dark witch’s body and go crazy.
[Listen, Gary. Let me be frank.] Ai’s voice turned serious. [If you let the seven keys be, your world will go through more and more changes.]
“I don’t care,” Gary growled. “Leah is more important to me than the world.”
[... Alright. I’ll give you 24 hours. If you can’t find her within that time, you should stop looking for her and listen to my words. Do you agree?]
“Of course, I won’t.” Gary didn’t even hesitate to respond.
[Then, do you want me to choose someone else?]
Gary’s heart skipped a beat. “W-What? You can change hosts?”
[Of course, I can. I’m the hero cultivating system. I can make an ordinary ant into an extraordinary ant if you get what I mean.]
Gary frowned deeply. “One week. Give me that much time. If I still don’t find her, then I will listen to you.” He didn’t want to lose Ai because he knew he wouldn’t survive in this apocalyptic world without the strength of the system.
Just then, he entered an alley.
[Stop. Look up.] Ai warned.
Gary looked up, and a living human was caught in a spider web, and a giant spider was doing its ritual before its meal. “What the hell is that?” his blood curdled from watching this gruesome scene.
Ai scanned the monster. [Blood Spider. Level 10. You can fight it, but there’s no guarantee that you’ll win since fighting this crawling beast can be tricky. However, if you defeat it, you’ll not only level up but also gain a blood crystal that will help you boost your attributes.]
“Attributes?” as Gary was asking, the spider saw him and jumped down immediately. It stood over ten feet in height, and with its many eyes, it looked hideous to say the least. “How am I going to fight this thing?” Gary grew anxious.
[Don’t move. Use your skill the moment it attacks.] Ai advised.
The spider sprang forth, bounced off the walls, releasing webs along the way, and went past Gary without attacking him and created more webs behind him.
“It’s trying to trap me,” Gary’s heart rang in his ears. “You told me to wait. Now, look! How am I going to escape this?”
[Remember what I said.] Ai maintained her calmness. [Wait until it attacks.]
Gary was quite frustrated, but he had no other choice but to listen to the system. He patiently waited as the spider also sat on top of a few webs and kept staring at him.
The staring contest went for a while, and Gary had enough of it. “Leah must be waiting for me. I can’t waste my time with this damn spider.” He rushed forward and threw his fists at the webs before him. Fist-shaped golden flames leaked out of his arm and struck the thick webs and melted them.
Gary managed to run through the melting webs and escape the alley, but the spider got greedy and chased him. As the spider closed the distance, Gary turned around and threw his fist.
His fist struck the spider’s face and paralyzed its body pretty fast.
“I-It worked,” Gary was not expecting a simple punch to be so effective. “I didn’t think that the ghouls’ paralyzing effect would work through my fist. This is superb!”
[You can celebrate later. This spider has some resistance to poison.] Ai warned. [So, kill it before it frees itself.]
Gary immediately started kicking and punching. He was no expert in fighting. All that he had was his gaming experience, but to his surprise, he was able to move his arms and legs how he wanted them to move. His body was responding properly to his thoughts, and so his attacks proved good enough to break the spider’s bones and destroy it into bits and pieces.
The spider died without even screaming, and Gary could feel the spider’s energy entering his body.
But its blue blood fell on his clothes, and it felt terrible.
“Did I level up now?” he asked.
[Nope. You’re still level 11, but the more you fight and kill, the faster you’re going to level up by draining their energy.]
“Tch,” Gary rushed back into the alley and climbed the webs to get to the human stuck in the web, but to his shock, the human was already poisoned and was very close to dying.
“H-Help…” the human was utterling, but then life left his eyes right before Gary, twisting his gut.
[One day.] Ai stated. [I’ll give you one day. If you can’t find Leah within 24 hours, I’ll find another person.]
Gary DID NOT like the way Ai was threatening him.“Fine. If I’m not able to find Leah within 24 hours, then you can go where you want,” Gary bluntly said. “I’m not going to think about anything else until I know what happened to Leah.”Ai liked his resolve, but she blurted. [You misunderstood me, Gary. If Leah had actually touched the dark witch’s body, then she’s probably already being infected by parasitic energy. If you don’t find her within 24 hours, then she’ll have completely gone crazy or will have become a completely different person. Then, you won’t be able to save her, not with the strength you have now. Maybe, if Chun Fu was alive, he would have done something, but Chun Fu is no more. Do you get what I’m saying?]“You are not lying to me, are you?” Gary inquired. “If you have the ability to do a wide-radius search, then do it right now and find where Leah is.”[For me to be able to do that, you should at least cross level 100 as your senses will sharpen from then on.] Ai an
The sky was still bright with the thunderbolts criss-crossing crazily with no end in sight. A brother was carrying his wounded sister of 16 and brought her to the hospital, hoping someone would be there to help her.But what awaited him were zombies that jumped onto them and devoured them alive. Soon, the siblings soon turned into zombies as well. And they roamed the neighborhood with half-eaten bodies. Both of them still had energy stone pendants hanging around their necks.Hearing the sound of footsteps, they ran toward the source, and what awaited them was Gary.With his fists, he destroyed their heads. The brother and sister were killed with one punch as their levels were weak, whereas the higher leveled zombies required multiple punches.One of the other zombies managed to bite on Gary’s fist, but having already absorbed the energy of zombies, he had developed the resistance to the parasitic virus flowing through zombie’s saliva as well as their sweat and their very breath.He di
There were many reasons why Gary ran away after seeing the tiger zombie. Ai had told him that he would be able to level up faster than others, so when he himself was level 18, how could there be a level 25 tiger zombie?Did this mean that the levels of animals were built differently compared to humans? Or was there something else that Gary didn’t know about.There were so many questions running through his mind, and the downright scary appearance of the tiger zombie didn’t help that either.Despite how he felt, he had to attack this monster for the sake of reaching his goal. He jumped and kicked up at the tiger as it came down at him.Before his leg could hit the tiger, its long paw struck his chest and sent him packing down to the ground. The tiger zombie landed on the ground and sprang forth to pounce upon him while he was still on the ground.[Get up!] Ai shouted. [You can’t fight that monster on the ground!]Gary, however, clenched his fist and readily threw his fist at the tiger
After defeating the tiger zombie, Gary received 20 free stat points. He didn’t use them but kept them as available so he could use them all when needed.[Name: Gary Lennon.Title(s): Zombie Killer.Age: 27.Level: 20XP: 110/200HP: 1204/2100STR(Strength): 759STA(Stamina): 380DEF(Defense): 330SPD (Speed): 352AGL(Agility): 301Available stat points: 20Energy Pot: Ghoul, Spider beast, lizard, zombie]Though he killed more types of beasts, he didn’t absorb their energy as per Ai’s advise.“I lost more than sixty percent of my health in the fight,” Gary thought. “After I leveled up, some of my health recovered, but it’s not much. Still, I can’t believe that even with my abnormally high strength stat, I was still overpowered by the tiger. If I hadn’t striked the spots that you told me to, I probably would have lost. The zombie’s defense was also stronger than me, how did I exactly win?”[Simple. The thigh has joint points, and I made you strike there from the side, and the tiger zomb
[You fucked up! Run!]“Where to?” Gary asked. As far as his eye could see, the streets and rooftops were full of monsters of all kinds. “Running away will not help me find Leah. Didn’t you say I shouldn’t run away if I want to think about saving the world?”[That’s…] Ai couldn’t find words at the moment.Gary turned around and walked to the center of the rooftop. It was a building with a little over 10,000 square feet in area, so there was plenty of space on the rooftop. It should be enough for a battleground.Gary stood there and waited for the monsters to come to him. The first monster that came upstairs was a land bird that resembled both ostrich and kangaroo, but it looked very terrifying.Gary instantly remembered the Terror Bird he saw in games. This was like a terror bird with arms as well. And its scream was ear-piercing.[It’s level 31!] Ai hurriedly said. [If you get hit by its beak once, you’re dead!]Gary clenched his fist as the monster bird furiously flapped its little w
A group of humanoid spider monsters were sniffing and searching everywhere as they roamed the streets.Through two small holes in a wall, a young lady was observing what was happening outside. She had a long thick brown braid that reached all the way below her bum. “These spider monsters are everywhere. They are in dozens,” she looked at the people behind her, most of whom were injured.“Can’t we escape without being seen?” an elderly man asked. “If we leave this city, then maybe, we’ll get to a safe place. There’s a mountain in the west. The monsters probably won’t get there.”“Unfortunately… these monsters are not that easy to fool,” she said. “They are leaving tiny threads everywhere. Those threads will probably send them signals if we touch them. Even I will have a difficult time crossing these roads without alerting them. Once I get spotted, I’m done for.”Her words didn’t help them at all. “You’re level 34, aren’t you? Even you can’t do anything, Sesi?”The brown-haired woman Se
More than thirty monsters with upper bodies of humans and lower bodies of spiders came climbing the building from every direction.Naturally, Sesi screamed in fright. “We should go!” Though she said that she had no way of escaping them because even though she was at a higher level than the spiders, the spiders were faster than her!However, Gary didn’t look the least bit interested in running away.He grabbed Sesi’s hand and picked her up into his arms, startling her.“W-What are you…” Sesi’s face flustered.He threw her up high into the air. “Kyaa!” Sesi let out a cute scream because she really wasn’t expecting that. She thought he was going to run while carrying her in his arms, but not this!The spider monsters did not care about Sesi right now because Gary was right in front of them, and they shot webs from every direction. But none of their webs hit Gary, for he turned into a blur and utterly destroyed the bodies of the spider monsters with his punches. One punch was all it took
Gary was walking in the street, with his eyes closed. He was searching for Leah’s presence.Sesi was fighting the monsters in front of him. (He said he wants to save the world, but he’s looking for his lost lover? Can I really believe his words?)She mostly used her braid to get the job done. As long as she wasn’t outnumbered, she managed to beat the monsters and level up.Gary didn’t step in unless it was necessary as this would help her level up fast.In a matter of an hour, Sesi reached level 40, and she was thrilled about it.“I’ve played a few games in the past, but this is much more exciting,” Sesi told him. “I don’t even have to punch or kick, and I can still kill monsters without getting my clothes dirty. This is a really cool ability. If I hadn’t encountered that long-tailed rabbit, I wouldn’t have acquired this skill.”What Sesi noticed was that she got new skills only after defeating monsters that were leveled higher than her. No matter how many low-leveled monsters she ski