As I left the city and ran for a few kilometers, I stopped next to a tree to rest for a moment before continuing my journey.When I returned to the cave by the waterfall and stepped inside, everything was still in place. No one had been here, but I didn't want to linger for too long—who knew when those zombies might leave the city and wander into the forest?But first, I needed a proper rest.
I put down my backpack, leaned against the wall, and began gathering spiritual energy. As I concentrated, I noticed that I could draw energy from every direction except the cave wall, which had previously heated to an unbearably high temperature.Curious, I pressed my hand against the wall and tried to channel spiritual energy into it, but it felt as if something was blocking me. Even when I attempted to draw on the wall, nothing happened this time. It seemed that my success last time had been pure blind luck.
With no other options, I decided to wait for the morning. Navigating the forest at night was treacherous—I had already stumbled into several trees on my way here. Only the fireflies illuminating the night had guided me safely to the cave. I couldn't bear to stay in the city, not with those zombies roaming freely. By now, it was likely that everyone in the city had turned.
Soon, I fell asleep on the bed I had left here. Although the leaves were dry and crunchy, making it far less comfortable than before, it was still better than sleeping on the cold ground.As I drifted off, I braced myself for the nightmares to come.
"ROAR!"
A deafening, bestial roar jolted me awake. The sound was both familiar and yet...different.
I jumped out of bed and hurried outside, only to see a massive figure moving between the trees.A colossal zombie was lumbering through the forest, searching for something, with hordes of smaller zombies trailing behind it.
Sweat drenched my back as I hurriedly grabbed my backpack and ran along the riverbank.Unfortunately, I couldn't move without making noise, and several zombies turned their heads toward me. Their guttural roars filled the night as they began their pursuit.
I had to fend off the zombies while running. I didn't want to waste my stamina fighting them and risk attracting an even larger horde.First, they could turn me into one of them. Second, they wouldn't even earn a single copper from the system for me—after all, the system doesn't buy defective products. Yet another reason to avoid engaging with these creatures.
Once I'd put some distance between us, I kept running along the river, but the zombies relentlessly followed. To make matters worse, even more of them joined the chase.As if that wasn't bad enough, the colossal zombie began to take notice of the commotion on this side of the forest. Its sheer presence sent a chill down my spine.
Faced with the risk of being discovered by that monstrosity, I jumped into the river. The cold water shocked my system, but I forced myself to swim to the other side.When I glanced back, I saw the zombies attempting to cross the river, but the middle section was surprisingly deep. Many of them were swept away by the current. Still, I knew the river wouldn't hold them off for long. With their sheer numbers, they'd likely clog the river in no time.
But where were all these zombies coming from?! I hadn't thought the city held this many people. Row after row of undead figures emerged from the forest and gathered on the far side of the river.
I didn't stop to think about it. I just ran. My only focus was survival.
Why were there so many zombies? Had they followed that giant zombie out of the city?So many questions swirled in my mind, none of which I wanted answered.
As I ran, I entered an unfamiliar part of the forest. The trees grew denser, the shadows darker, but stopping wasn't an option. Eventually, I broke free of the woods and saw, in the distance, the mountain I had once called home.
By now, my lungs burned, and my legs felt like lead. I couldn't go any farther without a break. Gasping for breath, I collapsed against a nearby tree, looking back over my shoulder. To my immense relief, no zombies were in sight. I had finally lost them—for now.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead before it could irritate my face and waited for my breathing to slow.Once I felt ready, I pushed onward toward the mountain. I promised myself I'd take a proper break when I reached it and resume my journey once the sun stood high in the sky.
"ROAR!"
A thunderous roar echoed from the forest behind me, breaking the fragile silence. My heart sank. The giant zombie had made it out of the woods.
I could only hope that whatever it was searching for, it would find it—and leave me alone.
Halfway through the sparse forest, I noticed zombies appearing near the spot where I had rested. In the distance, I saw the giant zombie making its way toward me.
As I watched it, I couldn't help but notice several similarities between it and the mutated zombie I had encountered before. Upon closer inspection, it seemed… eerily familiar.
No way. Is it coming for revenge?
I didn't kill it—I just crippled it. Besides, it doesn't even have basic intelligence… does it?
{Author's Note: To clarify, normal zombies and mutants have roughly the same low IQ. However, horde leaders gain significant intelligence boosts upon reaching their level. While they cannot recall their past lives, their memories improve starting from the moment they "awaken." This particular horde leader's first memories are of being injured and toyed with, which explains its aggressive fixation on our protagonist.}
But how the hell did it get so big and strong? Was it fueled by anger?
I shook my head in disbelief, but there was no time to dwell on the question. The real problem began when it turned its massive head in my direction—and our eyes met.
For a moment, it seemed to study me. It compared my appearance to the person it had fought before. I had changed clothes, and I wasn't wearing my cloth mask anymore—I had dropped it when I entered the forest. Running with a mask was just too suffocating.
Then, as if two lonely brain cells in its massive head managed to spark a single coherent thought, recognition dawned.
Its reaction was immediate.
"ROAR!"
The earth trembled beneath me, and all the zombies in the area turned toward me, their groans echoing in unison. They started running after me like a tidal wave of death.
I sprinted as fast as I could. The regular zombies weren't the issue—they were slower than me. The real threat was the giant zombie. With every thunderous step, it crossed several meters in an instant, closing the gap between us at an alarming rate.
In the distance, I caught sight of the mountain I had been heading toward. But before I could feel any relief, something unexpected happened.
The roar had disturbed several large boulders embedded in the mountainside. Or at least, I thought they were boulders. To my astonishment, the "rocks" began to move. One by one, they shook free from their resting places, opened their eyes, and turned to face the intruder entering their territory.
They didn't even glance at me. To them, I was nothing more than an insignificant bug.
That's when I realized the truth the "boulders" were rock tortoises.
One of them was gigantic, towering at least five meters high and stretching ten meters in length. Its legs were massive, each one thicker than two battering rams combined. It was a literal moving mountain.
The rock tortoises paid no attention to me. Instead, their focus was solely on the horde of zombies and the colossal intruder leading them.
Seizing the opportunity, I zig-zagged through the chaos, weaving my way between the tortoises and the zombies. Their distraction gave me the precious seconds I needed to escape.
Before long, I vanished into the mountain, leaving the battle—and the danger—behind me.
Seeing this, the giant zombie grew even angrier. Something—or rather, someone—dared to protect the creature it was hunting. Its fury was palpable.
The giant rock tortoises, sensing the threat, readied itself for battle.
As the two titans clashed, the ground shook violently. Around them, the normal zombies and rock tortoises erupted into their own chaotic skirmishes. Tens of thousands of zombies faced off against hundreds of rock tortoises.
It was quantity versus quality.
Reaching the cave where I had previously rested, I crawled inside and retrieved the book I had left behind. My body was battered and exhausted. Though my injuries had partially healed during my previous stay, the constant fighting and relentless running had strained them to their limits. I needed to rest, or my body would give out entirely.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The ground quaked beneath me as the two giants clashed. The vibrations reverberated through the cave walls, each tremor a testament to their titanic power.
Curious—and somewhat compelled—I crawled to the cave entrance and peered out. From my vantage point, I could see the battlefield.
The giant zombie was relentlessly attacking the rock tortoise, hammering away at its impenetrable defense. Slowly but surely, it was chipping away at the tortoise's rocky armor. For the smaller zombies, however, breaking through a rock tortoise's defense was impossible—their fists simply weren't strong enough.
In contrast, the rock tortoises held their ground against the normal zombies. Small skirmishes erupted around the battlefield, with the rock tortoises winning those engagements. But the larger battle was turning in favor of the zombies.
The clash of titans was devastating to all around them. Each thunderous blow sent shockwaves through the battlefield, obliterating the smaller combatants—whether zombie or tortoise. One stray hit from either of the Titans could easily end me if I were caught in the crossfire.
I could only watch and hope. I prayed for the rock tortoises to win because, if they didn't, the giant zombie wouldn't stop until it found me.
As I watched, something caught my eye—a strange, gleaming substance. Was it blood? Or something else? The glimmer appeared when chunks of rock fell off the giant tortoise's back.
The fragments weren't just harmless debris. Each one was launched with such velocity that it tore through the normal zombies like cannon fire. But the flying shards also posed a danger to the rock tortoises themselves. Those struck by the fragments were either seriously injured or outright killed.
The situation was deteriorating for the giant rock tortoise. It seemed to sense this as well. With a desperate move, it lunged forward and bit down hard on the giant zombie's leg, aiming to incapacitate its monstrous foe.
Seeing this, the giant zombie grew even angrier. Its rage consumed all thoughts of self-preservation as it began attacking the giant rock tortoise with reckless abandon. It lashed out with its legs, arms, and even its head, hammering away at the tortoise's tough exterior.
Soon, a large piece of the rock tortoise's shell broke off, revealing something unexpected—a charred, crystalline surface beneath the outer layer.
Is this even a rock tortoise to begin with? I wondered, staring at the gleaming crystal.
The sight of its exposed crystal core seemed to enrage the tortoise even further. It lashed out with frenzied aggression, matching the zombie's unrelenting assault blow for blow. Neither side showed any signs of tiring, their shared fury fueling the chaos.
I didn't dare to run. The giant zombie could catch me in no time if I tried. Watching their brutal clash, it seemed likely that both combatants would perish. Neither appeared to have a finishing move strong enough to end the other, leaving them locked in a deadly stalemate.
***
Hours passed.
Both sides began to show signs of exhaustion. Their once-unstoppable attacks grew slower, sloppier.
The smaller skirmishes between the normal zombies and the remaining rock tortoises had also ended. The rock tortoises emerged victorious but at a terrible cost.
At the start, there had been hundreds of them. Now, I only had to glance to count their survivors—just thirty-two rock tortoises remained. The battlefield was littered with corpses, mostly of zombies but also the shattered remains of rock tortoises.
The zombies held no value, but the fallen rock tortoises were a different story. I couldn't help but wonder how much those crystalline remains might be worth.
The surviving rock tortoises could only stand on the sidelines, watching their leader fight on.
The giant zombie was in shambles. One of its arms was completely gone, and the other was little more than a tattered stump of flesh and bone—a miracle it could even move. Its original goal was long forgotten. Now, all it wanted was to kill and devour the giant rock tortoise.
The rock tortoise wasn't faring much better. Its rocky armor was completely gone, replaced by a shattered crystal carapace. One of its eyes had been gouged out, and its movements were sluggish, labored.
Both combatants prepared for a final attack.
As they clashed one last time, the rock tortoisedodged the zombie's blow at the last second, swinging its head to the side. Then, with a sudden burst of strength, it rammed its head into the zombie's stomach, sending it stumbling backward.
The zombie lost its balance, crashing to the ground. The rock tortoise seized the opportunity, pressing its massive weight onto the zombie's head. With one last, decisive push, it crushed the giant zombie's skull under its massive leg.
The victory was short-lived.
As the surviving rock tortoises began to cheer for their leader, the giant tortoise collapsed to the ground. Its body heaved once, then stilled. The zombie's final attack had crushed its trachea, leaving it to suffocate moments after its enemy.
Both titans perished after a long and gruesome battle.
Normally, such a prolonged fight wouldn't happen. But these two were relentless brawlers, each built for endurance. Neither had the kind of decisive finishing move that could counter the other. It was like watching two video game characters, both specialized in taking hits, locked in an endless stalemate—until exhaustion finally claimed them both.
The aftermath of the bloody fight left the battlefield littered with bodies, and an opportunity I couldn't ignore presented itself.
Getting to my feet, I steeled myself for the task ahead—a feast of profit awaited.
The surviving rock tortoises were in disarray, seemingly unsure of what to do next. Taking advantage of their confusion, I darted between their massive, unmoving forms, placing my hand on each one. The system responded instantly.
[You sold a Rock Tortoise for 4 silver and 11 copper.]
I continued, my pace quickening as my confidence grew. With each touch, another tortoise disappeared, converted into currency by the system.
[You sold a Rock Tortoise for 4 silver and 1 copper.]
[You sold a Rock Tortoise for 3 silver and 89 copper.]
[You sold a Rock Tortoise for 3 silver and 77 copper.]
The weight of their loss wasn't lost on the rock tortoises. As they watched their companions and family vanish before their eyes, their confusion turned to anger. But their bulky forms made them slow, and dodging their sluggish attempts to pursue me was effortless.
The growing pile of silver and copper in my inventory made me faster, and bolder. The thought crossed my mind—why not hunt down the surviving tortoises as well? They were wounded, vulnerable, and profitable.
But as quickly as the idea formed, I dismissed it. I was the one who brought the zombie horde here. These creatures had already suffered enough because of me and also I don't want to waste my money buying weapons on these rock tortoises as the last one already sold below 1 silver and most likely they would sell for even fewer.
Finally, I reached the colossal giant rock tortoise, its massive crystalline form a testament to its fallen strength. Without hesitation, I touched it, and the system delivered its reward.
[You sold a Crystal Tortoise for 1 gold, 44 silver, and 34 copper.]
Checking my total earnings, I could barely contain my excitement. 3 gold, 73 silver, and 2 copper.
What a harvest!
With my newfound wealth and a giddy sense of accomplishment, I was ready to take off.