^Michael Santos POV^
"Haah... we did it. My plan actually worked."
Michael was drenched in sweat as he breathed a massive sigh of relief. Looking down at the fallen Runner Zombie carcass resting beneath his boots, he picked up the dropped metallic treasure chest and stored it safely inside his spatial storage bracelet.
"Jasmine, Shawn—we're going to help the others right now. We'll return later to collect the rest of our loot." Michael cast a briefly greedy glance at the wooden treasure chests scattered across the parking lot before quickly reining in his impulses. He wasn't about to make a fatal mistake like celebrating the spoils of a battle he hadn't fully won yet.
To understand exactly how they reached this point, we have to rewind the clock to the moment Michael first explained his reckless strategy to Shawn.
... ...
"Tsk... I don't know what's with these suicidal ideas you've been having lately." Shawn had shaken his head helplessly upon hearing Michael's high-stakes plan, running ahead to take his position.
The strategy was simple: while Shawn cleared out the regular zombie mob to empty the area, Michael would face the swift Runner Zombie in a direct, one-on-one duel.
"Here it comes. Let's dance."
The Runner immediately locked eyes with Michael standing in its path. It lunged forward at maximum speed, extending its razor-sharp claws directly toward his throat, desperate to tear into fresh flesh. The Runner was so fast that Michael could actually hear the wind howling violently in its wake.
—Too fast!—
Michael's expression tightened as he realized the speed of this particular monster far surpassed the regular variant he had fought previously. Despite the spike of fear, he didn't lose his head; remaining rational, he refused to let panic cloud his judgment.
"A little more... just a bit closer... NOW!"
Michael stood frozen like a statue as the Runner closed the distance: 100 meters... 50 meters... The exact moment the gap shrank to under thirty meters, Michael capitalized on the zombie's predictable, straight-line trajectory and unleashed a compressed fireball straight at its feet to instantly cripple its mobility.
BOOM!
"Incredible shot!" Shawn, who was watching the duel from afar while using his heavy axe to chop down regular zombies from atop a row of cars, raised a thumb in approval. Michael's highly precise lead shot struck the zombie's feet perfectly, triggering a localized explosion that shattered its legs and sent it crashing into the pavement.
Michael lunged forward to finish what he started, raising his heavy mace and violently caving in the Runner's skull. The weapon was instantly splattered in black blood and gray brain matter, making it look profoundly terrifying.
Plaintext
[You have killed a Tier 1 Runner Zombie (Lv.15). +150 XP] [Congratulations! You have reached Lv.7. You have 3 Free Stat Points.]
Plaintext
[Name: Michael Santos] [Level: 7 {20 / 300 XP}] [Class: None] [Mana Points: 34 (+10)] [Strength: 14] [Constitution: 11] [Vitality: 11] [Agility: 16] [Intelligence: 17 (+5)] [Unallocated Points: 0] [Skills: Fireball (Lv.2 — Novice), Mana Shield (Lv.1 — Novice), Observation (Lv.2 — Novice)]
"Alright then. Let's finish our dance." Michael smiled after distributing his stat points, pleased to see he had already leveled up another active skill. He dashed forward to help Shawn and Jasmine clear out the remaining undead.
"Michael, you got here just in time! Distract him for a second!"
As Michael approached Jasmine's sector, he found her gracefully leaping from one car roof to another, seamlessly firing off arrows at a miserable Giant Zombie that was completely incapable of keeping up with her agility.
"You got it!" Michael nodded, conjuring a rapid [Fireball] and hurling it directly at the Giant to draw its aggression away from Jasmine.
With the pressure relieved, Jasmine stabilized her footing atop a vehicle and drew her bowstring back—but Michael noticed she hadn't loaded a physical arrow. Before his confusion could deepen, ambient mana violently condensed around her fingers, shaping itself into a brilliant, snow-white arrow composed entirely of raw energy.
Jasmine released the string. The projectile struck the Giant Zombie directly in the face and detonated on impact, sending chunks of rotten flesh and dark blood spraying outward in a violent radius.
"Damn! What kind of skill is that?!" Michael was so awestruck by the destructive power of the mana arrow that he completely forgot to dodge the incoming splatter, receiving a warm, disgusting bath of foul zombie blood.
"Explosive Mana Arrow," Jasmine explained, maintaining a flawless poker face to keep herself from laughing at Michael's newly crimson-stained appearance. "It's a Rare-grade skill, but the consumption is massive. I can only use it twice a day."
Though her face was noticeably pale from the extreme mana drain, her voice didn't hide the deep sense of pride she took in the ability.
"Good, very good. Let's clean up these stragglers quickly and join the others at the library courtyard."
Michael magically manifested a long spear out of his storage bracelet under Jasmine's surprised eyes. From there, the trio systematically ground down the remaining zombies with ease. Using the simple, effective tactic of standing atop high car roofs, they waited for the monsters to approach before skewering them one by one, until the three of them were the last ones standing in the parking lot.
... ...
"I think we arrived right on time. Shawn, take this shield! Jasmine, go help Stephen over there—he won't hold out much longer on his own!"
The moment Michael's team arrived at the library courtyard, they found the Elite Giant's rampage already underway, with Hank's defense line visibly on the verge of collapse.
"Hey, Jin! We'll handle the Giant! You go help the others clear out the remaining horde! We need to leave this place immediately—the smell of blood will attract even greater dangers."
Catching sight of Jin standing over the corpse of the Zombie Colonel, Michael assumed Jin had pushed himself to his limits to assassinate the leader. He made the immediate tactical call to assist him first, aiming to neutralize the highest threat level to secure their absolute victory.
... ...
^General POV^
Present time. The entire vanguard unit had successfully retreated to the Mechanical Engineering building, encountering zero resistance along the way.
"Finally, some actual rest."
The moment Zola stepped inside the secure perimeter, he relaxed all of his heightened senses. Having served as the primary linchpin of the library's frontline defensive wall, he was completely spent.
"Hey, you smelly brat. Go take a shower and change your clothes before you ruin the entire room." Selena looked down at Zola's filthy state with a look of mock disgust. His face was painted in a grim cocktail of red and black blood, and the pungent stench of sweat and decay could be picked up from miles away.
"You guys actually have running water for showers here?" Michael raised his eyebrows, thoroughly shocked by the prospect of finally scrubbing away the rotten stench clinging to his skin.
"Yes, of course," Selena smiled back at Michael, handing over a few sets of clean, spare clothes. "You're in a mechanical engineering building. Every practical lecture requires handling grease, grime, and motor oil, so we have fully functional locker rooms and massive backup water tanks. There's enough supply to last us a month at least."
"Oh, man, that is absolutely beautiful. Let's go, double time!" Shawn grinned broadly, nudging Michael and Hank to hurry along to enjoy their very first hot shower in this brutal new world.
... ...
"Now that was incredible. I finally feel human again," Michael remarked as he and Shawn walked out of the shower facilities, joining the core group gathered in one of the main briefing rooms.
The lighthearted mood evaporated instantly when Michael looked over at Hank. "Hank... what's our final casualty count from this engagement?"
The room turned incredibly tense, a heavy silence falling over everyone.
Hank let out a slow, heavy sigh, his voice carrying clearly across the room. "We lost six people. Four of them were wiped out instantly when the Giant Zombie initiated its rampage."
Hearing the number of casualties, Michael tightly clenched his fists. A wave of guilt washed over him; he felt as though he had failed the people who had placed their trust in his leadership once again.
Sensing how dark the atmosphere had become, Shawn stepped forward, speaking loudly to break the tension and give the survivors something to look forward to. "It's been a brutal, exhausting day, everyone. Let's lock things down and rest up for tonight. Tomorrow morning, we will conduct a full inventory of the spoils from this battle—and there will absolutely be rewards distributed to everyone who stood on that line."
The tension eased significantly at the mention of loot and rewards. The eyes of the survivors lit up, and those who had fought and lived through the siege began whispering among themselves, eagerly speculating on what kind of gear or upgrades they might receive.
Once the crowd dispersed, Shawn leaned in close to Michael and Hank, dropping his voice to a low whisper. "So, what's the actual total haul we brought back?"
Michael shook his head, a deeply cynical, ironic smile cutting across his face. "Inside my bracelet? Roughly forty wooden chests... and exactly three metallic ones."
Shawn frowned, completely missing his friend's underlying meaning. "Wait, that's it? That's impossible given the sheer size of the horde we cleared."
"Exactly. It's statistically impossible for that to be the entire haul," Hank chuckled softly, pointing out the source of Michael's cynicism. "Which means it's painfully obvious that several people hid the chests they picked up during the chaos."
Shawn let out a low whistle, scratching the back of his head. "Ah... I see. Damn, that's a mess. It's not like we can force a strip-search on every single survivor without triggering a mutiny."
The core leaders eventually headed to their makeshift beds, each of them racking their brains for a viable solution to the hidden loot problem.
"Hahaha! I got it! I am an absolute genius! A genius!"
Right in the dead of night, Shawn suddenly started laughing like a lunatic in the dark—until someone violently hurled a plastic water bottle directly at his head to shut him up.
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