The next day, the sun was bright, and today he had a wild plan running through his mind. There were only three hours left before the mission would end. He planned to kill as many zombies as he could; he didn't plan to stay here for long.
Yesterday, his daring actions had given him a good idea. After his stunts the day before, the zombies within a two-kilometer radius had reached overwhelming numbers. There was almost no place to run anymore.
He checked outside the convenience store. There were hundreds of zombies roaming. From the back door, there was a service stairway leading to the rooftop of the gas station. The rooftop of the gas station was as high as a fifth floor. He had no idea why this place had such a high ceiling, but it worked to his advantage. The height would be crucial for his plan.
He pulled out a rope he had found in the convenience store and tied it to the baton he had previously acquired, making sure it was tight. Then, he gathered all his strength and threw it toward an apartment building fifteen meters away.
Yesterday, when he was running toward the gas station, he noticed this apartment. It was a large building, similar to the ones he had fled from earlier.
His aim and luck were both on point. The baton got caught in the railing of the opposite building. He checked to ensure it was secure, and it was. Next, he took another rope and threw it toward the roof of the apartment building. After that, he tied both ropes to an exposed pillar.
He double-checked the ropes to confirm they were secure. Once satisfied, he began climbing. In his previous life, he had been trained in mountain warfare, so he was no stranger to climbing between hills using ropes. With a bit of luck, he was taking a calculated risk.
Carefully, he climbed the rope, moving slowly and steadily. From his vantage point, he could see the streets below swarming with thousands of zombies, if not more. Most of them were just wandering aimlessly, howling from time to time.
Finally, after fifteen minutes of intense effort, he reached the apartment's balcony. The climb had drained nearly all his energy. He untied the baton from the rope and re-secured the rope to the railing. Then, he pulled up his backpack, which he had miraculously tied to create a makeshift ropeway from the gas station rooftop.
Two hours later, he emerged from the apartment building carrying a small portable soundbox that he had found in the convenience store. The soundbox was playing heavy metal music, which he couldn't understand, but it would do the job. He threw the box into the middle of the street between the gas station and the apartment building.
Upon hearing the music, all the zombies in the area turned to face him. A few seconds later, they all screamed and rushed toward his position. Sanjay ran for the upper floor as the zombies broke through the large entrance door and charged after him.
Sanjay sprinted to the upper floor with all his speed. The zombies were relentlessly pursuing him. These zombies' thirst for human flesh was not to be underestimated. Thousands of zombies poured into the apartment.
The apartment was a seventh-floor building, and Sanjay finally reached the roof. He locked the rooftop door just in time.
A few moments later, the zombies arrived at the door, pushing and banging, trying to break it down. The door held for a while, but after several seconds of sustained pressure, it gave way.
Sanjay was ready. He rushed to the rope he had already tied, wedged the baton between the rope, and began descending toward the gas station rooftop in a dramatic, heroic manner. As he looked down, the music from the soundbox was still playing, and thousands of zombies below were howling and staring at him.
He reached the gas station rooftop, but the zombies did not. Just like before, without brains, they began tumbling over the edge one by one. But this time, there were far more of them.
Sanjay pulled out a lighter from his pocket, lit it, and glanced down at the falling zombies, as well as the ones still rushing toward the rooftop.
"Your time has come," he muttered softly, trying to sound like the heroes from the movies he had once watched.
The lighter fell, catching fire quickly and spreading in all directions. It ignited the zombies in its path.
Sanjay then took another lighter from his pocket and burned the ropes he had used to climb. The fire spread through the ropes, igniting the apartment building.
Sanjay watched as the fire spread through the building, engulfing the zombies and the structure itself. Earlier, when he had entered the building, he had carefully poured gasoline all over it. He made sure every part of the apartment was doused with gasoline.
Spreading the gasoline had taken him two hours. He had even taken breaks to replenish his energy and eliminate any wandering zombies he encountered inside.
Soon, the system announcements began:
[You killed one zombie]
[You killed one zombie]
[You killed one zombie]
Sanjay felt a headache coming on. Was the system going to announce every time he killed a single zombie?
"System, can you please just tell me the total number of zombies killed at the end?" Sanjay said in frustration.
After he spoke, the system stopped giving further announcements.
"Wow, we can do that? Why didn't I think of that before?" Sanjay shook his head. It must be basic knowledge in this world, but of course, he wouldn't know that. He only had a week's worth of knowledge, mostly from browsing the web.
He looked toward the building. The flames were slowly spreading. Gasoline, being one of the most flammable liquids, didn't take long to ignite. The zombies that had rushed to the rooftop were turning into charcoal one by one.
Some fell into the crowd of zombies below, who had been trying to enter the burning building. These zombies quickly caught fire as well.
Within a few minutes, the entire building was engulfed in flames. The fire even spread to the zombies on the street.
"Okay, this is taking too long."
He pointed his hands toward the ground and shouted, "Go to hell!"
Gasoline poured from his hands and spilled onto the zombies. Some were already burning, and soon the zombies that were wet with gasoline caught fire as well.
Sanjay didn't stop. Like a hose, he spread the gasoline across the entire street. He didn't need to aim, as the street was jam-packed with zombies. The flames spread, and the zombies began burning fiercely.
From a distance, he could see more zombies rushing toward him, drawn by the commotion. There was no escaping now, but his mana was almost depleted.
He glanced at his available points and smiled. With his right hand, he continued to pour gasoline into the crowd, and with his left hand, he started adding points to his mana.
He used all the points he had gained from killing zombies and replenished his mana, pouring more gasoline into the new wave of zombies. He wasn't sure how many zombies were getting burned, but it looked like a sea of fire.
A few minutes later, the burning continued.
[Congratulations on completing the mission. You can either continue the mission or leave.]
Sanjay took a deep breath in satisfaction when he heard the mission completion alert from the system. He was nearly exhausted and had little mana left. He had taken a gamble, and it had paid off.
He spoke softly, "Leave."
Then, he disappeared from his location. A few seconds later, the entire floor of the gas station erupted in flames, and something massive happened.
"BHOOM!" A huge explosion rocked the gas station, and all nearby zombies were either torn apart or burned to a crisp. The fire quickly spread to nearby buildings and streets, engulfing everything in its path and killing every zombie present. Sanjay had no idea how his luck played such a huge role.
Sanjay had just exited through the tower gate when he received a notification. After entering the tower once, the system became permanent for life, no matter where he was.
[You have killed 10,398 zombies.]
"What? This is absurd." He was sure he had killed about two thousand zombies with the fire, but where did the other eight thousand come from? He had no idea. 10,398 seemed like an absurd number. He didn't have the guts to go on a rampage spree with so many zombies.
[Congratulations on being the first to kill 10,398 zombies.]
He couldn't believe it. Surely, no newbie—or anyone, for that matter—could kill that many zombies.
[You receive an SSS ranking on the first floor.
You get 10,000 tower points.
You can choose one of the following prizes:
1. 3 points allocated for invariable stats
2. Bring out anything of your choice from the tower.]
Sanjay was flabbergasted. According to history, no one had ever received an SSS ranking for any floor of any tower. The best-ranking anyone had achieved was A rank. The person who had gotten an A rank became famous overnight. But what shocked him even more was the prize. He had received ten thousand tower points. Tower points were like currency inside the tower, and looking at the other two prizes, he was even more stunned. He had never imagined he would get three points for invariable stats—it was unheard of.
But then, he began wondering how everyone knew that the person who achieved A rank was telling the truth. Could they be lying?
[Congratulations, City Hunter, for receiving the first-ever SSS ranking for the first floor of the South Asian Tower.] *3
"What the hell?" Sanjay exclaimed. The announcement echoed in everyone's mind, no matter which tower they were in or where they were.
All the people around him turned to look in his direction. Sanjay froze.
Thankfully, more than a hundred people were around him as they exited the gate, and people were still coming out in a continuous flow. Everyone was looking at each other, not able to digest what they just heard.
Sanjay figured now was the best time to slip away. From all the movies he had watched in his past life, he knew that getting the limelight in public was never a good thing—unless you were strong enough to protect yourself.
Soon, a large commotion broke out. This was the first time anyone had received an SSS rank since the towers came into existence. Everyone had thought that A rank was the best anyone could get, but now it was confirmed that an SSS rank existed, even above A rank.
Announcements for A ranks were only made once, tower-wide and only the people conquering that tower could hear it. Still, it had been a huge deal when an A rank had been achieved by someone from North America. But now, it was an SSS rank, and the person was from their own South Asian Tower.
Fortunately, Sanjay managed to flee from the tower area before the authorities moved in. Soon after he left, the area was completely sealed off by the Asia Hunters Association. Their actions were swift; they interrogated every person present. Even those who had left had their entry records checked.
A black sedan pulled up near the tower, and a man in a black suit stepped out. Anyone familiar with the players' association could tell he was a higher-up.
"Did you get it?" he asked his subordinate, who had come to greet him.
"No, sir. We're not sure. They used a pseudonym, which goes against association rules. There's no one named City Hunter on the list. And today, being the first tower entry day for all the schools, more than a hundred thousand kids entered," the subordinate explained.
"Hmm. Start keeping an eye on the top students from all the schools. One of them has to be our person. We need to recruit them into the association before the other nations take action," the man in black ordered.
"Understood, sir. I'll try my best," the subordinate bowed.
Seeing this, the man in black got into his car and left the scene.
Unaware of everything going on, Sanjay had reached home. He texted his teacher to let them know he was fine. He hadn't had the chance to inform anyone when he first exited the tower. If he hadn't come out, he might have been declared dead, as survival rates on the first floor of the tower were less than fifty percent. He wouldn't deny it—he had seen it with his own eyes.
Now, when it came to the prize, he selected the first option without hesitation. He knew how difficult it was to increase an invariable stat, and he might not get another chance. There was nothing else he really wanted out of the tower at the moment.
Of the three stats, he tried adding one point to Luck, but it wasn't allowed. Perhaps there were limitations to what Luck could achieve. Not thinking too much about it, he added two points to Intelligence and one point to Charisma.
A gust of wind blew, and Sanjay felt his mind become clearer. It was as though he could do anything now. No math problem in the world was too difficult for him. No insect could escape his notice. He felt like a human supercomputer with access to all the knowledge of his life, ready to recall it in the blink of an eye. He might just be one of the smartest people alive.
This would be immensely helpful in his quest to conquer the tower.
He checked his available points.
"Shit," he muttered. He had leveled up to eleven and now had four points. Previously, when he leveled up, he had added all his points to mana. Now, his mana stood at thirteen. He added two points to mana and one point each to Strength and Agility.
STATS
Name: City Hunter
Level: 11
Exp: 139/23300
Skill: Replicate
VARIABLE STATS
Strength: 11
Agility: 11
Mana: 15
INVARIABLE STATS
INT: 8
LUCK: 9
CHARISMA: 7
Current Available Points: 0