A strange panel was floating before my eyes, surrounded by darkness, and more strange was the message written on it, something about me being resurrected.
'What does it mean? Did I really die? And where I am now?'
While I was reflecting on the meaning of the message, a new one appeared.
You have 1 new message
From: Admin
Open message? Y/N
I was confused by this, but in my actual condition, completely immobile into a sea of nothingness, with no knowledge of what to do or where I was, that message looked like my only hope to understand something.
So, I mentally selected “yes” and a new message appeared.
Message from: Admin
CC: Explanations
Hey there! I'm Admin G, and I'm sending you this message to explain what is happening to you because I believe you'll be very confused by all of this!
So, let me start by telling that there are good news and bad news!
The first new is that you died while saving that girl. A nasty blow to the head that caused a concussion and a haemorrhage. But the girl is well and safe if a bit shocked, thanks to you!
So, as you sacrificed your life for the sake of others, you've been prized with reincarnation in another world! That's right. Your soul will be put into a new body and you'll start a whole new life while keeping all your memories and knowledge from the past one. The new place is a world where magic and monsters exist, and the life is like the Middle Ages of your world. With what we saw in your memories, we thought it would be a good place for you to start anew. Or, at least, this was the plan...
You see, there was a little problem during your soul's processing. Something about another soul being processed at the exact same time as yours in the same office, and they ended with switching the destination.
As I said before, yours was to be reincarnated as a completely new individual, with some special abilities as a reward for your heroic last act. Nothing too strong or unique, but enough to make you well above the average person in this world.
The other soul was directed to the resurrection process, and not the complete one, the “return-to-life-as-undead” one, and not even of the strong kind.
We are very sorry about this, so we will give you some bonus to make it easier for you. You will be able to see them by opening the Status window (just say “Status” aloud when you want to open it). We would like to do more, but your new condition will cancel the original gifts that we meant to give you, so we did the most we could and you'll have to make do.
In one minute, you will wake up.
We hope you will enjoy your new life, and I personally wish you good luck.
Admin G
I was totally baffled by that mountain of exposition. Whoever, or whatever, this Admin G was, they sure like to talk, or write to be more specific.
And the content! Apparently, I was really dead and directed to reincarnation in a fantasy world, where I would have some cheat abilities to become a hero or somebody famous, but for a damned error, now I would live in this world as undead, probably at the service of some creepy Necromancer until somebody will kill me!
'But, wait... The bonuses mentioned in the message. Maybe one of them will grant me free will, so I can be my own man!'
There were other problems than that, but it was the more pressing one. One thing that I hated in life was people who bossed others around, like motherfucking bullies, and this was worse than that. As an undead slave, I would be incapable to do anything that my “master” hadn't ordered me to do, but with the ability to do what I want without restrictions, this situation won't be so bad.
Another thing was the kind of undead I would end. Admin G said that my resurrection was of a low-level type, and from my gaming experience, there were three kinds of weak undead if generated by the body of a normal human: skeletons, ghosts and zombies.
Each of them had its good sides and bad sides, but the common link was their weakness when compared to vampires, mummies, liches and wraiths.
'Oh well. I'll work with what I got.'
My thoughts were interrupted by a new panel opening.
Ding
Resurrection complete!
You're awakening in 5... 4... 3...
'Looks like my time is up. Let's see what is waiting for me, on the other side.'
The darkness was lacerated by a flash of light and all became white.
The first thing I felt was heaviness. After who knows how much time passed floating in nothingness, the mind would need a bit to re-grow accustomed to the feel of possessing a solid body of flesh and bone.
This notice excluded two of my options of what I would be, leaving as the winner...
'Zombie. I'm a rotten, walking sack of flesh and organs that shambles around... At least I won't have to learn to move by floating, and I'll be physically stronger than the other two.'
After a bit that I got used to the sensation of having a body again, I tried to stand up in a sitting position, to get a look at where I was.
It was a little room, barely illuminated by some torches on the walls, and around me there were other bodies, all of them moving and twitching, trying to get up like me. Apparently, I wasn't the only one to return from the Beyond, and a mass resurrection always spelt trouble. After all, why somebody would create so many zombies at once, if not to do something with them.
While my "tomb-bothers and sisters" woke up, I stood up completely, wobbling a bit before I found equilibrium, and decided to learn more about myself.
"Status!"
The word exited strong and clear from my mouth, with a voice resembling mine from my original body, if a little more scratchier. I was expecting some strange grunt or moan with just a shadow of the word, like "Sthaaaatussssss" or "Mmmmmhathhusshh", not real speech! That was surprising. Oh, the window opened.
STATUS WINDOW
Name: N/A
Race: Zombie (Revenant)
Level: 1
Rank: E-
Sex: Male
Age: 23 years
Job: None
HP: 24/24
MP: 26/26
Status: 100%
Rank ups: None
STR: 15
INT: 13
DES: 13
WIS: 13
VIT: 12
CHA: 11
SKILLS
Darkvision
You're an undead, a creature of the night and darkness. You can see clearly in the dark.
Lvl -
Passive
Undead
You are not alive. You don't need to eat, drink and breath to live. You don't need sleep anymore. Immunity to poisons, diseases and drugs. Immune to fatigue. Immune to mental influences. Critical Hits ineffective.
Lvl -
Passive
Minor weakness to sunlight
As undead, the pure light of the sun damages you. Your abilities will suffer a malus of 15% until you're under direct sunlight.
Lvl -
Passive
Slow Movement
You are stiff as a tombstone. Your body is rigid and limits your movements. Speed reduced by 50%.
Lvl -
Passive
Weakness to Fire
Your flesh burns easily. You take 50% more damage from the Fire attribute.
Lvl -
Passive
Weakness to Holy
Your very existence is a heresy. You take 50% more damage from the Light attribute. Healing spells damage you.
Lvl -
Passive
Resistance to Ice
Your body is already stone-cold. You take 50% less damage from the Ice attribute.
Lvl -
Passive
Resistance to Darkness
The source of your life is dark energy. You take 50% less damage from the Dark attribute. Necrotic spells cure you.
Lvl -
Passive
Immunity to sunlight
You can bask in the sun without a problem. Any malus you could have under the sunlight is cancelled.
Lvl -
Passive
Language Comprehension
You can speak! You can read, understand and speak many languages.
Lvl -
Passive
Easy Growth (Hidden)
You grow faster than weeds. Your growth is enhanced. Skill acquisition and development is easier. Stats are improved. You gain more EXP.
Lvl -
Passive
Identify
Knowledge is a great weapon. You can see the Status of other creatures. You can appraise items. Improved version of Appraisal.
Lvl 1
Active (no cost)
Infection
Germs thrive in your mouth. Your bite attack has 15% probability to infect the target.
Lvl 1
Active (no cost)
This body was a little older than my original one, and what was the deal with that “zombie (Revenant)”? Was I so different from a normal one, that I was part of a different species? Sure, my skill list was a long one, but that's it. Most of them were the standard description of undead from many sources, but the ones that weren't, they were incredibly useful. There were many pieces of information about the perks and the flaws of being a zombie, but the more bothersome malus looked like they were cancelled. Was that part of the bonus mentioned by Admin G? I had the urge to control and compare how much difference there was between me and a normal zombie.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Luckily, I had the right means to just do it. I looked towards one of the other zombies, that was just standing still, and said:
"Identify."
Immediately a new screen popped before me.
STATUS WINDOW
Name: N/A
Race: Zombie
Level: 1
Rank: F
Sex: Male
Age: 30 years
Job: None
HP: 10/10
MP: 0/0
Status: 100%
Rank ups: None
STR: 13
INT: 4
DES: 7
WIS: 5
VIT: 10
CHA: 1
SKILLS
Darkvision
You're an undead, a creature of the night and darkness. You can see clearly in the dark.
Lvl -
Passive
Undead
You are not alive. You don't need to eat, drink and breath to live. You don't need sleep anymore. Immunity to poisons, diseases and drugs. Immune to fatigue. Immune to mental influences. Critical Hits ineffective.
Lvl -
Passive
Minor weakness to sunlight
As undead, the pure light of the sun damages you. Your abilities will suffer a malus of 15% until you're under direct sunlight.
Lvl -
Passive
Slow Movement
You are stiff as a tombstone. Your body is rigid and limits your movements. Speed reduced by 50%.
Lvl -
Passive
Weakness to Fire
Your flesh burns easily. You take 50% more damage from the Fire attribute.
Lvl -
Passive
Weakness to Holy
Your very existence is a heresy. You take 50% more damage from the Light attribute. Healing spells damage you.
Lvl -
Passive
Resistance to Ice
Your body is already stone-cold. You take 50% less damage from the Ice attribute.
Lvl -
Passive
Resistance to Darkness
The source of your life is dark energy. You take 50% less damage from the Dark attribute. Necrotic spells cure you.
Lvl -
Passive
Infection
Germs thrive in your mouth. Your bite attack has 15% probability to infect the target.
Lvl 1
Active (no cost)
After looking to the status of three other zombies after the first one, I noticed that the major improvement was in the mental stats, with me having almost three times the average value, with a minor one in the physical ones, except the Dexterity that still had a nice value, probably from the cancelled "Slow Movement" skill that otherwise would hinder me.
The reason for that was without a doubt the "Easy Growth" skill, one of the most cheat ability to have, as it will make me get a big profit in EXP even from low-level encounters. I found natural the "Hidden" part of that skill. If somebody ever discovered that I had such an OP skill, they could either kill me before I become too strong or try to find a way to obtain for themselves. The skill itself talks about skill acquisition being a thing, so in the world, there must be a method or people that could do it.
"Language Comprehension" was simple to understand, and it explained how I could talk normally, despite not having working lungs and with a deteriorated throat.
And it looked like in this world all of the undead were weak to the sunlight, in some measure. But my immunity spared me from that inconvenience, something that sounds it will be really helpful in the future.
These three skills were surely the responsible ones for me being a variant zombie with a superior ranking because nobody that saw me could take me for a normal one. Even my posture was telling it, as my slouching was less evident than the others around me and my movements were smoother. And I had even access to a Mana reserve, so at some point, I could learn to cast spells.
But the best part was the “Rank Up” section! That means that there was an evolution process for monsters, like in some of my favourite novels from the other life!
'All is well and good. But I didn't see nothing like a "Free Will" skill in there. So, if I was resurrected by a Necromancer, I'll have no choice than obey! I must run while I can still think with my head!'
If somebody got the control of my body and had access to all of my skill set, they would obtain a terrifying weapon, and I couldn't let that happen. Looking around the whole chamber, I noticed that there was just one exit, behind a stone door. My Strength stat wasn't high enough to move it, and it was useless to try to ask help from my roommates, as they just stood there unmoving.
The only thing that I could do was sitting somewhere and wait. Then, occurred to me that I still haven't an idea of how I looked in this new body! You'd think that should be one of the first things to do, instead, I'd almost forgot about it. Maybe because I subconsciously noticed that there weren't many reflecting surfaces in this place, so it would be a futile attempt?
But with nothing else to do, my thoughts trailed in that direction and I decided to give me a look-over.
In lack of mirrors I could only watch my body: well, except for the predictably pale, rotten skin, I was almost sane. No missing fingers and toes, and just a few bits of flesh missing from the left arm; the right arm was worse to wear, with many gashes and some parts where the bone was showing, but they were easily covered by the ash-grey torn tunic that I was wearing. My decency was protected by a simple pair of brown pants, with the right leg half-ripped. I wouldn't win any beauty contest anytime soon, but I was still the best-dressed person in the room.
'There really is a first time for everything!'
By feeling my face with the hands, I discovered the lack of my right ear and the eye socket on that side was empty. Moving on the front, I noticed the whole lack of a nose, and that nothing was covering my teeth! Whatever thing killed me, at least I knew from where it had come from and how wild it was, judging by the number of wounds.
'It had to be some kind of animal, to remove part of my face and leaving that kind of wounds.'
Then, the door of the chamber started to open, sliding laterally. I prepared myself to sprint out of the exit at the first chance, before my supposed master started to barking commands.
Imagine my surprise when, instead of a pale, strange old guy dressed in dark robes, from the door entered a little gargoyle with a scroll and a quill in one of its claws and a full-on businessman air around it. It looked like a small humanoid, with a reptilian face. Its head was adorned by long horns, not dissimilar from a goat's, and its mouth had long fangs that stuck out from the lower lips. A pair of membranous wings were folded on its back and a long tail dragged on the floor. All of his body was made of grey stone, even the little, shifting eyes and the wings.
The rocky being gave a look around the room and then it spoke with a low, gravely voice, totally unfit for its size.
“Alright, let's get to the point quickly. I don't have all the night and neither do you! A-hem, welcome back from the afterlife. You all have been resurrected to be part of the “Crypt of the Dragon Lord” dungeon complex, with assignments in the low-level area. My name is Spire and I will be your supervisor for the first few days until you all will be settled. If you would follow me, I will proceed to explain your tasks while we go to your new workplace.”
The horde of bodies started to slowly move towards Spire, that was writing something on his scroll while mumbling, emitting moans and grunts typical of their race, but I was standing still, without problems. I didn't feel any strange compulsion to do what the gargoyle said. I moved to follow the group in a long, decorated hallway on my own initiative, and I could stop and change directions how much I liked.
Meanwhile, Spire started to talk again.
“The “Crypt of the Dragon Lord” is a multi-level dungeon complex, owned by Lord Vajraxyperion, the Dungeon Boss and a very powerful Undead. It's the necromantic energy released by his body that brought you lot and others back to life. For this reason, you should have kept your free will, whatever that will mean to a zombie...”
'So, that's why I'm free to do whatever I want. I'm some kind of spontaneous Undead! Well, that's really a pleasure to hear.'
Wanting to confirm again my freedom, I activate “Identify” on Spire, and his Status screen appeared.
STATUS WINDOW
Name: Spire
Race: Gargoyle (Stone)
Level: 7
Rank: D+
Sex: Male
Age: 116 years
Job: XXXX
Job: XXXX
HP: XX/XX
MP: XX/XX
Status: 100%
Rank ups: 1
STR: XX
INT: XX
Animated Statue
DES: XX
WIS: XX
VIT: XX
CHA: XX
SKILLS
Darkvision
You're born to be a sentry. You can see clearly in the dark.
Lvl -
Passive
Stone Body
You are made of stone. Your natural armour makes difficult for you to suffer damage.
Lvl 3
Passive
Fly
Your wings aren't just for decoration. You can fly for long periods of time.
Lvl -
Passive
Weakness to Acid
Your body is susceptible to corrosive substances. You take 50% more damage from the Acid attribute.
Lvl -
Passive
Resistance to Ice
Your body is already stone-cold. You take 50% less damage from the Ice attribute.
Lvl -
Passive
Resistance to Fire
Your body doesn't burn easily. You take 50% less damage from the Fire attribute.
Lvl -
Passive
Automatic MP Recovery
Refill your magic. Your inner MP reserve will recharge of 10% + ulterior 5%/skill level every minute. The time will decrease by 10%/ skill level.
Lvl 2
Passive
Claws
You never had a manicure. You can attack your enemy with your claws.
Lvl 2
Passive
Appraisal
You need to know what you have before you. You can see the Status of creature and items.
Lvl 5
Active (no cost)
Mimicry (Statue)
You can become similar to something else. You can pass as a simple statue to naïve passers-by.
Lvl 7
Active (1 MP/minute)
XXXX
XXXX
Lvl X
XXX
XXXX
XXXX
Lvl X
XXX
XXXX
XXXX
Lvl X
XXX
XXXX
XXXX
Lvl X
XXX
XXXX
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Lvl X
XXX
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Lvl X
XXX
Not bad. His level was higher than mine, but I couldn't see much else of his status but some simple skills, probably the racial ones and some related to them. The things that I couldn't see were probably hidden, like my “Easy Growth”, or the level of Identify wasn't high enough to discover them. The fact that he was ranked up already once indicated that he was much stronger than he looked, and more than me at the moment.
Anyway, that confirmed that I was my own Undead and I could do whatever I wanted! But, as a precaution, I'd pretend to be a normal zombie, just in case they didn't like the idea of something like me thinking with his own head.
Proficiency reached. Skill Identify is now Level 2
What? Out of the blue like this? Was it because I tried to appraise an individual stronger than me? Well, that's convenient. If I continued to use that skill in this way, I'd reach the maximum level in short time, and then nobody's secrets would be hidden from my sight!
In the meantime, Spire was still going on our tour of the dungeon's low-level zone. He hasn't noticed that I wasn't listening to his explanation, but having to do with zombies, it looked like he was just following a routine and probably for him was just a waste of breath and time.
“... And so, you'll be placed to roam in the Graveyard area out of here. Don' t go out of your area and don't disturb the other workers, especially the ones with some real, functioning brains...”
Well, that wasn't really nice to say, even if it was true. Sure, zombies were treated like simple cannon fodder to wear out the enemies and an easy resource to come by in many games and that was usually the tactic when someone employed them, but to insult them so directly and continuously!
'Never thought that I'd find racists even between the monsters!'
I would express my feelings at that moment, but doing that would destroy my plan to stay hidden, so I kept my mouth closed and just kept on walking along the others to the exit.
But I would remember that moment in the future. I would show to that arrogant stone-face the true potential of a zombie when I'd get the occasion. Then, we would see who doesn't have a brain.
So, grudgingly following our supervisor, surrounded by the poor guys who didn't even realize that they had been offended, we finally reached the exit. Spire's monologue ended with some declaration of loyalty towards Lord Vajraxyperion, just in time for us to reach a big archway at the end of the hallway.
I didn't know how long we were walking, as I couldn't feel fatigue and the decorations were completely identical for all the length of the road. I'd like to give a better look around, but that would give out my act of a regular zombie. I'd keep the sightseeing for when I'd be alone.
“... And so, here we are to your destination! You're free to roam as much as you desire, just be sure to go inside either one of the crypts or a cave when the dawn arrives, less you all want to be easy picking for the adventurers. We'll see each other in five nights, to check how many of you survived the trial-period. Have a good first night of job.”
And with that, he disappeared! He surely used a teleportation magic, amazing! I wondered if I would be able to learn it too because it was something really convenient to have.
'Ugh! Finally, he left us alone. Now I can stop faking.'
I was starting to feel really stiff, adopting and maintaining the slouched pose of a normal zombie for so long. Straightening my back and rolling my shoulders to remove any crick, I walked in front of the others and finally took a good look at my new world!
A vast, creepy cemetery as far as the eye could see. The ground was covered in sickly, pale-coloured weeds and it was full of tombstones of many shapes and sizes. The landscape was interrupted only by some hills and numerous sepulchres, and many bodies moving slowly or just standing there.
That was the Graveyard, the First Floor of the Crypt of the Dragon Lord dungeon, and the place where I would live for the foreseeable future.
“All right! Let's see what this place has to offer!”