At the plaza, the zombies in front of the alley thinned even more, and now only a few of them remained.
"This is our chance! Let's go!"
Running a few steps to his right, Jay picked up an iron sword that was previously dropped by a guard.
Following his actions, the other 7 members similarly upgraded their weapons from sticks and metal pipes to iron swords and wooden spears from the ground nearby.
Although Jay knew that leading the charge would expose him to the most danger, he wanted to show everyone that he has the qualities to be their leader.
"Haaah!"
Shouting out loud, Jay charged at the closest zombie in front of him and swung his sword at it.
'What the fuck? There's actually a person who shouts while running up to an enemy to attack them?' Kio thought to himself, feeling embarrassed for being a part of Jay's group.
The sword was lodged a few centimeters into the zombie's neck.
"Urr… Grr…"
Although this attack would normally be fatal for a regular human, the zombie was still alive.
"Fuck! If that didn't work, I'll just have to use one of my skills."
Failing to kill the zombie with one attack, Jay became frustrated and proceeded to use one of the skills that he gained from becoming the Hero class.
"[Limit Break]!"
The skill [Limit Break] doubles the strength, speed, and reflexes of the user for a short duration. However, at the end of the skill's effect, the user would experience extreme fatigue due to overworking his body.
"HAAAA!"
Feeling the power spreading throughout his body, Jay exerted more strength into his arms, beheading the zombie with the sword that was still stuck in its neck.
The zombie slumped lifelessly onto the ground, like a puppet with its strings cut.
Amazed at the surge of strength that Jay exhibited, Kio thought to himself, 'Holy shit! The Hero class is so overpowered, getting this powerful from a single skill. Fuck my life, if only I chose that class before asking all those questions.'
Right after Jay killed the first zombie, Ren caught up to him and pierced a zombie through its forehead with a spear.
After he pulled out his weapon, blood and brain matter leaked out through the hole in its head and the zombie collapsed.
"Wow Ren, you actually killed it in one hit, how'd you do that?"
Jay asked, feeling envious of Ren's skill.
"Heh, it's my [Weapons Mastery] skill that allowed me to become better at using this spear"
The skill [Weapons Mastery] passively improves the user's proficiency with any weapon that they are wielding.
'I can't believe how familiar these guys are at using their skills. Are they treating this as a game?'
Kio believed that he also needs to start using his skills if he wants to stay alive while protecting Riko and Yuki, so he used [Inspect] on his two Assassin skills.
[Stealth Walk] - Allows the user to minimize the amount of noise generated while moving.
[Haste] - Increases the leg strength of the user, improving his/her dashing and jumping abilities.
'Shit, these skills won't instantly improve my power against these zombies. I guess I can at least stay out of harm's way, [Haste]!'
After using [Haste], Kio felt like his body became as light as a feather.
Although he had a feeling that he could outrun most of the people around him, he decided to maintain his previous speed.
'If I run too fast, I will be putting myself in danger by being in the frontlines. I also can't just leave Riko and Yuki behind without anybody to protect them.'
While Jay and Ren were clearing out the zombies ahead of them to open up a path, Kio decided to use this chance to look at everybody's classes by using [Inspect].
He already saw Riko, Yuki, and Jay's classes earlier, so he focused his sight towards the other four in their group.
Name: Ren
Age: 25
Class: Martial Artist
***
Name: Akira
Age: 28
Class: Plunderer
***
Name: Takumi
Age: 16
Class: Magician
***
Name: Saotome
Age: 17
Class: Beast Tamer
***
Looking at their basic information, Kio was slightly disappointed that he couldn't at least see their skills.
'If only I could see their skills, I would know how wary we need to be of Akira. That Plunderer class could be dangerous if he can steal our skills.'
Thinking further, Kio was also slightly relieved by the minimal amount of information given from [Inspect].
'On second thought, if I can't see their skills, that means they can't see ours either. Akira shouldn't be targeting me or the girls since there's a better target for him.'
Since he was safe near the back of the group, Kio decided to try using [Inspect] on the zombies.
The name and age of the zombies reflected their lives prior to becoming a zombie, and their classes showed up as 'None.'
Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Kio proceeded to use [Inspect] on the other people nearby.
The classes of the inhabitants of this city were mostly None or Guard.
However, there were a few classes that were common to RPG games, such as Merchant, Warrior and Magician.
The results weren't a big surprise to him, since he's a fan of isekai novels.
Kio thought to himself, 'Looks like it's mainly the townspeople who don't have a class. I wonder what is the process in obtaining a class in this world?'
Decapitating the last zombie in front of him, Jay managed to create a narrow opening for the group to escape towards the alley.
"I've opened up a path, let's go! Quickly!"
The others all followed Jay into the alley, focusing on the path in front of them.
*Growl*
A few zombies were growling and chasing after them, following the commotion and smell of blood on some of their bodies.
Turning at nearly every opening they could find in the alley, the group was aimlessly running through the alley, hoping to lose their pursuers.
The alley in this city wasn't as organized as the ones in Japan, with uneven buildings protruding outwards into the alley sometimes.
The alley also wasn't a straight path, with constant zigzags and curves throughout the way.
After running for who knows how long, Jay turned around and looked behind them.
Relieved at the fact that they lost all the zombies that were chasing them, he began to slow down.
The others behind him also slowed their pace into a normal walking speed.
Every one of them was out of breath, but Jay seemed to be the one in the most pain.
"Hah… Ha…."
Taking deep breaths while leaning against the wall, Jay's face was full of sweat.
"Jay, what's wrong?" Saotome, the third girl in their group, finally spoke up for the first time.
"Hah… Ha… I think… this is the side effect from using my skill earlier."
"Are you going to be alright? Is there anything I can do to help?"
Saotome asked him some questions, appearing to be very concerned about Jay.
"I'll be fine, just give me a moment. Ha..."
After a short moment of rest, Jay spoke up after he calmed his breathing.
"Whew… although the side effect of my skill was pretty severe, it was worth it. Did you all see how powerful I became? I killed at least 6 zombies out there. How many did you guys kill?"
"I killed 4," Ren said, feeling proud of his kills.
The rest of them didn't say anything, feeling ashamed of not killing a single zombie.
"Heh, looks like I killed the most, Ren."
Satisfied at having the most kills, Jay had a smug look while facing the rest of the group.
"Wow Jay, you're so strong." Saotome immediately spoke up, pressing her large chest against his arm while hugging it.
"Jay, if you become the leader of our group, I will always be loyal to you and follow your order." Akira, the guy with the Plunderer class, expressed his sincerity.
'These two are definitely up to no good. The girl is just sucking up to the strong, while I don't believe for a second that the guy will obediently follow Jay's lead.'
Kio thought, having mixed feelings about the situation in front of him.
Although he also wanted others to respect him, he didn't want to have any dangerous individuals near him. Otherwise, he would have to constantly watch his back, being cautious of any attempts to backstab him.
'However, I wonder what this Saotome girl is up to. She had always been so quiet since earlier…'
Unable to understand her motives, Kio decided to ignore it since it didn't directly affect him.
Jay on the other hand, was thrilled at how much respect he gained from his group.
*Cough*
"Ahem, well, if you guys don't mind, I can be the leader of this group. If guys agree, I promise I will find somewhere safe for all of us."
"Sure!"
Saotome and Akira quickly replied, while the rest of the group were silent.
However, Ren was feeling annoyed. He thought that he could be a better leader than Jay, but with how the situation is at the moment, he decided not to say anything.
Seeing nobody rejecting his proposal, Jay felt ecstatic.
"Okay! Since no one disagreed, I guess that's settled. Let's continue onward through this path."
At first, Kio contemplated whether he should warn Jay about Akira being a possible threat. However, seeing Jay's excitement, Kio decided to remain silent.