Zombie Apocalypse: Am I Counted As 10 People?!

William couldn't prepare himself, he could only raise his katana. If the zombie horse headbutted his sword as it had before, William knew he could be seriously injured. 

He wanted to dodge to the side, but the zombie horse was too close. Moreover, he had not yet recovered from the shock of the blow he had just received.

At that moment, with the zombie horse three meters away, an incredible sound was heard. It was like the sound of salvation. In the pouring rain, it was a powerful sound that drowned out even the sound of the rain. 

"BAM!" It was the sound of a gunshot. 

Immediately after the gunshot, the zombie horse in front of William suddenly collapsed to the ground, as if its hind legs had lost strength instantly. 

William used this opportunity to retreat a little because he saw Austin running towards them. He was clearly not going to miss this opportunity and was going to corner the zombie horse even more.

William disappeared into the shadows at that moment. He dropped his level seven katana and a level seven dagger appeared in his hand. At first, the dagger's light revealed its location, but it soon blended back into the darkness. 

William suddenly vanished from everyone's sight, including Austin and Elura. It was as if he had fled. 

But he was waiting for an opportunity. 

An opportunity to land a decisive blow. 

Austin ran forward and swung his machete with all his strength at the zombie horse's neck, ignoring William. 

"Powerful Strike!" Austin knew he wasn't very strong, but he also knew that if he didn't help, no one would survive today.

So he had to attack, even at the risk of injury. Perhaps his pointless attacks would create an opening. 

The blow, delivered with all his strength, penetrated as far as the horse's neck bone but stopped there. The horse's bone was as if it were made of the hardest metal. There was no way Austin could cut through this bone.

But he knew what to do. Even in zombies, muscle integrity was important. If the muscles were damaged, even if the zombie was alive, it could not control the area controlled by that muscle.

For example, if one of the leg muscles was severed, the zombie would limp. If all of them were severed, the zombie would not be able to walk but would crawl on its sturdy muscles at most.

Austin knew this. That's why he targeted the muscles in the horse's neck. With each swing of his sword, he put all his strength into it as if it were his final attack. 

But it wasn't enough. Even if the horse's neck was bent and all its muscles were severed, the zombie horse stood up.

Austin wanted to retreat in fear and anxiety, but Elura had also approached to get a better view. He couldn't put Elura at risk.

He frowned and gritted his teeth. He held his machete with both hands to attack again, but the zombie horse reared up and struck with its front hooves at a speed he couldn't see.

Austin took the blow directly to his chest.

His eyes rolled back and he fainted instantly. He fell two meters in front of Elura.

"Austin!" Elura screamed and ran, but then she realized that she had become the zombie horse's target.

Now it was pointless to worry about Austin. If she died now, Austin would die too. So she hardened her face, raised the gun William had given her, and took aim. 

She knew that the zombie horse's greatest weakness was the fact that it was a zombie. In short, she had to aim for its brain.

She knew that the bones in a horse's skull were very different from those of a human. The bones in a human's eye sockets were thin, but this was not true for creatures.

Elura had to calculate the angle correctly. If she aimed behind the eye socket, it might not have any effect. She had to aim above the eye socket and toward the center of the skull. To do this, she had to dodge the horse's attack and shoot from the side. 

Elura had put her newly acquired system points into speed, but she knew it was far from enough. Still, she had to try, because she didn't want Austin and William's efforts to go to waste.

She had to do this for the baby in her womb, for Austin lying unconscious on the ground, and for William, whom he already considered a little brother. No matter what.

Elura blinked once as she took aim with her hand. The zombie horse was twenty meters away.

She blinked again. The distance had now decreased to ten meters. 

And one last time, she blinked. Elura drew her pistol and moved to the side.

Just as she had predicted, the zombie horse missed her. She then raised her pistol and aimed at the zombie horse. She had thought her previous shot was the shot of her life, but no, she would do better now.

"BAM!" The powerful sound of the pistol filled the cabbage field. The bullet entered the horse's head and exited!

…

William seemed to have become one with the darkness. 

He held his sore chest and took deep breaths to ease the pain and regulate his breathing. 

He needed a single attack. A single attack that could pierce the horse's bone. 

All his abilities became active at that moment, whether he wanted it or not. He felt his body become lighter and lighter, and he felt himself fill with power as he examined the horse's head from among the shadows. 

William was ready. He had adjusted his position. He glanced at Austin. He was in as dire a situation as he was.

He hoped Elura would create an opening for him. He couldn't let her take a blow. Otherwise, the consequences could be dire for the baby in her womb.

Just a moment, not even a second, just a moment... That was all it took. And that moment came when William was most focused. It came when he was closest to the horse when he was holding the dagger most tightly.

"BAM!" That was the signal for William. William lunged forward with all his strength...

...

Elura breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the horse was dead, but it wasn't.

The moment Elura relaxed, the horse continued to walk, making strange movements. The zombie horse's right front hoof seemed to be stepping in a different direction than its left front hoof. 

Its head, which seemed to be drooping and weak, was filled with a crazy grin that did not belong to a horse.

Although its bulging eyes were lifeless, it was looking into Elura's eyes.

Elura understood at that moment. 

She was going to die.

The zombie horse was going to kill her in a moment. Maybe it would crush her with its hoof, maybe it would bite her neck with its teeth, but somehow she was going to die. 

But there was one thing Elura had forgotten. 

William.

His leap through the bushes and cabbages was faster than the naked eye could see.

Elura saw only a blur and a cold, sharp, silvery glow. 

She could only catch a glimpse of William stabbing his dagger into the horse's eye, which had been hit by a bullet. 

She saw the dagger pierce the horse's eye and reach its brain. 

She saw the horse's eyes remain open, its body tremble, and its weak neck shake one last time with the strength of its bones. 

She saw the horse's head strike William, sending him flying toward Austin. 

Then she saw the horse fall to the ground and die.

Elura took a deep breath. 

The zombie horse was dead. 

She wasn't sure about William and Austin's condition. 

Her body recovered from the shock when the horse died, and Elura was able to stand up. 

She ran to Austin first. After confirming he was still breathing, she went to William. 

At that moment, she saw a zombie crawling toward her from afar. Its lower half was missing.

Elura took out her pistol and aimed it with trembling hands.

"BAM!" The zombie's head exploded in the falling rain, and Elura put the pistol back in her waistband.

Then she looked at William. He was soaked in the rain. The front of his T-shirt was torn as if it had been crushed by a rock. Elura immediately tore his T-shirt and looked underneath.

William's chest was purple. There was a scratch wound from the middle of his chest to his shoulder.

It wasn't deep, but it looked like it would hurt a lot. 

Elura took William's hand and dragged him along. 

She did the same with Austin. She took both of them up to the roof of the house whose living room had collapsed. Then she locked the door and took all the bandages she could find from the system store. Then she remembered the conversation they had had during dinner. 

She ran and took a few medicines from William's bag. She crushed a few of them, mixed them with water, and forced the two to take them....

...

William woke up with the sun shining in his eyes.

He tried to get up, but the pain had taken over his entire body.

"Don't you dare get up."

He was sure he had a few broken bones in his chest, so he just turned his head toward the voice.

William looked at Elura, who was sitting on his right, right in front of the door. She was soaked, exhausted, and her eyes were swollen from crying. 

Her body was covered in dirt and blood, especially her hands. But none of it was her own blood. It was William and Austin's blood. 

William slowly turned his head toward Austin and his wounds, then toward his own wounds. 

They were bigger than he had expected, but they weren't deep.

Fortunately, the "thing" they were fighting was just a horse. A creature with no weapons other than brute force and speed.

At first, William couldn't speak. He knew he shouldn't move. Even though he was a seventh-level and had spent a lot of points on his strength stat, it was impossible for him to heal quickly. At worst, he would have to wait until the next day. 

"It's okay, we're in no hurry anyway." William smiled bitterly. He hadn't expected a horse to cause them so much trouble.

"How's Austin?" He asked, looking at Austin, who was still sleeping like a baby beside him. 

"He's okay… I think." Elura lowered her head and placed it between her hands while holding a sword in one hand. 

"There are no external injuries, but he took a direct hit to the front. Other than some bruises and a few minor scratches, he seems fine... but... he hasn't woken up yet." 

After saying this, Elura began to cry quietly, but as if she wanted the whole world to hear her.

William frowned. 

Austin had endured that blow for Elura. He had seen everything from among the bushes.

"Maybe it's because his level isn't high enough? You know that the speed of recovery is also affected by the stats…" William quietly tried to comfort Elura.

"I know... hic... but he should have woken up. I poked him so many times... hic... he didn't respond at all." 

William turned his head and looked at Austin. He felt uneasy looking at Elura's face. He was afraid she would blame him.

"How long have we been sleeping?" 

"Eight hours." Elura took a deep breath and stopped crying. "You've been unconscious for eight hours." 

William didn't know what to do. He found himself in another helpless situation. 

At that moment, he thought of checking the system store. Maybe he could find something good, but the notification he saw was interesting enough to keep Austin waiting.

"You killed the Shadow Hoof Zombie! [You earned 3600 EXP! (900x4=3600)]" 

"Why?" William questioned in his mind.

"When you kill a creature higher than your own level or engage in a task, you earn more EXP. This multiplier doubles for each additional level." 

'So that's why… The Shadow Hoof Zombie was two levels higher than me, which gave me four times the EXP. Then, what if I had killed an 11th level zombie? Would I have gotten sixteen times more EXP? That would have allowed me to level up instantly! "

Even with his eyes closed, William couldn't hide his surprise and let out a small gasp.

"What's wrong?" Elura thought he was in pain and asked. William's life was as important to her as Austin's.

"Nothing." William muttered and closed his eyes again because he had seen another notification.

"You killed a special zombie! [+1 Evolution Point!]"

"What is an evolution point?" William thought, but the answer he was waiting for did not come. Still, he engraved in the back of his mind that he now had an evolution point. 

"You've obtained an item! [Horseshoe-nosed boots!]" As William focused on this notification, a pair of boots appeared on him. 

Elura noticed it immediately. 

"What's this? Are such ugly boots even sold?" 

William shook his head. "No... I got this by killing the horse..." William was confused because when he looked at the boots, he saw an information window just like the ones for his weapons and armor.

Elura frowned as well, she didn't think such ugly boots would be given as a reward. 

William focused and examined what was written in the window.

[Horseshoe-Nosed Boots Lv9 (Rare) ]

[Kick Power +10%, Movement Speed +10% (This effect doubles at night.)]

"This is pretty good!" William was happy to see that it had an effect as a percentage like an ability, but its appearance was not appealing at all.

There was a horseshoe in front of the boots. It seemed like it wouldn't touch the ground or make any noise, but it looked very ugly. Additionally, every part of the leather was covered in horseshoe patterns, and the color was the blackest black he had ever seen. 

"Would you like to wear them?" William turned his head and asked Elura with a smile. He was really thinking of giving her these boots if Elura agreed.

"Maybe if I die from a horse kick and am reborn as an idiot." Elura frowned and turned her head away.

"I guess we should ask Austin when he wakes up." 

William shook his head and opened the system store. There were thousands of products here, maybe even hundreds of thousands... But what he was looking for was a medicine.

It didn't take long; he only had to scroll down the screen for a few minutes. 

He found himself in a section labeled [Potions].

There were hundreds of different potions with strange effects, and they were all very expensive. Even William might not have enough money for them. 

Then he saw it… the potion he was looking for. 

[Healing Potion (Normal)] 

[Increases the user's cellular activity to restore physical condition. +100% Cellular Activity/10 Min] 

"So it increases my cellular activity by 100% for ten minutes, which means it doubles my physical recovery. I guess the effect depends on how active your cells can be. Then can I use it too?"

When there was a question that could be answered, the system's voice was right next to his ear. William listened carefully.

"Potions have a rarity rating system. Potions affect the user according to their level, special abilities, and power. When a Level 1 human uses a normal potion, their cellular activity can be 100% for ten minutes, but if a Level 10 human uses a normal potion, the effect will be +0%."

William nodded. "In short, if I use this potion, I'll get about a 30% effect. What if I use a rare potion? Shouldn't I get a higher effect this time?" 

The system's response was discouraging. It seemed to understand that William was trying to find a loophole in the system. Its emotionless voice immediately echoed in William's mind.

"If the user uses a potion that is one or more levels higher than their own, they will receive recovery based on their cellular activity resistance coefficient. If they cannot withstand it, the healing potion can be poisonous to the user." 

"I see, so the most optimal result for me right now is to drink a little more than half of a rare potion or three normal potions. That way, I can achieve nearly 100% cellular activity, even if it's not quite complete."

William raised his hand from where he was lying. 

"It's both very complicated and very simple. In short, it's terrifying…"

"System currency: -10,000"

"That's too expensive!"