Alright! Is this wor— oh, yeah, there’s little words popping up down there and everything. Uh, right, recording. Well! First day ever on a brand new world. That is just — god, that is so awesome. I never thought this would actually — wh, well, who expects anything like this to happen? Like, ever. When that operator dude told me what was happening, I, aha, well of course I didn’t believe him. It was only when the windows started popping up that I thought maybe — maybe, this was just a, really convincing dream. A fucking awesome one, but yeah. There were ability points for me to spend and everything. Stuff like, starting classes, skills, gear, passives — I even got to select a race, and holy shit was there a lot! I stuck with human, of course, because I’m lame, but everything else had some sort of downside. I didn’t really want to start at a disadvantage, you know? Of course, this says the guy who spent all of his ability points on a single trait — (laughter) — it’s a damn good one though! Deathless, when killed you return to perfect health after ten hours at the location of your demise. I even asked the operator about it, and he — they, she, it? I don’t know. They told me that there wasn’t any limitation on it. I could come back to life infinitely! From what they told me about how leveling and unlocking skills works, it’s basically the ultimate passive. If I never die, I’ll eventually become the strongest being in existence. On paper, at least, all I need is time. (twig crunches) But yeah, now I’m here — wherever here is, some kind of forest. Not a botanist myself, those could just be really tall shrubs. Usually when I get this excited I wake up if it’s a dream, so I’m starting to think, that… this might be real. It might be. Or since getting run over I’ve been in a coma, and this is one hell of a fever dream! It hurt pretty bad in the moment, but the second I hit my head it was lights out, so not that bad. Honestly? I should’ve tried getting isekai’d sooner. This is awesome. I’ve even decided on what my name will be in this world: Will, Conqueror of Death! A bit on the nose, yeah, but — (rustling) — woah, what’s that thing?
Transcript of Will, Conqueror of Death’s first memo.
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{ 00:16:07 }
Ten hours of peace.
Well, it should have been. Most was eaten by dread, or else furious brainstorming of what he could possibly do to escape. Running was always an option, though it hadn’t born fruit yet. If he did that, there would just be a pack of Sprinters to overtake him, or a Lurker to drop on him from above. He’d managed to climb a tree before the Sprinters caught him, once, but then he’d discovered how the Lurkers were able to get so high up. They had no legs, but they could launch themselves over a dozen feet vertically with their arms alone. If he made it up a tree, he would just get knocked out of it near instantly. The Shamblers that liked swarming his corpse were slow, so he could fight one or two barehanded without worrying about getting mauled, but there were more problems with fighting. For one, if he stayed in the same place too long, the Shamblers would just surround him and then overwhelm with sheer numbers. If he made an effort to stay out of the Shamblers’ circle, his back would be left open to Lurkers and Sprinters, which could easily injure him one-on-one. And the only injuries that weren’t immediately fatal in his current position were light scratches, so fighting was hopeless.
Why a zombie forest, of all places?
{ 00:11:31 }
When he {Identified} them, the System called them ‘The Hungering.’ A cool, if slightly cliche name for what was basically just a zombie. Hungering Shamblers, Hungering Sprinters, Hungering Lurkers — and a lot of them had these disgusting, wriggling maggots poking out of holes in their flesh. What were those called? Why, those were none other than the Hungering Maggots. How lovely. The worst part was that they were spreading. He had been turned into a food source — infinite flesh for the Hungering hosts to eat, which meant infinite food for the damn parasites that were likely the cause of all these corpses in the first place. Certain spots of the forest floor had become completely covered in writhing maggots as time went on. If any living person passed through here, and survived the Hungering, chances were they would only become one themselves before too long. And for every maggot he squished underfoot, a hundred more would be given life from his corpse. He hadn’t even managed to kill a single host in his attempts at fighting back. All of them looked beat-up and half-rotten, and yet he could never beat them up enough to make them rot the rest of the way. In fairness to him, he had no weapon, and he hadn’t been focusing on one at a time since — wait. That… was an idea. Depending on how it went, perhaps it even had a capital ‘I.’
If I just focus on killing one zombie before I die… I’ll eventually win. They can produce more maggots, but not more hosts. Well, unless this place gets a lot of foot traffic…
{ 00:06:59 }
He had a feeling it didn’t. An infestation this big wouldn’t go unnoticed to any nearby populations, so they probably made a point to avoid it. Maybe there was even some sort of defensive perimeter — a moat filled with spikes, perhaps. There would have to be a wall on the other side, though, or the Lurkers would just be able to leap the gap. And it would undoubtedly have to be outside the forest, or it would be trivially easy for them to climb a tree and then dive-bomb the other side. Even if gravity claimed the host, the maggots would be on the other side of the barrier, and that would let them spread the infection. Although, he was getting carried away in meaningless speculation again. There was no way for him to know anything about the world outside the forest, or even if there were any people left. What he needed to focus on was his strategy. If he was going to try to whittle down the horde, he’d need to start with the Shamblers. He would probably want to finish them off last since they were the easiest to deal with, and could serve as meat shields between him and the other variants, but they would be good practice. All his previous efforts were focused on survival, not victory — so he had no idea how to actually fight the zombies. So far, his attempts to do so could be summarized as ‘running around and punching things in the face.’ He could try to snap the neck, but even on a decaying body he might not have the strength for that. The best bet would probably be to find a relatively isolated Shambler and bash its head against a tree until it stopped moving. That should work.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Wish I had a weapon. Even a heavy rock would be great.
{ 00:02:28 }
With his respawn timer so close to completion, it was hard to keep the dread from clouding his thoughts. All of his memories beyond a certain point were too muddled for him to make sense of, and everything before that point involved being eaten alive. The Hungering didn’t have a sense of mercy, and didn’t care whether their food was screaming or not as long as it was still food. The sensation of loose, chipped teeth burrowing into his skin, of being pulled apart limb from limb by hungry hosts desperate for a bite, had been thoroughly etched into his brain. The feeling of his organs being exposed to air, and subsequently ripped out, gave him shivers even in the limbo that was his respawn zone.
Even if I manage to kill one with every death, how long will I be here?
{ 00:00:32 }
It was almost time — he had to psych himself up for this.
{ 00:00:23 }
Come on. You’ve got a way out of this now. Don’t let yourself get bogged down with worry.
{ 00:00:14 }
If he had lungs, he would have taken a deep breath.
{ 00:00:05 }
It’s time.
{ 00:00:04 }
Don’t think.
{ 00:00:03 }
Just act.
{ 00:00:02 }
Don’t think.
{ 00:00:01 }
Just act…!
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He woke up gasping.
Immediately, he scrambled to get his feet under him, scrabbling against the dead leaves and twigs on the forest floor.
Heads turned, and raspy growls began to grate his ears. He heard leaves crunching that weren’t his doing.
He was on his feet. Come on, need to find a straggler!
His head swiveled, marking approaching zombies on all sides. Only Shamblers that he could see — the Sprinters wandered farther after he died.
There. His eyes locked on a Shambler that was alone at the front of a section where the horde was thinner. He might have time to kill it.
He broke into a sprint, and every Shambler in sight turned to follow him. He paid them no mind whatsoever.
Rotting leaves crunched beneath his feet, and dead twigs poke the soles.
His target drew closer and closer and — just as he came within range, it swiped at him with cracked, crusty nails. He ducked under the arm easily enough.
With a thud, as well as a nauseating hint of a squelch, his fist connected with the Shambler’s jaw in an uppercut, sending the monstrosity stumbling sideways into a tree.
He didn’t think, he just acted. Before the zombie could recover, he lunged and seized its skull in his right hand.
Thud. Its head hit the trunk. Thud. That one left a bloodstain on the bark. Thud. He kept the repeated motion going as quickly as he could. Thud. It wasn’t going limp. Thud. Claws raked across his ribs, and he had to bite down a scream. It instead came out as a very angry sounding grunt. Thud. A bit of blood squirted from its head. Thud. Blood trickled down his abdomen. Thud. It clawed him again, drawing a full scream of pain this time. Thud. The skull seemed to give a little that time, but it was still moving. Thud. This time, the claws raked across his chest, and he screamed a second time. Thud. Slightly more give than last time. Thud. The monster shrieked and clawed at him some more, but the position he held it in prevented one arm from reaching. Thud. His hands were wet now. Thud. His grip might slip if this continued much longer. Thud. Footsteps drew steadily closer behind him. CRACK. The Shambler fell down dead, its skull caved in from the side. It would not get back up again.
{ Will, Conqueror of Death (L1) has defeated Hungering Shambler (L3)! 3 XP awarded. }
{ XP: 3 / 10 to Level 2. }
{ Skill Acquired: Brawler (R1)! 3 SXP awarded. 3 / 10 SXP to Rank 2. }
{ Skill: Brawler (R1) Benefits: +5 STR, +2 AGI }
Bleeding profusely and high on adrenaline, he shouted in triumph. “I AM WILL, CONQUEROR OF DEATH!”
Will, Conqueror of Death, crowed with laughter — and was interrupted by a set of teeth digging into his shoulder.
Hands grappled him from all sides. Teeth and claws shredded his skin, and blood gushed all over the ground.
He went down screaming.
{ Will, Conqueror of Death (L1) has been defeated by Hungering Shambler (L2) and 17 others. }
{ Trait: Deathless (R1) has begun resurrection. 1 SXP awarded. }
{ Trait: Deathless (R1): 703 / 100000 SXP to Rank 2. }
{ 09:59:59 }