~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Date: 2022, January 1

Time: 00: 27: 59

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ethan walked into the hallway, staying at high alert. The hallway had windows, allowing the moonlight to shine through into the dark hallway. Just because he didn't see any zombies doesn't mean they weren't some on this floor. As he walked three doors down from his room, a hand suddenly grabbed his ankle, and he quickly reacted, hitting the hand with his rod.

Looking down, he saw a zombie with its bottom half missing. Looking closely, he noticed it was eaten by something. A shiver ran down his spine, pitting whoever this person was. Raising his rod, he slammed it to the zombie skull, a notification popping up.

[You have reached Level 2. + 2 Stat point]

This new level brought a refreshing feeling to him as he felt all his hunger and tiredness go away. 'Leveling recover you to your full health. That's good.' He suddenly remembered the message he received after killing those five zombies. Like on cue, he noticed a blinking mail-shaped box at the end of his vision. Metally clicking on it, a message popped up.

[You have killed a Zombie for the first time. +1 Path point]

[For being the first to kill five zombies successively using a melee weapon, you have unlocked: The Fighter Path]

'What are these paths?' He wondered, "Nevermind, I will look into them later. For now, I need to get out of here.'

As he walked past a room with the door opened, he backtracked to look inside. Right on the table was a box of crackers. Ethan cautiously walked into the room, taking the box and putting them in his bag. It is now a free world. Stealing is not breaking the rule, it is the rule.

'I should probably loot as much room as I can.' He thought, going through the room and packing what was useful. He found more snacks, and a rope, before deciding to move on. There is no point in spending all his time in one room, it will just waste his time.

He moved to the next room, opening the door. Suddenly, three zombies jumped out at him, throwing him to the ground. Luckily, his bag broke his fall. Two zombies were now atop him, the last on beside him. One of them, atop him, tried to bite his face, but he quickly activated his arm enhancement, delivering an uppercut at its jaw. The strength and power shattered the zombie jaw.

Not stopping, he picked the two zombies on him, throwing them to the side before rolling over, narrowly dodging a bite from the third zombie beside him. Standing up, he deactivated his strong arm so as not to waste his mana, stabbing the third zombie on its temple. Turning to the other two, struggling to stand, he dashed forward, he held the rod horizontally, using all his might to slam the rod into both of their foreheads. They both fell back, presumably dead. Not forgetting Rule no.1, he made sure he smashed most of their brain.

"Rule number 2: Beware of closed doors." He noted to himself, breathing heavily. "I almost died there. They were probably locked in there by other students. Shit."

Catching his breath, he cautiously walked into the room, packing the useful things that were in plain sight, not bothering to waste his time searching. This time, he only found a new bottle of water and drank it all. Feeling refreshed, he left the room, continuing his expedition.

He walked past every closed door, only looking through those that were opened. When he reached the junction, he stopped, looking to the corner. There, he saw three zombies walking around aimlessly. They moved with staggering steps, looking like they will fall at any second but never did. Seeing them, he decided to test his theory. 'Can Zombie only hear?'

Moving back, he took a deep breath, calming all the nerves in his body. He has to do this as it will decide everything from now on. How he fights, kills, loots, everything would be decided by this one test. Gripping his rod tighter, he walked out from the junction as silent as he can. The zombie, who was facing him, instantly let out a loud growl before stumbling towards him.

"What a load of bullshit. These things can see." Ethan muttered to himself.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Not wanting to attract more zombies, he quickly dashed forward, crushing the first zombie skull before immediately going for the second and third. Double tapping, he continued his trip. He did the same thing, going from his room fifth floor to the second floor in 30 minutes. He only met and killed 21 zombies, which surprised him. The lower he went, the fewer zombies there were. But, he did manage to reach level 4.

'I wonder where all the humans went.' Ethan thought, noting he found no single human. I mean, if he can survive this long, at least one other person should be able to. 'Am I just lucky?' He thought, looking out of the window at the full moon. 'God blessed me, I guess.'

He went into his bag, taking out a bottle of water and downing the entire thing. He then ate some snacks, finishing another bottle of water. His bag was getting full and heavy, so eating some snacks and drinking water wasn't a bad idea. He then walked down the dark stairs, making sure to be as silent as he can. He finally reached the first-floor door, which was closed. Remembering Rule 2, he carefully opened the door.

Thankfully, no zombie was there to jump at him. Looking forward, his body froze as he stared at the entity down the hallway. Standing below a light that kept flashing on and off was a monster. It stood 7 feet tall, its legs taking 3/5 of the height. Its upper body was that of a female, with short black hair, exposed breast, and red eyes. Laying around her were hundreds of zombies and humans with all their heads smashed.

Ethan immediately recognized the girl. She was also a senior like him and the best runner in their school, carrying to school to nationals 4 times, taking second place every time. She can run 100 meters in just 9.90 seconds, which is able to compete in the Olympics.

'Now I see why they all died. She killed them all...'

The monster stared at him, her red eyes glinting. She got in a running position, dashing forward. Ethan quickly moved back into the staircase, slamming the door shut behind him. He continued running up the stairs as the door was burst open behind him. Reaching the second floor, he pushed open the door, trying to mislead the monster before continuing to the third floor.

Unsupisenly, the monster followed him up. Thankfully, due to the sharp turns in the stairs, it kept slamming into walls, causing its speed to reduce. Ethan reached the fifth floor, closing the door behind him and running down the hall.

Just as he reached the door to the first room, the stairs door busted open. Looking back, he saw the monster standing on the door, staring at him. Before he could react, she shot forward, crossing the distance between them in an instant. Not slowing down, it lunched a quick kick at Ethan's, which he barely managed to dodge by ducking. Her legs struck the wall, digging many inches into it.

She kicked with her second leg, hitting Ethan right on his stomach, breaking 3 of his ribs, and sending him flying many miters back. Due to both her legs leaving to the ground, she fell on her face. She then slowly stood up, looking over to Ethan gasping for air on the ground. She then dashed forward once more, kicking at his head, but he managed to roll out of the way of the life-threatening kick.

Removing his bag, he moved it to where the leg she used to kick was about to land, causing her to trip, falling on her back. Ethan reached into his pocket, trying his best to ignore every pain he was feeling, bringing out a knife he kept in there before activating arm enhancement stabbing the monster's leg closest to him.

The knife penetrated her legs, only stopping after it reached bolster. She opened her mouth filled with rows of teeth and letting out a loud screech. Ethan slowly stood up, limping forward and using the wall as support. Seeing him getting away, the monster stood dashing forward once more, but due to the knife in her legs, she lost her balance, falling once more.

Ethan didn't look back, passing many rooms. As he was about to reach the room he was aiming for, a hard object struck his side, causing him to cough out a mouthful of blood and sending him into the wall.

"AAAAGH!" Ethan screamed as his vision went white before going back to normal. Loud ringing sounded in his ear as he fell to the ground, hyperventilation. One of his broken ribs pierced his left lung causing him more pain. He coughed out more blood as he looked at the monster going for another kick at his head with bloodshot eyes, using all his power to move his head, dodging it.

As if annoyed, the monster let out another loud screech, stomping down at one of his legs. His pupil contracted as he let out another scream that resounded through the halls. The monster, again, kicked for Ethan's head, but her injured leg caused her to miss by a hairbreadth. Ethan activated his arm enhancement once more, using all of his strength to pull out the knife in her legs and stabbing at her fibula.

"SKKKKKKKKRICH!" She screeched, spit coming out its mouth. Due to her putting all of her weight on that legs, it fractured, causing her to fall to her side.

Ethan ignored all the pain he was feeling and crawled on top of her breast. Looking down at her red eyes, he let out a roar, punching her face with his enhanced arm. She struggled to throw him off, but due to all her strength being on her legs and her upper body still being that of a girl, Ethan was able to overpower her. He continuously punched her head, screaming his lungs out. Even after the system message popped up in the corner of his vision, he didn't stop and kept punching the monsters, whose face was now a paste.

After the enhancement ran out, he fell beside her, exhausted.

[You have killed A Chaser for the first time. +1 Path point]

[You reached level 6]

He felt his body slowly healing. His ribs shifted back to their place, his lungs healing, and his legs healing. After some seconds, his body fully repaired itself. Standing up, he touched his body, a surge of happiness going through his body.

This was quickly suppressed by another emotion, anger. "I only survived because of luck. If she hadn't missed her last kick, I would be dead." Ethan mumbled, calling up his status screen.

[Ethan Hawke -

Level: 6

Race: Human

Job: None

Mana: 0/10 (1/min)

Vitality: 14 | Strength: 13 | Speed: 13 | Sense: 11 | Intelligence: 15 | Free stat point: 12 | Path Point: 4

Path

Pain Path: 0/10

The Fighter Path: 0/10

Skill:

Arm Enhancement]

"I was thinking on saving my stat point till I am in a life or death situation before using them, but it obviously didn't work out well. In a situation like that, one won't be able to think straight, especially when they are in a position I was." Ethan mumbled to himself, regretting his choice. "I could have died due to this stupid plan."

I would rather spend them early on. It would help to have me early since that way, I could get more used to the increased strength instead of fumbling on my own at the last second. It should also help me come up with a more comprehensive plan since I have taken my time to set up a proper build path.

It would be better to spend them early on to get more strong. This is a different world, my physical attributes are shit compared to the actual monsters. With stat, I get stronger instead of saving them and fumbling on my own at the last second, like some seconds ago. It should also help me come up with a more comprehensive plan since I have taken my time to set up a proper build path.

"Rule number 3: Always use stat point as soon as you gain it"

He scanned his stats once more, thinking, 'Now, what stat should I put my point on?'