"DEATH."
Even though Alexander had already shown his respect for his opponents, his blade technique still decimated the zombie in an instant. The creature's body flopped backward—and Alexander saw with his own eyes a book emerging from its corpse and landing on the floor.
This was… a Skill Book!
Alexander couldn't help but steal a longer look. How could something so precious exist here?
Suddenly, the zombie's body—which hadn't completely collapsed—seemed to be forcefully shoved from behind. In an instant, the corpse hurtled toward him. Alexander quickly tore his gaze away from the Skill Book on the ground and, with astonishing reflexes, pressed his whole body against the wall. With a loud "THUD," the zombie's body crashed right where he had been standing.
"GRRR…"
The sixth and final zombie staggered in. Alexander's face grew grim. It was already 8:00—the moment when zombie attributes surge to their peak within a minute! He knew he had to finish this one within sixty seconds. He had already checked its stats:
[Level 1 Zombie]• Strength: 15 • Spirit: 10 • Constitution: 16 • Agility: 15
At night, zombies receive a massive boost; this one's stats now even exceeded Alexander's own. And with time, its attributes would only climb higher.
But Alexander wasn't intimidated. As he had always believed, numbers are just reference values—in close contests, personal condition, honed skills, and even luck ultimately determine the outcome.
Without a moment's hesitation, he raised his Tang Blade and charged at the zombie. The creature's once-gray eyes gradually turned blood red, its expression growing ever more ferocious. A flash of blade – the sharp edge of his Tang Blade slashed across the zombie's neck. However, its boosted Constitution prevented an immediate decapitation.
Enraged, the wounded zombie went into a frenzy—two elongated claws lunged toward Alexander. Reacting instantly, he released his grip on the Tang Blade's hilt (which had been embedded in the zombie's neck) and took a few quick steps backward. Then he retrieved his hammer from his inventory and hurled it directly at the charging zombie.
Trapped in the narrow corridor near the door, the zombie had nowhere to maneuver. It could only watch in horror as the hammer collided with its face. With one crushing blow, its nose, eyes, and mouth were caved in, and blood gushed relentlessly.
Seizing the moment, Alexander dashed forward to snatch the hammer as it slid off the zombie's face, then re-gripped his Tang Blade. With a swift yank, the blade tore into the zombie's shoulder—blood spurting out in a torrential gush. Its face and shoulder both suffered heavy damage as the creature, still crazed, lunged at him.
Maintaining an unruffled composure, Alexander calmly fixed his gaze on the advancing zombie. With one breathtaking slash—a strike of such precise angle and speed, combining every ounce of his strength—his blade swept in a diagonal arc across the creature's neck.
"DEATH."
Alexander turned aside and watched as the headless zombie's body careened past him, staggering a few steps before collapsing onto the floor. At last, all six zombies had been slain by his hand.
He exhaled deeply and rubbed his aching arm. The last zombie's attributes had reached their zenith—nearly 20 points in Strength. To have come out unscathed was entirely due to his absolute control over his force. But there was no time to dwell on that now. The clock had passed 8:00, and outside every zombie had received at least a 50% boost in attributes. Moreover, the commotion from that final fight was loud—if he didn't quickly clear the area, more zombies might be drawn in.
So, Alexander hoisted the bodies and began piling them against the inn's door: one, two, three, four, five, six—each zombie neatly blocking the exit. Only then did he finally allow himself a brief moment of relief.
At the bar, the lights were dim. Alexander wasn't in the mood to inspect the new treasures he'd just looted. Instead, he casually kicked aside the six severed zombie heads scattered on the floor and gathered up the six dropped items before heading upstairs.
On the second floor, as the creaking floorboards echoed beneath him, Alexander bypassed the corpse of the inn owner and placed one of his Reconnaissance Eyes on the ground. A green barrier—visible only to him—slowly expanded until it enveloped a ten-meter radius.
"Really extravagant," he mused. Now he could rest easy. Any approaching creature or person would cause the barrier to flash red and alert him—even if he were asleep.
He then entered Room 203. Earlier during the sweep, he'd noticed that this room was the cleanest, with the best facilities—it must be the inn's VIP room. That's why he'd decided to spend the night here. He set all his newly acquired items on the table, then stepped into the bathroom for a proper shower—a necessary ritual before reveling in his treasure haul. In his previous life, his notoriously bad luck had once allowed him to score great loot simply by following this routine.
After enjoying a refreshing shower, Alexander donned the last set of clean clothes from his backpack and, eager to inspect his spoils, sat down at the table. First, he set aside the Skill Book and began examining the other five items.
The first card read: [Kyoto Roast Duck (Skin Removed)]."Nice—another dish for dinner," he thought.
The second card was [1L Farmer's Triple-Punch Mineral Water]."Good, now I've got water covered."
The third and fourth…"Damn, two 'Reconnaissance Eyes'!" Alexander muttered in disbelief. In his past life, such valuable items had been so rare—how were they coming out so easily now?
"No way—I'm not complaining!" he decided. After all, when fortune smiles on you, you can never have too many good things.
The fifth item was a ring emitting a soft cyan glow. He recalled it had dropped from the very last zombie.
[Nightfall Ring] – Bronze-Grade Equipment.Its properties: +1 Agility; when equipped after dusk, it reduces the wearer's detectability by 30%.
This was a gem indeed—a major boon for his nighttime operations. Delighted, Alexander promptly slipped the Nightfall Ring onto his finger.
Next came the most significant part of his haul. Standing up, he murmured:
"Oh mighty Jade Emperor, God, Buddha, Allah—bless me, and grant me a skill that's truly useful."