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 did not waste a second and actively destroyed all the zombies as they were spreading disease just by existing.
[Congratulations! You’ve defeated 100 zombies and earned the title Zombie Killer. Ordinary zombies now feel fear when they see you. They will no longer come to you but will run when they see you. But the stronger zombies will see you as a threat and try to destroy you! So, beware!]
[You’ve leveled up!]
“You reached level 18!]
“Damn, I have to chase the low-level zombies now?” Gary didn’t know if this was a good thing or not. “Anyway, the stronger ones might come at me on their own, so I should be able to level up by dealing with the stronger ones.”
[If you kill 1000 zombies, you’ll earn the Zombie Hunter title.] Ai told him.
“What’s the use of having that title?” Gary couldn’t help but ask.
[You will gain ‘purity’ to your fists, which means your punches can have the same effect as that of the magical attacks of priests.]
“Oh, but I can’t be wasting my time on low-level scrubs,” Gary rushed forth and reached the hospital. “You sure there’s a strong monster here in this building?”
[Yeah, and that’s what has started creating the zombies in this neighborhood. It should be around level 25.]
“T-Twenty five?” Gary’s heart skipped a beat. “That’s like seven levels higher than me. There’s no way I can beat that.”
[Fight all the lower-level zombies in the hospital and gain more resistance. Then, it will give you an advantage against that beast.]
Ai’s words somehow convinced Gary. He entered the hospital. At first, there was nobody in sight, but when he entered one of the rooms, dozens of them swarmed onto him, and he couldn’t have asked for more. He utterly destroyed them left and right despite getting wounded. After a nasty struggle, he emerged victorious.
“You said they’ll run away, but they clearly didn’t,” Gary complained.
[They are not ordinary zombies, that’s why. They are upgraded ones and have some intelligence. That’s why they are not afraid of you and waited for you to enter this room.]
Gary’s heart skipped a beat. “This means that one who created them must also be strong and intelligent. I have to be careful, or I’ll become food.”
He explored one floor after another and killed more than 200 zombies before reaching the top floor, where it was eerily silent.
“I can feel it,” Gary said as he walked along the corridor carefully. “It’s in that last room.”
After reaching closer, he steeled his heart and kicked the door open and was almost petrified to see a humanoid tiger zombie eating from a dead person’s brain using a spoon.
The tiger zombie glanced at him and wasn’t surprised at all but instead smiled, sending shivers down his spine. In fear, Gary bolted from there.
The tiger zombie immediately chased him.
Gary put all the available 200 stat points into his speed, which suddenly boosted his speed. Just as the tiger zombie caught up, he was able to reach the end of the corridor and break his way through the glass wall from the seventh floor.
He crashed on top of an ambulance and rolled down to the ground. He suffered bruises but he didn’t break any bones.
He looked up toward the seventh floor, and the tiger zombie was staring down at him as if looking down on someone inferior. Gary felt a chill run up his spine as he saw nothing but cruelty and madness in the gaze of that bloody-lipped tiger zombie which stood eight-foot-tall.
[If you want to be a hero who can save the world, you have to face monsters like this one.] Ai’s voice rang in his mind. [If you back away now, you’ll definitely fail to reach level 100 within 24 hours.]
Ai’s words made Gary grind his teeth.
[If it makes you feel any better, then I’ve gotta tell you that the tiger zombie was formed because some other zombie bit on that tiger.] Ai told him. [So, the zombie that made this humanoid tiger was probably even stronger than this tiger. So, if you can’t defeat this little tiger zombie, then you sure as heaven won’t be able to defeat the one that created this fellow.]
Gary clenched his fists and raised his middle finger up toward the zombie tiger.
Angered, the tiger zombie squatted down and leaped forth from the seventh floor with a mighty scream that sent a shiver down Gary’s spine.
Shoving his fear into the depths of his heart, Gary howled at the top of his lungs and kicked up at the tiger zombie. “Die!”
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
“I asked you a simple question, mud bloods,” Boggy had his hands behind his back. His amused expression was slowly glowing darker. “Why do you have that black sword that belongs to the Dark Witch!”Leah didn’t answer, or rather she couldn’t. (Dark Witch?) She had no clue who that was.“Leah!” Rowan yelled. “I’ll buy time, so run!” He charged the tall werewolf, which was even more intimidating than the minotaur.“No!” Leah shouted. “Stop!”But Rowan swung the mace with all he got. “Bubble Blast!”However, nothing happened. Boggy stopped the mace with two fingers by holding one of the spikes.Rowan’s eyes widened to the max as he realized just how much of a power difference was there between him and his opponent.“Rats that don’t know their place tend to die early!” Boggy kicked Rowan in the gut, sending him flying. He coughed out blood. His ribs broke, and he crashed into a tree. Ninety percent of his HP was drained with that kick. He was bleeding from the nose, mouth, and ears but sti