Day 24
Rubbing his tired eyes, Green felt an overwhelming sense of sleepiness and weariness throughout his body.
Rising from the bed, he stretched for a bit and boiled some water for a quick meal, adding an egg to his noodles for extra strength.
Down in the community parking lot, various monsters and zombies moved in groups.
[Yah, just another day in the apocalypse.]
Finishing his food, Green ensured the door and window were locked before turning to bed.
The decrease in HP may have contributed to his exhaustion and Green fell asleep immediately.
The only sound that lingered was the gentle rhythm of his breathing.
_____
Night came once more and Green was summoned to the tunnels as expected.
The dungeons exuded an unusual chill tonight.
Green, feeling the cold, adjusted his jacket collar and rubbed his hand for some warmth.
His breath formed visible clouds under the blue glow of the moss crawling along the walls.
Green looked down the dark path ahead, it was another day in the dungeon.
[Time to hunt]
....
[ Tsk! ] an annoyed voice echoed in the small cave.
《Encountered Level 2 Giant rat
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 36 | Damage received: 6
Reward: 7 XP》
HP : 37/65
The health bar was falling down even further.
In the dark chamber, amidst the aftermath, Green found himself encircled by spider corpses and a single Giant rat carcass.
Green who always despised the vermin was beginning to get irritated by the giant rats.
After extensively searching for hours, he finally located a spider cave and hunted down five spiders.
Unfortunately he could not catch his breath because of the intrusion of a giant rat that came out of nowhere.
Even if he wasn't looking for them, the rats appeared to be specifically targeting him. How else could he explain why he would run into them everytime?
Green was disgusted by the scheming giant rats and gave the corpse a vicious kick.
But the vermin was long dead and couldn't offer to file any complaint from beyond the afterlife.
Stamina : 136/150
Green sat down, waiting for his stamina bar to replenish.
Nevertheless, it did not take long before he was interrupted by shrill screeches and hurried footsteps echoing outside the cave.
Green sighed in distress, clearly, today was not his day.
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Green hurried to conceal himself behind any rock he could find, an attempt to avoid the visitors.
But his efforts proved futil, it was already too late!
Green clutched the short sword and his eyes flickered frantically, processing the information he was receiving.
A lone Spider was being pursued by four formidable giant rats.
Regrettably for the fleeing spider, as it entered the cave, a whip like tail swiftly and mercilessly slapped it down.
Trapped with no escape, the narrow cave entrance blocked by the giant rats, Green abandoned the idea of hiding.
The rats were preoccupied by the injured spider and did not seem to have noticed his presence in the cave, which was perfect!
In a split second, he decided to confront them, he would launch an attack before they could detect him.
Get them before they got to him first.
[The best defense is attack!]
Advancing with a few broad steps into their territory, Green pivoted on his left leg, twisting his entire body to deliver a devastating lethal blow with his sharp sword.
This move proved effective as the giant rats face tore open and it cried in pain.
The dark blood that gushed out was just like water from a broken faucet.
Enduring a few painful tail whips, Green jumped back in retreat. He surveyed the chaotic scene and went back into action in the next second.
Grean made a great leap onto the back of a giant rat, he thrust his sword into its head, the overwhelming force piercing through the rat's skull.
《Encountered Level 2 Giant rat
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 30 | Damage received: 8
Reward: 7 XP, 3 Gold》
The cave echoed with the cacophony of screeching, sniffling, and the clamor of Green's steps, forming a dreadful symphony of death and chaos!
As the lifeless body of the giant rat slumped to the ground, Green endured another onslaught of painful whips and stabilised himself on top.
Undeterred, he skillfully decapitated the rat he had previously disfigured.
This brought a halt to its painful screeching that was like chalk on a dry board.
《Encountered Level 2 Giant rat
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 36 | Damage received: 4
Reward: 7 XP, 2 Gold》
Rolling off the back of the giant rat, Green deftly avoided a series of strikes from the remaining foes.
Utilizing the corpse as a comaflouge, he maneuvered beside another giant rat and thrust his blade forward, blinding the poor bastard with a great and precise aim.
Having learnt to always exploit the vulnerability of weakened foes, Green leaped into action once more, swiftly dispatching the agonized giant rat before it could recover.
《Encountered Level 2 Giant rat
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 30 | Damage received: 3
Reward: 7 XP, 1 Gold》
Green ignored the dark blood on his body and faced the last foe.
Like a moth to a flame.
The enemy did not seem realise its fate and rushed forward towards certain death.
Acting as a wish granting genie, he fulfilled the giant rats dream and sent it off to reunite with all its rat friends.
《Encountered Level 2 Giant rat
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 34 | Damage received: 3
Reward: 7 XP》
Green felt a sickening feeling well up inside him as he glanced at the carnage inside the dark cave. He stood dazed for a whole minute before being woken up by the sound of a weak cry.
He stepped forward and spotted an injured spider monster at the entrance of the cave.
It's claws had been smashed, it cried weakly; perhaps asking for a merciful ending.
Green helped it out too and extinguished its fire with a simple stab.
《Encountered Level 1 Spider
Fight: 4 stamina
Damage dealt: 36 | Damage received: 0
Reward: 5 XP, 2 Gold》
Green stared at the blue panel in the darkness and finally took a deep breath.
He was extremely stressed after the fight but now he had something to smile about.
The long awaited rank up was here!
Congratulations! Rank Up, Level 3 Warrior
Rewards: +15 HP, +5 Attack, +15 Defense
[Finally, Level three!]
It came sooner than he had expected but that's probably because of all the unusual twists and turns in the middle.
But it is all worth for this timely rank up.
The damage he had incurred to his HP bar in previous fight could soon be a bad memory at best.
Green looked at the translucent panel eagerly and sure enough the HP had filled back up!
Name: Green
Class: Warrior
Level: 3
HP: 80/80
Stamina: 150/150
Attack: 20
Defense: 40
Gold: 68
Battle Log
[Good as new!]
His body felt indestructible for a brief moment and Green basked in the feeling of power coursing through his whole being.
_________
Green awoke to the familiar emptiness, accompanied by occasional startling angry roars and distant gunfire.
The joy of ranking up to level three seemed to dissipate in an instant.
He sat up and turned his head, glimpsing at a photo of his last father and himself in a graduation attire.
His old man, who passed away just after his graduation, had always cared for him and managed to raise him all by himself.
Looking at the smiling face, the grey hair, shame and regreat washed over him; he did not let his father enjoy his old age, after all he had done for him.
But everyone dies and there is nothing anyone could ever do to stop this inevitable end.
His mother's image was blurry in his mind, known to him only through photos as she died during childbirth.
However, he knew how much his father had loved her.
That's why he refused to look for another woman after her death.
Maybe that why he always felt sorry for his father.
If not for him, could he have lived happily with his wife for the rest of their lives?
Emotion related to her still eluded him, how can someone cry about a person they have never heard or seen in person?
Even if that person was his own mother.
Green was orphaned at the end of the day.
The sole family connection that remained was with his father's side.
A distant uncle in the countryside.
He had never seen or talked to his distant relatives before, they did not even attend his father's funeral.
He still had their contacts, something his dad left behind.
Of course, he attempted to warn them of his visions.
Like most people, they dismissed him as another crazy weirdo but who could blame them?
If Green was in their shoes, and someone called claiming to be a distant relative, talking about the end of the world and all that, he would also believe that person was nuts.
The same was the case for his old college friends and any acquaintance he had for that matter.
Most were dismissive of his claims, some skeptic but a majority thought that he had gone bat-shit crazy.
No one listened, or maybe they prepared silently in the end.
[It didn't really matter now anyways.]
The whole world was already in the toilet.
Green closed his eyes, needing rest.
Despite a filled HP bar; his mind still wearied from all the relentless battles