In one side of the city beset by an unending snowstorm, there was a man walking against the fierce wind.
Wrapped in a down jacket and layered with two thick garments, carrying a backpack on his back, the man believed to be Rover was traversing the streets that were already covered in snow.
He did not plan to look for materials and tools for creating thermoelectrics that were said to be able to generate electricity.
However, there was something else he was looking for.
"I hope this lantern lasts until I reach my destination," he said in a low tone, enduring the fierce and cold night wind. Although he felt himself shivering, he had to hold it in to find what he was searching for.
With makeshift lighting, he tried to navigate the endless darkness. There were no more city lights, and the illumination that appeared there was like that before the apocalypse.
He even accidentally confronted zombies, as his sight and hearing were obstructed by the sounds and flakes of snow that kept swirling around him.
"Damn it, looks like I have to find an alternative way to avoid these bastards," he said, pulling his sword from the head of a zombie.
As Rover wanted to continue his journey, the ground around him began to tremble violently, prompting him to teleport upwards without wasting any time.
A horrifying creature resembling a zombie was visible, but this time it appeared enormous, with body parts that were utterly beyond comprehension.
Compared to himself, with a height of 172 cm, the zombie he saw was more than 3 meters taller than him.
He then tried to find a spot a little further away to land, and afterwards, he attempted to analyze the abnormal zombie.
{Status}
[Name: Rocel Albert]
[ Age: 25 ] [ Sex: Male ]
[ Race: Human Infected (zombie) ]
[ Level: 78 ]
[ Fatigue: None ]
[Condition: Starving]
[ Mana Point: 876/876 ]
(Attribute)
[Strength: 157 (+12) Vitality: 98 (+3)]
Agility: 110 (+14) Sense: 84 (+5)
[Stamina: 100 (+9) Magic: 100 (+8)]
However, before he was ready to check his status, his instincts suddenly sensed a very strong danger, making him quickly move as far away as possible from where he stood.
And sure enough, the monster headed straight for the spot he had just left. This made him shiver, and if it weren't for the rapid increase in his thinking speed, which made his body react quickly, he might have already turned into meat paste by now.
"Damn, how could I possibly win against this bastard? For now, I have to escape." He said while trying to remain calm. Using his Blink skill repeatedly, he distanced himself from that location, because if he tried to run, he would definitely be outmatched by the creature.
"Phew, luckily the monster didn't follow." he thought, glancing back at the monster he left behind.
To be honest, if compared to the zombie he just encountered, he would prefer to fight the zombie leader back then.
Although both situations were unreasonable, when fighting the zombie leader, the status difference he had wasn't too significant, so he at least had a chance to win, and at that time he had no choice but to fight.
But This was different from now, where he could avoid fighting against a zombie.
After ensuring that the zombie was no longer following him, Rover continued his journey, but this time more cautiously to avoid making the same mistake again.
As he moved along, he occasionally entered small convenience stores that were damaged all over the place to grab any remaining food.
If he was lucky, he might find some fast food in the store. However, most of the time he visited the stores, he found only corpses scattered around without a single piece of food left.
But that made sense, considering New York was said to be one of the most populated cities in the world. So it was no wonder that food would run out just like that.
In addition, every clothing store he visited surely had no clothes left, which means many people were still alive and taking those clothes.
But the question is, where are they now? Rover could only sigh and continue his journey.
However, before he could move on, the ground around him shook violently as it had before, making Rover immediately think the worst.
It couldn't be possible that the zombies had come here. But as if luck was mocking him now, a silhouette suddenly appeared in front of him in an instant.
He tried to evade, but unfortunately something had locked his feet, hindering his movement for a moment, which made him unable to move and receive a frenzied attack that sent him flying through several shops.
He felt a more painful ache when he was hit by the zombie leader, as it was evident that Rover was still struggling to stand up.
Yet as if that wasn't enough, the zombie suddenly appeared in front of him and punched him with concentrated 'mana' energy in its hand.
This took him by surprise, but unfortunately, there was nothing he could do as he was immediately knocked back even further than before, creating a commotion that caught the attention of nearby zombies and monsters.
On the other hand, Rover, who was in critical condition and had no energy to move, gathered all his strength to activate the Blink skill until his 'mana' energy was depleted, hoping to teleport to another place in an instant and that the zombies would no longer chase him.
After using his skill until he ran out of 'mana', he promptly vomited a mouthful of blood and felt his vision becoming very blurry. He didn't know where he was now, or whether he could survive or not, but it seemed he could no longer push himself and couldn't think anymore.
With his physical and mental condition reaching its limits, he fainted and could only rely on luck not to be killed.
* * * * * *
Time continued to pass by as the snowstorm still had not subsided, in a room that appeared to be a patient's room. A man seemed to have regained consciousness and was processing what had happened earlier.
"Ughhh," Rover could only grimace as he felt his body still experiencing incredible pain even after fainting.
However, he began to hold back and ignore the pain as he observed the room around him. 'I-Isn't this reminiscent of a patient's room in a hospital?' he thought as he noticed numerous medications scattered on the table and the patient bed where he was currently lying.
He could also see the backpack he had brought along with the clothes he wore earlier, located in the corner of the room.
"Wait, it seems someone brought me here? But who?" he said while noticing that his clothes had changed into ordinary clothes worn by hospital patients.
As he was still pondering, the sound of the door opening broke the silence, revealing the figure of a little girl who appeared younger than him.
He immediately turned to look and frowned, wondering how a little girl ended up in a place like this.
"Thank goodness, it seems uncle has woken up now," said the little girl with a faint smile visible on her face.