William was standing in front of a corridor, with his back to it, which led him to the platform one. He was in the center of it, squinting his eyes to properly glance at Alissa, who was at the extreme end of the second platform.
He frowned as he noticed a few zombies within the waiting room on her platform, just next to her. "Growl!" They were howling and banging on the doors to get out, but they were locked from the outside. ’She locked them.’ He figured out that she wanted to hunt zombies for bucks. He decided to lend a hand swiftly, since if those zombies got out, Alissa could only run.
"Store." He whispered as a glowing blue luminous panel flashed in his vision.
[ Ding! Opening Apocalypse Game Store! ]
[ Apocalypse Game Store {Tier 1} ]
[ Total Apocalypse Supply Coins {₳}: 81
Store Items:
Drinkable Water: 1 L/ 1 ₳
Ordinary White Rice: Cooked 1 kg / 2 ₳ | Uncooked 1 kg / 1 ₳
Premium White Rice: Cooked 1 kg / 3 ₳ | Uncooked 1 kg / 1.5 ₳
Protein Bar {10 gm}: 1 ₳
--- ]
A long list of items manifested, and it was simple and easy to view. Click and buy.
A wave of nostalgia appeared in his eyes.
’Back to Tier 1,’ He mused, taking a deep breath. He took a moment to recover, as he was used to seeing a higher-Tier store.
’Back to the beginning.’ He didn’t check anything as he quickly pressed the search icon on top. A keyboard with a search bar in a new window materialised. He swiftly typed "healing potion."
[ Ding! Finding Healing Potion! ]
[ Ding! Found the Healing Potion!
Healing Potion {Tier 1}:
-Can heal ordinary mortals from severe injuries and illnesses. Cannot heal terminal diseases or last-stage cancer. It lacks the power to regrow limbs despite being able to reattach severed limbs.
-Price: 10 ₳ ]
He clicked on it as soon as it appeared.
[ Ding! Buy Healing Potion {Tier 1}?
Yes or No? ]
He clicked on Yes as a pleasant, mature woman’s hum rang in his ears.
[ Ding! 10 Apocalypse Supply Coins {₳} deducted.
Thank you for the purchase! ]
[ You have brought one Healing Potion {Tier 1}! ]
A transparent palm-sized flask with light-green liquid materialised in his right hand. He pulled open the cap and drank it. After he finished it, he threw it on the ground as it smashed into pieces and disappeared into particles of light.
’I missed you, buddy. Tasteless as ever.’ He whispered as he sensed a warmth spreading around his body, and the majority of it ran towards his lower body. He felt his legs were dipped in a warm water bath. The next moment, the sensation vanished.
"Back to peak." He grinned as he leaped into the air and landed on the ground the next moment. Thud! He cracked his neck as he returned to the store. He typed "quiver" in the search.
[ Ding! Searching Quivers! ]
[ Found Quivers! ]
Many windows with the appearance of quivers, along with their descriptions, flashed in his vision. A few instantly attracted him.
[ Flametouch Quiver {Tier 1}
-A quiver made from the fur of a flaming wolf. It carries 10 arrows enchanted with flames. It can burn and deal a massive amount of damage to Tier 1 beings.
-Recovers 10 arrows every 3 seconds.
-Price: 75 ₳ ]
[ Icetouch Quiver {Tier 1}
-A quiver made from the fur of a Glacious wolf. It carries 10 arrows enchanted with ice power. It can freeze and deal a massive amount of damage to Tier 1 beings.
-Recovers 10 arrows every 3 seconds.
-Price: 75 ₳ ]
[ Thundertouch Quiver {Tier 1}
-A quiver made from the fur of a lightning wolf. It carries 10 arrows enchanted with lightning. It can shock or paralyze and deal a massive amount of damage to Tier 1 beings.
-Recovers 10 arrows every 3 seconds.
-Price: 75 ₳ ]
"I don’t have cash." He muttered as he pulled up his current net worth.
[Total Apocalypse Supply Coins {₳}: 71]
"Just four more coins." He grumbled, rubbing his katana grip. Even if he had 75, he wouldn’t have bought it, as he needed to take care of his faction and leave some coins for emergencies like this—healing potions.
"Alissa can manage with ordinary arrows for now." He decided. He opened the search bar yet again. Making a few adjustments to the price and recovery rate, he found a suitable one.
[ Apprentice Quiver {Tier 1}
-A quiver made from ordinary wood and animal fur. It carries 10 arrows with sharpened metal arrowheads. It deals a heavy amount of damage to Tier 1 beings.
-Recovers 10 arrows every 1 second.
-Price: 50 ₳ ]
"Good." He smiled as he clicked on it.
[ Ding! Buy Apprentice Quiver {Tier 1}?
Yes or No? ]
[ Ding! 50 Apocalypse Supply Coins {₳} have been deducted! ]
[ Thank you for the purchase! ]
[ You have bought one Apprentice Quiver {Tier 1}! ]
A mature woman’s pleasant hum yet again rang in his ears.
[ Total Apocalypse Supply Coins {₳}: 21 ]
"I need to collect more money." He planned, as a brown wooden quiver with ten white arrows within it materialised on his back. Strapped to his chest and waist, it rested securely. He pulled out one arrow. It was white in colour, its head was a triangular block of silver metal, and it shone with a cold light for a moment.
He nodded to himself as he placed the arrow back and leaped onto the track, then dashed ahead.
Alissa, by now, had already used two more of her arrows. Only two were left in her quiver, and one arrow was knocked onto her bow. She was moving back from them while keeping an eye on them.
Despite it seeming like a lot of time, less than a minute had passed from the moment William had spotted Alissa. "Alissa!" William yelled, trying to get her attention. He was at least a hundred meters away from her.
Once he got close enough, she heard him. "William!" She responded, waving her hand. The zombies were fifty meters away from her.
William ran along the track and climbed onto her platform, next to her.
She shot down two zombies who followed William by jumping onto the track. "Here, take this." William handed over the quiver he bought to her.
"What about you?" She asked, noticing he didn’t buy anything for himself.
"They are fine for now." William shook his head, tapping his weapons. He didn’t buy anything for himself as he planned to get one within the portal.
Alissa, with her lips curved up, strapped the quiver to her back while glancing at her old quiver once before tying it next to the new quiver on her back.
"So let’s take them down?" She asked, taking a white arrow from the new quiver. "Sure." William grinned. "Why didn’t you buy arrows?" He asked, drawing both his katanas.
"It’s one coin for a single arrow," Alissa grunted. "I cannot save money for even one quiver; if I’m that spendthrift."
William clicked his tongue as he forgot that it was quite tough to kill zombies. Not everyone was like him—one swing, one zombie down. Even Alissa wouldn’t dare take it lightly.
"Support from back." William broke into a run. As soon as he reached the zombies that entered his range, whoosh! He beheaded the two in front of him. An undead that was about to step into the place of a fallen zombie was pierced by an arrow in its forehead. Bang!
The fifty zombies were too slow and rigid in their movements. In less than two minutes, William and Alissa took them down swiftly, one by one.
William’s blades could only connect with a maximum of three or four zombies’ necks at once, and he needed to focus on other undead on the side if there were five or more zombies in one row. But with Alissa, there was no need for that. She would simply kill the ones on the sides that he missed or couldn’t reach. She killed all the undead on the tracks that had fallen or gotten down willingly.
"You’re incredible," Alissa uttered, her eyes gleaming as she placed her bow on her back, on top of the two quivers, securing it tightly. "And your movements, they seem sharp and effortless." She glared at William’s face and scanned him from top to bottom. "Were you practising in secret?"
William just rubbed the back of his head and smiled. ’Whether truth or lie, she’ll know it just from my behaviour.’ He didn’t dare open his mouth.
"Whatever." Alissa patted William’s shoulder. "From now; you take the front. I’ll support from the back."
William raised his thumb. ’She’s perfect help.’
"By the way, did you level up?" Alissa asked, her voice high. She fiddled with her right ring finger between her palm and fingers. "I killed more than forty, yet didn’t."
"Level up." William glanced at the portal.
"I got a notification that I unlocked leveling." She tilted her head. "So why didn’t I level up?"
The portal was spinning like usual, colourless.