Chapter 8: Level 2 Zombie

As if someone pressed a mute button, the entire office went pin drop silent. You could even hear flies buzzing around if you tried hard enough. Enjoying a rare moment of peace, Lee scanned his coworkers. Shock and disbelief were common emotions reflected on their faces. Some even looked like they went into denial.

Classic Peace Effect example right here. A forlorn sigh escaped Lee's lips.

It had been twenty years since the world changed. The heroes of the past contributed everything, not even shying from sacrificing their lives, to make sure humans could thrive. Unfortunately, the safe environment of base camps had dulled everyone’s edges. They had become easy to rattle and lose their bearings.

“Anyway, now that you all know the situation and have your orders. Get to work.” Lee said in an authoritative tone. “Gabe, give me a list of mana sensors we have. Arrange them in descending order according to their level and achievements.”

“Michelle, make me a list of names who had gate guard duty this month.”

Lee barked a series of orders in succession. From the way he acted, everyone could tell how bad a situation they were facing. He was well known for being a polite and relatively friendly individual. Friendly enough that they were comfortable about joking with him.

The workers of the public security returned to their respective tables and continued where they left off. Those who got new tasks assigned to them, started laying the groundwork. Everything went back to how it should.

But.

The cheerfulness and sunny atmosphere didn’t return. And probably wouldn’t for the foreseeable future.

Lee felt a pang of guilt gnawing his heart as gloominess dominated his coworkers’ faces. He basically ruined everyone’s day. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped. As the public security officials, it was their duty to keep the base camp safe from the inside.

They are not kids. I’m sure they’ll be fine. I should better go and give those guys a call.

XXX

Teo’s hunt for zombies went smoothly. Too smoothly.

Having better stats made killing zombies a breeze. He could even take on two at once without much effort. Of course, past experience also played a role in this achievement. And because it didn’t take much to kill these monsters anymore, he took fewer breaks between hunts.

This rise in efficiency brought him much closer to his goal. Only three more zombies to kill before his first quest would come to completion.

But that’s when he ran into a wall.

He ran out of all loose Level 1 zombie on the map. Here on, only Level 2s remained.

They are stronger and faster than level 1 zombies. But what truly differentiated them from their lower leveled counterpart was their special ability. They could control lower-leveled monsters.

A Lv 2 zombie could command as many as eight Lv 1 zombies. Teo didn’t dare to mess with them due to this reason. Those things were smart enough to surround themselves with level ones at all times. Moreover, level 2 zombies tend to stick close to each other. He couldn’t even approach one of them without attracting the other.

Teo was in a conundrum. Although he had gotten stronger and possessed skills, zombies weren’t monsters that should be taken lightly. Their entire bodies carry a deadly poison that could even turn a high-ranking [Player] into a zombie. Teo wasn’t confident that he could keep himself untouched while fighting so many zombies.

It was impossible. He wasn’t that skilled.

There was also the hidden danger of getting paralyzed by random [Fear] bursts. It often comes unannounced. If that wraith decides to scream while he was in the middle of a heated battle, then…. Teo shivered and stopped thinking about his would-be grim future.

What to do? He had been brainstorming for an hour already. But they yield no result. Try he might, but he couldn’t think of any way where he was on the winning side.

After all, once zombies spotted him, they wouldn’t stop until either of them perished. It is their persistent nature that scared Teo from trying to use the ‘kiting’ strategy. It was too risky to try that alone.

Should I check the shop? Maybe I can find something useful. At least it is better than sitting here and doing nothing.

XXX

“Welcome back to my humble shop, dear customer.”

Teo found Marcy exactly where he met her before. She was sitting on the same spot and also had the same items for sale. Nothing had changed.

“Should I say glad to be back?” Teo raised an eyebrow at her. He took over the empty space in front of her mat, and made himself comfortable.

“Oh? You have gotten a lot stronger, it seems. The hunt must be going well for you. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, I guess.” Teo wasn’t surprised that she could tell his growth. With how mysterious she was, he was sure she had her means.

I should better stop thinking about her and focus on myself.

His thoughts gathered; Teo cleared his throat. He scooted a little closer to Marcy and whispered, “Below 600.”

“Alright.”

Marcy clicked her finger like the last time and opened her shop to Teo. This time, she displayed all the items whose prices were below six hundred.

Due to a greater price range, the variety had increased. There was a wide range of items on display, many of which he had not seen before. Swords, daggers, armors, shields— it was a long list to choose from.

Suddenly Teo noticed a section under the list of weapons and armors.

Consumables? What’s that?

Out of curiosity, he dragged the list up, revealing more of the contents towards the end of the page.

Xp booster? Mana potion? Vitality drink?

They were all potions with different effects. Yet another thing that the [Players] kept secret from the general public. If their straightforward names weren’t a big giveaway, the one-lined description next to them on the list made clear the purpose of each potion.

As he continued skimming through the list, the things that could help him, revealed themselves. From the many, he chose the most effective two that could help him with his predicament.

[Z-1 Antidote]

A potion made from a secret formula. Makes you immune to zombification poison from level 1 zombies.

Duration: 5 hours

Cost: 450 tutorial coins

Ashening powder

Made from a secret formula. The powder is highly flammable and goes off in an explosion when comes in contact with air.

Cost: 110 tutorial coins

One antidote and one powder are all I can afford, huh? I can make it work.

Teo smiled as he regained his lost confidence.

“I’ve decided what to buy.”

XXX

Teo panned the dimly lit dungeon, chest puffed with confidence, yet eyes sharp with vigilance. Thanks to night vision obtained from [Observe Lv 2], there was no trouble seeing what was in front of him.

Wait? Shit! I forgot once again. He clicked his tongue in disappointment. He, once again, forgot to use [Observe] on the items Marcy had on the mat. The proficiency earned from them might’ve gained him a level. He was only short on 12% for the skill to reach three.

Teo was rather curious about what changes level three would bring to this skill. Would he gain more information on a target? Maybe he’d get something unique like night vision. There were many possible outcomes.

Although he took it with a grain of salt, Teo still remembered Marcy’s advice. He had forgone using skill points, opting to hoard them for the time being. As her advice didn’t coincide with his goals, he found no reason to blatantly ignore it.

After a few twists and turns, he arrived at the mouth of what looked like an entrance to a narrow tunnel. It was the lair of one of the most isolated level two zombies in the map. But there was a catch— it had more level one subordinates than the rest.