Day 23
The room was filled with the faint, muffled echoes of water coming to a boil.
Green, lost in a daze, stared blankly into the void until he finally noticed the boiling water.
With skillful hands, Green opened a fiery red ramen packet from a certain brand and gently dropped it into the pan along with the spices before sealing it with a lid.
Another day and another bowl of noodles. Life did not seem to have changed much. Green chuckled as he peered down on the tragic scene below.
[Well, not quite as normal.]
Yesterday night, after vanquishing the arachnid fiends, his luck seemed to have run out, and he ran around for hours before he eventually encountered another spider cave. Too bad it only housed four spider monsters, not even enough to fill the gap between his teeth.
He disposed of them in minutes, but later on, no matter how he searched, the spiders seemed to have vanished from the face of the dungeon.
He could only call it a night and end his hunt in defeat.
At the rate of his experience gains, it would probably take another three or four days to rank up and reach level 3.
Green sighed in distress.
In fact, Green did not know why he was so eager to reach level 3.
[Was it hope?]
Hope that came with this new mysterious ability, hope of leveling up quickly, becoming stronger and stronger until he was powerful enough to save himself from the damn end times.
Indeed, he was becoming stronger, and his body felt more powerful after ranking up to level 2. This was just level 2; what about higher levels? Would he become like Captain America or Superman?
Or perhaps he was just another adrenaline junkie, and he had never found out until now?
Maybe he liked the thrill that came along with facing death on a day-to-day basis.
Green metaphorically swatted away the pointless thoughts which he could not answer.
There were more important things close at hand. He turned off the heat and eagerly looked inside the pan.
The golden strands of the noodles were finely done; an expert himself, Green could spot well-done noodles even if he was blind.
Slurping on the hot noodles, the fiery spice burning his tongue, still he could not halt his mind from wandering aimlessly.
The apocalypse came unannounced, catching everyone off guard. Many people had turned into zombies on the first day, and otherworldly monsters had descended.
In such a chaotic world, Green was unsure of many things. Although he had dreamt of the end times, even he did not know the actual details until they had come to pass.
[Was everyone dead?]
[No!]
Green shook his head decisively. If even he, a normal everyday man, could survive, then others must have made it too.
He couldn't possibly be the only survivor.
Plus, large organizations like governments were violent in their most core nature and could not be underestimated.
Hot weapons like guns and bombs were terrible to begin with, not to mention things like nuclear weapons.
For many days now, he had heard gunshots drifting from afar, and the occasional helicopters flying past indicated that all was not lost.
He had even hoped to be rescued early, taking the risk of shouting for help at the sight of the first helicopter.
Regrettably, his voice was drowned out by the chopper's deafening noise. It flew away swiftly, seemingly unaware of the presence of the lone survivor.
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Fortunately, the same noise also concealed his call, ensuring that no zombies or monsters were alerted.
Although Green had sufficient food and water, doing better than many others in the perilous situation, he could not be any happier than other survivors.
The biggest threat in the end times were those strange monsters that seemed to fill the streets. No matter how much food or water you hoard, once you are dead, it won't matter in the end.
The building he leased miraculously had its gates sealed on the day of the apocalypse, keeping out most of the monsters.
Unfortunately, other buildings in the community housing block might not be as lucky, and the monsters, alongside the zombies, fiercely hunted down their residents.
The monsters were smarter than the zombies; they actively searched for humans behind closed doors, and a simple wooden door did not give much struggle against the larger monsters' ferocity.
Even at the moment, Green remained uncertain about when the monsters might breach the building gate and swarm in.
Thoughts of facing such scenarios made Green break out in a cold sweat every time. There was nothing he could manage to do to save the situation under such circumstances, no matter how much he thought about it.
After a long silence, he put down his chopsticks, cleared the empty bowl, and drank a cup of water.
Green's eyes flashed in determination the next second, and he had made a tough decision in his mind.
No matter what, if he was stronger than he was now, new choices may emerge.
The level one spiders were not easy to find, but he knew the level 2 giant rats were much easier to encounter in the dungeon.
______
[Status] Green called out in the dark dungeon.
Name: Green
Class: Warrior
Level: 2
HP: 64/65
Stamina: 150/150
Attack: 15
Defense: 25
Gold: 36
Battle Log
Green's eyes flashed in confusion for a brief moment when he saw the ever-increasing gold.
Although he sometimes obtained gold from defeated enemies as a reward, he did not know what the use of this thing was.
[Things will reveal themselves in time, I'm sure]
Green gripped the short sword and zipped up his jacket. He carried some food and water in a bag on his back and hoped the weight did not interfere later on.
To quickly get used to the cold environment, he usually did some stretches and a few jumping jacks to warm up his body.
He found out in this way, it was much easier to concentrate all his senses and focus on the hunt.
As a level two monster, Giant rat caves were much easier to discover than spider caves; he couldn't explain why, but that was indeed the situation.
It only took an hour of crawling around, hiding, and snooping to find a giant rat cave.
Peering inside, there were only four giant rats huddled up in the middle of the cave with their heads down.
Giant rats were larger than the normal rat.
1.5 meters long and 3 meters on average, if you add up their tails and they were as tall as his thighs, had a grayish coating and four stump-like feet fitted with razor-sharp claws.
Their tails swooshed about excitedly, Green could faintly hear the cracking of bones and flesh echo around the dark chamber.
They were feasting.
Green, not being a seasoned hunter, felt unsure about the protocol for encountering creatures in the midst of a meal. Should he engage?
He decided to give it a try and fished out a large stone from his pocket. His aim must have improved as he managed to hit a giant rat on the first try.
The giant rat was too engrossed in its feast, seemingly oblivious to the first rock smashing into its body. Green gripped another stone and took aim once more. The rat ignored the second throw as well and was only drawn out on the third try.
The irritable creature grinned in a manner that revealed the dark blood dripping from its sharp and ferocious-looking fangs.
Hey! If you get bit by this thing you will probably get rabies, right?
Green winced at the sight of the bloody scene.
He had dealt with these lowly creatures before and did not panic in the end.
Green calmly took a few steps to cover the distance and stabbed the giant rat from above, aiming for the head. The vermin did not seem to expect such a sudden attack from the two-legged rat and screeched in pain.
Green backed away in disgust, flicking away the blood on his blade. With one thrust, he had managed to blind the giant rat.
One of its giant orb-like eyes had popped, and the rat had begun to wail in pain. The scene was a bit like a pig in a slaughterhouse, which Green found strangely amusing.
However, he could not let go of such an opportunity.
He sidestepped to its wounded eye's peripheral and chopped at its head with all his might.
Unfortunately, the short sword did not seem to be sharp enough, and the giant rat's skin and muscle were tough like the bark of an old tree. He could only chop midway and could go no further.
A tail seemed to find his precarious status and mercilessly snapped against the side of his head. Green was temporarily dazed, and his head felt like it was cracking open.
Shaking his head, Green knew that he was on the verge of victory.
He angrily stomped on the giant rat's head and pulled out the sword before rolling sideways to avoid another sweeping tail. After another precise giant swing, the giant rat's luck had run out.
The head rolled off to the side, leaving a trail of disgusting dark blood.
《Encountered Level 2 Giant Rat
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 28 | Damage received: 3
Rewards: 7 XP》
Green held his buzzing head, knowing he had to retreat before the other rats could arrive.
Overcoming the effect of his muddled head, he hobbled away and finally found a dark rocky structure large enough to conceal his figure.
He overcame his urge to vomit and called upon the status panel.
HP: 61/65
Green held his breath until the giant rats had scurried by. He breathed a sigh of relief and finally noticed in distress the damage to his HP.
Green could only watch helplessly as the HP bar stagnated without a single movement.
Nevertheless, the always reliable stamina bar was quick to regenerate, and it filled back up in no time.
He stood up and cautiously walked back to the giant rat cave.
The giant rats were also simple monsters.
Although they had just been startled a few minutes ago, they very soon resumed their feast without a care in the world. Completely oblivious to notice their missing fellow comrade. Maybe they did not even care?
Green used the same old tactic to draw out another giant rat. The level 2 monster was easy to handle alone.
《Encountered Level 2 Giant Rat
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 30 | Damage received: 1
Rewards: 7 XP, 2 Gold》
Its screech of death ruined everything in the end. The cat-and-mouse game ensued once again, but he was the mouse and they the cat. The role of hunter and prey switching rapidly.
The HP points continued to plummet with each rat battle, but he was determined to destroy the hateful vermin.
Unfortunately, the old trick failed once again, and he drew out both the remaining giant rats.
Their evil screeching sent a shiver down his spine, and he dodged and rolled around to avoid their forceful charge and whip-like tails.
But this time, he would not run and hide!
《Encountered Level 2 Giant Rat
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 30 | Damage received: 6
Rewards: 7 XP, 2 Gold》
《Encountered Level 2 Giant Rat
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 28 | Damage received: 3
Rewards: 7 XP》
After a hard and gruesome battle, he managed to put down both creatures, and they too did a number on him at the end of the day.
[Status], he called out.
HP: 50/65
They shaved off twenty percent of his HP in one go. This made him shudder, secretly he was even thankful that there were only four rats in the cave.
He stumbled into the empty cave until he came across the broken carcass of a spider spread out on the ground.
The twisted limbs grotesquely sprawled unnaturally, oozing a putrid mixture. The air was thick with the stench of decay, a nauseating blend that clung to the atmosphere, intensifying with each breath taken in.
The disgusting scene was so revolting that he almost threw up on the spot.
Green held back his weak stomach and avoided the horrendous carcass.
He wanted to stay as far away from it as he could possibly be.
Even then, the unpleasant smell found its way over.
Too bad he couldn't leave before recuperating his stamina.