Level-Up Apocalypse

'If I go, I would lose the demon hound. But If I don't, I'll lose my arm,'

Vincent wanted the demon hound badly. If he could get it, he would have protection. Almost nothing could threaten him, but was it worth it to lose his arm and possibly bleed out?

"Sighh..." Vincent let out a heavy sigh. "Forget it," he shook his head. "I don't know what the future holds. And most definitely, the demon hound is not the strongest creature the tower has. It's not worth it to lose my hand for temporary safety."

He took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, cigarettes he took from the store. He put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

After taking a few quick puffs, he picked up his knife and started walking again, this time towards a hospital he knew, somewhere between the inner city and the outskirts.

'The hospitals are built stronger than other buildings,' Vincent analyzed. "Even if a strong earthquake hits, they should remain standing.' With this hope in mind, Vincent walked.

'Hmm?' Vincent's eyes widened as he walked past a zombie. He turned back abruptly, staring at the zombie. 

The zombie wore a blood-stained military uniform. 

'This person...He was a soldier before dying?' Vincent stopped to analyze. 'But if he is infected...It means that the military has come to the city.'

'That's good,' He resumed his walking. 'At least it shows the military hasn't abandoned us civilians,'

...

Vincent walked for about half an hour, lost in deep thought.

His thoughts just kept going back to the demonic hound. He just couldn't help but feel regret. He didn't know if he would have the chance to come across that demonic hound.

'If only I had leveled up. Who knows, maybe I would have gotten an attribute point.' He couldn't help but think of this. It was deplorable. He only needed two more experience points to level up. 

Uuuuurgh!

A slow, deep groan reached Vincent's ears, bringing him out of his thoughts. He walked past a zombie. 

He hadn't come across one in a while. 

'Wait...' Vincent stopped. 'Could it be...' He looked at the zombie, clenching the knife in his hand. 

'Probe,'

He willed, using his skill. 

[Status Window]

[Zombie]

[Race: Undead]

[Strength: 5]

[Agility: 3]

'Undead?' Vincent frowned. 'Does that mean it can't die? And why doesn't it have a stamina? Is it a system error?'

Quickly, he walked up to the zombie, a zombie of another fallen military soldier.

The zombie didn't detect him, so he had the perfect opportunity to thrust the knife at the zombie. 

However, he hesitated. His hands trembled. The zombie was once a human too. 

"Aghh...." Vincent groaned, throwing all the useless thoughts out of his head. 

His actions took thousands of lives. What did it matter killing a walking corpse?

Shluck!

He thrust the knife, piercing into the chest of the zombie.

Grkkkkkk!

The zombie released a strange sound. Its vocal cords barely working, slowly shutting down. 

However, it continued moving as if the wound didn't exist. 

Shuck!

Swoosh!

Vincent pulled out the knife and thrust again, but this time at the zombie's eye. 

SHLUCK!

Green blood splashed around as the knife pierced through the white eye into the skull of the zombie.

The zombie finally stopped. 

Shluck! Shluck!

Vincent quickly pulled the knife and thrust again into the eye socket, twisting the knife inside. 

Thud!

The zombie fell on its knees.

Before it fell face-first on the ground, Vincent quickly pulled out the knife. 

It died.

'So it dies when you destroy the brain,' Vincent thought, wiping the green blood off his face with the back of his hand. 

"Ble..." 

A sudden urge to vomit attacked him as a rotting stench released from the zombie, but he held it in. 

'But it doesn't give any experience.'

He glanced at his bandaged arm. The bandages had almost fully turned violet from his blood.

'I need to go quickly,' A sense of urgency attacked him. 

He crouched slightly and turned the zombie on its back. 

"Thank you for protecting us," He put the knife aside for a second and passed with his palm on the zombie's face, closing the one remaining eye. "Rest in peace now, soldier."

Having done this, Vincent didn't waste any more time and resumed his walk towards the hospital. 

...

Vincent walked along the street. His step unstable, his body swaying around.

The bandages on his arm had soaked in blood.

He moved purely by his own will as black dots danced across his vision. He blinked slowly, slowly sipping into sleep as the sounds became distant.

But the hospital was within his view, standing strong, barely damaged.

A huge weight fell on his chest, making his breathing harder.

'So close...' He extended his arm, trying to reach for the glass door of the hospital as he got close enough. 

Thud!

However, his muscles gave out. 

Vincent collapsed before the door, his finger touching the glass. His vision slowly faded to grey before everything went black. 

... 

"We can't keep him here!"

"But we can't just abandon him out there!" 

Vincent could hear the voices of people arguing around him, but he couldn't open his eyes. 

With his eyes closed, he was in complete darkness, feeling his body laid on something soft.

"Look at his blood!" A male voice rang. 

Judging by it, it should belong to a young man. 

"How can we let someone like this among us? What if he infects us all? His blood is purple..." The man paused for a second. "That's right. His blood is purple. He must have mutated! Kill him!"

"Enough!" A young female voice shouted. 

The conversation was heated between the male and female. 

"How can you demand to kill him when he has done nothing wrong? What if this is related to his ability?" The woman defended Vincent. "Let me remind you, we all have mutated."

'Mutated?' Vincent listened, trying to analyze his situation through their words. He could tell that the two sides were fighting over what to do with him, but what caught his attention was the word "Mutated". 

'What does she mean they have mutated? Did the zombie virus cause this? Could they have turned into zombies? But how can they talk? The zombies should be brainless?' Vincent's thoughts raced, but he couldn't think of an answer.

Bep! Bep!

The sounds became clearer. 

Vincent could hear a beeping sound of devices, a rhythmic beep. 

Slowly, he felt his senses returning. 

'Aghhh....' Suddenly, a strong pain attacked him, a pain coming from his left arm. 

'Agh...' Vincent used all his strength, trying to open his eyes. 

He faintly opened his eyes, light blinding him for the moment. 

Tiiiiiiiiiiiiinggg!

Suddenly, as he fully opened his eyes, a ringing rang through his head, as if someone beat a gong next to his ears. 

Through blurry vision, he could see the blurry figures of the man and woman standing over him, arguing.

But as his eyes slowly adapted to the light and his vision returned, the ringing disappeared. 

"Where...am I?" Vincent uttered weakly.

Still, he took the attention of the people around him. 

The man and woman arguing directed their attention at him. 

The young man had sharp eyes and spiky black hair. But despite his handsome face, one simply got a bad feeling around him. 

As for the woman, she wore a white medical cloak stained with Vincent's violet blood. Her long black hair made her a top beauty, even with the dark circles under her eyes. 

"You're awake," She kindly smiled. "How do you feel?"

"Are you infected?!" The young man jumped at Vincent, grabbed his shoulders, and violently shook him. 

"What are you doing? Get away from him!" The woman shouted, trying to push the man away, but he didn't budge, solely focused on Vincent. 

The actions of the man were too sudden. Vincent couldn't react, but he also didn't know how to answer. He did carry the virus.

"Varlo, let go. Now."

Gulp!

Varlo gulped hard as he found a sharp, medical scalper placed on his neck. 

"L-Livia...Let's calm down." Varlo spoke, his voice breaking.

"Let go," Livia pressed the scalper, opening a cut on his neck.

Varlo immediately let go off Vincent. 

"Varlo, If you ever do this to a patient of mine again, I promise you, you can't handle the consequences," Livia spoke as she lowered the scalper, her voice dead serious. 

"Bitch, what do you think..."

"Varlo, am I clear?" The color of Livia's light green eyes started changing, slowly turning into deep green and emitting faint light. "Don't forget, I saved your life."

Varlo gritted his teeth. "Tch," He clicked his tongue in anger. "I'll let you go this time. But only because I owe you."

He angrily left the room, leaving Vincent and Livia alone.

"T-Thank you," Vincent thanked, unsure.

"It's not a problem," Livia smiled kindly, her unusual, light green eyes as clear as crystals, without a hint of evil intent. There was not a trace of the scary person from before. "But tell me, I'm curious. Why is your blood violet?"