NOVEL WEB Chapter 10: First Kill-2
There was an overturned bicycle in the garden of a house. Next to it was an upside-down milk bottle, spilled on the ground and covered with flies.
The window of another house was left open, the curtains dancing noisily in the wind—but there was no wind. Perhaps it was just the stale air inside the house trying to escape.
He saw a few cars along the road.
One was parked diagonally on the sidewalk; its door was open, and inside, on the front seat, there was a coffee thermos and a torn-up child's drawing.
Another car had crashed into a wall, its window cracked, its hood already beginning to rust.
He encountered the first zombie about half a mile later.
It was an old woman—or had once been.
Her back was hunched, her gait slow. Her frail hands were stretched toward her chest, as if she were still praying.
William didn't approach her.
He picked up a stone and threw it, but the zombie merely flinched and continued walking, slowly disappearing into the fences.
William kept moving forward without looking back.
A mile later, nature had begun to reclaim its rights.
The roads were cracked; grass sprouted between the cobblestones.
"How could the world change so much in six days?"
He knew about zombie scenarios, but he didn't expect the disappearance of humans to cause such rapid change.
"It must be ley energy."
The streetlights along the road were bent, some still flickering—a futile effort under the sun.
Phone lines sagged, sometimes reaching all the way to the ground.
At one point, a fallen tree blocked the entire road. William had to climb over the fence on the side to get through.
The second zombie appeared right there.
It burst out from behind a fence.
The zombie was still wearing a postman's uniform.
Its left arm was missing, but it tried to attack William with its right hand.
William wasn't surprised this time.
He swung his bat skillfully, missing the head but hitting it hard enough to knock it off balance.
Then he crushed its head in one fell swoop.
"You killed a zombie." [EXP: +120]
William took a deep breath through his nose and continued on.
After four miles, the city skyline began to appear.
The sky was gray, but it had slowly darkened like a thick fog over the city, filled with dust.
The skyscrapers were still standing, but some of the windows were shattered, and the curtains inside were hanging out.
The distant sounds of metal crashing and occasional screams echoed, reminding him that the city was still a living hell.
On a wall by the side of the road, a sentence written in spray paint caught his attention:
"THE HOUSES ARE DEAD, THERE ARE NO PEOPLE LEFT."
William paused.
He looked at the writing.
The loneliness inside him pierced the cold and stabbed him in the chest.
The last zombie emerged from behind a bus stop just before entering the city limits.
It was a child.
It was only as tall as William's chest.
It wore a cap on its head and held an old stuffed toy in its hand.
Its eyes were empty, but it still held the little toy in its hand.
William closed his eyes.
"Just a zombie," he whispered.
He didn't add a second sentence.
He just finished the job.
Later, he encountered a few more zombies. Some were young humans, some were old, and some weren't human at all. They were dogs.
The most difficult one was a golden retriever.
It was clear that its fur had been well cared for before it became a zombie, and even as a zombie, it was still quite cute. However, the drooping of one of its eyes and its lower jaw filled with human flesh were enough to make it look terrifying.
[Zombie Dog Lv2]
The zombie dog jumped at him with a speed that William would not normally be able to see. William could only raise his bat and put it between the dog's two jaws.
The dog was stronger than he had expected, and even though they were both at the second level and William had worked so hard to gain strength, they were almost equal.
After defending himself in this position for a few seconds, William tried to grab the dog's shiny fur and throw it, but the size difference was obvious.
However, the skin and fur he touched immediately tore apart, disgusting William even more.
Finally, William kicked the dog's lower body, overcoming his disgust.
But this dog was a zombie, it wasn't going to back down crying.
All William wanted was a split second of space. Enough to pull out his metal bat and swing it, and that kick gave him it.
The dog staggered back a few steps and immediately tried to attack, but William's bat had already met its head.
The first blow staggered it, but the second blow shattered its head.
"You killed a Zombie Dog Lv2!" [EXP+200]
"You've leveled up!"
After this short but exhausting battle, William received some good news.
He could see from the display in front of his eyes that he had earned a system point.
He immediately gave this point to SPEED.
A little speed wouldn't hurt, because the zombie dog he had just encountered was much faster than normal. If he encountered an even faster zombie, at least he could escape.
William felt a slight cramp in his legs, but it soon subsided.
William jumped a few times. "Much better."
He felt like an athlete.
"Let's go, the city is still ahead."
William then set off toward the city again.
Perhaps because he was on his way to the city, he noticed an increase in the number of zombies as he walked. He now began to see a zombie every few hundred meters, and every zombie he saw meant a fight for survival.
When he reached the edge of the city, he had to take every step carefully.
Because a few minutes ago, he had fought a five level one zombie at the same time.
William entered a standalone house, killed the zombie inside with a single blow, and locked the doors.
He then went upstairs and looked at the system screen while watching the street from the window.
[William Aunitidis – Level: 4]
[EXP: 200/5000]
[POWER: 4.2 (+++)]
[SPEED: 3 (+++)]
[PERCEPTION: 1 (+++)]
[LEY: 1 (+++)]
[SP:0] (System Points)
[Abilities: Power of Breath I, Weight Master I, Basic Sense I]
[Blessing: EXP10X]
[System Coins: 4981]
[STORE (+)]
[LIBRARY (+)]
[CODEX (+)]
William hadn't had the chance to examine the ability he had gained along the way. Now that he had the chance, he immediately read the description.
[Basic Sense: Allows you to see the target's stats. Vision +20%]
As soon as William learned this ability, he realized that his eyesight had become clearer, and that what the eye doctor had told him as a child, "You may have trouble seeing far away in the future," was now nonsense.
This was an active ability. William had to focus to activate it.
He focused his eyes to try it out. When a zombie on the street came into view, the zombie's stats appeared just like his own stats in the system.
[Zombie Level 1]
[STRENGTH: 1.3]
[SPEED: 1.2]
[PERCEPTION: 1]
[LEY: 1.1]
William shook his head. For now, he could see the basic stats. He knew that his ability would improve very quickly, but every time he used it, his head and eyes hurt a little. Therefore, he was aware that he couldn't use it too much and improve quickly. He would only use it occasionally and leave his improvement to time.
Right now, William was facing a dilemma.
The streets were swarming with zombies. Even now, dozens of zombies were walking in one direction as if they had a specific target. William had underestimated the city's population.
He found a chair and sat down. He thought carefully.
Should he go to the barracks on the center of town? Or should he go a little further east, to the police station where he could find a few radios?
William thought calmly. He made his decision quickly.
Even though the police station would take him away from the barracks, it wasn't a bad idea to have a communication device.