[LV 1 ZOMBIE(ELITE) KILLED!]
[3 EXP GAINED!]
Kael barely registered the message in his vision. He quickly brushed the entrails on his body aside and wiped his face with his shirt's sleeve. Thankfully, none of it got into his mouth.
Still, as he scrambled to his feet and caught sight of his immediate surroundings, Kael couldn't stop his body from falling to his knees before he threw up what he had eaten this morning.
He was still conscious enough to make sure he didn't create much noise.
He had no intention of attracting another monster, especially considering he was running low on energy.
With nothing else coming out of his mouth, he gagged for some moments before he was able to compose himself.
Wiping his mouth clean, he averted his eyes from the mess he had created and the coiled intestines and strange fluids beside him.
Silent tears streaked down his face.
'Was I thrown into hell?'
He couldn't help but question.
He was a child, and as a boy, he had always dreamed of being thrown into a world of power. It was one of his ways of whiling away time and momentarily forgetting his situation.
Yet he wanted nothing to do with this mess.
This was no fantasy world.
This was hell!
'Rosy...'
An image of a cute young girl appeared in his mind, bringing his wandering thoughts back into focus.
Even now, he could still hear dying screams and violent shouts coming from downstairs. The ruckus was so loud that it overshadowed his loudly beating heart.
He didn't dare to imagine the situation below.
'Which is why I can't go down now. Especially with my low energy!'
He was worried for his sister, but getting himself killed would only make the situation worse. If he died uselessly, who would ensure his sister's survival?
As for his parents, he set aside the thought of their farewell for the moment.
He could only focus on what he could affect.
He quickly glanced backward, his mind going on overdrive.
'All the laboratories are locked, and their keys are with the principal.'
The school had always been fond of keeping what little equipment they had safe. Such materials could not be found in their backwater city and had been imported from outside.
'What greedy bastards!'
'As if the equipment is worth more than my life!' Kael cursed the school, the principal, and even its absent owner, his heart filled with grievances.
And trying to break the doors was not an option. Not to mention, if he even had the required strength, just the noise it would make might attract new undead.
'Another monster could appear at any moment. What should I do?'
He chewed his nails anxiously.
'Wait!'
A crazy thought suddenly popped into his head.
'No, no, no! That is simply madness!'
'But what other choice do I have?'
The clock was ticking. And he couldn't risk being exposed for long.
Gritting his teeth violently, Kael's eyes shone with a deranged light.
'If this doesn't kill me, I swear I'm going to make someone pay!'
Kael swallowed.
Moving stiffly, he climbed onto the railings.
His legs wobbled immediately.
"Don't look down..."
"Don't look down..."
He recited in his mind like a mantra.
Below him were several floors of empty space.
His good hand wrapped tightly around the concrete pillar, his fingers digging into the rough surface as if his life depended on it.
Because it did.
Slowly... painfully...
He wrapped his legs around the pillar and began climbing, his body clinging to it like a frightened koala.
Every movement was slow and awkward.
His muscles screamed in protest.
His injured arm hung uselessly, sending waves of pain through his body every time it brushed the concrete and his thighs burned as they carried most of his weight.
'Don't fall...'
'Don't fall...'
The words repeated in his head like a prayer.
His breath grew faster.
His palms began to sweat.
The thought of slipping and crashing down sent waves of panic crawling up his spine.
"Fuck... Fuck... fuck..."
Kael cursed his life. He cursed the day, the system, the apocalypse, and if the world could hear the profanities raining in his mind, it would probably fall silent.
He was only a small boy, one who had just entered his first year in high school.
Yet here he was acting as if in Mission Impossible, except it had to be possible.
Oh dear!
It better be...
His forehead pressed briefly against the pillar as he forced himself to breathe.
Then he climbed again.
Inch by inch.
His movements became increasingly awkward as he tried to keep his balance with only one proper arm, Ember regeneration barely working in the background with his low reserve to keep him moving.
From a distance, his position looked... strange.
His legs wrapped tightly around the pillar, his body pressed against it. His hips shifted upward little by little.
If someone saw him now, they would probably think something very indecent was happening.
Yet, Kael didn't care. He just wanted to live.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, his fingers brushed against the edge of the rooftop.
Just when relief was starting to set in, it happened...
-GRR!
A sound came from beneath him, this one sounding more feminine.
A chill crept up Kael's spine.
As if controlled by strings, Kael stiffly turned his head down, his eyes meeting two red ones, with darkish veins spreading within them.
The world held its breath.
Down there, a female zombie was beside the railing, gazing up at him with a fixed look.
Perhaps it was out of fear or something else, Kael didn't even spare the empty space beneath him a thought, almost as if his fear of falling had disappeared. All his concentration was on the female undead, whose school shirt and innerwear were already torn, leaving part of her bountiful chest exposed.
If Kael was not mistaken, this was one of his female seniors he had always admired.
Yet he had no heart to appreciate her figure at this moment.
Bloody fluids drifted down the sides of the creature's lips and fell onto its pale white skin, sliding down the valley between her cleavage.
-GRRR!
The undead made a strange sound once again, and Kael didn't know what prompted him to respond.
"GRR!"
An invisible question mark floated above the head of the zombie girl, the fiery light in its eyes giving way to a stunned look.
"GRR!"
A sweat slid down the bridge of Kael's nose as he made the strange sound again.
-GRR?
The zombie tilted its head to the side, almost as if asking a silent question.
"GRRRR!" Spit flew out of Kael's clenched teeth as he motioned with his head, almost as if shooing her away.
'Get away from me, you monster!'
'Just leave me alone.'
He kept shaking his head at the monster to leave, and before he knew it, a new wave of tears fell down his face.
This was not funny at all!
The undead girl remained rooted, watching Kael's every movement with unblinking eyes. And as if it had finished making a decision, it suddenly sprang into motion.
Her body lunged into the air in his direction, her full breasts flying out of the shirt barely restraining them, two cherry tops finally revealed to the world.
Unfortunately, no one was there to appreciate them.
"Mummy!"
Kael screamed in fear, and with strength he pulled from God knows where, he lifted the bleeding stump—now that his Energi had dropped to the bottom—and slammed the armpit of his severed arm onto the rooftop edge.
The raw flesh pressed painfully against the concrete.
"...ARGGH!"
His vision blurred from the pain.
But he didn't hesitate. Using the stump as support, Kael pushed upward with everything he had left, his body dragged across the edge like a dying animal, just in time for a pair of slender fingers to brush past his lower limb.
-Thud.
Kael rolled onto the rooftop, and a few seconds later, the sickening sound of flesh colliding with the ground drifted into his ears.
"Huff... huff..."
For several seconds, he didn't move and simply lay there, staring at the bright sky above while his chest rose and fell rapidly.
"I'm alive..."
The words escaped his lips in a hoarse whisper. At the same time, a system message quietly appeared before him.
[LV 2 ZOMBIE(RARE) KILLED]
[4 EXP GAINED]
*****
AN: Thank you for reading. Vote power stones if you enjoyed the chapter😁.