Chapter 4: Zombification

Chapter 4:
Zombification

 

RIGHT OFF THE BAT, I had a few regrets about my improved vision.

“Urghhh…”

For example, the creature loitering around ahead of me was totally terrifying! It had almost no hair, one of its eyes was hanging out, and its skin looked like it was rotten. It wasn’t wearing any clothes, either. So, you know, as far as I could tell, it was pretty dang male.

 

Name: Sextuple Zombie

Level: 110

Skills: Contagious; Undead

Contagious: Any creature whose skin is damaged by bites or scratches from a Contagious creature will become a zombie. The rate of infection varies from individual to individual.

 

The zombie rushed me while I was reading its stats, so I quickly fired off a Stone Bullet.

Pew! It flew right past. Not again!

“Ughhh…”

I was struggling to understand what the heck the “sextuple” part of the creature’s name was supposed to mean when the zombie suddenly fell to pieces—a head, torso, right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg. Six pieces! They all slithered and scrabbled across the floor toward me.

“Whoa?!”

The right arm leapt toward my face. I crouched to dodge and the zombie’s head flew up at me from the ground.

“Hiyah!”

I rolled to the side, turned around, and bolted.

“He who deigns to run away lives to fight another day!”

I mean, come on, if I took a single hit, I’d get infected. It was way too dangerous. Thankfully, I was quicker on my feet than the zombie. I managed to put considerable distance between us.

It didn’t seem like the zombie could maintain that split-up form for very long. My guess was that it would soon return to its original location and take up its old hobby of wandering around and groaning to itself.

From a safe distance, I examined some skill options for dealing with my new predicament.

 

Zombieproof — 500 LP

 

As far as I could tell, that would make me totally immune to zombification, but it was a little on the expensive side, especially as I only had 800 LP left. I would’ve given it a go if I had another couple hundred more, but if I were to use my newly acquired money-conversion ability, that’d be twenty or thirty million rels…

“Well, that sucks…”

I was seriously considering leaving and coming back later, but first I got as close to the zombie as I could. I needed more information. While in stealth-mode, I used my Discerning Eye to pick up where I left off.

The Undead skill, as you might expect, meant that the zombie wouldn’t die from taking regular damage. It did have a weakness: attacks with holy and light attributes nullified its immunity. That meant my Holy Flame might just do the trick.

“Uuughh?!”

Bullseye. The flames flew from my hand and I was victorious. The zombie went down in no time! I was satisfied that, at least, taking them on one at a time wouldn’t be a problem. I’d even leveled up for my troubles, so I decided to resume my search.

This sixth level, like the second floor, had a passage lined with doors that led into small rooms. I was concerned about possible traps, but the promise of untold treasure tempted me to open one.

“Urghhh!”

Or not!

The room was jam-packed full of zombies. My father always told me Stardia men didn’t have the greatest mental fortitude, and I was no exception.

“Mr. Vashelle, are you in here?” I called out timidly. I would have shouted louder, but I was worried about attracting another sextuple zombie.

Suddenly, I remembered that room on the fourth floor, the one full of the souls of people who’d died in the hidden dungeon. There had been an elf in the crowd, but she had been a woman.

“Huh. I guess that means he isn’t dead.”

Yeah, I was confident that Vashelle was alive. Although that did beg the question…why hadn’t he returned? Maybe he’d been caught in a trap like my master? If that was the case, I needed to summon my courage and get down to investigating these rooms. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I had to push on.

As I turned the corner of the passage, I immediately found myself face-to-face with another zombie. Just as I was about to fry it with Holy Flame, I noticed something strange.

“Huh?”

This zombie still had hair. What’s more, it looked like it was wearing clothes, though they were in tatters. It even wore bangles.

“Urghh ugahh…”

Fortunately, it was moving a lot slower than the sextuple zombie, so I had time to analyze it with my Discerning Eye. First, I established that the bangle was only decorative—no special skills to speak of. As for the rest…

 

Name: Zombie

Level: 170

Skills: Archery (Grade B); Dual Wielded Daggers (Grade C); Sharp Ears; Wind Strike; Zombified

 

It was an odd set of skills for your average zombie, which made me suspect this particular zombie might be…

“Can you understand me? Please stop.”

“Uuuh…”

“Welp, I guess that’s not going to work.”

Thankfully, it was super slow. I did a speedy backstep and looked into the Zombified skill.

 

Zombified: Turned into a zombie via a Contagious carrier. Creature will attack any humans or animals on pure instinct. Cannot be reasoned with.

 

I quickly opened my Editor skill.

 

Delete “zombie” — 500 LP

 

Ugh, that’d leave me with a scant 300 LP. I withdrew for a moment and pulled out ten million rels—a sizable sum, but I didn’t hesitate. If that zombie was who I thought it was, ten million rels was nothing. The money disappeared in an instant and earned me a quick 100 LP.

Feeling a little more secure with the knowledge that I would have 400 LP left after this, I deleted the word “zombie,” which in turn removed the skill.

“Uuh, uuuh—huh? What was I…?”

In an instant, the zombie’s rotten skin became smooth and healthy. And, perhaps it was simply a result of the return of his mental faculties, but his expression made him seem like a completely different person. And his ears…were pointed. He definitely seemed to be an elf.

“Um, you wouldn’t happen to be Mr. Vashelle, would you?”

“Uh, yes, I am. And who might you be?”

Yes! I did a little fist pump in celebration. I’m so glad I didn’t fry him to a crisp!