Mark deactivated his Supreme Amplification talent and began gathering the Survivor Boxes scattered across the floor, stashing them away in his Spatial Storage.
Once finished, he walked to the door and knocked twice.
"Open up. I've already dealt with all the zombies out here," his calm voice echoed through the area.
Seconds passed. Mark was on the verge of losing his patience when the sound of the door unlocking and creaking open broke the silence.
The door revealed a tall, middle-aged man with a pale face and deep dark circles under his eyes.
"Mark?" The man's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the university's "ugliest" student—alive, well, and clearly much stronger.
"Mm." Mark nodded with indifference and stepped into the room with a calm expression.
This man was one of the university professors, Alex Winter. In the past, Mark would have treated him with respect, even though Alex always looked down on him with disdain.
But now?
Nothing matters but Strength.
"You..." The middle-aged man started to speak, but stopped abruptly, his eyes bulging in horror as he saw the headless corpses strewn across the hallway.
He couldn't stomach it and began to vomit uncontrollably.
Mark rolled his eyes and looked at the people inside the room. They were huddled together, faces pale with despair, staring at him with expressions of shock and disbelief.
Murmurs filled the room but ceased the instant Mark rested his Steel Baseball Bat on his shoulder with a lazy gaze.
Everyone stared at the blood coating the bat, their faces turning even whiter; fear nearly made their hearts jump out of their throats.
"So... who can tell me what's happening?" Mark's brown eyes scanned the group: three men, including Alex, and five women.
A heavy silence followed for several seconds until a beautiful, short young woman with short black hair and glasses timidly raised her hand.
"I... I can tell you what I know..."
Mark looked at her with arched eyebrows and chuckled.
"Great. You've Awakened too. Please, tell me—what the hell is happening to this world?"
Incredibly, Mark had managed to discern that she had awakened a talent and become an Awakened, which left him curious if others could also tell that he was one.
The young woman's eyes sparkled. She stood up and asked quickly, "You awakened too? Wow! So that's why I'm feeling so much pressure—you must be super strong!"
Mark was momentarily speechless and smiled. "Tell me what I want to know; we can talk about other things later."
"Yes! By the way, my name is Iris Valentine!" The young woman in glasses nodded quickly and pulled a phone from her bag.
She turned it on and showed Mark several videos. He was stunned to discover that the entire planet was undergoing a damn apocalypse.
An extremely contagious zombie virus had spread across the globe, and giant holes had opened in the ground in various regions. From these pits emerged terrifying demons and monsters, many capable of killing people through sheer psychological horror.
The apocalypse had begun over a day ago, which shocked Mark deeply.
"So, I slept for more than a day?"
He was genuinely startled that his Awakening process had knocked him out for a full twenty-four hours. He felt an immense sense of relief that he hadn't been devoured while he slept.
Mark took a deep breath and looked at Iris, Alex, and the others. "Are you the only survivors?"
"No, most of the survivors are hiding in the auditorium," Iris replied, clenching her small fists tightly.
Mark nodded and walked toward the door. "Let's go."
"Huh? Where to?" a very beautiful young woman asked, her voice tense.
The others, including Iris, also grew stiff and looked at Mark with uncertainty.
"Where else? To the auditorium!" Mark rolled his eyes and walked out without looking back.
Iris hesitated for a few seconds before following him quickly.
Alex clenched his fists and did the same. The others looked at one another and ran after them, terrified of being left behind.
As soon as they stepped out of the room, they were met with the gruesome scene Mark had created earlier.
Everyone turned pale and began to vomit, leaving Mark completely speechless.
"Is it really that bad? It's just a few zombie corpses," he mocked, opening his Status Panel.
[Status Panel]
* Name: Mark Miller
* Race: Human
* Age: 22
* Rank: Iron
* Level: 2
* Experience Points: 1.240 / 2.000
* Strength: 31
* Agility: 31
* Defense: 31
* Wisdom: 31
* Vitality: 31
* Mana: 550 / 550
* Spiritual Energy: 978 / 1.100
* Talents: Supreme Amplification, Primordial Evolution
* Skills: None
* Affinities: All (Max)
...
"My physical attributes are in perfect balance," Mark thought with a satisfied smile as he began walking toward the auditorium.
Iris and the others followed him in silence, their hearts racing and their faces pale.
Suddenly, three Level 1 Common Zombies spotted them and roared before charging.
Iris and the other girls screamed in fear and clung to one another.
The men were paralyzed with terror, their faces deathly white.
"Pathetic." Mark shook his head and looked at the zombies with disdain.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Three strikes. That was all Mark needed to explode the zombies' heads into a thousand pieces.
He ignored the notifications and the shocked stares from Iris and the group, simply picking up the Survivor Boxes the zombies dropped.
"Let's move." Mark continued walking, his eyes gleaming with a hunger for more Experience Points.
Looking at Iris, Mark hesitated before asking in a low voice, meant only for her, "How many Experience Points do you need to level up?"
"Ah? 100! 100 Experience Points!" At first, Iris was surprised by the question, but she quickly understood his intent and replied.
"Right." Mark nodded calmly and continued walking in silence with a very excited Iris by his side.
'So, the higher the Talent Rank, the higher the experience requirement to level up...' he thought and smiled.
Mark had been wondering if everyone needed the same amount of EXP as he did, but it seemed the answer was no.
The others in the group, especially the women, looked at Iris with envy. They also desperately wanted to become stronger, but unfortunately, fate had not favored them.
Soon, Mark spotted four zombies blocking the path: two Level 1, one Level 2, and the last one at Level 3.
Mark's eyes brightened. He dashed forward and broke the arms and legs of all four zombies without fully depleting their HP.
The nauseating sound of snapping bones made Iris and the others turn pale; it was the first time they had witnessed such a brutal act.
Mark called Iris over and handed her the bat. "Finish them."
Iris turned white, but she still gripped the Steel Baseball Bat with both hands and swung it at the first zombie's head, shattering it instantly.
Bang!
-684
Iris's eyes widened in shock. The damage number that appeared above the crushed zombie's head terrified her.
She looked at Mark with curiosity but didn't ask why his weapon was dealing ten times more damage than it should.