"Oh, so you only hate them?"
Surprised with SAIA's question, I pondered, was it hatred that I was feeling all this time? I always have this notion in me that I wanted to blame someone and some things from what happened before.
"SAIA is confused, if you hate them then you're not afraid of them, if you're not afraid of them, why aren't you fighting?" 37%... 34%...
Yes I hated it that I lost them. I hated it that I can't do anything "But.." thinking of that horrible scene made me sick.
"I don't know why you seemed angry or afraid, but won't you even try? Knowing you have the chance of winning?"
I opened my eyes after realizing that this time I can do something. I'm afraid, yes but the feeling I was feeling all this time might not be because of fear but might be of regret and helplessness.
"...yeah you're right." I said to SAIA. This time I'm not helpless, I was given the chance to fight now. Why would I be triggered with just a game? They're not even real compared from the crowd before. I just have to enjoy this moment and start to learn from here.
I stabbed the zombies crawling towards me and the one on my left who was about to eat me, repeatedly until they died then I stood up. Now even my phobia can't stop me from enjoying the game.
"Come all of you baldies!!" Let me take it out to all of you. I yelled excitedly while unknowingly showing menace on my face. I pulled another arrow and held it like holding a knife.
I think I saw the zombies flinched for a moment like they understood my maniacal bloodlust.
I clumsily jumped towards the sea of them and used my bow as I spun to create a space between me and the monsters and gave them a fair damage, oblivious to the fact that the bow has started to form a crack.
"Skill Spin unlocked "
Then I stabbed the nearest zombie within reach on each eye and it died, smashed another fallen zombies on their heads and another two pixelated. As I kept on attacking, the rate at which monsters died kept on rising together with my diminishing life.
Twenty-one zombies remained yet another one has started to emerge again.
Towards the portal I ran and pulled the hand of the incoming zombie then threw it to the others. "You know that I hate it when it's very crowded." I went on a rampage and smashed all of them enjoying the moment of freedom of finally releasing everything.
"It's been awhile since the last time I felt this way.." I said while panting and smirking like a madman and as my bow's crack got bigger and bigger.
"You even attempted to take it away again!" I hit another zombie on my side and their number reached to three, and then two, until one last zombie was left.
"... finally! Finally got the chance to have my revenge on the crowd!.." the last zombie fell as though conscious to have witnessed my wrath.
"...Eat this!!!" As I smashed the bow to the zombie's mouth the monster died and my bow finally shattered and evaporated like pixel sparkles together with the last zombie.
"M-my bow?" I uttered in confusion.
"Advanced Bow Tutorial complete. Congratulations!" A dramatic sound effects together with the sound of coins played together with SAIA's announcement of her congratulations.
"Wait? So it would break just like normal things in the world when used improperly?" I added while scratching my head.
"You leveled up, Current Level 2."
"Yipee!" Almost totally forgotten in an instant what happened after the good news.
"Mission Drops 100 small gold coins."
"Special Skill Spin unlocked, current level 1"
"Ah! that's what I heard awhile ago while spinning and hitting them."
"Special Skill Third Eye unlocked, current level 1."
"What's this special skill Third Eye?"
"New Weapon, Femur Bow available in the inventory."
"Sigh. Thank goodness, I thought I won't have any weapon anymore".
"Mana plus 100"
"Magic Speed plus 10"
"Attack power plus 50"
"Strength plus 400"
"Zombie drops: Bone amulet"
"Zombie drops: 44 drops of zombie blood
"Zombie drops: ....."
Knock knock knock.
"Dinner's ready."
"Hmmmmmm!!!! Woww, smells so good, what's the occasion for cooking Chicken Adobo Mom?" I asked while placing plates and other condiments on the table.
"Well I can see that you have improved so much these days, you even managed to talk to a complete stranger without stuttering, isn't that worth celebrating?" Mom replied while taking the white rice and adobo on the table. I smiled bashfully from praise.
"Okay lead the prayer Rian for dinner." As we have settled with the chairs.
"Umph" I agreed "Lord thanks for the food that you have graciously given, may our hearts be filled together with our tummies, Amen!"
Adobo is one of my favorite dishes and is best matched with white rice as its staple. The chicken can be marinated first with soy sauce and pepper leaves then sautéed with garlic and onions, then topped with whole pepper when almost cooked.
I immediately dug in to my food and ate to my hearts content, I have even added several helpings before finishing my meals.
"Mom your Adobo is really the best!"
"Oh ho ho ho, you're just saying that because I was the one who cooked it"
"Of course not, I have tasted it myself so I'm telling the truth." I told mom proudly.
"Well maybe because I poured out my heart while cooking it." she answered with a smile as she reached her hands to wipe some food debris on my lips.
After eating, I helped mom keep the remaining adobo and washed the dishes before going back to my room to check the item drops of the game. I've got no worries with my school home works as I've finished them already even before searching again about the AR glasses.
Sigh.... My room is quite messed up, I never thought I'd get excited for real with this game.
I grabbed my AR glasses again from the bed.
"Status Window"
▪️Spin level 1 ▪️Third Eye Level 1> Hmm, my life was back to 100% from 16% remaining, so every time I level up, my life is refilled. The Spin. I click the spin under the Special Skills category. Spin with your bow, to activate skill. Helps player create space when overcrowded with enemies. Gives 10% damage to surrounding enemies when hit. Consumes 50 mana. Current level, 1. That's quite big of a consumption. All my basic attack like shooting or using one arrow may have consumed a little bit of mana. My original mana was also 50, enough to activate the skill. Maybe I was just lucky to replenish my mana just in time to activate the skill. "Then the other one, Third Eye" Clicks Third eye. Third Eye. A special skill that allows player to identify specific weaknesses of monsters and players level 5 and below. Current Skill level 1. Mana consumption 150. Oh... what a very useful skill here, the system is so generous although the mana consumption is very high. I can never use this skill if I use Spin first though. And because it's level 1, maybe the level of monsters and enemies where I can use this also increase whenever this skill levels up. But.... players also have their individual weaknesses? I wonder where mine lies? I asked while pouting with my forefinger on my chin. "Now, now, I'm so excited to see my new weapon,... Open Inventory." Within the box, more slots were occupied. Femur bow, bone arrows and wooden arrows under the weapon's category. Bone amulet, 44 drops of Zombie blood, and an old letter all under Gear, Ingredients and Other Items category respectively. Clicks Femur Bow. Femur bow, a special weapon made with femur bone, the strongest bone in a human body but imbued with virus and magic, shorter yet heavier than the traditional bow making it very convenient to carry. Never use the bow if required strength is not met, you will face the consequences. Durability: 10,000 Strength Required: 400 Power: 400 It can be used by players with 400 and above strengths only, enough for me to use it and it Durability is 10,000. My wooden bow's durability was 45 as far as I can remember, so if I encountered more difficulty in the future, I can use this Femur Bow again and it will last longer. Clicks Bone Arrows. Bone arrows, a special weapon made with bones, use it together with Femur Bow for combo effect. Durability: 300 Strength Required: 200 Power: 400 Capacity: 50 pcs Can be used by players with 200 strength and above. Maximum 50 arrows inside it's container. Recharges 1 arrow every 5 minutes using small fractions of mana. Ah that's it, no wonder why I didn't ran out of wooden arrows. Clicks Bone Amulet. Bone amulet, an uncommon jewel in the land of the undead. Wearing this jewel will let you blend with them. Careful though, higher rank monsters can still identify imposters among them. Does wearing this make me look like a zombie? Or they'll just simply ignore me? I dug my hands and took the bone amulet. As the picture portrays, this amulet was a necklace with a pendant locked in place with three knots and two small beads on each side. It looked like a screaming skull the same size as the 20 peso coin, with a blackish purple gem in its mouth having double laces made of a thin black garter-like material just like the other ethnic necklaces. "Hey SAIA" "Yes Rian?" "How should I wear this one?" I rubbed my cheeks, unsure how to since I can't find an opening and the lace was smaller compared to my head. "You can wear it like wearing a normal necklace, it will automatically adjust with your gesture, or you can just simply say Equip." "Equip." A notification then popped up in my vision that the Bone Amulet was equipped. "You can equip the items you are holding by the same way." "Thanks." Next is the Zombie blood, click. Zombie blood, contains virus and small amount of magical elements. Major ingredient to crafting zombie virus. Ah since the word zombie virus was underlined, It's definitely clickable. Clicks zombie virus. A virus with unknown origin. Accordingly, any living being infected with this virus showed cannibalistic behavior. One vial of pure zombie virus is enough to infect up to 50 small monsters or 50 regular human. Infected monsters or humans can infect others with diminishing effectivity rate, which is less effective than the rumored original strain. Recreate 1 vial of zombie virus by completing and crafting the following major ingredient/s. 1,000 drops of zombie blood. Hmmmm... This could be what they call crafting. I don't know how will I use the power of zombie virus yet, and the ingredients needed may take a while to complete, but hunting thousands of zombies will help me improve my archery skills,.... I suppose. Remembering how I used the bow and arrows in a wrong way, I scratch my cheek again. I can't rely solely with the Femur Bow's durability or else I'll lose another weapon. I'd like to practice my shooting skills 'cause I'm totally bad at it. I talked with SAIA more in order to broaden my knowledge about the game controls since I can't play actively anymore or else I'm going to disturb the neighborhood for it's already late in the evening. There are some information in the game that SAIA refused to answer as my level was not high enough to qualify yet according to her. Some information may automatically pop up if I trigger events and the instructions will then be given in order to complete or accomplish missions. I have also unlocked a game feature after levelling up. A message bubble logo was added on the existing icons on the lower right portion of the screen so the Icons were as follows: Menu ellipses, announcement scroll, message bubble, and the question mark or task button. "What a day", I stretched my hands up while sitting on my chair, I charged the glasses on my home work table and tucked myself to bed. I feel like I'm freed from something, looking forward for another exciting day. "Yaaaaaawwwwn." "Good night SAIA." *********** Attributes Profession: The General Class selected by a player. Ex. Support (Doctor, Priest, Witch), Fighter(Archer, Swordsman, Assassin, Others), Crafts Man (Black Smith, Scientist, Alchemist, Chef, Mage(Fire, Water, Air, Earth, ???) Life: The measurement of player's consciousness or force to keep them going. Level: Arises when certain experience or conditions are met. Mana: The power needed by players to cast magical abilities Magic Speed: the speed of magic Special Skills: Unique skills unlocked by individual professions based on quest or reaching certain criteria Attack Power: The gauge on how strong the total power (Combination of Magical, Physical, Mental and Spiritual) of a player can affect others Strength: The total average strength a player has based on the accumulated points of the player's Magical, Physical, Mental and Spiritual strengths.