[Error! Host status: Unmarried, Single.]
"I'm unmarried? So what? Am I supposed to get married now? Do zombies need a spouse?"
It was almost as if the system was mocking him.
"How dare you!"
It wasn't fair.
"How am I going to find a woman when everyone in the world has already been killed?"
It didn't make sense.
How could he find a woman when there was no one left alive in the entire world?
He didn't understand it.
He didn't like it.
"Is this a joke? Are you mocking me for being single?"
Nellas didn't know whether he was angry or not.
It was a ridiculous notion, but there was no other explanation for it.
"How am I going to 'level up' and become stronger if I'm not even married?"
This was absurd.
He had to get stronger. He had to grow more powerful.
He had to find a way to unlock his skills, powers, and abilities.
"Why does it have to be a marriage? I don't even have any friends."
That was a sad fact, but it was true.
He had no friends. No one to talk to. No one to confide in.
No one who cared about him.
And that made him sad.
Ding!
Another screen appeared, interrupting his thoughts.
"Huh? What's this now?"
It was another message.
But it wasn't a normal message.
[Unlocking skills requires a 'Wife' to unlock all of the skills. The 'Wife' must be of a 'Female' race and has to be a 'single' entity. The 'Wife' has to be of a lower level than the host. If the wife is of the same or higher level, the 'Wife' will have a higher priority than the 'Host'.]
"That makes no sense! You're just making stuff up as you go along, aren't you?"
It was ridiculous.
Whoever created this system had obviously gone insane.
It was clearly a bad idea.
It was stupid.
It was insane.
And yet, Nellas couldn't stop himself from wondering what it would be like.
Would he get stronger if he married a woman?
Could he really find a wife?
How would he go about finding one?
Is there anyone left alive?
Was there anyone out there who would want to marry a zombie?
"Wait, if I can become a zombie, maybe others could have turned into a zombie too."
Nellas was beginning to realize that there might be hope after all.
"I should go and find a zombie wife!"
He had to find a woman, and he had to find her fast.
But where should he start looking?
"Where would a woman be hiding if she survived the cataclysmic events of the apocalypse?"
Ding!
As if to answer his question, another notification popped up.
[Host, why would you want to look for one? There are plenty of single, young, attractive females around, out there.]
"What?"
"Are you saying that there are women out there, who survived the Ragnarok?"
Ding!
[Host, you have got it all wrong. No one was able to survive the destruction of the Ragnarok. They all died. It's just that you have been resurrected 5 years before the catastrophe occurred.]
"What?! 5 years ago?! Are you telling me that I have been resurrected 5 years before I died?"
He looked around, his eyes scanning the trees and bushes, searching for signs of life.
There was nothing.
Not even a sound.
Everything was silent.
"So, where am I right now?"
He needed to know.
He had to figure out where he was and how to get home.
"5 years before I died. Hmm, isn't that the time I first got my powers and had gone to clear a dungeon with my party?"
He tried to remember the details of that day.
It was a long time ago.
He couldn't recall anything clearly.
His memory was foggy.
"All I remember is that I had to fight with two goblins while the rest of my party disappeared and left me behind to die."
It had been a long time ago, but the memory was still vivid.
"It was really difficult to kill them, and I was exhausted after the battle."
He focused his eyes on himself and gazed down at his wounds, the blood covering his clothes, and the pain.
"Then, those goblins must be behin–"
His head turned as he looked behind the tree he was leaning against, and a head with green skin, long pointy ears, and a hideous face stared back at him.
"Oh, it is one of the goblins which I barely managed to kill."
The goblin was dead, lying in the grass.
Its neck was severed completely, and its head was no longer attached to its body.
It's eyes were empty.
Its skin was pale.
It was a gruesome sight.
The goblin's headless corpse was lying just a few meters away.
A small smile formed on his lips as he gazed at the corpse, thinking about how he had been given another chance to live, another chance to prove himself.
"I guess, I should get out of here. I have a long way ahead of me. And I need to get married soon."
Nellas stood up, his legs wobbly, and his body covered in blood.
"Hmm, now I'm a zombie, so shouldn't I move a little slower than a normal person?"
He tried moving around, taking a few steps forward, then backward, and side to side.
"It feels a bit weird, but not too different. Maybe a little easier."
His balance was a little off, but he could manage.
"Well, others must have cleared the dungeon so I should just find the exit and get out of here."
He looked toward the sky and he could see a blue light shining in the distance.
"The dungeon exit."
Nellas began walking towards it, stumbling along the way, tripping over rocks and roots, and nearly falling several times.
He couldn't run very fast, but he managed to get close enough to see the portal.
"Just you wait, bastard heroes. This time I'll beat you all."
His body was full of wounds, his strength was low, and his eyes were clearing and blurring from time to time.
But, his resolve was strong.
"And I have a quest, to find a wife."
With that in mind, Nellas entered the portal and left the dungeon.