"Finally, I actually had to work for this one," Ali muttered, shutting down the interface and glancing out at the horde forming around the crushed body he'd thrown down.
He turned around and made his way slowly up the stairs to the highest floor of the skyscraper. There, he found a small hatch leading to a ladder, which he climbed to reach the building's rooftop.
At the peak, Ali found barely enough room to sit, but he casually knocked down the rusty railing and seated himself at the very edge, nothing but open air around him. The wind whipped across his face as he looked out over the apocalyptic city shrouded in darkness. "These three days passed by fast. A zombie world… I got to do something fun, so regardless of whether the reward has magic or not, I didn't mind traveling here," Ali reflected.
Reaching into his pocket, he took out the severed finger from the enhanced zombie. Holding it up against the night sky, he peered down at the sea of zombies below. There were easily hundreds of thousands packed into the city's ruins. 'If I throw this down from here, it would mean the end of every living thing in this world'.
'They were barely surviving with the slow zombies; if all these turned into the lab's enhanced version, defending against them would be hopeless. They'd probably climb all the way up here,' he mused, tossing the finger in the air and catching it again. The life of every human on the continent lay in the balance, juggled in his hand.
"Would be interesting to see if I could survive a horde of evolved zombies. Who am I kidding? I'd win—assuming I had a constant supply of energy. But if I run out of food… well, even I'd be in trouble," he thought, smiling as he imagined fighting off waves of super-zombies.
The night slowly gave way to dawn, and Ali was the first person in the city to see the sunrise. The first rays hit his face as he cleaned the two Desert Eagles he'd looted from the captains.
'They don't have the engravings, but they remind me of my first guns back home,' he thought, examining the polished handguns before setting them down by his side.
Ali had no plans to descend from the rooftop. 'There's not much time left, anyway. If I timed it right, it should be in the next hour or two,' he thought, glancing at the mission interface. He settled back, legs dangling over the edge, and kept an eye on the countdown.
Below, Natalya was busy helping the locals and other players with rations. Her usually warm face was marred by a somber expression that those around her noticed but chose to leave unaddressed, allowing her the space to handle her own burdens.
Meanwhile, on another floor, Claire sat cross-legged in the centre of an empty room. She took a deep breath as a red light enveloped her palms, and a small flame flickered to life above her hands. She began moving it around in intricate patterns, her brows furrowed as beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, a sign of the mental and spiritual toll.
Finally, she opened her eyes, letting the flame extinguish as she gasped for breath. A smile crossed her face. "Five minutes. That's a new personal best," she thought.
"Why do you do this at the end of every mission? And why always practice the same spell?" Mark asked from across the room, having been silently watching her.
"My spirit will automatically refill when I return to Paradise, so I use it all up before we're sent back. Besides, Mark, you wouldn't understand yet—you still haven't discovered magic. You don't just get to use it instantly after earning it as a reward. Think of it more as a reward for beginning the training process rather than getting immediate results," Claire replied.
Time passed quietly in HOPE, especially at the top of the skyscraper, where Ali sat in silent anticipation. Eventually, faint blue lights began to surround him.
Ali rose, holstered his guns, and looked down at the steep drop below. Without a second thought, he leaped from the rooftop, flipping mid-air to face the sky as he fell. The floors of the skyscraper rushed past, the deafening sound of the horde below growing louder.
"It wasn't bad," Ali thought, his last impression of the apocalyptic world as his vision faded into pure white. All sensation vanished for a moment before his body reawakened in a space filled with blinding white lights.
Once again, Ali found himself floating in the vast emptiness of the universe. This time, his gaze was drawn to a blue planet opposite him, its beauty leaving him captivated.
'Seeing a planet from space is just… surreal. Even after everything, it still feels like a dream,' Ali thought, his attention then captured by the large interface screen that materialised before him.
"Congratulations on completing both world and personal missions."
"Rewards for World Mission:
Zombie Finger: Once per day, the player can use this item to turn a corpse into a regular zombie.
Captain's Desert Eagles: The player will receive two magazines for each gun upon entering a new world.
Horde Slayer's Machete: A highly durable blade that causes wounds inflicted by it to bleed out faster."
Ali reviewed the rewards as they hovered on his interface in blue-tinged boxes with detailed descriptions below each. 'The machete's out first,' he thought. 'I already have the longsword, and my fighting style isn't about waiting for opponents to bleed out.'
With the machete eliminated, Ali's eyes lingered on the two remaining choices: the Zombie Finger and the Desert Eagles.
'The finger's interesting. Even if I can only use it once a day, with careful placement in a densely populated area and a bit of protection for the zombie, I could start an apocalypse any time. But that's also a problem—missions vary, and starting an apocalypse isn't always in my best interest.'
His eyes drifted to the sleek black pistols, and a smirk played on his lips. The decision was already made in his mind.
'The guns are reliable, no matter where I am, and can be useful in situations beyond combat,' he decided, tapping the interface to select the pistols, which then materialised in his hands.
Ali inspected them, checking the magazines only to find them empty. 'I guess I'll have to wait until the next world,' he thought, holstering the guns at his waist and returning his gaze to the interface once more.
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Five chapters ahead of webnovel on patreon.com/Rondo312