"Bang... Bang Bang." Derick gripped the 54 handgun and fired three consecutive shots at the approaching zombies.
The tremendous recoil made his hands numb, almost causing him to lose his grip. Although the gun had considerable power, nearly blowing off half of a zombie's head with a single shot, the recoil was quite intense.
The reason Derick didn't lose his grip was partly due to his previous experience with firearms and partly due to his excellent physical condition. However, even at such a close range, he took two shots and one bullet hit the zombie's torso.
Two zombies, covered in blood and flesh, fell to the ground, while the remaining one, shot in the arm, was thrown half a meter away by the powerful impact of the bullet at close range.
Without hesitation, Derick immediately grabbed a entrenching shovel and smashed the last zombie's head, causing black and red blood to flow along with white brain matter, which made his stomach churn.
There was no time to waste. Breaking free from the encirclement of the three zombies, he sprinted towards the other end of the street.
At this moment, the survivors hiding on the staircases on both sides of the street were also awakened by the sound of gunshots. They cautiously peered below and saw a young man with a backpack running towards the other end of the street.
Ten minutes later, "Phew..." Derick struck down a male zombie, dodging the splattering flesh and blood, although some still inevitably stuck to him.
He had already rushed out of the street and was leaning against a shop, catching his breath after killing the zombie. He took out a water bottle and had a sip of water when suddenly, an emotionless mechanical voice resonated in Derick's mind.
"[Host, congratulations on killing ten level one zombies within three hours. Mission accomplished. The Apocalypse King System has been activated for the host. Host information detection initiated.]"
The sudden mechanical voice startled Derick, and he turned his head to look around, but there was no one. "Did I hear correctly? A system?"
Derick looked around in astonishment. There was no doubt that the voice was directly sounding in his mind and was exceptionally clear, definitely not an illusion.
"[Beep... Detection complete.]" Soon, the mechanical voice resounded again, and at the same time, a translucent light screen appeared before Derick's eyes.
Host: Derick
Ability: None
Physical Condition: 13 (Standard for adult males is 10)
Speed: 14
Attack: 16
These were the basic information displayed. On the left and right sides of the screen, there were some additional details, including the combat technique used. Derick looked and saw "Turtle Fist," which left him speechless.
Admittedly, his attacks lacked finesse, but weren't they honed through countless battles? Why was it labeled as "Turtle Fist"? With patience, he continued to look at his information.
There were also two small lines of text, indicating a score of 10. Each time he killed a level one zombie, he would earn 1 point. Points could be used to purchase items in the system store.
With an excited heart, Derick briefly checked out this Apocalypse King System. The system's introduction was as follows: This system is the only one in the world and aims to assist the host in reaching the pinnacle, becoming the king of the apocalypse, and ruling the world until complete domination is achieved.
For the first time, Derick felt that his brain was insufficient. But since the apocalypse had already happened, it wasn't impossible for a system like this to exist. Stay calm, stay calm.
However, it seemed that this system was not very intelligent. After asking countless questions, all he received was the system's cold and mechanical voice.
It was entirely different from the intelligent systems in other novels; it truly felt like a piece of programming.
Although the system had many features, Derick didn't have time to delve into them. He directly opened his novice gift package, which was also in the system's inventory. There had been no previous prompt, and if he hadn't carefully checked, he might have overlooked it.
With a gloomy expression, Derick opened his novice gift package. "[Congratulations, you have acquired the Eight Extremities Fist Grandmaster ability (granted), and the Firearms Mastery (granted)]."
In an instant, Derick felt his mind filled with a plethora of knowledge, like a whirlwind of information.
A vast amount of martial arts knowledge, as well as firearms expertise, was forcibly implanted into his mind, making it feel as if he had been studying Eight Extremities Fist for a long time.
Baguazhang: One of the traditional Chinese martial arts, belonging to the category of close-quarters combat techniques. Its movements generally pursue a vigorous, straightforward, and explosive style.
In terms of combat techniques, it emphasizes intercepting, grabbing, striking, pushing, collapsing, and shaking. Baguazhang derives its power from the heels, operates at the waist, and extends through the fingertips.
As a result, it possesses immense explosive force and is highly skilled in combat. Therefore, Baguazhang is often referred to in the realm of traditional Chinese martial arts as "Wen has Tai Chi to bring peace to the world, Wu has Baguazhang to establish order in the universe."
Derick had no idea how formidable he was as a Grandmaster of Baguazhang, but he felt like he could now knock out an ox. Furthermore, his mind was filled with a wealth of martial arts knowledge, making him unquestionably capable of establishing a prestigious martial arts sect.
As for his Firearms Mastery, it was excellent for Derick. At least now, when he held the 54 handgun, it felt much more familiar. If he were to shoot again, he wouldn't encounter situations where he missed or dropped the gun under normal circumstances.
Regarding the two abilities Derick obtained, in the system's Ability Store, the Baguazhang Grandmaster required 500 points, while Firearms Mastery required 300 points.
In other words, Derick would need at least 800 points by killing zombies to acquire these two abilities, but he had obtained them for free.
The system's store mainly consisted of two categories: abilities and enhancements. Abilities included the ones Derick had acquired, such as driving skills from novice to grandmaster, throwing skills from novice to grandmaster, and a myriad of others.
Each ability could be purchased at different levels, ranging from novice, proficient, skilled, master, and finally grandmaster, with prices ranging from 100 points to 500 points.
On the other hand, enhancements focused on improving physical fitness and weapons. For example, Derick's basic attributes, like physical condition and attack power, required 30 points per increment, with higher levels requiring more points.
Derick's current attribute panel looked like this:
Physical Condition: 25
Speed: 29
Attack: 31
Being a Baguazhang Grandmaster not only brought martial arts knowledge and techniques but also enhanced his physical fitness.
After all, without sufficient physical conditioning, he wouldn't be able to fully unleash the power of a Baguazhang Grandmaster.
"Tsk tsk tsk," Derick exclaimed as he looked at his attribute panel. Compared to before, he had become several times more powerful, especially in terms of attack power, which was nearly triple that of an average adult male.
Other aspects had also more than doubled. It was simply extraordinary...