Chapter 9: Opportunity

Teo played with the handle of the wooden sword, which also sometimes doubled as his walking cane, as he stood lost in his thoughts. He was trying to simulate a battle with the level two zombie inside his head.

It was Teo’s first time trying something this unique, spurred by Marcy’s advice. She said it would help him find his faults and guide his hands in better utilizing what he already knows. And here he was, trying it out. And why he didn’t do it in front of Marcy? That’s because he couldn’t trust her at all.

Teo closed his eyes and imagined three zombies— the maximum number he could take on without harming himself. Three white silhouettes appeared in dull yellow light. They stared in his direction and opened their mouths wide in a silent scream. In the process, they showed off their rows of teeth growing from rotting gums. Blue pus with a horrible stench had taken over the place of saliva.

To Teo’s eyes, they looked almost life-like. In fact, it was so uncanny that he lost his focus and broke the simulation. Teo realized that his heart was beating crazily inside his chest, and he was sweating profusely. He took in a few deep breaths, pumping air into his lungs in an attempt to calm his rapid heartbeat.

What was that? Teo’s unconsciously tightened his grip around the sword. The wood groaned in protest from the force of his fourteen-point strength. That image felt too vivid to be something conjured in his imagination. It was almost identical to real zombies, right down to their horrid smell. Just how strong is my imagination?

After this, Teo didn’t dare to repeat the process. It was not the right time. He also didn’t want to leave himself vulnerable to a passing zombie. He had entered deep into the enemy territory; it would not be strange to see a random passing zombie. Furthermore, there were pressing matters that needed his attention at the moment.

He confirmed Marcy’s advice, and that’s enough for the time being.

After a momentary contemplation, he took out a vial from his pocket. The purple concoction in the glass tube was constantly emitting an eery aura. It doesn’t look like a drink made for humans. But, looks can be deceiving. The purple liquid inside the tube was a precious tonic that would give its drinker an immunity to zombie viruses.

Teo had spent forty-five zombies worth of tutorial coins to buy it. His heart ached just from a mere look.

He activated [Observe] on instinct. It was already his seventh time doing it in the past one hour. Teo clicked his tongue at this new habit he had picked up.

[Z-1 virus antidote]

Rank: Uncommon, consumable

A solution concocted by mixing several secret ingredients. It gives complete immunity to the Z-1-type virus for a few hours.

Duration: 5 hours

Teo dismissed the message and then uncorked the vial. The stinky smell of rotting eggs wafted from the tube and made its way into his nose. He almost threw the tube into the wall due to the revolting smell.

Teo pinched his nose to stop the fragrance in its track and spare himself the nasal torture. To think this is edible. Here goes nothing. He downed the vial in one go.

Extreme sourness overwhelmed his taste buds. Teo thought his tongue would fall off from the unexpected explosion of exotic flavor.

Luckily, he made some preparations beforehand. Teo took out a small bottle containing some transparent liquid and drank it empty. Cool water flowed through his tortured tongue, soothing his buds and cleaning his mouth. Phew. So this is why that woman gave me this bottle for free.

Teo’s opinion on Marcy improved by a few points.

You obtained immunity to zombification from level 1 zombies.

Duration: 4:58:41

The message from the system was proof that he had acquired immunity. Teo had his hundred percent trust in the [Akashic Records]. Not just him; almost everyone had an absolute belief in the system that governs world laws. Why? Because the [Akashic Records] had never failed them.

Let’s start.

With the preparations done, the only thing left for him was to engage in the battle.

Teo held the sword with his two hands and kept it in front of him before stepping into the tunnel. In this way, he could react to sudden changes almost immediately. The absence of soul lamps reduced visibility to the lowest minimum. Fortunately, Teo had level upped [Observation] and obtained the night vision perk.

He cautiously covered the distance— one step at a time. The lacking range of his night vision stopped him from rushing inside and taking the initiative. He couldn’t even lure them out as it might attract other zombie groups. For his safety, the battle must occur and end inside the tunnel.

A few moments later, Teo found his target. They stood like statues and stuck to the walls on both sides of the tunnel. A rough head count revealed their numbers to be around fifteen. Teo’s heart skipped a beat. They had a far greater number than he expected. I’m going to have a hard time, won’t I?

Teo smiled bitterly. This scuffle might not end up pretty for him. There was even a chance that he would get hurt and bleed. Bleeding wounds in a dungeon? Now that’s a recipe for disaster.

He shook his head to clear his mind. Distracting thoughts were the last thing he wanted at this moment.

Teo squinted his eyes and activated [Observe]. All fifteen zombies were level ones; level two wasn’t there. What? Where did it go? A bad feeling welled up inside his heart. Something isn’t right.

Due to constantly going outside the camp with the [Players], Teo had experienced countless encounters with deadly monsters. As a result, he had developed a sixth sense for any would-be crisis over the years. On many occasions, his life was saved because he sensed a danger beforehand and acted accordingly.

Right now, his sixth sense was going haywire again. It hadn’t shown up until now, making Teo assume that maybe his ability was useless. However, right at this instant, it was crystal clear to him. It was not that his sixth sense was useless, but he just hadn’t been in that much danger for it to activate.

Fuck! Teo could feel the hairs at the back of his neck standing up. He whipped his head around, trying to find out the source that triggered his danger sense. Suddenly, from a dark corner, [Observe] picked something up.

Zombie Level 2

HP: 34/80

Status: hunting; semi-mobile; wounded

He found the source of his terror. Teo backed up to the opposite wall and carefully read the message from the system. The thing that stood out the most was its max-HP; it was double of a level one zombie. How many hits would it take?

Teo was about to do a mental calculation but stopped himself after taking note of the weirdness around him. No, it was more of an opportunity to him.

Let’s think about that later. I must take this chance. The undead had less than half of its maximum HP and also seemed immobile for some reason. He didn’t know and certainly didn’t care who did it or why it happened. What he cared about were the level 1 zombies. Come to me, my experience points.

Teo was no longer scared of level 1 zombies. He didn’t fear them before and after getting the immunity, he feared them even less. With the level-two zombie wounded and immobile, he had nothing to worry about anymore. In his eyes, the walking corpses were nothing more than walking experience points.

Now, the initiative had fallen on Teo’s hands.