As soon as Sean entered the cafeteria corridor.
his strength suddenly drained his face turned pale and collapsed.
"Sean! What's wrong?" Michael rushed to support him.
For a momentLucas's face flashed in his mind.
"Relax… it's just the side effects of my skill."
Sean reassured Michael when he saw the panic on his friend's face, then looked around.
What he saw was
Chaos…
Complete chaos.
"Hey, what's going on here, Hank?"
"Why did it take you so long to open the door?" At that moment, a young man with black eyes and black hair with blue streaks approached them.
"Are you infected?" Yu Min placed his hand on the hilt of his sword as his expression changed the moment he saw Sean's condition.
"He's just dealing with the side effects of a skill." the glasses boy, Hank, spoke up, stepping in to defend Sean.
"Oh, so you know about the possibility of infection too. Don't worry, we wouldn't do anything that stupid." Michael said as he looked at Yu Min, the atmosphere turning colder.
After a few seconds of this exchange, Yu Min turned and walked awaywithout another word.
"So, Hank, can I ask how you survived? No offense, but when we decided to come to the cafeteria, we were prepared to face zombies." Michael carried Sean on his back as he followed Hank inside.
"thanks to Yu Min. He's a soldier who came to visit his sister. Luckily for us"
"When I woke up, he was already killing the zombies around him using a dagger."
" If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here with you now," Hank told them about Yu Min's heroic actions, admiration clear in his eyes.
"Oh, he's a soldier"
"I guess that explains his why he was ready to kill Sean the moment he saw him."
"He has already seen blood." Michael said sarcastically, clearly still holding a grudge.
"I hope you can forgive him… "
"We lost more than half of the survivors because of this infection, and it was horrifying,"
as soon as Hank finished speaking, they had already reached the cafeteria hall.
Contrary to Michael and Sean's expectations, there were no zombie corpses anywhere
only bloodstains and scattered remains.
"Where are the bodies?" Sean asked, seeming to have regained some of his strength.
"We cleaned them up and piled them inside one of the gift shops, go and see" Yu Min said coldly, pointing toward a shop at the end of the corridor.
"No thanks, we didn't come here to meet zombies,"
Sean said with a smile, as Michael helped him sit on one of the cafeteria chairs.
This gave them a chance to observe the other survivors… there weren't many.
A middle-aged man who looked like a cook, and a girl with black hair and brown eyes who seemed to recognize Michael.
"Michael..., are you okay? I'm Annie, we study in the same major," the girl approached Michael and extended her hand.
"Oh, hi Annie… Sorry, I don't come to class much." Michael scratched his head as he shook her hand.
"Well, you haven't told us why you came here," Yu Min interrupted their conversation.
"We're survivors from the library, and there are still some people there. We came for food and water, and also to rescue any possible survivors."
"We're planning to turn the library into a shelter until rescue arrives. Do you want to join us?"
Sean answered Yu Min quickly before things could escalate between him and Michael.
"That's a good idea… but only if rescue actually comes, which I doubt," Yu Min thought for a moment, then seemed to recall something and smirked.
"Yes, we've considered that too. If rescue doesn't come, we'll head to the villages outside the city. There aren't many zombies there," Sean nodded as he explained their plan.
"We really have no other choice… we can't live in this place forever," Annie said, clearly agreeing with Sean's idea.
"Yeah, I agree too. In this crazy world, we humans need to stick together," the man who seemed to be the cook said, nodding in agreement.
"Alright, I agree. We'll join you," Yu Min nodded as well.
"Now we only have one problem… how do we get out of the city?" Michael sighed, explaining that electricity wouldn't work anymore and electric cars were now useless.
"I have an idea. In the mechanical engineering building, there are old buses that run on gasoline. Students use them for their projects…"
"I can start the engine without electricity," Hank, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke.
"Wait… can you really do that?"
Michael looked at Hank in surprise, as he had never heard of something like that before. Hank nodded in confirmation.
"Great! Then the plan is we gather all the food and return to the library, then start rescue operations toward the mechanical engineering building. Any objections?" Michael clapped his hands, excitement visible on his face.
"No objections," Yu Min and the others nodded in agreement.
"Alright, I'll head to the library to get the bags. Sean, you stay here and recover," Michael started walking toward the exit.
"No, we'll all go. We'll carry as much as we can now, then you and I will come back for the rest," Yu Min stopped Michael and suggested.
"Yeah, that's better. We can also help Marcus and the others clean the library too, so we finish early," Sean nodded, agreeing that this was the best option.
"it's ok. Let's go… but can you walk?" Michael agreed, then looked at his friend's pale face, which was slowly regaining color.
"I'm afraid you'll have to carry me until we reach the library," Sean smiled helplessly.
By the time they finished transporting the food and drinks and cleaning the library, the sun was already close to setting. All the zombie corpses had been piled up far from the library.
"Hey Sean, how are you now?" When Michael returned from the last trip, he went to check on Sean.
"I've fully recovered, just a bit of muscle pain. Stupid skill…"
"Six-hour cooldown… twelve-hour pain." Sean smiled as he moved his arms and joints.
"Did you check what loot dropped?" Michael asked as he noticed the loot bag behind him.
"No, I was waiting for you so we can check it together," Sean took out the bag and walked to Michael's desk, then emptied it on top.
"Twelve boxes and a skill book… not bad," Michael looked at the loot, his eyes lit up.
"Let's start with the skill books," Sean picked up a book and read it.
{Skill Book: Mana Reinforcement, Rank 0}
(The user coats their weapon with mana, increasing attack power and granting magical damage.)
[Quality: Common]
[Mana Cost: 10]
[Duration: 5 minutes]
[Cooldown: 1 hour]
[Do you wish to learn this skill?]
[Yes] [No]
{Skill Book: Observation (No Rank)}
(The user infuses mana into their eyes to read information about targets that are not much stronger than them. The results are not always accurate. The weaker the target, the lower the margin of error.)
[Quality: Very Rare]
[Mana Cost: N/A]
[Cooldown: N/A]
[Do you wish to learn this skill?]
[Yes] [No]
"I'll take Mana Reinforcement, you take Observation," Sean took the Mana Reinforcement book and learned it immediately.
"Michael, use your new skill on me," Sean urged him to try it.
Sean Maximus
Level: 5 {30/150 xp}
Class: None
Mana: 28
Strength: 15
Stamina: 13
Vitality: 14
Agility: 12
Intelligence: 14
Skills: Unknown
"Oh, you already reached level five?" Michael looked at his friend in surprise.
"Tch, of course. My skill effects didn't go to waste," Sean laughed as he began opening the boxes.
"Let's open all of them first, then see what we got," Michael suggested as he started opening them too.
The result from the twelve boxes: four were empty, three were trash weapons (a sword, a spear, and a shield), one skill book, an axe, two class scrolls, and a staff.
{Skill Book: Ji Nia Swordsmanship (No Rank)}
(A combat style left behind by the sword genius Ji Nia. It allows the user to learn how to fight using a sword.)
[Quality: Rare]
[Mana Cost: N/A]
[Cooldown: N/A]
{Mage Staff: Rank 1 Weapon}
(A wooden staff made from mana-conductive wood, topped with a red mana crystal. It is the primary weapon of mages.)
[Rarity: Rare]
[Effect: +4 Intelligence]
{Battle Axe: Rank 0 Weapon}
(An axe made from decent iron capable of conducting mana. The perfect weapon for muscle-headed idiots.)
[Rarity: Common]
{Class Scroll: Priest, Rank 1}
(A priest is a type of mage who uses mana to heal others by transferring their own vitality.)
(Leveling bonus: +2 Intelligence, +2 Vitality)
[Quality: Rare]
[Requirement: Level 10]
"Well, I can say this is a good haul… a rank-one weapon, we really struck gold this time," Michael put the class scroll into his bag along with the others and picked up the staff.
"Even though I don't like how this axe is described, I'll take it," Sean laughed as he picked up the axe.
"Distribute the remaining weapons to the others and try learning the skill," Michael handed the weapons to Sean, then tried to learn the skill book but failed and passed it to him.
"Nope, I failed too. What about giving it to Yu Min? He seems to have talent with the sword," Sean tried and failed as well, then said to Michael.
"Do whatever you see fit… I don't care. I'm going to get some rest," Michael waved at Sean, who walked off to distribute the weapons...