^POV Angela Stark^
"Where am I..." I suddenly woke up to find myself in the middle of a horde of zombies. I don't know how I got here or how to return to the others.
"Kill him kill him kill him." I heard a loud screaming voice, and suddenly the zombies parted in front of me, revealing a corridor filled with mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.
"No no no, please no." I saw that scene repeating before me again. I tried with all my strength to move and resist, to change it, but it was useless.
"Move you stupid whore, move do something." I started screaming and scolding my helpless self.
Amid screams of pain and suffering, I watched that man I truly loved screaming and being tortured because he tried to save me.
– Why!!? Why is all this happening?? – I was planning to confess to him today. We were going to live happily and build a happy family.
"I love you… Marcus." Between tears and blood, the zombies pounced on my body and began devouring my flesh and blood while a faint smile slipped onto my face.
– Finally, I will go meet the love of my life on the other side of the world –
...
"No no no, take me back, take me back there, this isn't fair, it's not fair." I burst into tears as soon as I realized this was just a dream. I am still living in this hell.
I thought about suicide many times, but every time I was about to do it, I remembered why he sacrificed himself. I can't die anymore. This is no longer just my life to end whenever I want.
"Angela dear, what's wrong!!? Another nightmare?" I started crying into the chest of my friend and my only relative in this world. She was the one with me when I lost my mother, then my father. She was the one who stood by me when I lost Marcus. Without her, I would have lost my mind long ago.
"Lina, thank you so much for always being here for me." I hugged her tightly while crying. I didn't want to, but the tears flowed uncontrollably from my eyes.
"Silly girl, you're my sister. Of course I'll always be with you." Those were the last words I heard from Lina before I fell asleep in her arms.
"Good morning, you lazy one." I smiled unconsciously when I heard Lina's warm voice. I woke up to find that the sun had already risen.
"Lina, where did everyone go??" The library was empty. The only sounds were dishes from Annie and Uncle Paul cooking.
"Michael gathered them to level up outside." I clenched my fist tightly when I heard her words. I remembered the dream from yesterday, I remembered that weak girl who could only watch as her lover was killed. Something burned intensely inside me.
"Lina, I'm going to hunt zombies and level up. Can you cover for me?" I saw hesitation and fear in Lina's eyes. She was about to stop me, but I had already made up my mind to become stronger.
"Alright, you can go. Just be careful. I can't handle losing you, Angela." Seeing my determination, Lina didn't argue. She knew me better than anyone. She just hugged me for a while before letting go.
"Of course I won't die. I'll always be a burden on you." I smiled and teased her a bit.
– Good thing Michael didn't take the sword back – I took out the sword Michael had given me on our first trip, opened the back door of the library, and slipped outside.
– Where should I go now – After some thinking, I decided to head toward the cafeteria for two reasons: first, Michael and the others went in the opposite direction, and second, the path there had already been explored, so it would be safer.
"Here we go." I muttered under my breath, gripping the sword tightly when I saw a zombie running toward me.
"Animae perditae, audite praeceptum meum et obsidete inimicos meos" (¹) I began chanting the words needed to activate my skill. I didn't understand a single word, I just followed the knowledge in my mind.
"This… it worked!!" I looked in shock at the zombie that could barely move now. The curse worked—it had slowed down.
Whoosh I swung my sword hard, trying to sever the zombie's neck, but it seemed I lacked the strength, and the sword got stuck after cutting only a few centimeters.
"Damn, I should've increased my strength." I let go of the sword quickly and looked around for another weapon.
"Found it." I saw a metal rod lying by the roadside, stained with blood. I held myself back from vomiting when I felt the sticky blood on my hands.
I didn't aim for the neck this time. I targeted the weakest point in the body. I don't know where I got the courage, but I stabbed the metal rod into the zombie's eye socket.
[You have killed a level 5 zombie +25XP]
[Congratulations, you reached level 3. You have 3 free stat points]
"Hmm… I should add some points into strength." I thought for a moment before adding two points into strength and one into speed. My stats became:
[ Name: Angela Stark ]
[ Level: 3 { 0/75 xp } ]
[ Class: N/A ]
[ Mana: 28 ]
[ Strength: 10 ]
[ Endurance: 9 ]
[ Vitality: 9 ]
[ Agility: 11 ]
[ Intelligence: 14 ]
[ Skills: Slow Curse (lvl1) Beginner ]
"Well, that's a noticeable improvement." A small smile appeared on my lips as I saw the change in my stats compared to the first time.
"Let's continue hunting…" After resting a bit and recovering my mana, I stood up to pull the sword from the zombie's neck when I noticed a piece of goat-skin parchment lying nearby.
[ Class Scroll: Heir of the Duke of Babel ]
{ The Duke of Babel is a mage who came to Earth from another world and established a vast empire before being betrayed by his descendants. The Heir of the Duke of Babel must possess the talent to learn both curses and blessings. }
(Note: The Trial of the Heir of Babel is unique)
Class perks:
[1- 50% mana consumption reduction for curses/blessings]
[2- +50% power of curses/blessings]
{ Upon leveling up, the Heir of Babel gains +2 Vitality, +1 Agility, +3 Intelligence, +1 Endurance }
[ Quality: Legendary ]
[ Requirement: Level 10 ]
"Wow, Legendary quality, that's amazing." I put the scroll in my pocket after a brief moment of joy. I didn't know that at that moment, my destiny had completely changed…
...
Back to the present, Michael and his team of 9 after Peter and Darla left were killing weak zombies steadily.
"Hey Norlan, come on man, even the girls did it." Michael encouraged the trembling recruit to kill the zombie in front of him.
"O-okay boss." Norlan replied as the axe trembled in his hands, trying to approach the zombie.
"Now Norlan, swing that damn axe!! What are you waiting for." The zombie was about to reach Norlan while he stood there trembling like an idiot. Hearing Michael's voice, Norlan swung his axe clumsily, hitting the zombie's shoulder instead of its head.
"Norlan, drop the axe now!!!" The axe got stuck in the zombie's shoulder while Norlan remained frozen. A puddle of yellow urine formed beneath his feet as he saw the zombie's jaws in front of his face.
– Damn it, this damn coward – that was all Michael could think as he saw the zombie with the axe stuck in its shoulder lunging to devour Norlan's face.
The zombie bit off Norlan's nose and tore his neck amid his desperate screams that lasted only seconds before disappearing forever.
"That's it for today. The sun is setting. Tony, lead the way back." Michael killed the zombie, and due to the team's shattered morale after watching their friend get eaten alive, he decided to end the trip.
"Looks like Darla succeeded." When they returned, Michael smiled upon seeing Sean training in front of the library with Jin and Yu-min.
"Hahaha, yes. Her healing was incredible. Even Liam will recover soon." Sean smiled while flexing his muscles, while Yu-min and Jin nodded to Michael.
– Of course the skill is amazing… I wanted it for myself – Michael thought again about Darla's skill.
{ Skill Book: Recovery Circle Spell Rank-1
By controlling mana, the user creates a vitality field in a 5-meter radius around a point. Everyone inside heals at double speed. }
[ Quality: Rare ]
[ Mana Cost: 25MP ]
[ Cooldown: 30 minutes ]
"No need to waste more time here." Michael gestured toward the door, showing some respect to the new recruits behind him and dismissed them, before explaining the suicide squad plan to Yu-min and Jin to scout the park.
"This is the only way. I'll go with you." Yu-min agreed immediately, and Jin also nodded.
"Thank you. Then it's settled—we'll go once Liam fully recovers." After finishing, Michael went inside to rest and mentally replay the day's events, a habit he developed since childhood.
– Alright, we now have 8 qualified fighters, all with different skills, and I've reached level 6 – A smile appeared on Michael's lips, which quickly vanished when he remembered what happened to Norlan.
[ Name: Michael De Von Santos ]
[ Level: 6 { 0/250 xp } ]
[ Class: N/A ]
[ Mana: 28 (+10) ]
[ Strength: 13 ]
[ Endurance: 11 ]
[ Vitality: 11 ]
[ Agility: 16 ]
[ Intelligence: 14 (+5) ]
"Sigh… I guess I need to get used to this." Michael leaned his back against the library wall, muttering quietly as he recalled everything since the beginning of the end. A lot had happened in just five days.
Michael clenched his fists. Thinking of his helpless father and his mother alone at home, he could no longer hold back his tears.
"Mom, Dad, please be safe. I'll come to you as soon as I can." The only thing that gave him some comfort was that his parents lived in a remote village far from the city with his cousins.
Suddenly, Michael felt something touch his shoulder. He turned quickly, ready to defend himself. But what he saw was something he didn't expect.
A beautiful girl stood there, with long black hair falling over her shoulders and blue eyes shining in the darkness. She smiled at him charmingly and said in a sweet voice,
"Hello Michael, I have something important I want to tell you."
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(¹) I chose not to translate the spell in the chapter and left it as is (by the way, the spell language is Latin)
Spell translation: "Lost souls, heed my command and besiege my enemies."