The cool, heavy rain continued to slick the abandoned streets, washing away the superficial dust of the apocalypse but failing to cleanse the air of its underlying dread.
Three figures moved with unnatural stealth away from the apartment building, their footsteps muffled by the downpour: Huo, the leader, handsome and arrogant, easily taking the lead; Yong, the bulky follower, struggling to maintain pace; and Xin, the average-looking, eager conspirator.
Huo, despite his Mid Rank status, felt an almost manic need to confirm his superiority. He glanced back, a smug expression on his face.
"Alright, brothers, let's confirm the initial data. We need to be clinical about this. Yong, Xin, what are your latest stats? Remember, this is our blueprint for becoming true heroes."
Yong quickly pulled up the transparent screen that displayed his current status, his eyes gleaming with hopeful delusion. "Bro, my HP is showing 70, and my Aether is at 90." In his mind, rooted in the classic video games he used to play, Vitality was simply the health bar, a simple measure of how much damage he could absorb.
Xin, equally naive and excited, quickly added his own figures. "Mine's better, Bro! HP 90, Aether 80! We're practically ready to take on the whole block!"
Huo listened, the confirmation of their low numbers inflating his already swollen ego. Fools. They don't even understand the system. He knew what "Vitality" truly meant—a complex score tied to endurance, pain tolerance, regeneration speed, and raw physical resilience—not a simple health bar. He pulled up his own status briefly:
Vitality: 250
Aether: 240
Order: Zero Order (Mid)
Rune: Locked
The gap was massive, a gulf separating his Mid Rank might from their meager Low Rank existence. No wonder they look up to me. Lin Kai is just slightly higher, but I have the guts to act. They are peasants, and I am the king they will carry.
After several more minutes of quiet discussion where they boasted about the imagined "loot" and the "beauty" that would soon flock to them, they had reached a considerably dangerous distance from the apartment block—a point of no return.
Suddenly, a sound cut through the steady rhythm of the rain: a low, resonant rumbling coming from the front of an old bank building. It wasn't the sound of thunder or collapse; it was the sound of heavy, mutated flesh dragging across concrete.
The three boys instantly stiffened. A cold prickle of fear, the genuine, non-fantasy kind, ran down their spines, and goosebumps rose on Yong's neck. They instinctively crouched, their bravado momentarily vanishing.
Then, the targets emerged: two Zero Order (Low) corrupted, their movements slow, their flesh the familiar, sickly charcoal color, and their eyes vacant. They roamed mindlessly, drawn by instinct rather than focused intent.
The fear evaporated, replaced by a surge of smug relief and renewed arrogance.
"Hmph." Huo snickered, dusting the rainwater off his shoulder with a theatrical gesture. He addressed the two Low Rank evolvers with a proud, condescending tone.
"You two handle them. These corrupted are far too low-level for me to bother with. I need to conserve my strength for the real challenges ahead. Think of this as your warm-up."
Yong and Xin, desperate to prove their worth to Huo and earn their "experience," forgot their earlier fear and instantly praised him.
"You got it, Bro! We'll show you how fast we can grind!" Yong exclaimed, his face shining with excited energy.
"Two minutes max!" Xin declared, already drawing a rusty rebar rod he had salvaged earlier.
They charged forward energetically, each peeling off toward a separate corrupted, eager to claim an individual kill.
Yong, driven by the fantasy of a one-hit knockout and the sweet, instantaneous power reward, went straight for a dramatic finish. He focused his limited Aether into his right fist, which was still just a fist, and shot a powerful punch directly at the corrupted's head.
CRACK!
Instead of the satisfying, soft pulp of rotting flesh he had expected, Yong felt a blinding, bone-jarring pain shoot up his arm. It was like smashing his hand into granite wrapped in sinew. The corrupted staggered but did not fall.
"A-AHH!" Yong cried out, his excited grin shattering into a grimace of pure agony and terror. He realized too late that the corrupted wasn't just a monster—it was a creature with a bone structure strengthened by Aether, far denser than human flesh. The corrupted immediately lunged, snapping its jaw toward his outstretched, useless hand.
With a desperate, primal scream, Yong automatically fumbled inside his sodden jacket, pulling out a small, utilitarian hunting knife. He plunged the blade deep into the corrupted's neck, severing the major arteries and the spinal column.
The creature instantly went limp, and laid on floor like a broken doll. He then heard the sweet voice of Primal Decree of killing it and feel some energy rushed in his body but the brief satisfaction was immediately overshadowed by the throbbing, agonizing reality of his nearly broken knuckles. He leaned against a ruined street barrier, his chest heaving, his body slick with rain, sweat, and adrenaline.
Huo, who had watched the entire clumsy affair with bored disdain, immediately mocked him. "Hey, Yong! Why can't you kill a low-level target quickly? Use some brains at first. These aren't dummies; they have bones! You wasted precious Aether on a simple Low Rank."
Yong could only nod, panting heavily, unable to defend himself. His daydream had just been brutally interrupted by pain and fear.
Xin, in contrast, was performing much better. Having seen Yong's punch fail, he focused on endurance. For nearly two minutes, Xin danced around his opponent, dodging the slow, clumsy swipes of its claws. He used the rusted rebar rod as a feint, keeping the creature off balance.
Finally, spotting an opening from a low dodge, Xin drove his foot into the corrupted's knee, momentarily buckling it, and then swung the rod with all his accumulated strength like a baseball bat, crushing the corrupted's skull with a sickening, wet finality. The burst of Aether flowed into him.
Xin calmly lowered the rod, his breath ragged but his posture steady. He turned to Huo, a triumphant smirk replacing his earlier anxiety. "See, Bro? Clean kill. We just needed to get the hang of it."
The three of them regrouped, their earlier fear now completely replaced by the heady rush of soul power. It works! The reward is real!
They spent a few minutes discussing their revised strategy: use weapons, aim for soft spots, and minimize contact. They internally praised their own luck, convinced that their natural cleverness and evolution were superior to Lin Kai's cautious paranoia.
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Author's Note:
Damn, can't write a new one. Rejected in vetting process also showing. Just let this continue haah. Ok then guys u will get regular chapters of 3-4 in a week.