[ 2036 ]
...
" Heavy breathing* "
" Run, run Mei! Don't look back! "
" Brother Lin, please.. please come back alive! "
" Sniff* Sniff* I'll be waiting..! "
I looked back to the zombies chasing us, pulled my bat from the strap on my back, and held it tightly.
" Mei.. I'm sorry but brother doesn't know if he can make it back alive.. I'm sure the people at the shelter will move out to go to the GVR settlement soon. "
Ironing my resolve, I charged at the horde of runners and swung my bat. I kept going, trying to buy as much time as possible for Mei to run as far as possible. I killed and killed.. and managed to get away from the horde after I don't even know how long. Maybe they lost interest at me after I ran a certain distance with the virus already reaching part of my nervous system.
After getting into a clear abandoned building not far away from the horde site, I sat down.
At that moment, my body settled down and the adrenaline gave way. The pain was excruciating, like fire ants biting and crawling all over my skin.
" Ouch.. ugh.. I see.. I don't have much time left huh.. Jeez look at me, there are bite and scratch marks everywhere. "
" I'm still 17.. I still had ways to go.. well.. "
As I said that, I felt the virus fully reaching my nervous system and taking over. Slowly plunging me into the dark lake of the abyss in my subconsciousness. Turning me into a legitimate zombie.
" Mei.. live.. a good.. l.. " were the words I managed to mumble out before everything went black.
[ 63 days later. ]
< System host detected. >
< Integrating system... >
< System integrated. >
< Reawakening host >
< Restoring host's consciousness >
< Consciousness restored. >
< Retaking control from virus... >
< Virus control overridden. >
< Reawakening complete. >
" Grrr.. gughh.. "
Huh..? Where the heck am I? Didn't I turn in that damned of a place?
< You did turn, now you are a zombie. >
What? Haa..? I'm not sure why I'm seeing this panel in front of me. It's probably related to me being conscious despite being a zombie now.
< No, I am a system. Designed to.. #########?? >
It doesn't matter what you are or what you are designed to do. How many days has it been? I wonder if my sister made it out safely...
< It has been 63 days since you've turned. >
Ah.. that must mean Mei has already gone to the GVR base for shelter.
Interestingly, I didn't feel much. I guess becoming a zombie has suppressed my emotions to a certain degree?
I clenched my chest and tried to feel a heart beat, which there was. But the heart beat was abnormal, if a human were to have this type of heartbeat they wouldn't be able to survive. I suppose this is why they go for the heart or the head. When somebody turns into a zombie, their consciousness is just erased and buried by the virus, becoming a walking corpse-ish type of being. The virus has properties unknown to humankind, we don't exactly know the reason why they were able to survive despite not eating or drinking, and can increase the foundation of the human body and increase it to become greater in terms of strength. The crucial thing we do know though, is that the virus still needs oxygen flow and blood circulating around the body in order to survive, as without oxygen, the natural processes of the body would completely be in chaos and the body wouldn't be able to function. That's why hunters always aim for the head or heart if possible. They are the two vital organs a zombie can't go without, the rest of the major organs became useless and the zombies would still be able to function even when they are damaged.
Anyways, I guess I have to do whatever I can now as a zombie. Not sure what I can do but seeing this panel thing displayed on top of me reminds me of the game thingies my dad talked about.
Apparently, before the apocalypse happened, there were things called VRG or Virtual reality games. I assume I'm supposed to shout something like Status! then something will pop up.
...
Name: Lin Xiaoyu
Stage: Standard zombie
Core: No core
Level : 1
Health: 25/25
< Vitality : 5 >
< Strength: 5 >
< Stamina: 7 >
< Agility: 6 >
< Dexterity: 1 >
Skills: None
...
Oh? it worked! My stats are a little disappointing though. Dexterity 1? That really explains why I can't do anything fancy with these hands of mine now. The only thing it's capable of is to hold and grab things, the movements are extremely crude and hard to control.
There's a level system too? Hey system, how do you even level up?
< You can level up by killing other zombies. >
Hmm.. alright.. I assume my stats will increase when I level up then?
< Correct. Stats can also be gained by eating the heart of standard zombies ( at your stage ) or their cores when they evolve. >
Interesting.. usually cores are used to make weapons or filtered with zombie blood to make injections for what we now call the " Immunes " and the heart? that's mostly just useless until now.
I can't believe there's going to be a point in time where I will eat cores. Back as a human, even a yellow core would go off for a couple hundred bucks if you sold it at a shelter. Not that it exists anymore, the one where I was staying got ransacked by a horde of zombies.
It seems I'm not that far off from the place I fought the horde. I'll go check out what's left there I suppose.
[ Upon reaching the place ]
Great! there are still some dead bodies around, and a few of them still have their hearts intact. Seems like other zombies don't get much use out of it.
I grabbed the hollow-ish chest cavity of one of the zombies and ripped out its heart with my not-so-nimble hands. Here we go, hopefully my taste buds are dead since I'm sure the taste of a zombie's heart won't be pleasant.
" Grrr.. *bites*.. "
I bit down as hard as I possibly could and ripped out a huge chunk of the heart then started chewing.
After a good 5 minutes of chewing and eating with my rotten teeth, I managed to swallow the entire heart.
< 1 standard zombie heart consumed. >
< Strength 1+, Dexterity 2+, Agility 2+, Vitality 1+, Stamina 2+ >
Awesome, it works! That's a pretty nice power-up, and there are still a couple more hearts that I can consume.
< 4 standard zombie hearts consumed >
< Strength 5+, Dexterity 4+, Agility 6+, Vitality 3+, Stamina 4+ >