Bob was undecided, so he asked Addak, "Can I choose later?"
[Blood Shadow is annoyed by your question]
[Ruby Ruler agrees with your question]
[Night Whisperer doesn't like your question]
[Mysterious Wanderer is sad about your question]
The demon looked at him like he was a fool. After all, who would delay gaining a powerful reinforcement? Addak replied, "Of course, but I don't recommend it."
The Viking-looking man then spoke up. "Since we'll be together for a while, we should introduce ourselves. I'll start." He paused before continuing, "My name is Eduard. I'm 31 years old."
The man in the suit chimed in next. "My name is David. I'm 34 years old."
"My name is Bob. I'm 21 years old," Bob said.
"Nina, 18," said the teenager reluctantly.
[Blood Shadow is angry at Nina's attitude]
Addak smiled eerily, and once again, a circle appeared under each of the survivors' feet. They were teleported to a bridge none of them had seen before. The bridge stretched across a vast body of water. Without a word, Addak disappeared.
[You cross the bridge and get to Etqa Station
Difficulty: E
Time limit: 20 minutes
Reward: 150 coins
Penalty for failure: death]
Bob found it suspicious that they would only receive 150 coins for simply crossing a bridge. He began to stay alert as they moved.
Eduard seemed like he wanted to start a conversation but had no idea what to say.
After about five minutes, they had crossed half the bridge.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of the bridge collapsing behind them. They all turned quickly and saw a giant water monster smashing the bridge and rushing toward them at high speed.
The creature resembled a 20-meter-tall blue cobra.
When the group saw it, they immediately began running toward the other side of the bridge. Bob was at the front, followed by Eduard, then David, and finally Nina, who was the slowest and appeared out of breath.
When they were about five meters from the finish line, Addak appeared, smiling smugly to himself. "I see this is too easy for you. Let's spice things up a bit."
[Quest difficulty changed]
[E -> D]
[Living corpses begin to crawl out of the ground]
Seeing this, the survivors ran even faster.
[You have reached Etqa Station]
[Quest completed: You cross the bridge and get to Etqa Station]
[You got 150 coins]
They reached the station, but it was too late. Zombies began crawling out of the ground around them. A large shadow loomed behind the survivors.
The shadow belonged to the giant snake, which quickly opened its massive mouth...
The snake monster chewed through the section of the bridge the survivors stood on.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Bob woke up to Eduard shaking him.
When Bob regained consciousness, there were no zombies or sea monster in sight. However, the bridge was now divided into two halves. Nina and David stood on the first half, which led to their destination, while Bob and Eduard were stranded on the second half.
[Night Whisperer didn't want your story to end, so he intervened]
[Mysterious Wanderer is grateful to Night Whisperer]
Suddenly, a dark liquid appeared, connecting the missing part of the bridge.
[Night Whisperer decided to give you his bridge]
[But only one organism can cross the bridge]
Eduard frowned when he saw the message. Both men stood in silence. Nina and David stared at them in confusion, as the message hadn't appeared for them.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from behind Bob and Eduard. They turned to see eleven zombies with dark green faces walking slowly toward them.
Bob spoke up. "Eduard, go. I need to test my strength anyway," he said, pointing his sword at the zombies.
Eduard hesitated.
Bob opened his status.
[Name: Bob
Level: 1
Class: None
Age: 21
Race: Human
Supporter: None
Titles: Psycho, First Blood
HP: 110
MP: 9
Strength: 18
Agility: 20
Intelligence: 9
Vitality: 11
Bonus points: 0
Skills: Inventory lvl:1, Eyes of God lvl:1
XP: 210
Coins: 1020
Inventory slots enabled: 1/5]
Bob clicked on the "level" option.
[You need 100 XP to upgrade your level. For each level purchased, the XP cost will double.]
Bob didn't hesitate and purchased one level.
[Level 1 -> Level 2]
[Strength increased by 1, agility increased by 1, vitality increased by 1]
[You have gained 1 bonus point]
Bob allocated the bonus point to vitality, prioritizing his survival.
[Name: Bob
Level: 2
Class: None
Age: 21
Race: Human
Supporter: None
Titles: Psycho, First Blood
HP: 130
MP: 9
Strength: 19
Agility: 21
Intelligence: 9
Vitality: 13
Bonus points: 0
Skills: Inventory lvl:1, Eyes of God lvl:1
XP: 110
Coins: 1020
Inventory slots enabled: 1/5]
The zombies were only three meters away. Eduard still hadn't left. Bob said firmly, "Eduard, go. You're just going to get in my way here anyway."
[Blood Shadow and Ruby Ruler like your words]
Eduard snorted and ran across the liquid bridge. Once he reached David and Nina, the bridge disappeared.
Bob stretched his arms and legs, then charged at the zombies. He swung his sword, decapitating one. Ten remained.
[+20 XP]
[+90 coins]
Blood coated Bob's weapon.
[Blood has gotten on your weapon. Your weapon will deal 10% more damage.]
Two zombies lunged at Bob with clawed hands. He backed up, then decapitated both with a single swing. Eight remained.
[+20 XP]
[+90 coins]
[+20 XP]
[+90 coins]
One zombie lunged at Bob and bit into his shoulder.
[120 HP]
[110 HP]
[You are bleeding. You lose 1 HP per second.]
"Fuck," Bob muttered as pain radiated through his shoulder. His speed was slightly reduced, but he remembered Danzel's lessons on ignoring pain and pressed on.
He stabbed the zombie in the stomach, throwing it to the ground where it died. Seven remained.
[+20 XP]
[+90 coins]
Bob quickly decapitated two more zombies. Five remained.
[+20 XP]
[+90 coins]
[+20 XP]
[+90 coins]
[107 HP]
Bob backed up a meter to catch his breath. The zombies were slow, allowing him to rest for five seconds before they reached him.
[102 HP]
Suddenly, a zombie with gray eyes sprinted toward Bob at high speed. Before he could react, it bit into his neck.
Bob fell to the ground, seething with anger.
"Is this how I'm going to die?"
"Killed by some mindless zombie?"
"..."
Bob lost consciousness.
When he woke, he felt terrible pain throughout his body and saw numerous messages.
[+80 XP]
[+190 coins]
[+20 XP]
[+90 coins]
[+20 XP]
[+90 coins]
[+20 XP]
[+90 coins]
[+20 XP]
[+90 coins]
Bob opened his status.
[Name: Bob
Level: 2
Class: None
Age: 21
Race: Human
Supporter: None
Titles: Psycho, First Blood
HP: 14
MP: 9
Strength: 19
Agility: 21
Intelligence: 9
Vitality: 13
Bonus points: 0
Skills: Inventory lvl:1, Eyes of God lvl:1
XP: 390
Coins: 2010
Inventory slots enabled: 1/5]
[Blood Shadow admires your feat]
[Blood Shadow donates 50 coins]
[Coins: 2060]
Bob realized he was bleeding.
[13 HP]
He quickly pulled off his backpack, taking one of his four T-shirts (leaving him with three).
[11 HP]
He tore the shirt into small pieces.
[7 HP]
Bob bandaged his wounds as quickly as he could.
[4 HP]
Exhausted, he stared at his remaining HP, then collapsed onto the pile of dead zombies and fell asleep.