Kawai's Perspective
__________________________
My hand even shattered into a billion pieces, as if made of glass. It happened so fast that my eyes never blinked at the scene. Some shards even pierced my skin, which I had to pull out, eventually. Although I need not blink since I was a zombie, it did that out of instinct. But as soon as that happened, my ability kicked in.
I glanced at my status and silently read the words "passive ability activated". That phrase turned into life as an army of dust emerged towards my severed arm. Those particles came from my core, which my system described as my "arcane". And in my perspective, that sounded like my mana.
"But I don't have mana in the first place!" I yelled at the window before me.
It turned out that I already had "arcane" but did not have any mana for it. The arcane was enough to use those passive abilities included in my system.
Within four seconds, the powder formed my hand and eventually recreated my amputated limb. After a moment, I could finally control my arms again as if nothing had happened.
"So this is my power?!" I screamed.
I was also an immortal being that cannot die, with a zombie class written beside my name. But that was not important right now, since I only just lost an arm.
However, if this happened before morphing into a zombie, blood loss would have killed me. My entire body would have already swum in a pool of blood and eventually stopped my heart from beating. I would have also fainted after witnessing my arm chopped off without having a chance for it to regrow…. People called me a brave kid, but not brave enough to witness my arm flying away from me.
I could not believe my eyes that my zombie class saved me from that despair. But there were far more things I needed to study. And one of them was the ability I just used that shattered my hand.
It turned out my ability only empowered my weapons and not my entire body. I remained as the fragile-looking zombie, even softer than cotton on a field. This arm became that evidence for that wretched ability.
That downgrade would pose a problem when facing someone that wanted me one. And I also needed more levels to make good use of my ability. If my level was too low against a monster that could effortlessly devour me, I would die infinitely.
Fortunately, only one giant and some few zombies tried killing me... twice. However, after that, my time went into grinding my levels.
"Let's kill sons of bitches!" I shouted, which came from a popular zombie game I played.
(Author's note: That line came from Left 4 dead)
Since I was already present in the place, I swept the place clean from all the zombies. I didn't use my gun to kill them, considering the limited bullets I had with me. Some police officers laid on the ground, with their batons beside them.
"Oh, sweet child of mine! I didn't know a fucking dildo's waiting for me!" I remarked, and grabbed myself some weapons.
I didn't want to make my own temporary weapon. Why would I when there are weapons on the ground? I wouldn't tire myself out by picking all those shits up and making something out of nothing.
It was just what I had expected. My passive abilities kicked in like a steroid inserted inside an athlete and strengthened my weapon. A violent rush of arcane entered on my baton, which made it sturdy as my morning wood. And when my body became ready, I slammed the shit out of the zombies and continued grinding for more levels.
[Congratulations on killing a zombie! You levelled up!]
Each swing of my baton blasted the zombies away. As soon as my weapon crashed against those zombies, their heads shattered like a skeleton inside a Science room. You know, the model that those teachers and nerds used to study.
[Congratulations on killing a zombie! You levelled up!]
While I bashed those zombies into oblivion, a window appeared once again. It told me I levelled up after killing five zombies on the road.
[Congratulations on killing a zombie! You levelled up!]
The best way to kill the zombies was by destroying their heads. And the only way for me to do that was to use my baton and my gun. Well, I had to exclude the shooting part since I had shot no one else with this handgun. I did not know when my baton would give up on me. Sometimes, these overused weapons would break. Well, if you continued bashing something against a solid surface, that item would get destroyed, except vibranium. And that shit did not exist in this world.
But for now, I will squeeze every little use of this weapon for this apocalypse and do what I could to survive.
[Congratulations on killing a zombie! You levelled up!]
My body never grew tired, but I did. Grinding in games seemed fun, especially if you wanted to become the strongest player. There were also other games that players could play to earn money. However, this game-like system separated those expectations I had inside my mind.
All that mattered right now was to survive this dreaded place with a dildo in my hands. And I also needed to check if my girlfriend would arrive safely somewhere around these plains.
[Congratulations on killing a zombie! You levelled up!]
As I continued cleaning up the road, those persistent zombies kept coming at me. There was like an army of ants that saw some sweets on the corner of a table. But despite their numbers, I single-handedly fought them without bringing my gun, both literally and metaphorically.
[Congratulations on killing a zombie! You levelled up!]
"It's been twenty minutes, you freak show! Just die already!" I growled, after killing another horde of undead within seconds.
[Congratulations on killing a zombie! You levelled up!]
[Congratulations on killing a zombie! You levelled up!]
I could go on forever. And it took me only a few minutes before resting on the ground. Thanks to my zombification, body, exhaustion never entered my mind. However, the system announced my current level, which hindered me from continuing my farming streak.
[You are now level 10! Your stats increased, and your health points increased!]
[Level Cap! You cannot level up from here on out until you finish a specific quest.]
"Level Cap?" I asked this floating box in front of me. "Oh, these things! I remember now!"
Level caps were something to cage the players from becoming overpowered throughout the games. The game developers usually did these events to prolong the journey and encourage other players to grind some more.
I left my mouth hanging since the system applied that concept to me. It only strengthened my claim that someone was behind my system. And that entity could be a god that wanted me to live on this apocalyptic Earth.
But I brushed off those details and continued reading the texts. I would not benefit from anything if I tried thinking too hard about the origin of my system. Well, if I continued on living, maybe I could find some answers.
[Level Cap Quest: Add one member to your party! Your recruit must come from your skill, Zombie Bite. This quest will not accept pure human or zombie allies.]
Zombie Bite was the ability that allowed me to turn humans into zombies. As soon as my Zombie Bite succeeded, those zombified humans would obey every instruction I would say. It was my unique ability after receiving this system.
"I finally need to put my skill to good use…. But I can't just bite every human I see! This shit's permanent!" I shouted, while brushing off my decayed skin on top of my head.
It was what I had mentioned. Zombie Bite would last for my lifetime and would remain scarred on the member's skin. The system never told me anything about rejecting a slave in my party. And even if my system did, I could only guess that member would die.
"Hmmm…. I don't want a guy following me around, pledging his loyalty to me. God, thinking about it creeps me out big time!" I voiced my concerns while treading towards the empty road.
After a few seconds, I finally arrived inside a mall that still had almost everything inside. It even had its gates barricade against the zombies.
But as I crept closer towards the glass doors, my eyes widened in shock as I witnessed countless zombies roaming around. The humans must have contained an infected person inside, leading to their inevitable doom. This mall became their only resource of food and a cage against those undead creatures.
"Hello? Is anybody there?.... Trick or treat!" I shouted, and faintly laughed.
I thought I had it when I yelled those words. That line usually worked in movies, and the bad guy would show up eventually. However, when I cracked a joke, no one was there to laugh with me.