CHAPTER 08

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 that pounced on him. His fist connected, and all of his 450 strength stat packed a pretty punch that broke one of its fangs and made the tiger zombie groan in pain. But it still didn’t let go of the advantage it had. It stayed on top of Gary and tried to bite his head off even after losing a fang.

[I told you!] Ai shouted again. [Get off the ground, or you’ll lose.]

Even though Ai made it sound easy, Gary was already being overpowered. His chest was profusely bleeding from having taken a claw attack from the tiger zombie, and he was still doing his best to not get eaten by it. It was taking all of his strength just to survive and not get caught in its mouth. So, how would he be able to get out of this situation when he wasn’t even in a position to think about escaping?

The struggle was as real as it could get. One wrong move, and his head could get bitten off. He didn’t have any available points to put on strength, so he had no other option left but to keep trying with what he got.

In that desperate struggle, he managed to grab the tiger zombie’s forelimbs and move a paw into the line of the tiger’s mouth. The tiger zombie was too furious to see what was happening, and it ended up biting on its own paw.

Screaming, it jumped off of Gary.

Without wasting a moment, Gary got up to his feet and attacked the humanoid tiger zombie with his legs this time as he could put his maximum strength through his kicks.

The tiger zombie’s bones, however, were sturdy enough to deal with his kicks. Gary still didn’t give up.

[Target its thighs.] Ai yelled. [Strike the side of the thigh repeatedly!]

Gary was so desperate, he followed Ai’s words and kept whipping his leg at the tiger zombie’s thigh.

The tiger zombie was forced to its knees.

[Attack its neck with all you got! NOW!]

Gary spun and gathered as much momentum as he could into the kick. His shin whistled through the air and struck the neck of the tiger zombie so perfectly, the tiger zombie’s head crashed to the ground and its neck broke.

[Crush its skull!]

Gary jumped high, somersaulted multiple times in air, and came down with a heel kick that struck the tiger’s skull and split it. The tiger zombie slowly stopped struggling.

But Gary’s heel bone also cracked, but he didn’t cringe in pain and instead bore it all. Nevertheless, he had to sit down because his muscles were all spent.

[Incredible Achievement!]

[You’ve defeated an opponent that was more than seven levels higher than you!]

[You’re the fifteenth person in the world to achieve this since the start of the apocalypse!]

[You leveled up!]

Gary was very much happy with his level rising to 20 directly, and because of this level change, his bleeding also stopped, but he asked Ai, “Wait, how do you know that I’m the fifteenth person to achieve this feat in the world? What the fuck are you not telling me?”

[Calm down, Gary. I’m not your enemy.] Ai tried to play it cool.

“Yeah? How can I trust you when you keep things from me?” Gary growled.

“The people who survived the energy wave when the heaven’s gate opened are eventually granted with a system that would help them level up. You also received one minutes after I entered your body, but I absorbed it, so I know what’s happening around the world because I copy the data of the central system that’s overseeing the guardians.]

“Guardians?”

[Guardians are the people that survived the opening of the gate. You are also a guardian because you received the system. But then you’re also not a guardian because the central system can’t oversee you as I absorbed the system it sent you.]

“What the hell is this central system?”

[The local heavens are trying to stop the invasion of the foreign species using an advanced artificial system. Their way of countering is to strengthen its people into powerful soldiers that can defeat the enemies and close the gate.]

“Huh? So they have the same job as me?” Gary was shocked.

[Yeah, but you think all of them will unify to fight the Immortal King? I don’t think so. Even if they try to get together, the seven keys won’t let them. The job of the seven keys is to prepare this world for the Immortal King to enjoy it.]

“Enjoy? Like what? He’s gonna rape the world or something?” Gary looked disgusted.

[He’s going to EAT all of you. From elderly people to infants, from the tallest trees to tiny saplings, from great mountains to meager rocks, he’s going to enjoy devouring all of you bit by bit. If you want me to speak in your world’s terms, he’s the devil incarnate.]

Gary felt chills all over his body. His hands stood at the ends. “And you want me to defeat that monster?”

[No, you don’t have enough time. You won’t be able to level up enough to defeat him. All you need to do is defeat the seven keys and close the heaven’s gate! Otherwise, you can kiss your world goodbye.]