NOVEL WEB Chapter 4: At Least Zombies are fun to kill.
Chapter 4: At Least Zombies are fun to kill.
*Victoria’s POV*
It’s been about a day and a half since Erika left to complete tasks in a different dimension. Since Alice and I didn’t really have anything else to do in the meantime, we have just been eating sweets and drinking tea together.
Of course, only if I wasn’t going to spend some time with my lovers. At this tea session, we had been holding it for just 35 minutes. We tend to host them for an hour or two. All was well until I got a notification on the Task Pact System…
Victoria: “Oh, holy shit!…” I say in a panic and jump up from my seat.
Alice: “Huh? I’ve never seen you react so surprised before… What happened? It must have been something interesting based on your reaction.” Alice said while still seating down in her seat with a calm tone.
Victoria: “I just got a notification from the system, Erika killed a high rank Savior…” I say with a hasty voice.
Alice: “She did what?… You must be joking. With her current Stats, even killing a cannon fodder Savior would be hard, if not impossible...” Alice said in shock and denial after almost dropping her cup of tea.
Victoria: “I wouldn’t joke about something so serious!” I say with a slightly loud voice.
Alice: “Oh no… This is really bad... Is she on the Saviors radar now?” Alice said after carefully putting her cup of tea down on the table.
Victoria: “The system protected her luckily so, she should be fine.” I say with a sigh and with one of my hands on my head.
Alice: “How did it protect her?” Alice said with a questioning tone.
Victoria: “Instead of giving her that Saviors items, it gave her a Monster Core.” I explain slowly.
Alice: “Ah, giving her a Monster Core instead means she hasn’t been marked. I’m surprised that the System protected her. It isn’t known to do so often.” Alice said with a thinking pose.
Victoria: “Although we don’t know why the System intervened, it’s a good thing. Now we just have to hope that she doesn’t kill any more Saviors.” I say quickly calming back down and seating back in my seat.
Alice: “Victoria… Erika seemed to be a very smart individual.” Alice said with a sigh.
Victoria: “Yes, I’d say so, but what do you mean?” I say with a head tilt.
Alice: “She was most likely a soldier in her past life, just like I said. She wouldn’t do something dangerous unless it was necessary for her mission.” Alice explained as if what she meant was something ever a child would understand.
Victoria: “I still have no idea what you mean… Oh no!” I say in shock and once again shot up from my seat.
Alice: “Yes, she most likely had a task involving killing a Savior. We should have told her not to go to a dimension that was contested by them. If there is one task like that, there is most likely more tasks involving killing Saviors.” Alice said with a grim tone.
Victoria: “Will Erika be okay?” I ask with a concerned tone.
Alice: “Did her HP ever decrease yet?” Alice said with a thinking pose.
Victoria: “No…” I say with a thinking pose of my own.
Alice: “Then she must have killed that Savior in a crafty way. As long as the system protects her and she kills them in crafty ways, she should be fine.” Alice said with a smile.
Victoria: “If only I could peek at what her tasks were…” I say in annoyance.
Alice: “If you were able to see them, it would be an unfair advantage.” Alice said with a shrug.
Victoria: “True… I hope she doesn’t do something crazy like completing all of her tasks in the dimension that she is in…” I say with a sigh.
Alice: “And what if she does?” Alice said with an evil smile.
Victoria: “Then I’d reward her greatly, of course!” I jokingly say to which Alice responds with a laugh.
*Erika’s POV*
Erika: “The little hole in the roof tells me that it is morning.” I say with a yawn after lying up from my sleeping bag.
I actually had a very good sleep. At about two hours into the night, the zombies stopped pestering me. There were still there, and, if I made the slightest sound, some of them would become annoying again, but if I stayed quiet long enough, they would stop again. With this newfound knowledge, I was able to sleep soundly last night.
Getting up and putting away the things that I still had out into my inventory, I had 39 inventory slots still open for me to fill. Once I get that emblem from under the Humvee, I’ll do some light looting before leaving.
I wasn’t able to get to sleep in the first two hours of last night so, I had some time to think about my next actions.
Going straight to the Saviors would be pretty stupid so, heading back to the city at this time might be my death. I decided to kill a bunch of zombies for two reasons. One, I hope to get some Monster Cores to increase the ranks of my Stats, and two, even if they don’t drop me anything, I still have four tasks remaining that require me to kill them. The rewards for the tasks will make up any time I lose to killing zombies.
Lut mentioned a subway near here. If only he mentioned where exactly it was. It would have been a great place to kill zombies, especially if that emblem of Daniels actually works.
Just thinking about being able to kill my enemies, while they can do nothing but hide in fear, sounds pretty interesting. I usually kill my enemies via stealth. They never had the chance to feel fear before their deaths.
Once I got my bearings, I did some morning stretches. I also ate some more beef jerky and another candy bar. Afterwards, I opened the door to the bunker and exited it.
Just like his note said, there was a military Humvee behind this bunker. I was in the military so being able to recognize it at first glance was easy.
It only took a few steps to get behind the bunker, and there was a Humvee sitting there with all of its former glory gone. It was covered in plants. I don’t know how many years ago that he had buried it but, there was still a spot under the Humvee where the ground was disturbed.
Using my dagger to dig into the ground, after ten minutes of doing so, I found the emblem that Lut mentioned. Rather than an emblem, it was a badge. It had angels depicted all over it with an odd symbol in the middle. I had no idea to know exactly what it is… is what I would have normally said but with my inspect skill, I don’t need to play the guessing game.
Erika: “Inspect.” I say while holding the badge in my hand and focusing on it.
*Ding!*
Badge of Undead Allusion: A
A badge made by a Savior Craftsman. This badge is specifically made for instilling fear into Undead foes.
Erika: “This is perfect!” I say in excitement that is once again unbefitting of my past self.
This badge is the perfect thing for dealing with a world consumed by zombies. But how exactly do I use it? I assume that I just have to keep on my person.
Wouldn’t that be annoying, though? What if I drop it? Could I just equip it? To my amazement, a window that I haven’t seen before popped up in front of me.
*Ding!*
Currently equipped items:
:Armor:
Head: None.
Neck: None.
Torso: Ladies Business Suit: Null
Chest: Victoria’s handmade Bra: S
Waist: Ladies Business Skirt: Null
Pelvis: Victoria’s handmade Panties: S
Legs: None.
Feet: Ladies Flats: Null
:Accessories:
Face: None.
Left Hand Bracelet: None.
Right Hand Bracelet: None.
Left Pinky Finger Ring: None.
Left Ring Finger Ring: None.
Left Middle Finger Ring: None.
Left Forefinger Ring: None.
Left Thumb Finger Ring: None.
Right Pinky Finger Ring: None.
Right Ring Finger Ring: None.
Right Middle Finger Ring: None.
Right Forefinger Ring: None.
Right Thumb Finger Ring: None.
Chest Badge: None.
:Weapons:
Left Hand Weapon: None.
Left Hand sub weapon: None.
Right Hand Weapon: None.
Right Hand Sub Weapon: None.
System: “Note. Since you are a first time user of the equipment system, I will do a brief explanation.”
I was still in shock so, I let the system explain it to me. And by that I mean, since I didn't respond, it took that as a yes and went on to explain.
System: “Once an item is equipped, it will be displayed on this screen. Weapons are special. If you have a weapon in a slot, you can make it materialize and rematerialize at will. Other items can also work this way. For example, if you put your flashlight into one of your weapon sub slots.”
Erika: “…”
With the Systems short explanation done, I put the Badge of Undead Allusion into my badge slot. I also put my dagger in my right hand slot, and the sword that I haven’t used yet in my left hand slot. As for my flashlight, I put it into my left hand sub weapon slot. After doing some testing, I can switch between the sword and the flashlight at will.
This whole thing really settles it, I should have talked to Alice and Victoria for longer… If I did do that prior to coming here, I wouldn't have made so many mistakes… If anything, me and them will be having a long conversation when I get back…
*One hour later.*
I managed to take my mind off things by looting this place somewhat. I did find a few more handguns but, they weren’t really in any condition that I would be okay with. I did take their ammo, though. I found about 250 rounds of 45ACP.
I was worried about how I would store it but, thankfully I found out that I could trick the inventory by stuffing the rounds into the Emergency Supplies bag, and it would count it as only one item. I also put the box of ammo in the same bag. The only downside is that I can’t see from the menu how many rounds of ammo that I still have left.
There wasn’t any else worth mentioning that I found in this place but, in a room that looks like where they did planning, I did find a map. It was just a map of the general area. I am mentioning it since it shows where the subway is.
All I have to do is just head right from the front gate of this worn down place. I didn’t have anything else to do so I made my way out of the place. I did notice one thing before leaving, though. That tree that Lut and his family planted, it was dead…
*Another hour later.*
I can’t believe that they were willing to live so close to this nest of zombies… It’s only an hour away. Lut was right about someone destroying the barricade that they set up. Speaking of said barricade, it was made from various wood planks. The planks look like they were ripped apart… Was Daniel really powerful or something? If I remember correctly, the System did say that he was a high ranked Savior…
Erika: “Well, I guess there’s nothing left to do but head in…” I say with a sigh.
With my dagger in one hand and my flashlight set to just the light mode in the other, I headed into the destroyed subway. Wait… A subway? In the middle of a forest? The area around that makeshift base is grasslands and it’s the same with this subway… Is this dimension even further into the future than I thought? With that question nagging in my mind, I set it aside and ventured into the dark and foul smelling subway.
After walking for 25 minutes, I made it to a part of the subway where there was zombie activity. There were around a few hundreds of zombies in this section alone. I’m not even that deep yet… A few meat piles were in random spots, the “meat” looked to be various human body parts. They were fresh, where did they get this very fresh “meat” from? Is this subway connected close, and or near a settlement?
The zombies tripped over themselves and each other whenever I approach them. Now that I think about it, I’ve never inspected a zombie before… Might be a good idea to do so now. It’s not like they can do anything to me right now.
Erika: “Inspect.” I say while looking at a zombie.
*Ding!*
Undead Human Male: F
A human corpse raised by a virus of some kind.
Drops: F Grade Monster Core.
Drop chance: Low.
I checked a few more and apart from the only difference being their sex, they were all the same. With my curiosity satisfied, and nothing else to do, I started the zombie killing session. I have to kill them all at some point anyway after all. The stupid fucks kept running away from me, though… Which was quite annoying.
Chasing them down and killing them was possible but, I got tired of chasing them all over the place so, I just turned on the UV function of my flashlight. It kept them pinned down so that I could puncture their skulls with my dagger. I may not have had much time to myself in my past life but, I at least know that you have to destroy the brain for the Undead to be uh… redeaded.
This went on for a long time. How long? I didn’t keep track honestly. All I did was make a noise to alert zombies to my direction and then use my flashlight and dagger to kill them.
Though, I’m sure that the sun has gone up and down at least twice but, I can still find hundreds of zombies in this subway. Maybe only a few of the pack hunt… I thanked Lut in my heart for giving me such a useful item. Oh right, the time. Like I said, I don’t really know. If only the system had a time function…
*Ding!*
System: “The time is currently 8:30 PM. You have been in this dungeon for almost three days.”
Erika: “…”
Erika: “You have a time function?” I say with a slightly annoyed tone.
System: “Yes.”
Erika: “Do I have to ask you the time whenever I want to know what time it is?” I say with a sigh.
System: “Only if you don’t set time to be displayed on every System window.”
Erika: “Please do that.” I say with my head in my hand.
System: “Acknowledged.”
With that, now I could see what time is it. It even told me what time the sun would be up and what time it would be down. Another interesting thing is that it also tells me today's date. The month and day are irrelevant but, the year in this dimension is 2032. It’s far off from my original estimate of what the year here was…
I pushed that thought aside and went back to killing zombies. I already killed over a thousand of them but, I didn’t get the rewards for those four tasks yet nor did I know they dropped any Cores for me since I was still surrounded by enemies.
Three days was this body's limit so, although I won’t risk sleeping in a zombie nest even with this badge, I still took a break to eat some food. Having the zombies surround me while I ate was a little unnerving, though.
*A day later.*
There were a lot of dead ends in this subway. But luckily, it was pretty much a straight shot, so I didn’t get lost. Looking at a map on the subway, I could tell that I was already halfway through it. Since I had to kill zombies on the way, it took me four days to get this far.
I had stopped counting how many zombies that I killed when I killed the 10,000th one. Again, I couldn’t receive any of their drops or the rewards from my tasks until I was in a safe place.
Going by the usual outcome, I did ask the system if I could turn that feature off but, it said that I could only do that once I was strong enough. It’s a feature to try to keep lower ranked users alive by not distracting them with rewards and getting them killed.
After walking and killing for a few more minutes, I came across a small entrance that was blocked off. There were a few hundred zombies banging on a door that is attached to a service room.
The only ones stupid enough to go into a place like this are either one, an idiot. Or two, someone strong enough to risk it. My bet is on a Savior. As such, I started killing the zombies around the area.
It took 45 minutes to kill them all. Now you see why it took me so long to get to this point. Regardless, I went to the service room and knocked on the door.
Maybe they just thought that I was a zombie so instead, I shouted. If I shout and act like everything is fine, surely they will open up the door, right?
Erika: “Hey! Are you going to open up? Or should I just leave you here to die?” I say with a serious tone.
???: “I’ll… Hold on, I’ll open it!” A feminine voice came from behind the door.
A young woman had opened the door for me. Just like Daniel, she was wearing a white outfit. Although I didn’t mention that before, compared to her clothes, Daniels was more regal. He must have really been a high rank Savior officer…
The woman had long black hair that went down to her shoulder and dark blue eyes. She is really beautiful. Annoyingly, her breasts were bigger than mine… At least she was shorter than me. She answered me earlier with a stutter but, she doesn’t seem scared of me now. Is it my looks? I am quite cute after all… Oh shit… Am I really a narcissist?…
After she let me in, she quickly closed and locked the door behind me. She didn’t have any ill intent. She was just afraid that more zombies would show up and kill us.
???: “Who are you? That badge… That should be Daniels's badge.” She said with a shocked expression.
As far as I could tell, there was no form of identification on this badge at all. How the hell could she figure that out? I shot an angry expression towards her, to which she shuttered in response.
Erika: “First, tell me how you could tell whose badge this is, then tell me your name.” I say while pointing my sword at her neck that I had switched out my flashlight for.
???: “Don’t tell her anything! You hear me?” A man in a pool of blood screamed.
Erika: “Who are you more afraid of? That talking corpse, or me?” I say with an evil smile.
???: “…”
???: “My name is Kora…” Kora said with a quiet voice.
Erika: “Wrong order.” I say while pointing my sword closer to her neck.
Kora: “I’m sorry! I could tell because I have a very useless ability to tell who owns something.” Kora said while putting her arms up in the air.
???: “Do you want to die Kora? Stop speaking to her this instant!” The man screamed once again.
Erika: “Ignoring that man, that is a pretty interesting ability. Why do you say that it is useless?” I say after lowering my sword.
Kora: “Because it only works one way. For instance, if you gave an item to someone else and then took it back, it would just tell me that the person you handed it to was the previous owner.” Kora explained slowly.
Erika: “Odd... Someone else had this badge before me, not Daniel. I found it on a skeleton.” I say with a questioning tone.
Kora: “They have to hold it for a day for them to be registered as its owner. The last person that had it must have died within less than a day of getting their hands on it.” Kora explained.
Erika: “I see… It’s very situational but not useless.” I say with a laugh.
Kora: “That so?… Thanks!” Kora said with a smile.
Erika: “You really shouldn’t be showing such a bright and beautiful smile to someone who is threatening your life, you know.” I say with another laugh.
Kora: “Right… It’s just that, now I know that you didn’t do anything bad to get that badge.” Kora said with an embarrassed tone.
Erika: “Oh don’t get me wrong. Although I didn’t take this from Daniel, I did kill him.” I say with a shrug.
Kora: “W-what? But… why?” Kora said with a shocked expression.
Erika: “You two are Saviors, right?” I say after pointing at that man and her.
???: “Don’t tell her anything!” He screamed again.
I got tired of this dumbass yelling so, I went over and punched him hard in the face. Which quickly shut him up. I pretended to not be fazed by the pain in my hand from hitting him. These Saviors are more sturdy than I originally thought.
Kora: “Y-yes… we both are Saviors.” Kora confirmed.
Erika: “Well, I am a Dark Savior. Killing Saviors is part of my job description.” I say with another shrug.
Kora: “So… That’s why.” Kora said with a conflicted expression. She looked to be lost in thought.
Erika: “…”
Kora: “What is your goal in this dimension?” Kora asked with a questioning tone.
Erika: “One, kill all of the Saviors here. Two, find a cure for this virus, and three, kill all of the zombies.” I explained without hiding anything.
If she wants to kill me, I could easily just kill her after all.
Kora: “…”
Kora: “You’re trying to save this dimension? We were always told that Dark Saviors goals were to destroy dimensions…” Kora said with a confused expression.
Erika: “Hm… Sounds like propaganda to me. What I was told could also be just propaganda from my camp but, they said that the Saviors goals were to save and then take control of dimensions. We just save and then leave the dimensions alone, and also leave the people here to govern themselves.” I say with a calm tone.
Kora: “Can… Can I join you?” Kora said with a serious tone.
???: “What!?” The man shouted once again.
Erika: “I wouldn’t mind since I would hate to have to kill such a pretty girl like you but, I actually don’t know how to make you into a Dark Savior.” I say in a thoughtful tone while completely ignoring the man in the corner.
Kora: “P-pretty?” Kora said with a blush. Cute!
How would I go about turning her to my side? I can’t really think of anything… Oh right! I do have a task that she could help me with. Although I feel kind of bad about asking her to do this.
Erika: “I have an idea.” I say with a sly grin.
Kora: “I don’t like that grin but, what is it?” Kora said with a conflicted tone.
Erika: “I have a task that requires me to get a Savior to kill another Savior. Maybe if you are willing to help me do that of your free will, you will become a Dark Savior.” I say before handing her my dagger.
Kora: “…”
Erika: “I know that killing your own comrade is hard but…” I say before stopping myself mid sentence.
Kora: “Huh? What did you say?” Kora said after handing me my dagger back.
Erika: “You just killed one of your comrades without a second thought…” I say with a slightly upset tone.
Kora: “We weren’t really comrades, I was more of his slave. A lot of the higher rank Saviors tend to be terrible people like him. I wouldn’t be surprised if Daniel was also a bad person.” Kora said with a shrug.
Erika: “I see… Did he not have a badge like Daniel had?” I say changing the subject.
Kora: “He did not. Hurst assumed that we could, in his own words “easily” make it through this next during the night. Unfortunately, since no one has ventured into a nest, we weren’t aware that some zombies stay behind, even at night.” Kora said with an annoyed tone.
Erika: “We did you two want to cross this subway? Doing such a dangerous thing, surely you have a good reason, right?” I say with a questioning tone.
Kora: “It’s connected to the area where Daniel was last known to be. If Hurst could have found that badge you now own, he would have ranked up in our group. Which is why he forced me to be his donkey on this suicide mission.” Kora said after lightly kicking Hurst’s body.
Erika: “I see… I met Daniel in a city a few hours away from the opposite side of this subway.” I say trying to probe her for intel.
Kora: “He was still in LA? That’s a shame. We abandoned that city many years ago. He must have stuck around in it looking for us.” Kora said with a thinking pose.
Damn… I guess that I made the right choice to not go back to that city. No wonder he slipped up and got taken down by zombies. He was flying blind for so many years.
Erika: “Did you become a Dark Savior yet? I don’t think you did since I haven’t gotten a notification of my rewards for completing tasks and killing zombies.” I say after waiting for a few minutes.
Kora: “I can check. I have some identification scrolls in my backpack.” Kora said before going over to her backpack and getting scraps of paper out.
Erika: “Identification scrolls?” I say with a head tilt.
Kora: “We can use them to figure out what an item is. We can also use them on ourselves. Once used, a screen appears with information on what you identified. Although you can use it on someone else, it will only tell you their HP, MP, and their name.” Kora explained when she realized that I didn’t know what that item was.
Oh, those two did say that being able to see your status was a rare thing to be able to do. I guess they weren’t lying to me. Works for me I guess. The more advantages I have, the better.
Kora: “My title is still Savior…” Kora said in a sad tone after ripping apart a piece of scrap paper.
Erika: “Hm… My only option left is to ask the System.” I say in a calm voice.
Kora: “System?! You can use the system?” Kora said with a shocked expression.
How many times is she going to make that face today? Whatever, her reactions are cute, so I don’t mind.
Erika: “System, how do I make someone a Dark Savior?” I say to no one.
*Ding!*
System: “Answer. Have them say, “I wish to become a Dark Savior.” And then kiss them and or have them kiss you.”
Erika: “…”
Kora: “What’s wrong?” Kora said with a head tilt.
Erika: “Kora… To become a Dark Savior, you have to say, “I wish to become a Dark Savior.” And then we have to kiss.” I said in a serious tone.
Kora: “Ah, it’s similar to how you become a Savior then.” Kora said with a composed tone.
Meanwhile, I was a nervous wreck… I’ve never even held a woman's hand before, let alone kissed one. Though, I managed to hide the turmoil that I’m currently going through from her.
Erika: “Ah… I won’t get to take your first kiss then.” I say with a laugh.
Kora: “This will be my first kiss make no mistake! There are other ways to become a Savior.” Kora said with a blush.
Erika: “That so? Then shall we proceed?” I say with a smile.
Kora: “Yes… I wish to become a Dark Savior.” Kora said with a red face.
Erika: “Then you shall.” I say before kissing her on the lips.
As much as I would have loved to give her a deep kiss, even though I am a virgin in many ways, I'm not going to fall for the first woman I meet.
The kiss only lasted for a few seconds. Once we departed our lips, a dark aura surrounded Erika. Once it had passed, she still looked the same so, luckily there were no drastic changes to her appearance. I would have been upset if she ended up looking with a messed up body. I also heard that familiar sound.
*Ding!*
Kora Maka is now a Dark Savior.
Party System unlocked.
Kora Maka is now a part of your party.
You are the leader of your party. You can see your party member's full status but they can’t see yours unless you want them to be able to do so.
A window will be displayed on the top left of your vision while you are in a party. If you wish to turn this off, please say so.
Tasks Kill 5 Undead, Kill 15 Undead, Kill 50 Undead, Kill 100 Undead, and task Get a Savior to kill another Savior, are completed.
Rewards: 7 F Grade Monster Cores. 2 F+ Grade Monster Cores. 3 E+ Grade Monster Cores. 1 C Grade Monster Core.
Monsters killed! X 25,000K
The monsters, Zombies, dropped 50 F Grade Monster Cores.
I really killed that many zombies? No wonder I lost track of how many zombies that I've done in. Just as the system said, I could see Kora’s HP and MP on the top left side of my vision. I could also see her hunger as well as my own.
I didn’t need to inspect Kora. Apparently, all I had to do was just focus on her name and ask about her status. This is her status by the way. A small thing to note is that there was no “Ding!” this time. Her status screen just appeared right in front of me.
:General:
Name: Kora Maka.
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 23
:Stats:
Available Stat points: 0.
HP: 150/150 (59/320)
MP: 500/500 (8/350)
INT: E (3/80)
STR: E (6/75)
AGI: F+ (9/60)
MAG: E (5/112)
DEF: E+ (56/230)
LUCK: F (0/50)
:Skill list:
Item Ownership Finder: Level 1.
:Titles:
Dark Savior: S.
She was actually stronger than me… Thank God that she was scared of me. She could probably easily kill me with her Stat Ranks that high. Well, at least she is on my side now. The real bonus is that she is really cute. I don’t know if I should try to get her to be my lover…
I don’t want to do that at least right now. Maybe in the future. I just have to make sure that Victoria doesn’t get her hands on her. That woman… I have no doubt in my mind that she could seduce any woman with ease… Even a straight woman would be putty in her hands…