Chapter 5 : Who am I?

As the sun shone in the sky, welcoming a new day, Bittu laid on the ground as if sleeping. His condition was unknown.

*rustle*

Suddenly, the bushes nearby made some noise. A moment later, coming out of behind a tree, was a zombie.

"... Guurrrr.... "

The zombie's blood-stained face looked grotesque. There were several rotting parts where the flesh had horribly sloughed off.

If a human saw such a hideous sight, it would probably be hard for them to bear the urge to vomit from the sickening odor given off by the moving corpse.

".... Gurrrr..... "

Looking at the zombie, the only was to describe it would be terrifying and bloody.

But Bittu was in no condition to look at the zombie since he was still unconscious. If he was awake, he would have fainted once again because of his timid nature.

The zombie, with its slow but steady pace even though its step looked uneven, approached Bittu, who, to it, was a delicious meal.

".... Gurrrr.... "

A moment later, it was near Bittu. It crotched down, and ferociously clawed the unconscious man at his chest.

Blood, like water flowing out of a dam, flowed out from the severe wound on his chest. Pain spread out in Bittu's body, which stimulated his brain, jolting him awake.

".... Aaaahhhhhh.... "

He let out a shrill cry, feeling the pain that was inflicted on him by this hideous creature. Panic and fear clouded his mind when he saw the pool of blood forming around him and the terrifying sight of a zombie eating his flesh with blood all over its face.

"... No... No.... Go away..... "

Bittu tried to hit the zombie with his hands, but there was no strength in his arms because of the lethal wound. Unable to do anything, he watched himself bitten by the zombie till he died because of severe blood loss, pain, and suffocation. He couldn't even resist properly.

Unbothered by the resistance of its pray, the zombie continued to enjoy its meal.

...

"..... Aaaahhahhhhhh... "

Bittu let out a shocked cry as he woke up. He immediately looked around with a terrified face and wide eyes, searching for the zombie, but nothing came into sight.

'A nightmare'

*panting*

Bittu took deep breaths to calm his mind as he kept looking here and there, afraid that the zombie will suddenly attack him from his blind spot. Not finding the zombie, Bittu gradually calmed down.

But, as he kept looking around, a frown appeared on his face. The more he looked around, the more the frown deepened.

Suddenly, he heard the rustling sound coming from his left.

".... It can't be, right..... "

With shock and disbelief, he saw that from behind the tree, a zombie emerged.

His blood ran cold at the sight of this horrifying creature. As he looked at the zombie approaching him with a slow and steady yet uneven steps, fear crept his heart because of what happened in the dream.

"... No... "

"... No... "

"... Ge–away.... Get.. Away..... "

".... Get away from me.... "

He shouted while shuttering and trying to move away while pointing his finger at the zombie.

The more he tried to move, the more he realised something. His legs refuse to follow his command as the strength in them gradually weakened because of his increasing fear and panic.

"... Guuurrrrrrr..... "

The zombie, seeing its prey getting away, shouted. Bittu, who was already on the verge of crying because of the terrifying sight, froze when he heard the unsetting sound coming from the broken wind pipe of the zombie.

For a few seconds, he couldn't move at all. He tried to do all he could, applied all his strength, but they refused to budge even a little. Fear reached its peak as he saw the zombie coming close to him in those seconds.

'... No... '

'... No... '

'.... Stay away... '

'... Don't com near me.... '

'... Help.... Someone help me.... Please!!! '

Bittu kept speaking in his mind, praying and begging for someone's help. He even asked for this zombie's mercy, but all of it was in vain because he couldn't speak at all, because even his mouth froze, unable to move.

In this moment of extreme fear and panic, his mind, which was already fragile because of all the suffering, slowly shut itself down.

'.... Help.… Someone.... '

A few seconds later, just when his mind was on the verge of shutting itself down, resigned to fate as it had done before.

Suddenly,

A cooling sensation came from the deepest part of his mind, which suppressed all the negative emotion as it massaged his nerves to awaken them once again.

".... Guurrrrr.... "

This continued for a minute until the zombie was just a meter away from him.

".... Hufff..... "

'... What is this...? '

'... I feel cool in my head... '

Taking a deep breath, Bittu opened his eyes, which were now filled with coldness as if the sight before him was nothing. This sight, which had previously made him tremble and terrified, could not change his facial expression.

'..What?!....How?!'

'.. I am no longer afraid... of this ugly corpse. '

'... I am no longer bind in one place... '

Bittu's firm feet were on the grassy ground and his body had stopped trembling, along with his mouth.

'.. Let's think about it later... First, let's finish this creature. '

'... From the way it behaves.... '

Without waiting further, Bittu jumped back until he arrived before a tree.

'... It should be a zombie.... '

He quickly picked up a sharp and sturdy tree branch that was near the tree.

'... If that's the case..... '

He rushed and arrived before the zombie. The zombie, seeing this, immediately clawed at him with full power.

Without losing his cool, Bittu stepped to his side to escape from the claw attack and used the tree branch to attack right on the back of its head, near its head, to finish it.

'... This should be how zombies are dealt with, at least in the.... '

'.... In the what?... Why can't I remember?...'

'What?!'

'... What's happening?..... '

'.. why can't I remember... '

Bittu's face, which was cold and calm until now, once again slowly grew panicked as fear griped his heart once more. This time in a more firm grip.

'... No... No... No... ', thought Bittu as his body slowed down.

'... Why can't I remember...?.. ', he thought in anger.

'... Wait. Calm down,.... '

'…wha–What's my name?... ', anger gradually changed into fear and terror.

'.....Why can't I remember my name...? '

'No... No... No....'

'.. Who am I? ', his body started to tremble uncontrollably.

'... What am I? ', unable to accept the fact that he couldn't even remember who he was and what he was, Bittu's eyes widened in horror as he fell on his knees.

"... Ahahahahhhhhhh.... ", Unable to handle the intense emotions once more, he let out a terrified cry. His mind was once again trying to shut itself down. It didn't want to feel any kind of emotion at all.

"... Who.... Am.... I...? "

"... Gurrr.... "

The zombie, ignoring Bittu's actions, continued to approach its prey to fulfill its instinct and eat its meal.

Once again, on the verge of going unconscious, a cooling sensation came from somewhere deep in Bittu's mind to suppress his growing anxiety and fear.

But, was unable to do so. The crisis of his unknown identity was a heavy blow to his heart and mind.

His mind slowly but surely tried to break free from this sensation and shut itself down. This continued for a while until, once again, the zombie was just a meter away from him.

The unknown part of his brain responsible for this sensation, sensing the grave situation, exploded the cool treatment to a massive amount, forcefully keeping Bittu awake. This time, his mind could not resist as it gradually calmed down.

The moment it did, a green screen appeared in his sight.

[Acquired a special trait from your class, Jocker. ]

[Trait : Cold (passive) Description: A forceful characteristic added into the wielder's mind to experience no emotions to a certain extent. This is a slow process which will gradually integrate into the wielder's character.]

Even though the message was just before him, Bittu ignored it completely, as if it didn't exist.

He immediately rolled to his right because, at that moment, the zombie had once again attacked him with its claw-like nails, aimed right at his neck.

As the wind rustled through the leaves, standing before the zombie, watching it come close with a cold and slight, indifferent eyes, was Bittu.

Even though his clothes were a mess from the falling earlier with cuts, torn and blood all over it, Bittu's attitude at the moment made it unable for anyone to look down on him.

His posture was straight and coupled with his pritching gaze, it was impossible to relate him to the person earlier. If anyone had seen this happen, they would have barely believed it, but now, no one would believe that he was the same cowardly and terrified man from earlier.

Bittu watched as the zombie approached him, as he held the same sharp branch as earlier.

".... Guuurururrrrr..... "

The zombie shouted just like earlier and immediately Bittu felt his body become lethargic as slowly but surely his body lost its strength.

"... What–.... ", shock filled his eyes when he was once again freezed in his place.

'... What the hell?.... How did it do it...? '

Bittu thought with shock as he felt the cool sensation in his mind working immediately to suppress whatever was happening to his mind.

"... Looks like I need to finish this fast... "

Bittu's eyes became determined as he gazed at the zombie and realized the consequences of not doing so would be dire. Worse yet, death.

He picked up his pace and arrived before the zombie who was clawing at him. He side stepped just like earlier, but unfortunately, the zombie, anticipated this response from him and immediately turned around to attack Bittu.

"... What??... "

The zombie's attack startled Bittu, as he didn't expect it at all, but calmed down the next moment and avoided the attack by leaning back a little. He could do so because of the slow speed of the zombie. If not, he would have died.

Taking advantage of the situation, he immediately held the sharp branch like a spear and thrust it in its right eye, pritching right into its brain.

He aimed here because of his previous failure to injure the zombie on the back of its head.

*squash*

A creepy, yet weird sound came the moment the branch went inside the brain. If a normal human had seen this, they would have vomited right then. If not, then the sight of the eye falling with a gush of blood following next would surely make them do so.

The blood was about to fall on his body but he jumped back, avoiding contact with it because of what he just felt. He felt a slight danger coming from that blood which alerted him, thus his reaction.

While the blood fell on the grass below, a green screen appeared before him.