He exited the room and ventured deeper into the tunnel. However, the light emanating from the orb illuminated only a few dozen meters ahead; beyond that, he couldn't see anything. Standing at the edge of the light, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

Once his adrenaline levels lowered, he could sense the moldy smell coming from the walls and the ground. By now his eyes had slightly adjusted to the dark, but he couldn't see much.

"It's futile, if I go farther, I still won't be able to see anything. What if I shout and wait for those rats to come to me? Do they even have a sense of hearing?" He examined the rat in his hand and noticed ears on the sides of its head.

"I guess they can hear. But it's still risky, in case something stronger comes my way..." While wondering what to do, a familiar screeching sound echoed through the tunnel. Startled, he sprinted back to the room and, glancing over his shoulder, saw three rats charging towards him.

Realizing their proximity, instead of running away, he lunged towards them, striking one rat with his weapon and seizing another by the scruff of its neck, flinging it against the wall. The last rat pounced on him, its claws tearing into his left leg. Meanwhile, the others quickly recovered and resumed their attack.

The man tried dodging their attacks, but he soon found himself unable to handle them. With each passing moment, his strength waned. The pain from his numerous wounds gnawed at his resolve, threatening to overwhelm him.

As the fight went on, the man's vision began to blur, his movements growing sluggish. He knew that he could not keep up the fight much longer. With his options dwindling and his strength fading, he faced a grim realization: he was fighting a losing battle against these relentless rats. He had also dropped the weapon some time ago, as it felt too heavy.

Ignoring the relentless attacks of the two rats, he focused his attention on one of them, seizing it by the head and slamming it against the wall with all his might. With a scream, he vented his fury on the debilitated rat, its head nearly split open from the impact. Meanwhile, the other rats continued running around and clawing him.

Summoning every ounce of strength and determination, he repeated the same brutal tactic for the remaining two rats. He felt a surge of satisfaction as the system granted him 30 points for his hard-won victory.

Exhausted and bleeding profusely, he staggered back into the room, his body battered but his spirit unbroken. Despite the pain and fatigue that weighed heavily upon him, he knew that he had emerged victorious. He closed the door and with a sense of grim satisfaction, collapsed onto the floor, his breaths ragged and labored, but his will to survive stronger than ever.

"Even if I survive this ordeal, I'll likely succumb to bleeding out or infection," he muttered bitterly, a wry laugh escaping his lips. He wondered how the creatures were able to detect his presence.

"They definitely can't see... Perhaps they heard me moving, or maybe they caught my scent? I need a weapon. What about a rock?"

With that thought, he rose to his feet and went back into the tunnel, scouring the ground for a suitable rock that he could grasp comfortably. After a brief search, he discovered a sharp one, roughly the size of his hand, and a smile flickered across his face. However, despite his efforts, he couldn't find another.

"That should do it."

A few minutes later, two more rats appeared. This time he easily killed them, a few headshots with a rock was enough. Only one scratch was added to his body.

"I have to get enough Points as soon as possible, otherwise it's a certain death for me."

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3 hours passed.

The man sat in the center of the room, head bowed, his breaths coming in heavy gasps. Dozens of rats lay scattered around, some within the room and the majority in the tunnel beyond. He realized that the rats could detect his scent from a certain distance; it was the only explanation, as they would approach even in silence. The creatures attacked in groups of no more than five. Despite his torn clothes and bloodied body, he wore a smile.

[ Points: 340 ]

He began by purchasing another Mana Node (Z), experiencing the same fuzzy sensation, this time centered in his brain. Next, he acquired Mana Circuit (Z) and Mana Flow (Z), followed by Mana Network (Z). He felt his body heat up, as if his heart were on the brink of a seizure and his brain about to burst. Gritting his teeth to stifle any noise, he persevered through the pain, and after a few minutes, it began to subside.

[ Faculties: Mana Network (Z) ]

[ Points: 160 ]

He refrained from immediately purchasing Solid (Z) and Ice (Z), as a more pressing question weighed on his mind.

"Even with the ability to kill them easily, how do I ensure my survival? I'm bleeding, and my wounds will inevitably become infected. Also, I don't know what dangers lie ahead in that accursed tunnel."

Once again, he opened the Shop, hoping to find something new, yet there was nothing.

"Should I buy Water? It could quench my thirst, but no, that's not how it works. Pure water would only dehydrate me further, making me flush out minerals. Fire would be useful for light, but the required points are too high... Ice it is, then."

He purchased both Solid (Z) and Ice (Z), yet he sensed no immediate changes. Furrowing his brows, he clicked on Ice (Z), but nothing new appeared; there was no explanation given on how to use it. While pondering how to use magic, a lone rat darted into the room. With a groan, he rose to his feet and swiftly killed it by smashing its head against the floor.

[ Points: 20 ]

"I must find a safe place within a few hours at most. I can't afford to sleep or rest here. And to do that, I'll need to use magic."

He extended his hand and concentrated, willing a ball of ice to materialize above it. A strange sensation emanated from his heart as mana began to flow to his hand, gradually forming into a small, transparent ice ball. It felt akin to a tree slowly sprouting from his palm, rather than ice appearing in the air above.

"Hehe," he chuckled for a brief moment before regaining his composure.

[ Faculties: Mana Network (Z), Solid (Z) ]

[ Abilities: Ice (Z) ]

"Having a ball of ice sprout from my hand is worthless."

He proceeded to create a sharp shard of ice, roughly the size of his finger. Spending half an hour refining it, he attempted to project it forward, only to find the velocity lacking making him lose another hour in experimentation, he tested it on the deceased rats, trying to produce an ice projectile from his finger capable of piercing their bodies. After several attempts at honing the ice's sharpness, he finally succeeded in creating a shard that could penetrate through a rat's body and emerge from the other side, but at the cost of nearly all its speed.

During that time he had already killed a few dozen more rats, the last 4 with the ice shard he could utilize. Even though, it was hard to use magic, the ice simply went in a straight line, which meant that as long as he aimed his finger accurately, it would hit the target.

[ Points: 460 ]

"Is my body stronger? I doubt any normal human could have withstood that much damage."

…

Humans are good at adaptation, however, they adapt easily to everything.

"Great people of Japan! The apocalypse began a week ago and we have already reclaimed Tokyo from the wretched ghouls, and I promise!" An old man paused, his face contorting with anger for a few seconds before he continued.

"We will reclaim all our cities!" He spoke loudly and confidently to the hologram, broadcast to all the people currently residing in Japan and automatically translated into their preferred language.

The hologram was swiftly cut off, and the old man turned his gaze to a young girl standing shyly in the room. She was very young and beautiful, dressed in a thin fabric that concealed nothing, serving merely as an illusion of clothing and arousing excitement in the man.

"Come over here." He patted his leg and the girl shuddered, slowly moving towards him. Once close, the man felt her up and smiled.

"You know what to do." She wanted to cry, but controlled herself and kneeled. As a wave of pleasure came over him he looked up at the status window.

[ Authority: Slave of Moloch - You get all the Points your subjects had before their death ]

[ Title: Leader of Japan - The people of Japan are your subjects. ]

[ Points: 153,102 ]

"Haha, and I have already spent 2 million Points."

The man laughed and all the Leaders of Nations laughed together with him. After all, they had the same Authority and the Title.