Chapter 10: Fighting for Survival in the Cellar
On a secluded stretch of country road, there was a rare, well-maintained highway.
A small sedan was speeding along the asphalt.
However, the driver and passenger seemed to be arguing, and the lanky kid behind the wheel suddenly said, "Trish, I want to go back and check it out."
This startled his older sister in the passenger seat, and she exclaimed, "Are you insane, Darry! What if that's some serial killer's dump site? You wanna be like those dumbass characters in horror movies and walk right into a death trap?"
But by then, Darry, who was driving, had slowly pulled over and looked at his sister with dead seriousness, his eyes unwavering as he said, "I'm positive that was a body going down that pipe. We have to go back and see if there are any survivors."
Setting aside her brother's sudden attack of conscience, Trish, who was about to graduate college and already had one foot in the real world, knew her brother's personality all too well.
She also knew how dangerous it was for two defenseless college kids out in the middle of nowhere like this.
So Trish sighed with a bitter smile, "Darry, don't do anything stupid. What can we possibly do even if we go back? Become lunch for some psycho?"
However, these words clearly weren't enough to convince the kid who hadn't yet been beaten down by reality. He still clung to idealistic notions, especially fearing that someone in his own family might face such a situation.
After thinking for a moment, the kid came up with an argument his sister couldn't refuse.
"What if that were you down there? Would you want me to just abandon you and drive away while you faced that horror alone?"
Words dripping with sibling loyalty immediately left Trish speechless.
She thought that if it were her trapped down there, she'd definitely hope her brother would come to help.
But then she realized there was no 'what if,' and she was about to try persuading him again.
However, seeing Darry's serious expression and hearing him say, "We're just going to look. We'll leave the car running, and if we confirm someone's dead, we'll bail immediately."
Seeing that her brother was dead-set on this and had even worked out a reasonable plan, Trish knew she couldn't talk him out of it, but she had to make one last stand.
"Fine, but I'm driving, and I'm absolutely NOT getting out of the car!"
Seeing his sister agree, the kid grinned, "Deal!"
After the two switched seats, Trish turned the car around and headed back toward the scene.
As the story's main characters returned to their doom according to the original timeline, the battle in the cellar had already kicked off.
With a proper weapon in his hands, Chris's nervousness, though not completely gone, was significantly reduced.
He looked at the grinning Creeper and actually took the offensive against the monster, hurling insults as he moved.
"What the hell are you smiling at! You're ugly as sin and you eat people—why don't you choke on it!"
From the fact that this thing could drive and play various mind games with its victims, it was obvious this creature possessed intelligence.
Therefore, when Chris's insults reached its ears, they immediately enraged the monster.
It roared and charged at Chris, completely ignoring the spear in his hands.
"Screw it, you think I'm scared of you!"
Seeing that the monster wanted to go toe-to-toe with him, Chris didn't hold back.
He remembered that in the sequel's plot, a group of regular high school kids managed to injure this thing badly enough that the monster had to devour someone's head to recover.
This meant that although the creature had superhuman strength, its defensive capabilities were probably on par with a normal person's, maybe even worse.
Recalling this information, Chris didn't hesitate with the spear. He gripped the weapon tightly and delivered a devastating sweep.
Facing an undead monster like this, he didn't expect to win by simply stabbing the spear through its body like you would with a human.
Given the Creeper's immortality, if he thrust the spear into its torso, the monster would probably just grab the weapon like it was nothing and keep coming.
In that case, he'd not only lose his weapon, but the spear might end up getting used against him.
Therefore, Chris simply swept the spear horizontally, delivering a brutal blow that sent the Creeper flying.
In terms of human biomechanics, being able to bench press 880 pounds means the power he could unleash was far more than 880 pounds.
Chris had once read online that human explosive strength is typically 3 to 6 times their regular strength.
And the definition of regular strength is the weight a person can lift multiple times consecutively.
Although Chris didn't know exactly how many reps "multiple times" specifically meant, his ability to continuously press 880 pounds for 8 reps was solid fact.
And this meant that even if his explosive power was calculated at the minimum 3x multiplier, his previous blow had already reached over a ton of force.
Not to mention he was swinging a spear in a sweeping arc—the explosive force involved would be even greater than his own estimate.
Therefore, the result of this strike was spectacular. The Creeper, sent flying sideways, was literally cut in half at the waist, its upper and lower body completely separated.
Seeing this, Chris didn't lose his mind and try to flee like characters in horror movies. He pivoted and ran toward the Creeper's upper half.
In two strides, he reached the monster, and seeing it struggling with its bat-wings spread, Chris took a massive leap and brought the spear down.
He wielded the long spear like a massive battle-axe, executing a devastating overhead strike. The spear tip sliced through the air, producing a crack like thunder—the sound of breaking the sound barrier.
Such a lightning-fast strike, truly like a bolt from above, slammed directly into the Creeper's body.
It instantly caused the Creeper's upper torso to split open, with a three-inch-wide crack cleaving it from top to bottom, centered on its nose bridge.
The two halves of the body were completely torn apart, meeting the same fate as the previously separated upper and lower portions.
Looking at the still-twitching Creeper pieces, Chris wasn't in a rush this time.
He leaned on the spear, gasping for breath, then slumped down completely exhausted.
The previous sweep and overhead chop—he'd put everything he had into those attacks.
As a teenager who'd never learned combat skills and possessed no supernatural powers, when facing life or death, all he could do was fight with everything he had.
Therefore, just those two strikes had completely drained his stamina, leaving him barely able to stand.
Moreover, after seeing that the Creeper had no ability to fight back, he relaxed mentally and completely crashed.
However, in this dire situation, he'd ultimately won.
And although the Creeper wasn't dead yet, its entire body was divided into three pieces, and a considerable portion of its brain and spine had been pulverized by Chris.
Clearly, it would no longer pose an immediate threat.
However, Chris knew this situation wasn't completely safe yet, since this monster could regenerate by consuming human flesh.
Therefore, as his stamina recovered slightly, Chris picked up the spear and got back to work.
To deal with an undead monster like this, Chris had plenty of creative ideas from watching horror movies over the years, and now was the perfect time to test them out.
He wanted to see if these creatures' immortality was really as ridiculous as the movies made it seem.
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