“…”

Raging, I can feel each of her breaths tickling my ear, and to be honest, I am getting way too hot underneath the blanket and her body, but I’m not going to say anything and wake her up.

Comeon, Hei! You’ve lived life and death situations! We can survive this night! We will not fall here and do something that might ruin our image!

For the rest of the night, I chant motivational speeches to myself while staring at the ceiling. It’s pretty much impossible to sleep, though somehow Yin seems to be completely at peace against me. As the sun begins to come up, at least there’s one good side.

She’s…so soft.

#

By the time the birds have finished chirping their morning love songs, I’m exhausted. At some point, I managed to doze off and sleep lightly, but every time Yin breathed loudly or snored gently in my ear, I was soon fully awake again. Eventually, despite the fact that I was getting to sleep with her, even if it was through a blanket, I was getting annoyed enough to fantasize about waking her. If only to get some peace.

However, then she began to whimper quietly. And I don’t mean in a sexy way, though I’ll admit I might have had some thoughts in that direction the first time. But it soon became apparent that she was remembering the sad fate of her teammates. The bed shook sometimes as she panicked until eventually, I turned around and wrapped my arms around her. Whenever she’d cry out their names, or flail about as if trying to escape evil, I’d just hold her tightly and press her head into my chest. Though it meant I got little sleep, I couldn’t find it in myself to let her go.

Every time I tried, she’d grow afraid again and reach out with her small hands, desperately hoping for someone to find her. I could feel tears leaking from her eyes onto my shirt and not for the first time, I wondered if I had made a mistake. Perhaps I should have saved them. I know they were trash, but even still, I wish she didn’t have to go through this.

“Mmm?” Yin’s soft voice wakes me from my stupor. It’s fortunate that I’ve at least become a Lvl. 1 hunter or else I probably would be barely able to keep my eyes open. Soft hands move on the other side of the sheets and I feel her pull away slightly. When she realizes how we’re holding each other, she gasps. “OH!”

“It’s not what you think!” I scramble to get back before she gets the wrong idea. Her surprised face has a tiny bit of drool on it, as well as dried tears, but it’s still insanely cute.

“What…what am I thinking?” She asks. At first, she merely seems confused. But then her voice grows coy and I feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise as if I’ve just encountered a dangerous enemy. “Tell me, what were you thinking, last night while I was sleeping? Are you okay, Hei? Your eyes are really red. It doesn’t look like you slept very well…”

“Nothing! I’m just a light sleeper! And you looked like you needed someone to hold you…” I break off gently and she raises an eyebrow. After several seconds of staring at my earnest expression, she smiles gently. Her eyes are a little wet and she wipes them with the blanket.

“Relax, I’m just messing with you.” Her smile turns into a devilish grin. “Didn’t think you were such a virgin!”

“What did you say!” I react instantly, reaching over to grab her, but she’s already sprinting out of bed.

“I’m going to shower first! Gotta leave early to hunt some zombies, right?” She shouts back before I can catch her. Damnit! If she wasn’t two levels higher than me! Before the door slams shut beside her, I swear I catch sight of something different. A hint of color under her t-shirt.

Pink? She’s that kind of girl? Or am I just imagining it?

All the fight goes out of me as I work to control a different kind of fight downstairs. Shaking my head, I get out of bed and stretch, looking at the sky. Sometime past noon, I guess? It really is time to leave.

As we exit the house, I’m feeling slightly better despite the rough night. Yin seems to walk unusually close to me now and I decide that I like this new development. Strutting down the street, we vacate the town on the opposite side of where we came. Following the path along the winding river, I work to find a stone that’s been well rounded and flattened by the water. Eventually, a few that look suitable come along and I pull them out of the mud.

*Schlurp*

When we break for a little bit, I unsheathe the unsharpened replica sword and get to work grinding an edge onto the blade. Though it definitely would not hold up to the rigour of armored combat against humans, it’s beginning to look like something you could at least chop a few zombies with. The wonderful thing about low level undead is that the high concentration of virus in their bodies rapidly ages the flesh. As such, defensively, their muscle structure and bone is much weaker than regular humans. They’re essentially a completely different organism.

Still, the fact that they appear to growl and moan things that the living person would have said before turning undead tends to creep people out. As the only person in the world who has turned into a zombie and come back, I suppose I have the unfortunate and unique perspective to realize that at least in my special case…the previous owner of the body can experience the pain inflicted on it after turning. However, I don’t think that’s necessarily true for most zombies. There’s something strange about when I died that first time after hitting Lvl. 100. I can’t put my finger on it, but the voice of the Gray speaking in my head just doesn’t seem normal at all.

If I die, even I wasn’t bitten, I still turn into one of them. It doesn’t make any sense. How did I become infected? And when I turned, I wasn’t a mindless automaton seeking flesh, I was…something, thinking, calculating. I could sense it. The Gray wasn’t just trying to eat…it was trying to grow. Damn, gives me the creeps just remembering it.

After a while, I’m satisfied with the new edge on the blade. Now it is no longer a fake, but an actually deadly weapon. Beckoning Yin over who has been looking out at the river with a wistful expression, I begin to school her on anti-zombie swordsmanship 101. She listens attentively, though I can tell she wants to ask how I know all of this.

“Okay, first, hold it like this, with both hands. When you cut, remember that you need to draw the blade along the surface, just like working with a big knife. This isn’t an axe, you’re not trying to hack through anything, you’re pulling the blade and cutting!” By the time the light begins to fade, she understands the basic tenets of fighting to a degree, though obviously it will be years until she truly masters them. Regardless, as the sun goes down…it’s time to be on our way and hunt.

“Am I really ready?” Yin grumbles slightly at my instruction. While I did my best, as a veteran I’m not the most patient teacher in the world. “Well, at least you’re not making me use that butcher’s knife of yours anymore.” She says with a disdainful sniff.

“Apologize to the butchers in the world! And to this cleaver!” I wave the item in question around. “It’s saved both our lives more times than you know!” To which she laughs and gives me a quick hug.

“Okay, okay! It just…doesn’t feel like a real, weapon you know? More like something for chopping vegetables in a restaurant.” Her innocent smile is definitely hiding a smirk, but I let it go. Ruffling her hair in revenge, I glance at the horizon. Seeing where I’m looking, Yin grows still. “What are we hunting tonight?”

“The dead…always the dead in the beginning.” I murmur back, trying to remember what phase of the Calamity we’re in. If I’m not mistaken, there is a higher-level creature which should begin to appear. “Actually I just remember something. Not everything afflicted by the virus truly dies. Some stronger creatures can resist the spread. Ironically…the less virus is present in their tissues, the more deadly they become. You could say…they’re carriers in a way. We’ll be looking for them now.”

#

*Tap Tap Tap*

*Rustle*

Our footsteps in the falling leaves are too loud. Or rather, should I say, Yin’s footsteps are a little loud. While I don’t have access to various stealth skills, I have plenty of experience avoiding making noise in the wild. For a long time, before I gained the title of one of the Five Death Gods, I leveled in the shadows only striking once the enemy was distracted. It happened so much that my debut name at the beginning of the Calamity was…Black Butcher Hei. It was a bit of a joke since my name means black anyways in Chinese.

To be honest though, this time around, I don’t plan on using my butcher’s knife for much. I’ve already resolved to go to a certain place where I know a special zombie will appear with a powerful blade. All that matters right now is getting Yin to a high enough level that she’ll be able to slay that zombie.

"Shh…we’re close.” I press a finger to my lips while holding the slim girl back. She has her newly sharpened katana out. “Look at the ground.”

“Eww!” Yin recoils as she sees the droppings left behind by a wild animal. Many people don’t know this, but the strongest enemies right now are not Fresh Undead, which have a high concentration of the virus, but instead, strong animals in the wild which have been corrupted. Provided they are strong enough to resist total infection, these monsters will actually give a high amount of experience and eating their meat is said to strengthen their hunters.

Though the virus is responsible for great death and misery, it is also the bringer of great change. Many babies born after the Calamity were exposed to trace amounts of the virus in the environment and actually turned out stronger than people from before. As a result, the world became a much tougher place in general.

“Bear.” My explanation causes Yin to grow afraid. “Based on the time…it’s probably not that infected. The meat might still be good.” A hungry expression appears on my face which makes her shudder. I take out my cleaver. “Depending on the concentration of virus, it might be a little tough for your sword right now. And you’re only Lvl. 3, so a bear is a bit tough for your first time.” Frowning, I think it over. It’s true that a wild bear is an extremely tough animal. But it’s worth a ton of experience. Probably enough to get Yin straight to Lvl. 5 which would unlock the true power of Hunters. “Okay, I have an idea! It’s risky, but I think it should work!”

“Tough for my sword?” Yin whimpers a little as she hears my words. However, she does not run away. After slaying several zombies, she’s already begun to change. The mindset of a Hunter is taking over. While I don’t expect her to become as ruthless as me, that would be too much, I think she will soon learn to be a decisive warrior. Ignoring her, I go over to a sapling nearby and test it with my hands. The trunk is about the right length for me to grasp. Drawing back my cleaver, I start hacking it down. “W-What are you doing, Hei?”

“Making a spear. It’s a shame because I’ll take some of your experience which I don’t want to do, but it shouldn’t be too much. At worst, I’ll hit Lvl. 2. But you’ll definitely get to Lvl. 5 which will be huge.” Stripping the side branches and leaves off the tree bough, I work on fashioning it into a working spear for large game. I’m not a spear user so I prefer not to use them, but I’ll make an exception this one time. Once the trunk of the tree has been prepared, I work on whittling the top into shape. Cutting notches into the branch, I pull the end apart into three thick prongs which I then work on sharpening. Once it’s complete, I have a rudimentary trident. While I work, I mention a few things to Yin. “So, there’s something you should know about me.”

“Ohh are you finally going to tell me your secrets?” Yin grows excited for some reason as I put in the finishing touches. “Did you make a deal with the devil for incredible knowledge?”

*Pah!*

Smacking the top of her head, I shake my head. This girl…

“Obviously not. Well at least I don’t think so.” My rebuttal only causes Yin to become more suspicious, but I keep going. “Listen up! Normally, most people won’t turn undead when they die unless they were bitten and injected with a sufficient amount of virus to trigger an infection. Understand? The bite introduces the virus into the bloodstream and if it’s a high concentration, the sudden increase in viral load causes people to rapidly die after being bitten. However, this does not usually apply to wounds that aren’t bites, and in higher level undead, their infectivity is actually reduced because they have less virus in their system!”

“I think I’m with you…but why are you telling me this now?” Yin narrows her beautiful brown eyes at me. “Hei?”

“Well, I’m telling you because you should know. My situation is a bit different than other people. If I die…even if it isn’t from a zombie, you must immediately sever my spinal cord. Or failing that, you can destroy my skull.” I point ominously at the skull in question. “Otherwise, you’ll regret it. I don’t know how or why, perhaps it’s best just to call it a curse, but you can think of me as someone who has already been bitten. If I should fall, it is your responsibility to kill me twice!”

“HAH?” Yin gasps as she understands what I’m asking of her. “But Hei…you’re perfectly normal. I’ve never seen you get bitten. And we’ve even slept together, you’re definitely not infected!” To this I can only sigh. Even I don’t know how I became this way, or why the Gray was formed. The best way I can describe it really is like a curse. I suppose this might be the price of being the first to hit Lvl. 100 in my previous life. There’s really no way to know.

“Look, I may look okay, but this will happen, I assure you.” Staring into her eyes with a steely resolve, I make sure to hold her gaze until she is forced to blink and look away. “This is serious and it’s why I refuse to level. There’s something…something evil inside me. You can’t see it, but you have to believe it is there. If I can’t trust you to finish me off, then maybe it’d be better if I left now and found someone who can.” At this, Yin’s surprise fades from her face. She stiffens and I see her hands clutching the handle of the replica sword tightly.

“I…I don’t know how you know this. But you’ve never been wrong before. I’ll believe you. Just don’t…don’t go, okay?” She steps in closer with a troubled expression. Seeing the way her lips pout ever so slightly, I can’t bear to hurt her feelings much more.

“I need your promise, Yin. Swear it to me. That if I should die, you will ensure my corpse does not rise again. Do I have your word?” I say solemnly. Only when she nods do I let the serious expression slip off my face. “Okay, this spear is ready. Here, take my cleaver. I think the enemy might be too fresh to use your sword on. I’ll hold it down. Then you finish it off. Got it?”

“Got it!” Yin accepts my cleaver and sheathes her sword. For now, she still hasn’t memorized the motion and still has to look as she puts the blade into the scabbard, but already, she has the look of a swordswoman. One day, I hope to see her decimating the battlefield as one of a new generation of DeathGods in this world. Maybe she will take my place in this timeline. Heh, that’s funny. Who would have thought Black Butcher Hei would be training a woman to take his place?

“Okay, follow me.” I spend the rest of the afternoon tracking down the location of the bear. We encounter more droppings from time to time, as well as scratched up trees that the beast has rubbed itself against and sharpened its claws on. By the time the sun is setting, I’m sure we’ve gotten close. It’s actually Yin who spots the cave in the side of a small hill. Huge claw marks are carved into the stone around a deep, dark hole.

There’s no mistake.

This bear is definitely big and recently corrupted.

Looking at the entrance, I get a creepy feeling. To be honest, by the time I fought a Corrupted Bear, I was already Lvl. 7, in my last life. And I had a party at my back.

“Is it in there?” Yin hangs back, unwilling to go near the dark cave. I examine the outside for clues. There’s plenty of fresh bear tracks and droppings so I know we’re in the right place. “Do we have to go inside?”

“No…it’ll be too dangerous to enter its den. Instead, let’s smoke it out.” I fumble around in my coat and find my flint. Looking around, I start gathering dead wood to make a fire. Once I have a good blaze going, the sun is already almost over the horizon and nightfall has begun to set. The forest has become a dark place full of terrors. Our fire is now the strongest warmth in this place. Grabbing a dead branch full of leaves, I place it in the flames until it begins to smoke and char. “Okay, I’ll smoke it out of the den. With any luck, it’ll run itself onto my spear. Then you finish it yea?”

“H-Hei!” Suddenly as I’m about to toss my burning branch into the bear’s lair, I hear a scream from behind. Fear blossoms inside me as I realize I’ve miscalculated. A prickling feeling takes over my stomach as my heartbeat pounds and adrenaline spikes through me. A second later, the terrifying roar of a Corrupted Bear tells me everything I need to know.

Crap. It was behind us.

*GRAWWWRR!*

#

Black fur, four legs, and a snout right out of a horror movie. The Corrupted Bear has small veins of sickly dark pus dripping out of it’s flank. It snarls so loud it feels like it’s right in front of me. The beast paws at the ground, angrily rearing onto its back legs and then returning to all fours. The virus has just barely reached the brain and the resulting creature is a confused mess. However, as a beast exceeding Lvl. 7, it is exceedingly deadly and aggressive.

*Tsss*

Little tufts of dirt rise from the ground as it carves bloody furrows into the dirt with overly long claws. After infection, its deadliest traits have been enhanced and now the already massive claws of a normal bear have become dagger-like instruments. The beast has trouble even walking for its claws are so long they stick in the forest floor, but when it’s this close, that’s small consolation.

“Hei! What do we do?” Yin clutches my cleaver with a desperate panic. Standing by the fire, I stab the already smoldering branch inside until it ignites into a blazing torch! I toss it on the ground in front of us for light and then step between the terrified girl and the beast. It snuffles at the edge of the darkness, testing the light. The eyes are a clouded black. On a living creature it would probably be blind. But this is normal for the Corrupted. Before I have time to think, it charges!

*GRAAAAWR!*

“CRAP!” I shout, no longer able to keep my cool as a mountain of muscled infected flesh crashes across the path towards me. It’s huge, and as a Lvl. 1 Hunter, far stronger than I am. Fortunately, the intelligence of bears is not terribly high to begin with. Placing the butt of my makeshift spear against the ground, I wrap both hands around the shaft and hold it steady, meeting the beasts charge! Foul wind washes over me as the terrifying snuffling grows closer and the distinct whoof of a bear’s angered breathing.

*Thud!*

It rams into the spear and the thick wood bends back until I’m scared its going to break. My hands tremble. A mound of dirt rises as the base of the spear pushes against the ground. I use all my weight to push down on the shaft and keep it from turning as the bear rams into it. In the flickering light of the rapidly dying torch beside us, I see the beast’s disfigured skull.

*GRAWWWR*

My spear has penetrated the rotting fur on its chest with three prongs. It presses onwards, trying to pull itself onto the spear and reach me. Each of its paws is as thick as I am and they bat at the shaft of the spear, causing loud thumps every time they hit the sturdy wood. However, the beast’s own giant weight and momentum are keeping the spear steady.

“Yin! Get the neck!” I scream. Even though the trunk of the tree I cut is thick, I doubt it can hold much longer. If this thing wasn’t undead it would have just backed up and doubtless ripped the spear out of my hands. But fortunately, its inability to cherish its own life is causing it to continuously impale itself. “I don’t know how long I can hold it!”

“On it!”

I see a slim figure dart past the bear and I. Praying that she can reach the neck of the tall creature, I do my best to keep it steady. She’s fast. The stats of a Lvl. 3 Hunter have boosted all of her normal capabilities. In an instant she’s beside the bear, just behind the paws.

*Shing*

The butcher’s knife flashes in the dying light as she brings it up and down on the Corrupted Bear’s neck. However, it’d be more accurate to say that she swings it forwards, because the bear is so tall that she can’t properly swing down. Without gravity on her side, her strike fails to sever its head.

*GRAAAAWWRR!*

The cleaver stops, buried a quarter of the way into its neck. A hideous roar echoes and the bear pushes sideways with a massive paw, sending Yin sprawling. When I see her go down, my vision turns red. Instantly, I lean into the spear with everything I have, trying to drive it into the bear’s heart! Though it is infected, it is still a living being and suffers damage from having a wooden stake rammed into its chest!

“You piece of-!” I let go of the shaft and roll sideways, going to Yin. She held onto my cleaver as she fell away. It’s on the ground beside her trembling form, black blood staining the dull steel. Going to her, I examine her for injuries. There’s a long bloody scrape on her arm but otherwise I think she’s okay, just dazed. Ducking down, I take the cleaver from her. “You okay?”

“Ow…” She moans gently, but nods. I turn back to the creature which has managed to break the thick spear in half during its thrashing. Blood is spurting out of its chest and neck, but it is very much still alive. I help Yin to her feet, and grimace. This is going to be hard to do. The Corrupted Bear whines in pain, its breath sounding demonic as it rolls about. Finally, as the last of the spear is crushed under its massive weight, it also faces us. Yin reaches for the cleaver in my hand.

“Relax. It’s not a bite wound. I’ll protect you.” I don’t let go, shaking my head. “This is too dangerous. I didn’t think it would be behind us. Just this one time, I’m going to make an exception and level up for you.”

“Didn’t you say that last time?” Yin’s face looks a little less frightened as I stand tall. She draws the replica katana. “You’re not very good at following your own rules.”

“Heh.” I grunt and rush forwards. There’s no time to exchange more words.

I can’t let the bear recover.

It watches me approach and lashes out blindly with a giant paw. Diving underneath, I roll to the right and try to get to the wound Yin made in its neck. My cleaver finds its way into the cut and I feel the hard boney plate of its last vertebra disk just above the spine.

Damnit!

Though I’m a finger’s breadth from cutting into its spinal cord, the bone stops my blade just short. Then the bear swipes at me and I have to let go of the cleaver.

Too fast!

Putting both hands in front of my face and crouching down, I take the impact of the blow head on, unable to dodge with only the stats of a Lvl. 1.Hunter. Instantly burning pain overtakes my forearms, I can feel the insanely long and sharp claws digging into my flesh and catching on the bone. It’s like being struck and stabbed at the same time and suddenly I’m in the air, flying backwards. When the ground hits my back, I see stars and every bit of air in my lungs whooshes out.

“Hei!”

“Ugh.” I cough out as Yin rushes over. The bear’s claws have carved deep chunks of flesh from my arms and I can barely feel them anymore. Just this deep, dull, ache. Holding up a hand before her worried face, I struggle to my feet. She only looks more concerned as she sees the damage done to my arms. “I’m okay…just didn’t expect it to be so fast. Crap, I lost my cleaver.”

Squinting through the darkness because the torch has gone out, I can see the Corrupted Bear swaying. Unlike a Fresh Undead, it is a living creature and having a knife driven almost all the way through its spinal cord will cause it to slow down. Yin takes a defensive stance in front of me, ready to protect me with her life, but I pat her on the back and push her out of the way.

“I got this. Let me protect you one more time before you become stronger than me.”

“Are you sure?” Yin hesitates, holding her replica katana out with concern. “It looks like you really hurt it. Maybe I can finish it with this now?”

I shake my head.

“You’re not ready yet. Just let me be cool this one time, okay?” Regaining my breath, I put my hands over hers and she lets go of the katana. It feels good to be holding a sword again, even if I can barely feel my hands. Yin calls out to me as I turn to go.

“Pfft, just this once. Next time, I’ll protect you!” She shouts and I smile.

This one really has the heart of a true warrior.

Dashing forwards, I pick up speed. The bear does the same, meeting me with a thunderous charge!

*GRAAAAWWWR!*

A feint. That’s all I use the katana for. I swing left and the metallic reflection of the blade causes the bear to shift slightly. Then I spin around its paw and leap into the air. Still spinning, I look over my shoulder behind me in midair to see the cleaver still buried in its neck.

Just a little bit more!

“HAH!” I breath out and kick backwards right onto the handle, shoving my cleaver deep into the cervical disk and breaking through! The bear topples instantly and I land beside its fallen body, crouching to absorb the impact. Under the moonlight, I listen closely, making sure its dead. Any second, I expect Yin to come by to congratulate me. I can already see the system message which is happily informing me that I have reached Lvl. 4. Despite the horrible injuries to my arms, strength floods my body. My stats have risen a lot. Perhaps too much.

I didn’t want to be the one to deal the last blow.

“Hey, Yin, you have to admit, I looked pretty cool there, right?”

Tap

Tap.

Tap!

Footsteps from behind.

It’s Yin.

But she isn’t saying anything.

Not screaming congratulations or calling my name.

“Is something-?“

I turn in time to see her ferocious face as she crashes into me. I just barely manage to hold onto the katana and keep it from cutting either of us as I tumble around in her embrace. Something jagged nips the numb fingers in my left hand. It’s a sharp pain, but then I’m on the ground.

“Yin?” I mumble, still trying to get my head together. “Why did you do that?” However, she’s already rising. Ignoring my questions, she stands over me and I see a dark shadow where I was just standing by the bear. It has four limbs, about the size of a man, and the tell-tale signs of corruption. Dark spots of infected pus coat its fur. An infected wolf. Instantly, I understand. It was an ambush. I try to sit up, wondering why my left-hand hurts so much. Yin gasps as another wolf comes from nowhere.

“NO!”

She dives down to the ground and the wolf sores overhead. I can see the gleam in its cloudy eyes as it stares down at me before it passes. The spittle on its fangs is murky black with taint. Suddenly, I look down at my hand.

No…no…no!

“Yin! Get back!” I stare down at my left hand with rising horror. A familiar burning sensation, cold and hot at the same time is spreading up my numb arms. Small jagged cuts from a canine-like mouth are carved into my palm and fingers. “It bit me.”