Fatty remarked quickly, noticing that Leo had stopped dead in his tracks. "My innate ability is known as the life pulse. It claims that I can detect life and send out a ring-shaped pulse to my surroundings. It ignores other barriers like walls, roads, and other objects and can only detect living things."
'What a fantastic ability. It could identify adversaries and save a lot of time, so there would be little risk'. It wasn't an offensive ability, but it was still highly practical and could be valuable in various situations. An enormous amount of trouble can be avoided by being aware in advance that zombies are approaching. Leo also woke up later than the others, so zombies should have taken over the university by now.
"How often can you use it?" Leo had high expectations for his innate ability. He had no idea that the moment he woke up, he would run into an awakener.
"Well, you know... sending a pulse of that kind costs one mana point, and the problem is... I possess zero mana." With shame, Fatty grinned.
Okay... He didn't level up any more. At first, nobody has any mana to use because it can only be obtained by increasing your spirit stats or using specific skills to gather it. Leo overlooked the fact that Fat Boy never left his room after waking up.
"Have you opened your beginner survival pack yet?" Leo enquired.
"That." Fatty gestured to the wooden bat Leo was holding in his hands, which was perched atop his bed.
"So grab it and come with me."
Leo gave a small smirk and walked out of the fatty's room. "It goes without saying that we will level you up. You would be completely useless otherwise."
Leo went downstairs after leaving the room. Since they are currently on the fifth floor, they still need to descend in order to exit the dorm building. They can level up and hunt zombies in the hallway as they go.
A trail of blood led into one of the rooms on the fourth floor. Leo shush fatty and peered into the classroom, where a zombie had taken a further victim.
Leo entered the space and struck the monster four times, breaking its limbs. "If you want to follow me, smash its head."
Fatty turned to face Leo and the lying zombie, as though the latter were a monster rather than a zombie, in his own words. Fatty hesitated a little bit before steeling his resolve and hitting a zombie in the head out of fear that his fate would be worse than a zombie's. The zombie roared loudly, trying to move its body but not dying.
"Harder blow, fat person. Even an hour after such a hit, it won't be killed." Leo stated it sternly.
Fatty tightened his jaw and struck a monster in the head with the bat. After multiple hits, it left behind a mix of white substances and blood. The zombie let out a final groan before collapsing to the ground, finally defeated. Fatty felt a surge of satisfaction and pride in his accomplishments, knowing that he was getting stronger with each battle.
As Fatty gained level, a blue orb of light entered his body, signifying his progress.
"Add one point for spirit and one point for strength." Leo reminded him without forgetting.
After listening to Leo's instructions, Fatty allocated his attribute points exactly as directed.
"Put your points in the same manner going forward until your spirit reaches three points. Your mana will rise as a result, allowing you to employ your innate ability more frequently. Try your innate ability now; we ought to learn more about it."
Leo gave fatty some advice and pushed him to use his power. Users of innate abilities may also have magical skills such as controlling fire or wind, or enhancing their physical and mental capabilities. Leo was confident that having Fatty with him can significantly improved his chances of survival.
"Um, how do I turn it on, Leo?"
"..." Leo was dumbfounded and had no idea how to respond. He tried to remember what other hunters had said about using his innate ability, since he had never used one in his previous life. "Oh no, I have no idea, having never had one. Try saying the ability's name like you would in a game."
Despite being taken aback by Leo's lack of knowledge, Fatty proceeded with his advice. For the first time since he had responded to all of his inquiries as though he were an authority on the subject, Leo was ignorant of something.
"Pulse of Life" Fatty mentioned his ability's name.
Leo saw no miraculous transformations in fatty. Aside from the color change on Fatty's face, nothing seemed to happen. Something seemed to terrify him.
"Leo, be careful." Leo heard hurried footsteps outside the room as fatty yelled. There were two roars coming from the corridor, along with heavy footsteps.
The room was too small for two zombies to fight, prompting Leo to quickly exit to avoid being trapped. At first, the plan was for just one student to reside there. Zombies will devour them in no time if they stay in the room.
As Leo emerged from the tiny space, he noticed two undead running toward him. Maybe because of the excessive disturbance that Fatty had created, zombies pursued them.
Leo distinguished senior students from those who had previously been classmates because blood had covered every part of their bodies.
Leo could not afford for them to surround him, nor could he afford to lose energy trying to get away. Leo chose to fight back when faced with a fight-or-flight scenario.
Leo killed the first zombie with a quick hit to the head, anticipating how it would attack him. Leo thought he still had time to avoid the second attack because he had calculated the time between them, but...
And as the second zombie lunged toward him, his body was too slow to keep up with his thoughts.
'Goddammit! I was unaware of my body's slowness!'
Leo was still unable to adjust to his body's weakness. He had underestimated his abilities because his strength, agility, and even stamina were less than in his previous life. His body was responding too slowly to the signals his brain was sending to move.
Leo was overcome by a smell of blood from the zombie's breath. He attempted to break free from its hold, but zombies were far more powerful than most people realized. Leo's body was weak from the beginning as well.
As he struggled against the zombie's grasp, Leo felt a surge of frustration at his own physical limitations. He had always prided himself on his athleticism and quick reflexes, but now he found himself struggling just to push the creature away. The smell of blood grew stronger, making him feel sick with fear and revulsion.
Leo knew he had to find a way to escape, but his weakened body seemed to be working against him at every turn. The realization that he was no match for the zombie's strength filled him with a sense of helplessness and despair.
It would be more accurate to say that zombies exert their full strength rather than being inherently strong, considering that most people can only utilize 75–80% of their own strength. However, their predictable and repetitive movements limit their effectiveness. Perhaps it's more apt to view zombies as primitive and slightly stronger than humans.
Leo had a chance to fight both of them at once, but he was unable to avoid the second one and found it difficult to grapple with it on the ground.
Just one bite, and his game will be over.