Benjamin drew the Bloodrune Longsword with its dark red glow from its sheath at his waist. The crimson patterns on the blade pulsed faintly like a pulse. Gripping the hilt, he felt the cold, icy power rush into his arm, as if the sword itself longed for battle. Adjusting his breathing, he steadied his form, feet slightly apart, taking up a combat stance, the tip of the sword pointing at the approaching zombie horde.
With a whisper, he lightly swung his cape, and a Misty Crow silently slipped out of the shadows. Although the Misty Crow is Benjamin's summoned beast, it also exudes the breath of life, which is incredibly tempting to the zombies.
The zombies' movements are slow and stiff, but their keen senses for the living have never changed. Attracted by the crow's breath, the dull eyes of the zombies immediately lit up with a hungry glow.
As Benjamin had expected, the zombies that had caught the scent of the living became restless and agitated in an instant, and a low growl erupted from the group. In the end, about half of the zombies lost their original order and left the group like runaway beasts, chasing after the Misty Crow in a mad dash, gradually deviating from their original route.
At this point, Benjamin was only left with five zombies in front of him, and they no longer felt as threatening as before. Faced with the reduced threat, his tension eased slightly, but his eyes remained sharp, and he did not dare to let his guard down.
Watching the zombies approach him with roars, Benjamin. Through the eye holes in the mask, he gazed at one of the zombies, and a dark red glow shot from his eyes—this was the [Sinister Gaze] ability of the [Sinister Smile Mask].
[Intelligence attribute determination in progress... Determination passed, you have obtained the following target information]
Name: Low-level zombie
Race: Zombie
HP: 100% (STamina ×10)
MP: 20 (INT ×10)
STR: 4
AGI: 4
CON: 6
INT: 2
CHARM: 0
LUCK: 1
Talents: [Devouring evolution] By devouring flesh and blood, you can evolve to a higher level.
Skill 1: [Zombification LV.MAX (passive skill)] Damage to areas other than the head cannot inflict lethal damage.
Skill 2: [Virus infection LV.MAX (passive skill)] Infects the target with the zombie virus while dealing damage, and the infected target will turn into a zombie within one week.
Skill 3: [Biological Perception LV.1 (passive skill)] Can vaguely perceive living creatures within a radius of 50 meters.
Skill 4: [Biting LV.1] Inflicts 10 damage to the target using nails and teeth.
...
“As expected, I should be grateful that I have obtained this [Biological Perception] ability instead of the others,”
Benjamin secretly congratulated himself. As it turned out, the physical fitness of low-level zombies was not significantly different from that of ordinary people, and this discovery made his heart feel lighter.
He took a deep breath, concentrated, clenched his hands around the longsword in his hands, and silently estimated the distance between him and the zombies in his heart.
Gradually, a zombie broke through the line of defense, as if it had broken into Benjamin's attack range first. His eyes flashed, his body moved slightly, and he slammed his right foot against the ground, using the momentum to take a step forward. He twisted his waist slightly, and all of a sudden, his power surged through his body, driving his arm to swing his longsword at an astonishing speed, directly at the zombie's neck.
There was a sharp sound as the longsword sliced through the air, cutting off the zombie's head with pinpoint accuracy. The hideous head flew high in the air due to inertia before falling heavily to the ground, killed cleanly in one fell swoop.
Although Benjamin was unable to slash 60 HP off his opponent with a single stroke, beheading was undoubtedly a fatal blow, triggering a direct death judgment. Feeling a slight tremor from the blade, he shifted his weight to the side and leaped up with the AGI of a cheetah, easily avoiding the fierce pounce of the zombie behind him. Then he turned his wrist and raised the sword, once again harvesting the head of a zombie.
It was only at this moment that the body of the first zombie that had been beheaded earlier fell with a dull thud.
After two consecutive successes, Benjamin quickly pulled away from the zombies, took advantage of the terrain, and quietly circled behind one zombie, swinging his sword again, and the third zombie also fell silently with its head falling to the ground.
With this extraordinary perception and agility, Benjamin was like a fish in water, and he solved the remaining two zombies one by one.
Penta Kill!
The whole process was fluid and unimpeded.
After the battle, Benjamin panted slightly, his chest rising and falling with his rapid breathing from the intense exercise. He tried to calm his racing heart and felt an unprecedented sense of accomplishment.
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“This feeling is really...extraordinary.”
He looked down at the five zombies lying in a heap on the ground, and an indescribable sense of unreality welled up in his heart. Once upon a time, he was an ordinary person who had never even slaughtered a chicken, but now he was able to swing a sword and slay zombies. This transformation shocked and excited him.
Recalling the battle just now, Benjamin's heart inexplicably surged with excitement, a feeling he had never experienced in the initial space before.
“Indeed, everyone harbors a restless side in their hearts,”
He muttered to himself, then suppressed the uncomfortable feeling in his heart, and his eyes once again became determined.
He gave the Misty Crow next to him an order, telling it to lure the remaining zombies back, for the battle was not yet over. Facing five zombies again, Benjamin was more at ease. He deftly weaved in and out of the zombies, dodging just in time. Eventually, he dealt with all the zombies one by one.
[You have dodged ten attacks in close combat in a row. System prompt: You have acquired the [Footwork Basics] skill.]
Footwork Basics LV, 1 (passive skill)
Effect: Increases evasion by 0.1% when attacked.
Description: Sometimes a simple dodge can save your life.
...
Another passive skill? It seems that this initial space, like the previous space, will also grant passive skills when the conditions are met.
This discovery made Benjamin feel a little excited, and he immediately constructed several new experimental projects in his mind, unable to wait to test out his bold ideas.
Thankfully, this time it wasn't the beasts of the forest that were out to get him, but rather the senseless zombies.
Well, actually, there's nothing to be thankful for. Let's observe three seconds of silence in advance for the zombies in the city.
Piling the zombies' corpses together, Benjamin tried to collect materials from the low-level zombies, even though he hadn't gained anything before.
[You obtained [Low-level Zombie Essence]×6]
Low-level Zombie Essence
Quality: Green
Category: Consumable
Effect: Consuming ten servings of this item will randomly improve one physical attribute.
Score: 15
Description: Concentrates the evolutionary energy accumulated over a long period of time in the body of the zombie.
Price: 100 Mystsu Currency
[Note: This item is only effective for physical attributes below 5.]
...
Once again, it was proven that courage in trying new things can indeed lead to unexpected benefits.
At least, in Benjamin's eyes, even from the most insignificant cannon fodder, valuable items can be obtained.
“If there are enough of these [Low-level Zombie Essences], then I can try to inject Fluffy with [Monster Genes],”
Benjamin thought to himself. The [Monster Genes] he had previously purchased in the Trading Market were tailor-made for Fluffy. As long as he could find a way to improve Fluffy's CON, he could successfully give it extraordinary abilities and thus free it from its current embarrassing status as a mere decoration.
As for when Fluffy could escape its fate as backup food, Benjamin said that it depended entirely on his mood.
“Next, I have a clear goal.”
In this huge city, trying to actively find other contractors was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and it was just a matter of luck.
Therefore, Benjamin decided to find a safe place to stay first and brush up on his materials in the meantime to improve his strength.
He walked steadily along the road while releasing the Misty Crow to keep a lookout. Although he had previously killed ten zombies in one go, which seemed easy, being constantly on guard was the key to survival when moving around in a city occupied by zombies.
Zombies always moved in groups. The group of zombies he encountered earlier was just a sign that the zombies in the city had just woken up. If not, the number of zombies attracted by the gunshots would not have been just ten. Benjamin was able to kill ten zombies at a time because he took advantage of the open terrain and was well-prepared. If he encounters a large group of zombies in an area with a small range of movement, with his current abilities, I'm afraid he won't even have any bones left.
After continuing along the road for a short distance, Misty Crow suddenly issued a warning, indicating the presence of a group of zombies ahead. To be on the safe side, Benjamin quickly climbed a nearby tree by the road and looked into the distance. He discovered that another small group of zombies was heading in this direction, with a smaller number than the previous group, only eight heads.
“That's right, there are only 11 contractors in the city, so it's impossible for all the zombies to revive at once. In that case, there shouldn't be any major danger for a short period of time.”
Benjamin jumped off the branch and quickly approached the location of the zombies. Ten minutes later, the battle was over, and Benjamin sheathed his longsword. At this time, the bodies of eight headless zombies were lying on the ground around him.
This time, he didn't order the Misty Crow to distract the zombies because he wanted to hone his combat awareness, so it took much longer than before. However, the reward was quite substantial.
[You obtained [Low-level Zombie Essence] x5]
“The chance of getting this is not bad,” Benjamin nodded with satisfaction as he counted his loot.