Facing the girl’s inquisitive look, mixed with curiosity, Kiryu said casually.
“…”
Yukino raised an eyebrow.
The look that said, “Are you kidding me?”, silently disappeared.
‘We’re both first-time newbies, so why is it that when you swing your sword, you can unleash three such terrifying wind blades?’
‘Meanwhile, I can only cower anxiously behind you.’
Yukino was grumbling inwardly.
If Kiryu weren’t her teammate, she would almost file a complaint with the Death Game that someone was openly cheating!
…
Sixth Floor, Teaching Building.
To the surprise of Kiryu and the other two, the entire sixth floor consisted only of a principal’s office.
Only a few scattered zombies wandered the spacious hallway.
While far fewer in number than the fourth or fifth floors, the threat level was significantly higher.
“Those are…?”
Looking at those obese zombies with bloated bodies, wearing tattered police uniforms, occasionally letting out spine-chilling howls, Yui’s heart tightened.
She instinctively tightened her grip on her engineer’s shovel.
Her delicate palms, due to nervousness, secreted a lot of fine sweat droplets.
Like seeking a safe haven, she instinctively hid behind Kiryu’s broad back.
Cop Zombie was one of the few zombies in 7 Days to Die that could perform ranged attacks.
It could spray highly corrosive, deadly acid from its mouth.
Once it detected human presence, this creature would roar and close in at astonishing, eye-popping speed.
If one failed to dodge in time, it would even immediately self-destruct, taking you with it.
It could be said to be a rather troublesome type of zombie.
“How do we deal with this kind of monster…?”
After listening to Kiryu’s explanation, Yukino also frowned.
The troublesome part of Cop Zombie was its terrifying self-destruct ability.
Once it got close, even wearing Level III body armor wouldn’t protect you from the explosion.
“Could we try luring them over individually, like before, then killing them one by one?”
The Dumpling withdrew her gaze, raised her hand, and proposed an idea.
“Not a good idea.” Yukino frowned.
“Once a Cop Zombie is near death, it will self-destruct.
The explosion would be too loud…
it would likely attract all the remaining Cop Zombies as well.”
“Then what should we do…”
Hearing this, Yui’s pretty face also showed worry.
Her not-very-bright little brain felt the pressure.
“Kiryu-kun, what do you think?”
Both girls looked at him simultaneously.
Unconsciously, They seemed to have gradually gotten used to relying on the young man beside them.
“…”
Kiryu remained calm and silent.
He opened the trait panel.
[White Trait x92, Green Trait x8, Purple Trait x1]
‘One purple trait remains.
Should I invest it in the Gale Rune or Kuji Kanesada?’
Currently, both items had been upgraded to Uncommon quality.
‘But investing in yourself is never a loss.’
His mind settled slightly.
He directly applied the purple trait to himself.
The next instant, Three purple, semi-transparent screens appeared before his eyes.
‘After reaching purple level, traits actually offer selectable attributes?’
A flicker of surprise passed through Kiryu’s eyes.
He quickly began examining them.
[- Zombie Buddy · Purple]: You gain zombie physiology.
Hair falls out.
Skin fibrosis.
Bone hardness increases.
Nails sharpen to high acuity.
Your glands emit a strong stench of decay at all times.
But the benefit is that your reason remains intact.
You can command a group of over a hundred zombies.
…
[- I Love Dawn · Purple]: During the daytime, your Strength attribute automatically increases by 10 points, Agility by 4 points, and Stamina greatly increases.
After nightfall, your Strength automatically decreases by 8 points, Agility by 4 points, and Stamina greatly decreases.
…
[- Presence Concealment · Purple]: Eliminates your own presence to achieve stealth, but currently only reaches the level of improving stealth action adaptability.
“…”
After calmly reading the three traits, Kiryu felt complicated.
To be fair, each of the three abilities had its own pros and cons.
For example, the [Zombie Buddy] ability, Although it would make you look neither human nor ghost, smelling terrible…
With the ability to command a group of over a hundred zombies, as long as he didn’t cause trouble, surviving peacefully until after seven days was still no problem.
The [I Love Dawn] trait was even more astonishing.
It could actually increase the Strength attribute by a full 10 points!
Remember, even after obtaining Superhuman Strength, he had barely reached 7 points.
10 points of Strength, even without weapons, just bare hands, would be enough to handle zombies.
But this ability’s side effects were quite large.
During the day, he could run rampant.
But at night, he would have to hide very carefully.
A deduction of 8 Strength, 4 Agility, and a significant decrease in Stamina meant…
At night, he would become even weaker and more feeble than an ordinary person.
At that time, he would be unable to beat even regular zombies, let alone run away if danger arose.
‘Only Presence Concealment is passable.’
This ability eliminated one’s own presence for stealth.
Although it only reached the level of improving stealth action adaptability, Combined with Hound’s Step, it would be enough for him to silently infiltrate, complete a draw-and-stab surprise attack, and kill the Cop Zombies.
‘Select [Presence Concealment].’
A purple light flashed, entering his body.
The next moment, The two girls beside him suddenly noticed with alarm, The presence of the young man before them began to visibly diminish rapidly.
Although they could still see his form, They would suddenly experience a momentary freeze/short-circuit, feeling confused.
Only when they stared intently at his body would they recall that he was actually a human being.
‘One, two, three…
five seconds.’
Kiryu silently counted to himself.
The time it took for Yukino and Yui to snap out of their daze and refocus was about five seconds total.
During the experiment, even though he was right in front of them, their eyes were filled with confusion, as if they had suddenly encountered some incomprehensible supernatural phenomenon.
‘Alteration at the level of conscious recognition?’ Get faster updates on g.com.
The young man thoughtfully pinched his chin.
The ability of Presence Concealment was far more powerful than he had expected.
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
Under the astonished gazes of the two girls, the young man quickly dashed forward.
Kiryu drew Kuji Kanesada and began silently charging, crouching low as he rapidly approached behind a dazed Cop Zombie up ahead.
‘Five seconds of charging should be enough!’
“Grrruh, grrruh…”
Up close, observing the Cop Zombie’s appearance, Kiryu found this creature even more disgusting than in the game.
It was like an oversized balloon blown up to its limit.
Yellow-green pus occasionally gushed from its wide-open mouth, splattering on the ground.
Upon contacting the surface, it immediately gave off thin, pale, sickly green smoke, corroding and melting it into a pool of black, viscous mud.
The five-second limit was enough for Kiryu to condense two Wind-Piercing Blade Energies.
Shrrp.
Two sharp, invisible blade rays swept out horizontally, not even making a sound.
Plop…
His perspective suddenly dropped close to the ground.
A large, bloated head, still with a confused expression, rolled spinningly to Kiryu’s feet.
Nimbly avoiding the pale green pus spraying from the severed neck, Kiryu decisively activated Hound’s Step, And as the remaining Cop Zombies heard the noise and came to investigate, he suddenly flashed back behind the cover of the stairwell.
And so it went.
Without rushing recklessly, aided by multiple abilities, the trio made it to the principal’s office without incident, though there were some close calls.
‘What a shame.
These seven Cop Zombies only dropped one green trait, the rest were white traits.’
Kiryu shook his head slightly, feeling somewhat displeased.
Good luck doesn’t last forever.
His luck seemed to be returning to normal.
[White Trait x99, Green Trait x9…]
‘So close, yet missing just one of each to advance.’
“Huh?
The door is locked?
Why isn’t there a key…”
Yui anxiously stepped forward and tried turning the doorknob.
Finding it still firmly unmoving, she felt quite frustrated.
“We’ve searched the 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors and found no key…
So, the key to the principal’s office is most likely on the first or second floor.”
Yukino reasoned calmly.
According to game logic, the principal’s office could be considered the final area, likely containing many useful items.
And yet, having arrived at the door of the treasure trove, they would have to pass by without entering, which was inevitably frustrating.
“Sigh…
Kiryu-kun, Yukino, let’s go.
We can come back to the sixth floor later.”
Yui pouted unwillingly.
Just as she suggested they should leave… Click.
The crisp sound of a lock being picked made both girls pause simultaneously, casting surprised glances his way.
“Just a little family tradition of sorts.”
Kiryu calmly pushed open the door.