^Yoo-Min POV^
"Zola! Hank! Get out here and help us! We're going to split the horde apart and wipe them out!"
Almost simultaneously with Michael's shout, Yoo-Min began drawing the zombies into the forest, where the rest of the team was already waiting.
"There are fewer zombies than expected. We need to finish them quickly and return to help the others."
Yoo-Min came to a stop as soon as he met up with the rest of the group inside the forest. This was the perfect battlefield for fighting zombies—dense trees to hinder their movements and a quiet environment where their roars could be heard clearly.
"Everyone, take your positions. Prepare for battle."
The team formed a simple formation. Liam and Eddie stood at the front, Selena behind them, while Yoo-Min remained on the flank. They waited for the Hunter to arrive, but for some reason, it wasn't charging at full speed. Instead, it walked calmly at the front of the horde, with the Giant Zombie following closely behind.
"Tsk... Damn it. Why are they this organized?" Eddie cursed under his breath while everyone desperately tried to figure out how to eliminate the Hunter before dealing with the rest of the horde.
The others might not know how terrifying a Hunter really is, but I've fought one before. I know very well that my chances of defeating it without using my trump card are practically zero.
Yoo-Min carefully considered the threat the zombie posed.
"Yoo-Min, you and Liam handle the Giant," Selena suddenly suggested. "Eddie and I will take care of the Hunter. Trust me—I know what I'm doing."
Yoo-Min was about to reject Selena's proposal but stopped himself.
At worst, she'll buy us some time before she dies.
He silently calculated how best to use the time Selena could provide to wipe out the remaining zombies.
"...Alright."
Yoo-Min drew his katana and circled around the zombies together with Liam.
The horde split into two groups.
One, led by the Giant, headed toward Yoo-Min and Liam.
The other continued advancing with the Hunter toward Eddie and Selena.
"Liam, help me hold these zombies back while I deal with the Giant."
Liam raised his shield and charged forward, opening a path.
Meanwhile, Yoo-Min tightened his grip on his katana and dashed toward the Giant Zombie, taking advantage of its inability to move freely between the thick trees.
I think this'll be easier than I expected.
The sight of the three-meter-tall Giant Zombie becoming wedged tightly between two massive trees nearly left Yoo-Min speechless.
But what happened next immediately brought him back to reality.
With a single swing, the monster nearly uprooted one of the trees entirely.
I have to finish this before it breaks free.
Yoo-Min rushed forward and slashed at the Giant's leg in an attempt to bring it down.
All he accomplished was leaving behind a gruesome wound.
This won't work... its skin is far too thick.
He leaped backward to avoid the enormous fist hurtling toward him before charging once more.
While weaving through the Giant's attacks with incredible agility, Yoo-Min executed the Ji Nia Sword Style.
The moment he got close enough, he planted one foot against a nearby tree, spun his body one hundred and eighty degrees in mid-air, and drove his katana with all his strength into the Giant's left eye socket.
The blade pierced straight through its skull and emerged from the opposite side.
[You have killed a Tier 1 Giant Zombie (Lv.13). +130 XP]
[Congratulations! You have reached Lv.7.]
[You have 3 Free Stat Points.]
"Hey, Yoo-Min! Instead of just standing there, why don't you help me?!"
Yoo-Min had been standing still, distributing his stat points, when Liam's voice echoed from the distance.
The remaining zombies had completely surrounded him as he smashed them away with his shield.
Yoo-Min immediately rushed into the horde.
He surrendered himself completely to a frenzy, slaughtering zombie after zombie while reveling in the scent of blood that filled the battlefield.
It was as though he were venting every ounce of anxiety and tension buried within his heart.
One kill notification after another echoed through his mind, each one urging him to kill even more.
.....
...
.
^Selena Rodriguez POV^
"...Alright."
After leaving those words behind, Yoo-Min immediately departed.
Meanwhile, Selena prepared herself to receive the Hunter after quickly checking its information using her Level 2 Observation skill.
{Hunter — Tier 1}
A zombie whose instincts evolved during the Trial, granting it a baseline degree of intelligence. It also underwent a mutation that transformed both of its arms into razor-sharp metallic scythes. It prefers hunting in the darkness.
[Level: ????????]
[Skills: N/A]
"Eddie, I'll place the trap in front of me and use myself as bait. The moment the trap activates, cut off its head."
Selena placed her magical trap on the ground—a circle roughly one and a half meters in diameter, formed entirely from black mana.
When the Hunter was about fifty meters away, it seemed unable to restrain itself any longer.
Rather than waiting for the horde behind it, it burst forward at full speed, charging directly toward Selena, who calmly stood behind her trap.
Forty meters...
Thirty meters...
With every step the Hunter took, its hideous appearance became clearer.
Its bloodstained, scythe-like arms...
The scraps of flesh from previous victims still clinging to them...
When it reached twenty meters away, the overwhelming stench of rotten flesh assaulted Selena's nose, engraving the horrific sight deep into her memory.
Once the distance shrank to less than fifteen meters, Selena forced herself to suppress her fear.
She formed a transparent Mana Shield in front of herself in case the trap failed.
Even so...
She remained standing perfectly still while sweat nearly formed a puddle beneath her feet.
"Eddie! Now!"
The instant Selena saw the Hunter blasted backward by the trap's explosion, she screamed at the top of her lungs, releasing every ounce of tension she had been holding back.
Knowing the trap's damage alone wouldn't kill it, she urged Eddie to finish it immediately.
"You son of a bitch!"
Eddie leaped toward the fallen Hunter, swinging his axe with all his strength to split its skull apart.
Unfortunately...
The Hunter reacted with inhuman speed.
It twisted its body at the very last second.
Instead of burying itself in the Hunter's head, Eddie's axe became lodged deep in its shoulder.
"Eddie! Get back! Quickly!!"
Selena's expression changed instantly when she realized Eddie had missed his target.
She shouted for him to retreat.
But...
It was already too late.
The moment Eddie let go of his axe...
One of the Hunter's razor-sharp scythes pierced straight through his heart.
"AGHHHHHHHH!!"
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
"You damned zombie!"
"Why won't you just die, you son of a bitch?!"
Selena sprinted toward Eddie at full speed.
Drawing her sword, she repeatedly stabbed the Hunter in the head over and over again until she was finally certain it had died.
...I'm sorry.
Selena knew there was no time to grieve.
Without even looking back at Eddie's corpse, she gripped her sword tightly and resumed slaughtering the remaining zombies.
"I swear... if zombies could feel pain, this entire campus would be filled with screams."
What truly astonished Selena, however, was Yoo-Min.
He carved through the zombies in the most savage yet elegant manner imaginable.
Despite the blood spraying everywhere around him...
His body and clothes remained impeccably clean, save for a few tiny bloodstains.
The contrast between his graceful movements and the utter brutality of his fighting style was almost surreal.
After the massacre was over, Selena managed to level up twice, reaching Level 7.
[Name: Selena Rodriguez]
[Level: 7 {300 / 160 XP}]
[Class: None]
[Mana Points: 26]
[Strength: 12]
[Stamina: 10]
[Vitality: 10]
[Agility: 14]
[Intelligence: 20]
[Skills: Observation (Lv.2), Shadow Trap (Lv.2), Mana Shield (Lv.1)]
"Alright. Let's go help Jin and the others."
After finishing off the remaining zombies, Selena urged the group to move while intentionally raising her voice to draw Yoo-Min's attention.
He looked as though his consciousness was somewhere else entirely.
....
..
^Yoo-Min POV^
"Alright. Let's go help Jin and the others."
Yoo-Min didn't return to his senses until Selena's voice snapped him awake.
Looks like they managed to deal with the Hunter... but at a price.
The moment he noticed Eddie's corpse lying in the distance, he immediately understood part of what had happened.
"What... happened!?"
Yoo-Min's heart sank as fragments of memory gradually surfaced within his mind.
He muttered to himself while running toward the library.
This state... it hasn't happened since my very first battle in the army against the Yellow Brotherhood.
That day had been Yoo-Min's first real experience on an actual battlefield.
His squad had fallen into a ruthless ambush laid by a terrorist organization.
He had been the only survivor.
When I woke up in the hospital, they told me they had found me lying among the enemies' corpses... I'd been shot three times, and one of the bullets had nearly destroyed my shoulder.
Yoo-Min remembered exactly how he had felt back then.
It was identical to what he had experienced just moments ago.
The overwhelming excitement.
The insatiable thirst for blood.
The exhilaration of battle that had increased his strength.
"...Looks like they don't need our help after all."
Liam's loud voice finally pulled Yoo-Min out of the whirlwind of memories as the team arrived in front of the library.