Joseph went outside and immediately found a few people to help prepare the food. It was still early, and he needed to feed all these people as soon as possible.
Joseph looked at his watch as he watched Edmond, Liam, and Malik running around.
When his eyes fell on his watch, it showed 7:00 a.m.
At that moment, his eyes opened wide. At the same time, he could see that all the people in front of him had woken up and were looking at the system display in surprise.
[MORTALIS V0.5 ACTIVE. LEY ENERGY STABLE, ESTABLISHED, AND CONSISTENT]
[TOWER PROTOCOL INITIATING…INITIATED]
[DUNGEON PROTOCOL INITIATING…INITIATED]
[SEVENS TRIAL TOWERS ESTABLISHED]
[FIELD BOSSES ESTABLISHED.]
[OPEN DUNGEONS ESTABLISHED. CLOSED DUNGEONS ESTABLISHED, HIDDEN DUNGEONS ESTABLISHED]
[NECROMARAX BATTLEFIELDS OPENED]
[MARKET AND LIBRARY EXPANDED. INFORMATION PANEL ACTIVE]
[REWARD SYSTEM ACTIVE]
Joseph was busy looking at the system with his eyes wide open when he heard a buzzing sound in his ears. It was as if something huge was moving.
He turned his head and looked at New Telludure. A huge monolith began to be built in the center of the city.
Huge rocks and pieces of houses flew through the air with blue ley energy and came together to form the monolith.
After a while, the monolith was completed, and several numbers and letters appeared on it. It was not in any language of this world, but it was legible.
[Open Dungeon No. 34]
William also hurriedly left the building at that moment and looked around. He came to Joseph and saw with his own eyes what he was looking at.
Then, far to the east of New Telludure, an object slowly began to appear in the sky.
It was larger than the monolith that had formed in New Telludure, but it looked small because it was so far away.
Still, the sound could be heard. Everyone felt like their ears were going to burst. They watched as huge rocks as big as mountains were wrapped around and shaped into a giant tower.
This could no longer be described as a miracle. Some people knelt down and begged for mercy.
They hoped to be forgiven and to enter either heaven or hell as soon as possible.
People felt as if they were stuck in purgatory at that moment.
After the tower was completed, a shockwave spread out. Fortunately, its effect was not strong enough to reach New Telludure.
William immediately stopped caring about the changes taking place in the world and checked the system display.
Nothing had changed, but when he focused on the market and library, he saw that there were now many different special materials, books, and training guides. There were even books that could be called technique in the true sense.
Finally, another change in the system was the development of something called [MARKETPLACE].
William opened his eyes wide and examined it. He saw that trillions of materials and items he didn't know were being sold here, and there were even the names of the people selling them next to them.
As soon as William clicked on the question mark that appeared on the side, he understood what this place was.
It was a galactic marketplace.
People could sell their items in exchange for SC.
William decided to buy the cheapest thing he could find, water, to try it out. The price was 0.1 SC. It didn't take him long to realize that it was impossible to make a profit.
Because the store had a commission. The commission was taken from the person selling the item and given to the person buying it. When William focused, 1 liter of water appeared in his hand, but it cost a total of 1 sc. There was no profit, on the contrary, he was losing money.
William shook his head. It was clear that the basic materials had to be taken from the system, otherwise it would be a complete waste.
Joseph looked at William, and William shrugged, showing Joseph the water in his hand.
"What are we going to do?" At that moment, Eliza arrived and stood next to Joseph, then spoke.
"No change in the plan. Continue as before, but we must check New Telludure." Joseph stopped exploring the huge monolith and tower with his tired eyes.
Marcus arrived at that moment, and Joseph began to give orders. After Marcus and Eliza had finished their orders, Joseph approached William.
"I know it's hard to ask this of you, but..." He put his hand on William's shoulder. "I want you to be an explorer. I want you to explore the area around New Telludure, clean it up if possible, and especially take pictures of the outside of the open dungeon. Can you do that?"
William didn't even think for a few seconds because this was exactly the position he wanted. He didn't want to listen to anyone's orders except Joseph's, and he didn't want to spend his time here doing protection and construction tasks. So this kind of task, where he would be free, was exactly the type of task he wanted.
He nodded. "No problem."
William didn't want to wait any longer.
First, he found Austin and asked him to teach him how to ride a motorcycle. Impressed by how easy it was to ride a motorcycle, William was able to control its weight thanks to his strength.
It didn't take him long to master it.
By noon, he had packed his bag and bid farewell to Austin, Elura, and the others, leaving the shelter.
He took enough food for three days.
He would restock along the way.
But as he exited the shelter's metal gate, excitement, anticipation, and hope were evident in his eyes.
William looked toward New Telludure.
"I'm coming," he whispered, and then all that could be heard was the roar of his motorcycle.
...
This time, he reached New Telldure much faster than he had expected. There were almost no zombies left on the streets, and there were no large vehicles on the roads to block his way. He was able to easily pass through the gaps on his motorcycle.
The zombie animals that occasionally jumped out of the forest were no threat to William.
Moreover, most of these animals remained in the west of Old Telludure.
The north side was the shelter where William lived, and the southeast was New Telldure.
When William reached New Telludure, he didn't rush. He parked his motorcycle at the northern intersection and continued on foot.
He had passed through this road with Austin and Elura, and at that time, killing hundreds of zombies was a difficult task for him, but he had succeeded in order to level up.
William climbed to the top of a building and first examined the scenery around him.
The first thing William noticed was the decrease in the number of zombies.
As he moved toward the center of the city, the number of zombies increased, but this did not explain the overall decrease.
Then, the transparent dome in the center of the city was what attracted William the most.
The reason for his being here.
Then there was the massive monolith on the western side of the city.
It had been built by demolishing several buildings, and even a skyscraper.
It seemed as though a giant hand had constructed this monolith like a child building a sandcastle on the beach.
William gazed in awe between the monolith and the transparent dome, then made his decision.
He jumped over the building and set off toward the monolith. This time, he wouldn't back down.
He had a machine gun on his back and a pistol at his waist. His bag was filled with ammunition, and two katanas hung at his side.
William pulled his phone out of his pocket and connected it to the wireless speaker on his back.
This trick he had learned from Edmond worked and also guaranteed entertainment, but only if you were strong enough.
He turned it on and adjusted the volume to a certain level. Zombies within a hundred-meter radius wouldn't have trouble hearing him, and this way, William could control the number of zombies approaching him.
If he wanted, he could have reached the monolith on the west side of the city in half a day, but he chose to kill zombies as he went, which slowed him down.
Around midnight, he turned off the music and decided to find a house to spend the night.
There were only a few streets left, but the monolith had attracted zombies while it was being built, and thousands of zombies were waiting idly in front of it.
William didn't want to take such a risk in the middle of the night.
Everything in the house was rotten, and since he couldn't find any canned food, he took a few cans out of his bag and ate them. Then he went to the bathroom and fell asleep on the small bathtub. The next day, he woke up to the low growls of the zombies.
He got up, had a quick snack, and went out into the street. This time, he needed to be more cautious. So he would have to put in more effort.
Before starting to kill the zombies, he climbed to the top of a tall building and surveyed the area. There were no special zombies around, which was good news.
At least there were no zombies that could slow him down or threaten him with death.
Relying on this, William went downstairs and started killing zombies.
He was literally harvesting these zombies growing in the field. William had become a good farmer.
He spent the day killing thousands of zombies until evening.
As it began to get dark, William had no bullets left and no strength to kill any more zombies. So he returned to the house where he had stayed the night before and decided to explore the next day.
Because there were still zombies to be killed.
What William feared most were the injuries that zombies could cause.
He had never been injured before, nor had he seen the wound, but he knew that being infected could mean death. After all, that's how it always was in the movies, wasn't it?
The next day, William set off for the monolith again. He finally managed to wipe out all the zombies that day and, exhausted, arrived at the base of the monolith when the sun was directly overhead.
William raised his head and tried to see the top of the monolith, but it was impossible from his position.
He reached out and touched the monolith.
"..."
William raised an eyebrow.
Nothing happened.
No system notification, nothing...
"I tried in vain." He shook his head.
"Well, I gained a few abilities, and my abilities improved. I guess it's not a bad trade."
William then turned back and headed for the dungeon.
As he approached the transparent dome, he cleared all the zombies on the path and took photos of the surroundings as required by the mission.
William then touched the transparent dome.
This time, he heard a notification.
[Dungeon Number 34. Do you wish to enter? (Y/N)]
William focused on "yes."
The moment he focused, he found himself looking at a different landscape. Then his stomach gave up. Without understanding what was happening, he started vomiting.
"This... Blearghhhh... what is this..." William vomited until he emptied his stomach, and only then felt relieved.
"Is this... teleportation?" William looked around immediately.
There were no zombies nearby, the closest one was a hundred meters away, and despite William making noise, the zombies didn't seem to notice him.
Then William noticed something else. He was covered by a transparent dome with a radius of five meters, so small that it was almost invisible.
"I think this dome is protecting me from the creatures inside the dungeon."
William counted the time. Exactly five minutes later, the dome disappeared, and the zombies around him who were facing his direction noticed him.
Realizing the power of these zombies, William easily mowed them all down and began walking toward what he thought was the center of the open dungeon.
During this time, he also examined the notifications in his head.
[You have entered the Open Dungeon!]
[Quests:
1. Quest: Kill 100 zombies! (Reward: Dungeon Exit Key x1)
2. Quest: Kill 2 Special Zombies! (Reward: Random Rare Item x1)
3. Quest: Clear all zombies at Level 1. (Reward: Healing Potion Common x3)]
These quests seemed simple.
Half an hour. It took him half an hour to clear the zombies around him and encounter an enemy that could challenge him. During this time, he had completed Quest 1, and the key fell into his hand. As soon as it fell into his hand, an information window popped up, and he realized that all he had to do was break the key in his hand. Then he would be teleported outside immediately.
He put the key in an easily accessible place and looked in front of him. A three-meter-tall zombie was standing in front of him. It was heavier than normal and had a bald head.
Its body was covered in rot, but all its muscles and bones were intact.
It held a hammer in its hand that was almost as long as its body, but this hammer was as thick as a construction column that had been torn down, and the handle of the hammer was made entirely of metal.
[Hammer Zombie Lv6]
[STRENGTH: 6]
[SPEED: 1]
[PERCEPTION: 1]
[LEY: 1]
"Tch, everything is focused on strength. Even if our strength is equal or even superior, I have to consider the difference in size."
William quietly put his katanas back on his waist and took out his dagger.
Then he returned to the street and came out of an alley that would be slightly behind the zombie's line of sight.
He prepared himself.
He concentrated and focused.
He held the dagger tightly in his hand. He held it so tightly that he was afraid he would break the handle.
Then he suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind the Hammer Zombie.
As soon as he appeared, he bent his legs and jumped. In an instant, William appeared behind the zombie's head.
The zombie didn't notice anything.
The dagger entered his head, albeit with a little effort.
"You killed the Hammer Zombie! [You gained 600 EXP!]
"You killed a special zombie! [+1 Evolution Point!]"
William breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the notifications.
He looked around and couldn't see any zombies coming towards him.
William then turned around and looked at the foggy area. When he got closer, a transparent dome appeared again. This must be the second level.
He advanced toward the foggy second level.
As soon as he entered, he crouched down and hid in the shadow of a building as much as possible.
When he looked around, he couldn't help but be shocked by what he saw. The fog wasn't as thick as it appeared from the outside, but it had settled on the ground.
Most of the zombies could be seen as shadows or silhouettes in the fog. The zombies that were tall enough to be easily seen above the fog were special zombies.
William spotted a group and looked closely.
[Hammer Zombie Lv9]
Every hundred meters, there were four first-level, three second-level, two third-level, and one fourth-level zombie.
William decided to quietly make his way through the streets.
After a while, the zombie density increased so much that he continued walking on top of the buildings.
As he approached the central area, the power of the zombies increased.
After a while, what he saw was a situation that he could only describe as "impossible."
Special zombies were everywhere. There was one at the head of each group.
William spotted a group. Four sixth-level, three seventh-level, two eighth-level, and one ninth-level special zombies.
William realized that killing these zombies alone would be ridiculous, so he stopped thinking about it.
He just took pictures of them.
Then he looked down at the park in the center from the top of a tall building.
In the park, a tall figure stood in the middle of a pile of corpses.
The moment William looked at him, the figure looked back at him. His eyes... were enough to make every cell in William's body tremble.
William felt as if he were suffocating.
His hand reached for the key involuntarily and broke it without him noticing.
William suddenly felt the scene change and the pressure lift, but his body still wouldn't listen to him.
His feet kept moving, and he didn't stop until he reached the safe house where he had stayed the day before.
Then he locked himself in the bathroom and sat in the bathtub.
"What was that?" Fortunately, he hadn't forgotten his task at that moment and had managed to take a photo of the tall figure.
William had seen this figure before, but he hadn't been this scared.
"Something has changed… but what?"