Darkness

"Another Survivor… Finally…"

Shane muttered as he noticed that he could only see the Survivor's first name and not the last name. Aside from that, even if he tried tapping on Raze's name, he couldn't get any other information.

After some thought, Shane typed a reply. 

[ Shane: Hi, Raze! I also received a decent talent, so I ventured out early. How are your loots? ] 

Shane asked as he wanted to compare his loot to other Survivors.

It appears that Raze was also not doing anything at this time. It didn't even take a minute before Shane got a reply. 

[ Raze: You finally checked the Chat board! It's hard getting loot in my starting region. I'm only getting Zombie Cores and stale bread. I'm also lacking some water… Aside from Zombie Rats, I've never seen any other type of Zombie. I'm still roaming in the sewers. I haven't even seen the sunlight. I'm lucky I selected the Survival Tools Gift Back. ] 

Raze replied with plenty of information since they could only use the Regional Chat 10 times daily. 

"Zombie Rats? I've never seen them before… Furthermore, he's in the sewers? Ugh… What a terrible spot. I guess I'm fortunate, huh…" Shane muttered, believing that surviving the sewers would be much more complicated. 

He couldn't help but wonder what kind of talent he obtained to dare to venture out before the Beginner Protection ended.

[ Shane: I'm lucky since I have obtained a source of water. I hope we can do a trade so you can have some. I haven't encountered any Zombie Rats yet, but I encountered Crawler, Walker, and Runner Zombies. My starting region is an abandoned estate… Right, reach level 3 as quickly as possible. You'll get to use your Zombie Cores at that time. Good luck to us. ] 

[ Raze: Level 3? Alright! I'm gonna start killing now! If you encounter any Zombie Rats in the future, make sure not to get hit by their tail; you'll get paralyzed. See you around, Shane! ] 

Shane smiled after seeing this information. 

Indeed, this was what he liked about getting to know other Survivors. Since they are all in the same predicament, helping each other should be the right thing.

***

The following day, Shane completed his morning routine at an early hour. 

Surprisingly, no zombies had breached his estate, possibly due to the significant reduction in fog within his territory. 

At this time, he had already guessed that the fog had something to do with the spreading virus, but he wasn't too sure about it yet since even the A.I. hadn't noticed anything wrong with the fog.

Despite this, Cloud detected a handful of additional zombies lingering outside his domain. 

Well, Shane promptly handed over all the Zombie Blood he had acquired to the A.I., consequently expanding its Zombie Detection range. 

At this time, Cloud could already reach 43 meters!

Equipped with his current arsenal of weapons and gear, Shane no longer dreaded encountering the lower-tier zombies as long as they remained dispersed. 

Because of his prior experience, isolated zombies no longer posed any threat to him. 

Throughout the day, Shane hunted down a total of 9 zombies, a somewhat disappointing tally as he had hoped to amass numerous Item Upgrade Crystals. 

His goal was to enhance all his items to an Exceptional or higher standard before the impending Zombie Wave.

As he awaited the zombies to "spawn" around his estate, Shane contemplated venturing into the forest. 

However, the recollection of the colossal Zombie he had previously encountered dissuaded him from doing so.

'I wonder if it already left this region…' Shane mused.

As he was contemplating exploring outside, a virtual blue screen suddenly appeared before him.

[ Three days had passed since everyone's arrival to the Fiend Continent ] 

[ All Beginners' Protection has been removed. ] 

[ Now, get yourself stronger and survive the first Zombie Wave that will come within 7 days! ] 

At that moment, a continent-wide message addressing all survivors appeared!

'So it's been 72 hours…' Shane mused. 

This message also prompted him to ponder whether this proclamation would alter the "spawning time" of the Zombies in his region. 

Whom~

His conjecture proved accurate!

As the notifications from the Apocalypse System faded, the fog dissipated almost entirely from the vicinity of his estate... While uncertain of its implications, Shane believed that the area had become more habitable for the continent's inhabitants.

Thud… Thud… Thud.

Furthermore, he noticed several figures appearing near the plane crash site. They seemed to be Walker Zombies, totaling 4, and they were moving closely together. 

Although potentially troublesome, Shane remained confident that with the element of surprise, the encounter would not be overly challenging. Then, he grasped his hatchet and advanced towards them.

As Shane approached the group of four Walker Zombies, his senses, or perhaps Perception, was fully on use since he wanted to end this battle quickly. 

As soon as he was about to reach 10 meters in their range, he paused for a moment… 

During his previous encounters, he already guessed that their perception range was about 10 meters.

With this in mind, he gathered his strength and swiftly closed the distance to ensure they wouldn't have enough time to react to his ambush! 

In a swift and fluid motion, he killed each Walker Zombie with practiced strikes with the most efficient movements!

Thud!

The last Zombie fell with a resounding thud, leaving Shane unscathed and victorious. 

'Too easy…' Shane smirked as he looted the zombies immediately. There was no doubt that his successful encounter bolstered his confidence.

However, just as he envisioned spending his time hunting zombies like this, an unexpected turn of events unfolded. 

The sky darkened as rain poured down, dousing the fire at the plane crash site. 

In an instant, the entire estate was plunged into an ominous darkness.