***
February 04, 2029
"This place is rather nice, don't you think?" Lucas remarked to Lucy as they approached their new building.
Following their conversation from the previous night, they had spent the morning hours searching for a more suitable shelter as they ventured deeper into the city. While zombies remained a constant presence, their enhanced strength made dealing with them significantly more manageable.
"Absolutely, and it comes with two rooms," Lucy replied with a hint of delight. Given that the previous building they had occupied had only a single bed, they had inadvertently engaged in a nightly battle for space, leading to numerous unintentional kicks.
Had the current building not been so strategically advantageous for zombie hunting, they might have opted for a different location.
As they scavenged for food within the building, they were met with disappointment, encountering nothing but debris and refuse.
"If they're doomed anyway, you'd think they could leave behind some food," Lucy grumbled, her audacity taking Lucas slightly aback.
'Seems like she's growing bolder,' he mused to himself.
Gazing out of the second-floor window, they observed the street below, strewn with the corpses of defeated zombies, while fresh ones continued to traverse the morbid landscape.
"There's seemingly no end to their numbers, huh?" Lucas remarked, turning his attention back to Lucy, only to find her expression a mix of awe and trepidation as she pointed at something beyond the window.
"Huh?"
Following her outstretched arm, Lucas's gaze landed on an immense, shadowy figure in the building across from them. Through the distant window, he strained to see.
"Good heavens, what the heck?" Lucas involuntarily exclaimed, startled by the unexpected sight.
"Lucas, isn't that…"
"Yes, a tarantula."
The sight of the colossal arachnid left him perplexed. How had it grown so immense? The creature moved within the building, shifting from side to side.
"Lucy, you think we could salvage from that?" he mused.
"Are you out of your mind? You want to take that on?" Lucy's incredulous expression met his proposal. His idea did seem a bit unhinged; after all, he had just witnessed a cluster of tarantulas, each the size of nine to thirteen human heads, prowling around the third floor of the adjacent apartment.
"Just because there are giant tarantulas doesn't mean we halt everything, right? Remember, I have the power of fire. We could incinerate them," Lucas responded, showcasing his ring as evidence. As a side note, how had these tarantulas grown to such a colossal size? he wondered.
"Lucas, but still… there are so many of them."
"True, and that's precisely why we need to eliminate them."
Lucas chuckled in response to the incredulous look on Lucy's face.
"Don't worry, it's fine. They can't fly, can they? What if we take them out from here?"
"You mean…?"
"Yes, try using your icicle ability. You hardly use it these days, right? You can pierce them with it, and I'll take care of the rest."
"That does make sense."
"See?" Lucas grinned, receiving her nod of agreement. "Now that we've taken down one, the others might scatter or fall off the building. You can follow up with your freeze ability."
As Lucy stood before the window, Lucas watched as she closed her eyes, immersing herself in the power of her earring.
"Icicle!"
A swift whoosh of wind accompanied the formation of an icicle that streaked into the neighboring building, impaling one of the slumbering tarantulas.
"See? It's working. With one down, the others might panic or jump, and that's when you can use your freeze ability."
Lucy nodded, almost feeling like they were playing a game of pocket monsters. She focused on the tarantula's web.
"Freeze!"
The moment the web froze, the panicking tarantulas seemed to scramble even more, but the slippery ice caused them to slide toward the center of their vast web.
A thought crossed Lucas's mind; Aren't tarantulas usually solitary creatures? It was odd to see animals forming groups as well.
As Lucy sent another two tarantulas into oblivion with her precise icicle strikes, Lucas couldn't help but grin.
"Future sniper, incredibly accurate."
"Lucas, I only have enough energy for one more icicle. You'll have to handle the rest."
With her statement, Lucy unleashed her final icicle, striking down two more tarantulas, each as large as a grown man's head. Lucas wondered about their size before the mutations; even in their normal state, tarantulas could grow surprisingly large for their species.
"Hurricane spiral!"
"Fire blaze!"
A smile crept onto Lucas's face as his favorite skills seamlessly merged, forming a spiral that surged forward, smashing into several wandering zombies and immolating them. The spiral's apex continued upward, engulfing the spider's web and incinerating the remaining zombies within seconds.
As he watched the fiery spectacle consume the apartment, Lucas couldn't help but stare in a mix of awe and wonder.
"If this were before the world ended, you'd probably get fined for animal cruelty, Lucas."
Ignoring her words, Lucas was engrossed in the notifications flooding in—the system's reminders of his fiery assault on an entire family of tarantulas the size of human heads.
---
[Level 8 Mutated Tarantula Killed, Awarding 160 Exp!]
[Level 8 Mutated Tarantula Killed, Awarding 160 Exp!]
[Level 1 Zombie Killed, Awarding 50 Exp!]
[Level 8 Mutated Tarantula Killed, Awarding 160 Exp!]
[Level 3 Zombie Killed, Awarding 150 Exp!]
[Level 8 Mutated Tarantula Killed, Awarding 160 Exp!]
---
"Level 8? Their experience points are equivalent to that of a level 3 zombie. I highly doubt we'd stand a chance against them if we ever faced them for real. And look at this—no coins were awarded because I used skills instead of the system item. Talk about selfish."
As the flames continued to devour the apartment, Lucas watched as the conflagration spread until it had consumed everything within that room.
"The owner must've been a massive tarantula enthusiast to have kept all those in one room."
"Lucas, do you think the owner got killed by them?"
"Probably. Mutated animals are just as dangerous, if not more. They might have attacked and devoured him in his sleep."
"That would explain the high level. A fully grown human is a substantial meal."
"Yeah."
Lucy returned to the bed, scrutinizing her system profile as Lucas scoured the premises for more sustenance.
"Lucy, do you know how to cook?"
"No. You?"
"I can, but fresh vegetables are scarce these days."
After a quick survey, Lucas returned to the window, observing the zombies below.
"Lucy, it seems the fire is attracting a swarm of flies."
"Want to take care of them?"
Call them arrogant, but their skills were indeed improving. With the jian sword in hand, Lucas descended the stairs and engaged the zombies below, noting a larger figure among them.
"Lucy, another zombie just leveled up."
As he executed his burning hurricane combination to dispatch the group of zombies, Lucas focused his efforts on the larger one—a towering zombie, about two meters tall, with a heavily muscular build.
Whether male or female, it was hard to tell, as the zombie's face was too decomposed to discern. Drawing his sword, Lucas lunged at the zombie, narrowly evading its claw as he attempted to slice through its decaying flesh.
"Ting!"
The blade barely left a mark on the zombie's rotten hide, just a superficial scratch as the zombie lowered its head toward his hand.
"Damn it!"
Lucas cursed, frustration bubbling within him.
"Clawing fang!"
Ignoring the pain searing through his finger, Lucas swiftly slashed his hand down at the zombie's looming face, forcefully pushing it back up.
With both hands, he yanked out his jian and delivered a swift strike to the zombie's neck.
---
[Level 7 Zombie Killed, Awarding 350 Exp!]
[Received 35 Coins!]
[Leveling Exp Reach: 3500/3500!]
[Leveling Up: Level 18!]
[Receiving 2 Stat Points and 1 Skill Point!]
---
"Bodybuilders should be against the law," Lucas muttered, utilizing the remnants of his clawing skill to hack at the remaining zombie, its death notification chiming near his ear.
"How are you holding up, Lucy?"
"I just leveled up."
"Same here."
"Let's aim for level 20 before venturing any further. By then, our strength should have notably increased."
Allocating the stat points bestowed by the system, both Lucas and Lucy merely required one more point each to double the strength of an average adult.
Surveying the lifeless hulks of the muscular zombies strewn across the road, Lucas was taken aback by the fact that even someone of that immense size could succumb and become prey to the relentless undead.
Considering the size and power of the zombie, Lucas suspected that if given a few more days, it might ascend to another level due to the added durability of its muscle mass.
Swinging his sword once more, he marveled at the ceaseless influx of zombies. Regardless of how many he dispatched, they seemed to come without end.
Glancing upward, he observed the apartment he had set ablaze half an hour ago, now an ominous charcoal black.
"Ugh... Every day seems to be more demanding than the last."