Chapter 11: Saved by a hair’s breadth.

Teo pushed his palm against the rubble underneath him and picked himself up to his feet. The right side of his face felt like it was on fire and his cheekbones ached dully. Cobwebs of dizziness impeded his coherence as he wobbled on his unsteady legs.

Why? He asked himself. Where did he go wrong?

Teo fixed a glare on the half-bodied zombie, his eyes wild. This bastard is the cause. It was the level 2 zombie which he had ignored. The other zombies behaved far too organized when attacking him; this leg-less undead had to be the cause. No wonder the players always get rid of it first.

Teo always found it strange that the [Players] would panic whenever this strange-looking zombie shows up in a horde. They would be willing to risk everything to ensure its head rolls off its body first. But now, their actions made sense to him.

I messed up. Teo acknowledged his mistake. I shouldn’t have ignored it. I should have killed it first. I shouldn’t have gotten carried away. I should have… I shouldn’t have…

There were too many ‘should-have’ and ‘shouldn’t-have’ scenarios sprouted inside Teo’s head and fed on his conscience. After his reckless mindset had settled down, his mistakes came crashing on him like a tsunami, and things became apparent where he went wrong.

The consequences of his action were on their way to him, ready to rip him into shreds.

Out of the fifteen level ones, only nine remained. The others had turned to his experience points and tutorial coins. Teo was gleeful of his actions. He felt proud that, with his own hands, this many zombies had bitten the dust.

The surviving humans hated monsters with a passion. This hatred was even stronger in the hearts of those who were from before the cataclysm days. How dare they deprive humans of their homes? How dare they take over their planet? Even Teo, who was born after the cataclysm started, would sometimes feel his blood boil after hearing stories of the Earth of the past.

[Players], who had the power to kill these evils, enjoy a diety-like status in the hearts of people. Many big and small cults had formed in the name of some of the famous [Players].

One of Teo’s main reasons for wanting to become a [Player] could be attributed to this fact. In the deep recess of his heart, there was a tiny desire to see the Earth he heard about in the stories. Though, this was not his driving factor.

XXX

A twitch on his left bicep brought Teo back from his memory lane. To his discomfort, he discovered he could barely move his limbs. The nasty side effect of [Willpower Aura] skill had disabled his muscles and reduced their responsiveness to zero. Gut-wrenching painful sensations were going berserk in his ligaments and tissues.

His heart skipped a beat after realizing that the zombies had gained a lot of ground when he was busy reminiscing. They were only a few meters away from him. Fucking hell! Move, my body. He screamed in his heart. His scalp became sweaty and his face red from the intense struggle. But, his body was not listening.

Soon, his legs gave away— no longer able to support his weight. He dropped to his knees and was about to drive face-first into a pointy rock sticking out from the rubble. Teo’s eyes widened in horror. From his trajectory, that rock would definitely stab through his right eye. He desperately tried to stop this fall, but with an unresponsive body, it proved to be a herculean task.

Am I going to die like this? The flow of time seemed to have slowed down to a crawl all of a sudden. I don’t want to die. I have many things to do. Move! MOVE!!!

Gathering all his willpower, Teo desperately tried to push his hands out in front of his face. Out of nowhere, all too familiar warm energy gathered and began swirling inside his body. It flowed into his hands and guided them to move in front of his face in a crossed pattern.

And then, the time resumed its normal flow.

“Gah!!” Teo screamed as the weight of his entire upper body came crashing on the pointy rock through his crossed arms. However, he managed to save himself, which was what he wanted. He could endure a little pain.

The system’s chime soon followed. But he didn’t have the leeway to spare it a look. He only managed to thwart the immediate danger. The zombies were still upon him.

At some point, while he was busy saving himself from the rock, the zombies formed a circle around him. They effectively blocked all his possible exits. You got to be kidding me!

Zombies doing strategies? What nonsense was this? Surrounding a prey so that it wouldn’t escape— how can they have this level of strategic thinking? Were the level two zombies always this intelligent?

Teo watched with a cold face at the level 2 zombie as it dragged its wounded body to him. A trail of blue pus followed behind on the smooth stone floor.

He moved his eyes at the remaining level one zombies as his heart skipped a beat. Disbelief was clear as day on his tanned face. The violent zombies stood unmoving when there was a living human right in front of them. It was against their very nature. They were not known for being docile. To think a level two zombie would be this scary.

Teo tried to move his legs; unfortunately, the negative effects of [Willpower Aura] hadn’t worn off. He was just a sitting duck. I don’t want to die like this. Move my legs!

Once again, Teo felt the familiar warm energy filling his legs. His toes twitched, and in a flash, he was towering over the level two zombie. But, to Teo, something felt horribly wrong. Although his legs started working; something about this whole thing struck him as odd. The weirdness was similar to making your left hand move with your right hand.

What is this? Did I awaken a new skill? Teo furiously resisted the urge to drag out his system notifications which he had been ignoring until now.

The level two zombie stopped in its tracks and threw a withering glare at Teo. Maybe it was wondering how its prey could suddenly move. Being stared at by a monster that didn’t even have an eye certainly felt surreal to him. He flinched unintentionally and took a step back instinctively.

The zombie also retreated, surprising Teo yet again with its intelligence. He just realized just how scary a level two zombie actually can be. Ability to control level ones, sufficient intelligence to plan out group attacks, and a knowledge of when to advance/retreat— these three factors combined make them one of the deadliest monsters around.

Can I really escape? Teo’s confidence had taken a massive hit. Even if I die, I won’t go down without a fight.

Teo narrowed his eyes and willed his hands to rise up. The warm energy appeared once again, guiding his hands to spread out defensively in front of his chest. Since his fingers were moving, he clenched them hard to form a tight fist. He had resolved himself to fight until his last breath. What kind of skill is this? It feels like I am controlling my body with a string like a puppet.

The level two zombie twitched, giving Teo a scare. He shivered before strengthening his defensive stance. However, instead of attacking him, the level two zombie opened its mouth wide in a silent scream and fell down face first on the floor.

“Hey, duck if you want to live.” A girl’s voice echoed off the walls and made its way to his ears. Teo didn’t think too much and did as she instructed. He threw himself to the ground and stayed put.

Several whistling sounds passed by his head. Curiously, he raised his head to see what caused the noise. What he saw, left him in a daze.

The nine zombies were on the floor at all kinds of weird angles. All of them were dead, sporting identical pinky-sized holes on their foreheads.

What the fuck?