The level 4 zombie lunged at her again, its claws slashing through the air. Su Jiyai dodged narrowly, feeling the wind of its attack graze her skin.
She gritted her teeth against the pain and focused on the task at hand.
With trembling hands, she pressed the gem against the slot in the wall. To her surprise, it slid in smoothly, as if it was meant to fit there all along.
A faint hum filled the air, and a beam of light shot out from the gem, illuminating the surroundings with an eerie glow.
The mechanical voice buzzed once more, "A-cti-vat-ing t-th-e s-sy-stem."
System?
Su Jiyai was confused. However, the zombies didn't give her the time to think about the baffling situation.
They started to attack Su Jiyai and she could only passively defend herself.
"1% loaded."
"5% loaded."
"7% loaded..."
.....
Su Jiyai was completely speechless.
In 30 minutes only 7% system was loaded. By the time it reached 100%, Su Jiyai was sure that she would be dead by then.
And what the hell was this system?
The next hour was just a one-sided beating.
Su Jiyai's body was bruised and battered, each minute feeling like an eternity as she fended off the relentless attacks from the level 4 zombies.
Her vision blurred with fatigue, and every muscle screamed in protest with each desperate move she made.
The mechanical voice's updates on the system's progress seemed painfully slow, adding to her growing sense of despair.
"10% loaded."
"15% loaded."
Time dragged on, and the percentage seemed to inch upward at an excruciatingly slow pace.
Su Jiyai's movements became sluggish, her strength waning.
She knew she couldn't hold out much longer.
Blood dripped from her wounds, mixing with sweat and dirt, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
Just as her legs began to buckle under her, a sudden surge of energy coursed through the air.
Su Jiyai's eyes glimmered with hope and she turned to look at the metallic blue wall, however, the loading was still struck at 16.
So where was this light coming from?
Su Jiayi realized that her body was emitting the light.
Was she going to die?
Is the King Yama sucking her soul out of her body?
Great.
That was the last thought Su Jiyai.
Whoosh.
The next second she heard the mechanical voice again,
"Host! Don't die! You have awakened your superpower! You can't die!"
Superpower?
Su Jiyai opened her eyes with difficulty and realized that at some point the zombies moved away from her.
Did she awaken an extremely powerful superpower? Was this why the zombies were scared away from her?
However, this fantasy didn't last long, because the next second, she heard the system's panicked voice,
"Host be careful! Host be careful! Don't die! You have to survive 2 hours! You have!"
Die?
What the f*ck.
And what does the system mean by surviving for 2 hours?
The next second Su Jiyai's confusion was cleared as a mesmerizing, galaxy-colored portal materialized before her.
The portal hovered in mid-air, framed by a dynamic ring of swirling cosmic energy.
Its edge shimmered with hues of deep blues, purples, and sparkling silvers, like the vast expanse of a star-filled night sky.
Before Su Jiyai could understand, she heard the system say,
"Host! Host absorb the zombie crystal you have obtained to heal your injuries! And collect the cores you will receive in another dimension!"
What?
Su Jiyai's brows furrowed and the next second she was sucked into the portal.
....
On a Unknown planet.
The atmosphere was filled with a strange smell and the land was dry. Occasionally the sound of someone stomping its feet could be heard.
The planet was entirely brownish. Even the trees and water on the planet were brown.
There were almost no buildings, houses or humans present on the planet.
In the middle of the vast area, a figure was lying on the ground.
After an hour or so, the figure moved and opened her eyes with difficulty.
Su Jiyai looked around and her heart skipped a beat.
Where was she?
Around her was just vast brown land. It was as if she had entered some abandoned island.
"Hello?" Su Jiyai called out softly.
Feeling fatigued, Su Jiyai took out the zombie crystal she had obtained from the zombie she had killed on the rooftop.
What did that system thing say? Absorb the crystal would heal her injuries, and she has to survive for 2 hours.
Right.
Su Jiyai held the zombie crystal and thought for a long while as to how to absorb the zombie crystal.
Since she didn't live in a superpower dormitory, she didn't know much about superpowers.
Should she eat it?
No! Su Jiyai felt disgust at the mere thought.
Suddenly Su Jiyai started to feel her vision turning blurry.
At the same time, she felt a heavy vibration in the ground.
Dun.
Dun.
Dun.
Su Jiyai looked around and saw a strange beast. The beast was in red color and was almost 20 feet high. A few vending machines that Su Jiyai had seen before were popping out of the beast's body.
It was truly...very strange.
However, the scarier part was how excited was the beast to see her. It was as if, Su Jiyai was almost in his mouth.
Su Jiyai's heart chilled and she tried to back away, however, due to her injuries, she couldn't move much.
Su Jiyai truly wanted to cry.
For a moment she wished that few of her friends or Qin Feng was present with her.
How could she deal with this beast in such an injured state?
Su Jiyai clutched the zombie crystal and suddenly had an idea.
What if she tried to pull the energy out of the zombie crytsal by imagining it?
Su Jiyai closed her eyes and tried to suck out the energy. However, due to her panic and the nearing danger, Su Jiyai was hardly able to concentrate.
Having no choice, Su Jiyai was about to give up, when suddenly she felt a warm current in her veins.
Su Jiyai was excited and continued to extract energy.
It didn't take her much time to completely extract the energy out of the zombie crystal and by now the beast too had reached near her.
Su Jiyai opened her eyes and looked at the approaching beast.
With shaky legs, she stood up. Even though she knew that she wasn't capable of fighting the beast, one thing that Su Jiyai knew was even if she didn't fight the beast she would die.
When the beast reached Su Jiyai, Su Jiyai clenched her hand into a fist and threw a punch. At the same time, the beast pounced on her.
Su Jiyai knew that her death was near.
This beast looked about 500 kg, even if she didn't die from its weight, she would die after he ate her.
However...
An unexpected thing happened.
The moment the punch landed on the beast, it roared in pain and was thrown back several meters, crashing into the brownish ground with a thunderous impact.
Su Jiyai stared in shock at her fist, which was now glowing faintly with the same cosmic energy as the portal. She could hardly believe what had just happened.
The beast, which she had thought was invincible, had been significantly injured by her punch.
Su Jiyai turned her attention back to the beast, which was struggling to get back on its feet.
The vending machines embedded in its body clanked and whirred, making it look even more bizarre.
She didn't have much time to think. The beast roared again, clearly enraged, and charged at her once more.
But this time Su Jiyai wasn't scared.
She focused all of her energy on her hand and threw another punch.
The force of the blow caused the beast to collapse, its body twitching before going still. Su Jiyai stood over it, panting heavily, her body trembling from the exertion.
Finally, the beast stopped moving.
Su Jiyai sat on the ground and took a long breath.
After lying on the ground for 20 minutes, Su Jiyai stood up.
She suddenly remembered the instructions of the system.
"Collect cores!"
She needs to find the core of the beats, right?
Su Jiyai first started with a skull. She threw a punch and the head blew off, spraying blood and strange metallic fragments.
Amidst the gore, she found a glowing core, pulsating with energy.
With trembling hands, she picked it up. The core was warm, emitting a soft, steady light, and was in red color.
Su Jiyai tried to absorb the core however she wasn't able to extract any energy at all.
Finally, she placed the core in the bag she was carrying.
Suddenly the ground began to shake.
Su Jiyai looked around and saw a huge group of beasts rushing towards her.
If the beast she had just not defeated was 20 feet tall, then the beasts before her eyes were at least 40 feet tall!
Not to mention there wasn't just one beast, there were at least 20 such beasts.