The stairwell trembled with the sound of countless feet slamming against concrete. Moans, heavy and guttural, reverberated through the narrow space, mixing with the sharp, ragged gasps of the faster ones.
Leo exhaled, tightening his grip on his blade. His fingers, slick with drying blood, barely registered the chill of the steel.
This was it.
The moment that would determine whether he thrived in this new world—or died like everyone else.
The zombie came into view.
It moved differently. Not the sluggish, decayed shuffle of a mindless corpse, but with a frantic, almost rabid urgency. Its arms pumped unnaturally fast, legs pushing off the stairs in erratic bursts of speed. Its head snapped toward Leo, mouth stretching into a grotesque grin of exposed gums and rotting teeth.
Another sprinter.
Leo didn't wait. Speed was a death sentence in enclosed spaces.
He launched himself forward, closing the gap before it could react.
His blade flicked out in a sharp arc—slash!
The blade tore through its neck, spraying darkened blood against the stairwell wall. But before the corpse even hit the ground, another one was already upon him.
Leo ducked as clawed fingers swiped at his throat. He twisted, driving his blade deep into the side of its knee.
The zombie buckled with a snarl.
Leo didn't give it time to recover—a swift downward stab to the skull, straight through the eye socket.
Two down.
More came.
He sidestepped, his movements fluid and practiced. Slashed. Twisted. Stabbed. A whirlwind of controlled violence.
Fluid. Efficient. Relentless. Each movement was designed to maximize damage and minimize risk.
A sprinting corpse lunged—Leo pivoted, kicking it hard in the chest. It stumbled back into the others, momentarily blocking their advance.
Not wasting the opening, Leo took three quick steps back and vaulted over the railing—
—landing hard on the next floor down.
He barely absorbed the impact before twisting to face the stairs.
The zombies, too mindless to navigate the drop, toppled over the railing one by one.
Leo didn't hesitate. He knew this was his chance.
He stepped in as they fell, blade flashing.
One clean, precise stab per skull. Each movement was a death sentence.
The moment a head hit the floor, his blade was already sinking into the next.
By the time the last one collapsed, the hallway was littered with unmoving corpses.
Leo let out a slow breath, trying to control his racing heart.
That was too close.
He wiped his blade clean against a corpse's tattered clothes.
The rules had changed.
These weren't the mindless shufflers from his past life's early days. The system, or whatever mysterious, unknown force was reanimating the dead, was evolving faster in this timeline.
Leo glanced at his status screen.
[Total EXP Gained: 540]
[Level Up: Lv.5 → Lv.6]
Good. Progress. He was leveling up, growing stronger, more capable.
Only four levels remained until he reached his goal. His strength was rising, but it wasn't enough. Not yet.
He needed more. More experience. More power. More…everything.
The apartment complex was silent again.
That should have been reassuring. No It wasn't.
Silence meant the zombies were waiting or probably watching, technically they can't see but something drives them straight to my place and it wasn't the sound.
He moved with precision, stepping over bodies, scanning every doorway and darkened corner.
Each floor felt like a separate battlefield—pockets of hell trapped between walls.
On the fourth floor, he fought crawlers—zombies with shattered legs, dragging themselves forward with unnatural speed.
Leo stomped on their skulls like rotten fruit.
On the fifth, he encountered a behemoth.
A bloated, grotesque monstrosity, its skin stretched taut over engorged flesh. It took five stabs to the skull before it finally stopped twitching.
On the sixth floor, he nearly died. He knew he was getting tired, his reactions slowing, his movements less precise.
A hidden zombie lunged as he rounded a corner, teeth snapping inches from his throat.
Leo only survived because his instincts made him twist—his blade, instead of going for the head, pierced through the thing's open mouth and out the back of its skull.
His heartbeat didn't slow. He couldn't afford to relax, not even for a second. Not until he reached the top floor.
The final floor was eerily intact. No blood. No corpses.
Only a long hallway stretching toward a single closed door at the end.
Leo's grip tightened on his blade.
Something was wrong. The silence here was different, more oppressive, more menacing.
He stepped forward—slowly, cautiously.
The air was thicker here. A pressure, almost unnatural, pressing down on his chest.
His fingers twitched. Then, he heard it.
A breath.
Not the ragged, lifeless wheezing of a corpse—but something else..
Leo stopped in front of the door.
He didn't knock, he kicked it open and there it was.
A man.
Or at least, something that had once been a man.
It stood in the center of the room, motionless, head slightly tilted. Its eyes, sunken and black, locked onto Leo's.
Then, slowly, it smiled.
Yes it smiled.
Leo's instincts screamed.
He took a step back—
The thing moved.
Faster than anything he'd seen before.
Leo barely had time to react as a clawed hand slashed toward him—he twisted, the air hissing as fingers grazed his cheek.
His blade lashed out, aiming for the throat— But the creature dodged.
It dodged.
Leo's breath hitched.
Zombies didn't dodge. They didn't anticipate attacks but this thing had.
Leo adjusted his stance.
This wasn't just a zombie. This was the boss of this place.
The creature lunged.
Leo moved on instinct, twisting just as claws shot past him. His foot shot out, slamming into the thing's ribs.
It barely staggered.
Leo pushed forward. Blade flashing. He slashed—stabbed—ducked.
The monster moved with him. A terrifying dance of blades and claws.
Leo wasn't just fighting a mindless monster anymore.
He was fighting something that could think how to fight back.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears.
His breathing came in sharp, controlled bursts.
He had to win. No second chances. No retries.
Survive or die.
And Leo?
Leo didn't plan to die.