[You have gained Level 15 Mutated Zombie's Existence Codex.]
[Health +20, Strength +5]
[You have reached Level 8.] [You have acquired 3 status points to distribute freely.]
[You have reached Level 9.] [You have acquired 3 status points to distribute freely.]
Lex stared at the translucent notifications as they floated before his eyes, watching his level rise again.
Despite the constant pain, fear, and repeated brushes with death over the past few hours, the sensation of becoming stronger sent a strange thrill through him. It was dangerous, addictive even, but Lex could not deny that a part of him craved it.
More importantly, after using his abilities so intensely, his understanding of his stats had become far clearer than before.
Victoria had explained to him the basics earlier, but theory and experience were very different things. Now, his body had felt the difference firsthand!
Strength was not simply about hitting harder. As his Strength increased, his muscles, bones, and even connective tissue became denser and more resilient. It explained why he had survived being slammed repeatedly into the floor by the mutated zombie.
With lower Strength, his body would have shattered far sooner. In practice, Strength acted as both power and a form of indirect defense, allowing him to withstand impacts that should have crippled him.
Agility was more than just speed. While it certainly made his movements faster and more fluid, Lex noticed that his reactions and coordination had improved as well. His body responded more smoothly to his thoughts, and his mind felt slightly sharper during combat.
It was not a dramatic boost to intelligence, but it allowed him to process movement and danger more efficiently, such as dodging attacks at the last second or adjusting his stance instinctively in a fight.
Health, however, was far more important than he had initially assumed. It did not merely determine how fast his wounds healed, but also how much damage he could sustain in total.
Health functioned like a pool, similar to what he remembered from games, where reaching zero meant death regardless of endurance or pain tolerance. The massive increase he gained from the mutated zombie explained why it had continued moving even after suffering injuries that would have dropped other zombies instantly.
Endurance governed how long Lex could fight without his body giving out. It controlled stamina, fatigue resistance, and pain tolerance, allowing him to keep moving even when exhaustion should have set in.
However, it also acted as a secondary layer of defense. It absorbed a chunk of attack before it finally reached his health. Therefore, the higher Lex's increased his endurance, the more punches he could withstand without actually decreasing his health!
Finally, there was Mana.
Mana was the most complex stat of all, and Lex now understood that it was far more than fuel for blood constructs.
At first, he had believed blood manipulation only allowed him to create weapons, such as forming a spear in his hand. However, during the fight, he had felt something deeper, a sense of control that extended beyond simple creation.
That was why he had formed the next four spears directly in the air and hurled them using mana itself.
Those mana-guided spears carried far greater piercing power, their density and velocity enhanced through direct control rather than physical force.
However, the cost had been steep. Launching those four spears had consumed ten points of mana almost instantly, while forming and maintaining five solid blood spears for ten seconds had only cost him one mana per spear.
The difference was clear.
Mana did not just create blood constructs. It refined them, guided them, and amplified their lethality at a tremendous cost.
Lex exhaled slowly as his gaze drifted toward the corpse of the mutated zombie.
At first, he had assumed it would fall to a single spear, believing its size meant it specialized purely in Strength. That assumption had nearly gotten him killed. The green coloration alone should have warned him!
Unlike the red and blue zombies he had faced earlier, this one had clearly specialized in Health. Its absurd vitality explained why it endured so much punishment before finally collapsing, and the stat rewards he gained confirmed it beyond doubt.
After finally collecting his thoughts, Lex turned toward Samuel, expecting to see relief or at least exhaustion on the boy's face. Instead, what he saw made his chest tighten painfully.
Samuel was kneeling beside the fallen mutated zombie!
His small hands clutched at the creature's torn clothing as if trying to shake it awake, his shoulders trembling violently as sobs tore out of him. The steel pipe lay forgotten on the floor nearby, its clatter long drowned out by the sound of his crying.
"Dad," Samuel choked out, his voice cracking so badly it barely sounded human. "It was you… it was really you."
He pressed his forehead against the zombie's chest.
"Why… why did you have to become a zombie?" he cried. "You promised me. You promised you would stay with me after Mom left. You said you would not leave me alone, not for anyone. Not like how mom left us for that weird man."
His fingers dug into the fabric as his sobs worsened.
"Please wake up, Dad. Please. I am here. I am right here," Samuel begged, his voice breaking completely. "I was quiet like you told me to be. I was brave. So please wake up."
Lex stood frozen where he was.
The scene struck him harder than any blow the zombie had dealt him.
For a brief moment, the ruined hospital room faded, replaced by memories of his past...
Of his parents.
Lex barely remembered when things had gone wrong. At some point after he was diagnosed, their warmth had faded, replaced by irritation, then distance, and finally something colder.
Their smiles had become forced, their voices hollow. Love had not disappeared all at once. It had eroded slowly, day by day, until there was nothing left.
Lex still remembered the year they did not visit him even once. Not even on his birthday!
And when they finally showed up, it had not been out of concern or guilt.
It had been for photographs!
He could still picture the camera flashes, the polite smiles, and the title of the magazine printed boldly across the cover.
"People with Unique Diseases."
They had stood beside him like proud strangers, posing as if his suffering were an achievement. They had left immediately after, promising to call.
Guess what? They never did.
The thought of saving them now made Lex scoff internally. Even imagining it felt ridiculous.
No, the only family he cared about anymore was his sister.
She was the only one who visited him regularly. The only one who spoke to him like a human being instead of a spectacle. The only one who had stayed.
That was why he needed to survive.
That was why he planned to leave this hospital and reach her university as soon as possible.
But before that, he could not ignore the broken child in front of him.
Lex walked forward slowly and knelt beside Samuel, careful not to startle him. He hesitated for a second before gently placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.
Samuel flinched at first, then turned his tear-streaked face toward Lex, his eyes red and swollen.
"He was still talking to me this morning before everything changed," Samuel whispered weakly. "He told me to hide and not make a sound. He said he would come back."
His lips trembled as he added, "I waited. I waited for so long."
Lex swallowed hard.
"I know," Lex said quietly. "He protected you. He kept his promise for as long as he could."
Samuel shook his head violently. "No. If I was stronger, he would still be here. If I was not useless, he would not have turned into that thing."
Lex tightened his grip slightly.
"I lost my parents too," he said after a moment. "Not to zombies, but to something just as empty."
Samuel looked up at him, surprised.
"They were alive," Lex continued, his gaze distant. "But they stopped being my parents a long time ago."
Silence settled between them.
Lex then stood and offered his hand to Samuel.
"You are not alone."
Samuel hesitated, then slowly placed his small hand in Lex's.