When the apocalypse struck, it was exactly noon—just as the doctors and nurses were about to change shifts.
Whether it was doctors, nurses, or patients seeking treatment, the number of people had reached its peak at that moment.
The hallway was shrouded in an eerie darkness. The ceiling tiles had fallen to the ground, leaving only the light steel skeletons behind.
The dim lights still hanging from the ceiling flickered intermittently, as if mourning the dead.
A cold gust of wind blew through, carrying with it a mixture of the sickly stench of blood, rotting flesh, and the sterile odor of hospital chemicals.
Blood and scattered body parts covered the walls, floor, escalators, and ceiling.
The hospital now resembled a battlefield.
After ten years of the apocalypse, Astrea had long since grown numb to such scenes.
Though thousands of zombies were gathered here, with the help of his Silver Bird Claw, Astrea's perception had been enhanced.
Every step he took was calculated to perfection, ensuring he narrowly avoided the patrols of the zombies.
Beep!
Card swipe successful!
Astrea had slowly made his way to a nearby alley, which led to the imaging center on the first floor.
Given that this was a radiation zone, the examination rooms inside were solidly built.
Compared to the broken doors and windows of the security room, this place was more suitable for Astrea's strengths.
Even in a prolonged battle, he'd stand a fighting chance.
Astrea quickly surveyed the situation inside and outside the imaging hall.
He saw a few zombies patrolling the waiting area of the imaging center.
In the restroom, a few frightened survivors were hiding.
The center itself was deathly silent, almost devoid of life.
What truly caught Astrea's attention was the powerful presence emanating from the deepest part of the building.
Could he be this lucky?
Was the final boss hiding here?
At this moment, if he could first deal with the zombies in the lobby, he'd be able to enter the center's interior.
Astrea crouched down and carefully moved forward.
"Ten of them?" The number gave him pause.
These zombies had varying levels of strength, but they were all moving in unison.
If one zombie was attacked, all the others would immediately lock onto the attacker and swarm to kill.
For an average person, fighting one zombie required all their strength.
Without the advantage of numbers, facing ten zombies would be no different from a death sentence.
Even someone as strong as Astrea would hesitate if armed with only a melee weapon.
In the absence of skills, he'd avoid close combat at all costs.
But at this moment, the advantage of a ranged weapon became abundantly clear.
However, ten zombies—this was nearly the maximum Astrea could handle in his current state.
Once he had fully memorized the patrol patterns of the zombie squad, Astrea held his breath.
When they reached the farthest point of their patrol, the lead Level 3 zombie turned its head.
At that precise moment, a shadowy arrow from 30 meters away pierced its skull with unerring accuracy.
Its head exploded in an instant!
Before the zombie could even react, it wobbled a couple of times and then collapsed to the floor.
The other zombies immediately turned in unison, nine pairs of eyes locking onto Astrea.
In that moment, the sound of running footsteps and blood-curdling roars filled the hall.
It was clear: he had to finish this fast, or risk attracting more zombies.
Astrea fired arrow after arrow—double kill! Triple kill!
After the bloodbath, the remaining zombies were already closing in on him.
However, Astrea's positioning was flawless.
He stood at the end of a narrow corridor between the waiting chairs in the lobby.
The lobby might have seemed spacious, but the walkway was already cramped to begin with.
With dead bodies scattered across the floor, the space felt even tighter.
And the zombies, with their limited intelligence, only understood the shortest path between two points.
They dutifully lined up in a straight row, just as Astrea had predicted.
Waiting for them was an ethereal arrow shimmering with a violet-red glow—
The Arrow of Retribution!
Having reached Level 4, Astrea had invested his attribute points into Strength.
At this moment, Astrea's strength had reached a staggering 32 points, a devastating blow for zombies whose physical stats didn't even exceed 20.
The arrow pierced through five zombies in one shot—an overpowered move that could only be described as a god-tier play!
Like a row of dominoes, the zombies collapsed one after another in front of Astrea.
The remaining two zombies, stepping over their fallen comrades, bared their bloody, gaping jaws and lunged at him in unison.
It seemed unavoidable—one from above, one from below.
Astrea stood like a mountain, unmoving. His final arrow had already been waiting for this exact moment.
The arrow flew, piercing through the mouth of the first zombie, then continuing to impale the second zombie behind it.
Two birds with one arrow!
The powerful recoil from the shot, combined with the zombies' own momentum, perfectly canceled each other out mid-air.
Both zombies fell stiffly to the ground, their bodies still twitching. They instinctively tried to scream, only to find their throats filled with blood and brain matter.
As the rhythmic footsteps and growls of more zombies echoed from behind him, it was clear—this place was no longer safe.
Astrea didn't hesitate. He quickly collected all his spoils into his wristband and swiped his card to enter the imaging center.
The whole process took less than 30 seconds. Fast? You tell me!
Just after Astrea left, two survivors, hiding in the restroom of the imaging center, had witnessed the entire event. Their mouths hung open in disbelief.
They had been betting on whether Astrea could last 30 seconds against the zombies.
Who would've thought the zombies, which had been terrorizing the lobby, were reduced to mere paper dolls in his hands?
"Vocal! He really didn't last 30 seconds! But... this guy won."
"But all his personal information is a mystery! There's got to be something we don't know about him."
"Hmm! How do you think this compares to 'Lone Wolf'?" one of them asked.
"I'm rooting for 'Lone Wolf.' SSS-level talent? Sounds pretty impressive," the other replied.
"I think this is even stronger. He took on ten zombies without even moving an inch!" the first one countered.
"Look, he didn't spot the treasure chest! He's leaving!" one of them exclaimed excitedly.
They couldn't even fully process how powerful Astrea was, because they had already shifted their focus to a new target.
The two of them eagerly scrambled toward the corner of the lobby, where a treasure chest glowed with a faint blue light.
"Hehe, this must be the treasure chest the Orderer was talking about!"
"Definitely. It wasn't here before."
"Do you think there's something good inside? I bet it's supplies!"
"It's gotta be weapons! Wait, what? There's nothing inside?!"
As they opened the chest, they found it completely empty.
"I don't believe it! The Orderer wouldn't lie to us!"
The man, unwilling to accept the truth, leaned halfway into the chest.
Snap!
The chest slammed shut with a loud crack, slicing his body in half.
His severed hand flew out, landing with a wet thud on his companion, splattering blood all over him.
"Help! The chest—it's killing people!" The surviving man's eyes were wide with horror, clearly paralyzed by the close brush with death.
He collapsed to the floor, desperately crawling backward while screaming for help.
His frantic movements instantly attracted the zombies outside the hall.
Within moments, they swarmed him, tearing him to pieces in a savage frenzy.
Meanwhile, deep inside the center, Astrea, who had observed everything from his vantage point, couldn't help but mutter coldly:
"Foolish."