Not far away, Seana stood frozen for a brief moment.
The zombie charging toward her had once been a student. It wasn’t the mutated beast she had been killing.
Its torn uniform still clung to its decaying body.
Her grip on the brass rod tightened as her conscience resisted.
Then Old B’s words echoed through her mind.
"If you hesitate... you’ll die."
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself forward.
Crack!
The brass rod smashed into the zombie’s head.
Dark blood splattered across her clothes. The nauseating smell made bile rise to her throat.
She nearly threw up.
But she held it back.
Closing her eyes for only a split second, she steadied herself before swinging again.
Bang!
Another zombie fell.
Blue notifications flashed across her vision.
[You have slain a Level 2 Zombie.]
[You have absorbed its raw Qi.]
She didn’t stop.
With every zombie that fell, the hesitation in
her heart weakened.
The world had changed.
If she wanted to survive... She had to change as well.
Soon, both of them entered a rhythm.
Every swing earned experience.
Every kill restored a portion of the Qi they had spent.
The more they fought, the more natural their movements became.
Lothe ducked beneath a zombie’s claws before driving the rod upward.
Crack!
Its head snapped backward but before the body could even fall, he spun around and slammed another zombie in the jaw.
His breathing grew heavier.
Sweat rolled down his forehead, mixing with the blood splattered across his face.
Yet his movements became smoother with every battle.
He no longer wasted unnecessary strength.
Each strike was aimed directly at the head.
Each movement flowed into the next.
More zombies continued pouring into the cafeteria.
Soon, there were over thirty surrounding them.
Lothe quickly swept his gaze across the battlefield.
The zombies moved slowly. He noticed
More importantly...
They were blocking one another.
An idea flashed through his mind.
At that exact moment, another notification appeared.
[Passive Skill Acquired.]
Battlefield Veteran Lv.1
Description: The host remains calm under pressure. Fear and panic are greatly reduced, allowing rational decisions during combat.
The moment the skill settled within him, a cool sensation spread through his mind.
His racing heartbeat gradually slowed.
The fear was still there. But it no longer controlled him.
The battlefield before him suddenly seemed much clearer.
Every zombie’s movement became easier to predict.
A smile unknowingly formed on his face.
"I’ve got an idea!"
He shouted while smashing another zombie’s skull.
"You take the left!"
"I’ll take the right!"
"We’ll split them up!"
Seana didn’t question him.
She immediately leaped to the left. With her increased agility, she easily slipped past the crowd of zombies.
Lothe dashed in the opposite direction.
The tightly packed horde suddenly lost its target.
Many of the zombies instinctively turned, bumping into one another as they tried to follow.
Their formation instantly fell apart.
"Perfect."
Lothe rushed forward before they could reorganize.
Bang!
One zombie.
Crack!
A second.
Thud!
A third.
Blue notifications flooded his vision.
[You have absorbed the raw Qi of a Level 2 Zombie.]
[You have absorbed the raw Qi of a Level 2 Zombie.]
[You have absorbed the raw Qi of a Level 2 Zombie.]
Suddenly—
[Host has leveled up.]
[Current Rank: Level 1 Tier 3.]
A warm current surged through his body.
The soreness in his muscles faded almost instantly. Strength returned to his limbs.
His depleted Qi recovered slightly. Without hesitation, he allocated his newly earned experienced points.
He had asked the system wether it was possible to allocate his experience point to his attributes and it had answered yes.
The improvement was immediate.
His swings became faster.
His reactions sharper.
The zombies that had once seemed overwhelming were now falling one after another.
Across the cafeteria, Seana wasn’t doing any worse.
Blood flowed from the corpses around her.
With a wave of her hand, crimson spikes shot through the air, piercing the heads of two approaching zombies.
Her control was still rough. But compared to before, the improvement was obvious.
The battle continued for several more minutes.
One by one... The zombies fell.
The once deafening growls gradually faded.
Eventually... Only one remained.
It staggered toward Lothe with a broken arm dragging behind it.
Lothe exhaled slowly. Stepping forward, he thrust the iron rod straight through its eye.
Puchi!
The rod pierced its brain.
The zombie collapsed.
Silence returned to the cafeteria.
For a few seconds, neither of them moved.
The only sound left was their heavy breathing.
Bodies lay scattered across the floor, broken heads, dark blood. The stench of death filled the air.
Lothe swallowed hard as his stomach churned.
This was his first time killing a Zombie, who was once human. But he didn’t have a choice
He turned toward Seana.
"We need to leave."
"They’ll only keep coming."
Seana nodded silently.
Without another word, the two hurried back toward the cafeteria’s entrance.
Their sacks were still where they had left them, leaning against one of the tables. Lothe quickly slung his over his shoulder before picking up the school bag containing the scrolls and glowing orbs.
"Stay close," he said.
Seana nodded, gripping the brass rod tightly.
Lothe activated his Spatial Perception as they ran out.
The world around him seemed to expand.
Within Five meters, every movement became clear. The location of broken desks, overturned chairs, and even the shambling zombies outside entered his mind.
"There are three outside the west entrance..." he muttered. "We’ll go through the side."
Without waiting, he pushed open a nearby emergency exit.
The two slipped outside.
The afternoon breeze carried the metallic scent of blood.
Abandoned backpacks littered the walkways,
while overturned bicycles and scattered books lay forgotten across the road.
A distant scream echoed before suddenly being cut short.
Neither of them spoke.
They simply ran.
Halfway across the courtyard, two zombies stumbled out from behind a parked bus.
Lothe didn’t slow down.
He swung the iron rod.
Crack!
The first zombie collapsed instantly.
Before the second could react, Seana stepped forward.
A thin stream of blood shot from her fingertips, condensing into a crimson spike.
Puchi!
It pierced straight through the zombie’s forehead.
The corpse fell backward.
The two exchanged a brief glance before continuing forward.
They couldn’t afford to stop.
As they approached the library, Lothe suddenly raised a hand.
"Wait."
The two ducked behind a stone flower bed.
Several zombies wandered aimlessly near the library entrance. There were only five.
After observing them for a few seconds, Lothe whispered,
"I’ll draw three."
"You deal with the other two."
Seana nodded.
No unnecessary words were exchanged.
Lothe picked up a loose stone and threw it toward a nearby tree.
Clack!
The sound immediately attracted the zombies.
Three of them staggered toward the noise.
"Now."
The two rushed out simultaneously.
Lothe’s iron rod smashed into the first zombie’s skull before spinning around to strike the second.
The third lunged toward him. He sidestepped and drove the rod into its temple.
Meanwhile, Seana extended her hand.
The blood lingering on her brass rod floated into the air.
With a flick of her fingers, it formed two razor-sharp needles.
Whoosh!
Both pierced through the eyes of the remaining zombies.
Their bodies collapsed almost simultaneously.
"...Let’s go."
They sprinted toward the library entrance.
Reaching the heavy double doors, Lothe grabbed one handle while Seana pulled the other.
Together, they shoved them open just enough to slip inside before slamming them shut behind them.
Bang!
The echo rang throughout the building.
Silence followed.
Only their ragged breathing filled the air.
Lothe leaned against the door, letting out a long breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
"We made it..."
Seana didn’t reply. The adrenaline keeping her upright finally faded.
Her legs gave way beneath her.
Sliding down against the door, she sat on the cold floor, breathing heavily.
Her hands trembled slightly.
Looking down, she saw they were stained dark red.
For a long moment, she simply stared at them.
She had killed.
Not one.
Not two.
But dozens.
Even if they were zombies... They had once been normal students.
Closing her eyes, she slowly clenched her fists.
When she opened them again, the hesitation lingering in her gaze had diminished.
This world no longer rewarded kindness alone.
If she wanted to survive...
She had to become stronger.
Lothe noticed her silence but chose not to say anything.
He understood.
Today had changed both of them.
After catching his breath, he placed the school bag on one of the reading tables.
The four glowing orbs rolled out first, bathing the room in faint colored light.
Beside them were the two mysterious scrolls.
Lothe and Seana exchanged curious glances.
Whatever these things were... They had come from a Tier 3 mutated beast.
They were bound to be extraordinary.