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 answered.
Gary couldn’t tell if she was telling him the truth or not. “If I later find out that you’re lying, then you’ll lose my complete trust.”
[You’re free to do whatever you want, Gary, just like how I’m free to do whatever I want,] Ai casually said. [After all, we’re still pretty much strangers to one another. I don’t know much about you, and you don’t know much about me.]
“Stop bullshitting me. You’re able to talk in my slang, so obviously, you read my memories or something,” Gary voiced his mind.
[Haha, you’re right. I know about you, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re still strangers.]
Gary couldn’t help but frown. He had only 24 hours left to find his girlfriend, so the sheer tension clutching and gnawing at his heart was palpable in his expression. “How fast can I get to level 100?” he asked because Ai had told him that level 100 was necessary to use his senses to scan for Leah.
[It depends on you.]
“Is it possible to reach that level within 23 hours?” he asked.
Ai went silent for a second.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
[If you want to achieve that, then you can’t be wasting even a second.]
Those were all the words that Gary needed to hear to confirm that increasing levels up to 100 within 24 hours might just be possible.
Gary exited the alley and looked for the monsters. The first beast he came across was a fifteen feet long lizard crawling up a building. Hearing his footsteps, its eyes rolled at an angle and spotted him. It immediately jumped from the fifth floor and landed very close to him and leaped at him with a wide-open mouth. It was fast. Too fast for a typical human to respond, but Gary jumped and somersaulted in midair before striking the lizard’s head with his heel.
The lizard’s skull cracked and broke. The lizard died in seconds.
[Congratulations. You dealt a critical strike and won against a level 11 lizard in one strike!]
“You leveled up!]
Gary felt hopeful after hearing the message. “Finally… That was easy, but if I was a second late in reacting, I would have been in its mouth. Wait, can I see my stats now?”
[Yes. Loading your stats…]
A screen popped up in front of Gary’s eyes. “Wow…”
[Name: Gary Lennon.
Age: 27.
Level: 12
XP: 13/120
HP: 780
STR(Strength): 359
STA(Stamina): 80
DEF(Defense): 100
SPD (Speed): 102
AGL(Agility): 101
Available stat points: 119
Energy Pot: Ghoul, Spider beast]
“My strength stat is much higher compared to other stats. No wonder the lizard died with one kick. It was a critical strike, too. But wait… why didn’t I absorb the lizard energy?”
[It doesn’t happen automatically.] Ai told him. [You need to consciously absorb it. Depending on what energies you have in your energy pot, it can become good or bad to you because mixing some energies will work negatively. If you mix the right energies, then it’ll have a positive effect. But don’t worry. I will tell you when you shouldn’t absorb a certain type.]
“Oh, I get it now.” Gary focused his gaze on the dead lizard, and he felt the lizard’s energy seeping into his body. The lizard’s body further shriveled up.
[SPD +4, AGL +5, STA +2, STR +1, HP +50]
Gary was quite surprised by the sudden increase in his stats. “So this energy absorption also increases my stats?”
[That’s why it’s possible for you to level up much faster than others.] Ai commented. [You don’t only get rewards for defeating monsters but also for absorbing their energies because you gain strength through cultivating each of that energy and obtain new abilities like the ones that you used on the spider.]
“Sounds great,” Gary didn’t feel happy but he definitely felt all the more hopeful. “Let’s rid this world of these monsters!” He saw a two-feet-tall rat cautiously come out of a house and chased it.
[That’s a level 2 rat. Don’t waste your time on it.]
“Haa!” Gary, with his overwhelming speed, managed to scare the rat so much it collapsed there and then and died from a heart stroke.
[Incredible! You killed a level 2 rat without even touching it!] Ai excitedly spoke.
[You earned a new skill: Hero’s Scare. You can scare weak souls with just your gaze! The skill will improve as you level up! Reach higher levels to unlock Hero’s Death Stare!]
“This…” Gary was very much pleased for targeting the rat despite Ai’s words. “I knew it. I shouldn’t blindly trust you even though you claim to know it all.”
[I don’t take back what I said.] Ai blurted. [You might have gained a decent skill this time, but if you want to level up and reach anywhere close to level 100 within 24 hours, then you have to take on stronger foes, not ones that are ten levels lower than yourself.]
Gary exhaled audibly because Ai was right. Gary’s stats didn’t increase at all after killing the rat. The only good thing that came out of it was a slight increase in XP and a reward of new skill.
“From here on, I’m going to focus on stronger foes as you said,” Gary stated emphatically. “Just wait for me, Leah. I will find you soon!”
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
A few days later.In the western half of the city, a group of humanoid dogs had dragged living humans over to the neighborhood full of trees.They dropped the humans at their boss’ feet. Their boss was a twelve-foot-tall black werewolf, who was dripping poisonous saliva from his mouth. He was not a person from this world.“Is this all you could get?” he growled as he saw the four people. “They wouldn’t even be enough for a snack!” He was sitting on top of a throne made from cutting big trees. “If you don’t bring me at least ten people next time, I’ll add you all into the soup.”“We will bring you the people, Boss Boggy! So, please don’t kill us!” The dogs begged for their lives as they left the scene.The werewolf, Boggy, picked up the wounded people and went to the nearby garden where there was a lot of boiling pot. Next to it were piles of leftover bones. He tossed the humans into the pot, added some herbs and leaves before closing the pot with a big lid and then sat upon the hot li