8 Victory
Getting a surge of notifications I dropped the broken knife to the floor and instantly started throwing up.
Nothing could've prepare anyone for such a gruesome encounter.
I was covered in black blood and the stench was unbearable. The dead body of the creature was revolting to look at, as it slowly started turning into dust.
Probably due to the painful merging process impacting my psyche, I only took a few minutes to calm down.
I didn't want to accidentally intake the blood so I momentarily ignored the notifications and rushed to the bathroom to clean my clothes.
Taking off my clothes revealed a large bruise under my chest.
I couldn't do much, so after putting some ice on it that I got from a freezer, I came back, locked the main door, and just fell to the ground.
'Fuck me! This world really did go to shit!..'
As reality started sinking in, I turned my attention to the notifications.
'So I leveled up 3 times... whats with these things..?'
In place of the Infected's body, now laid 3 items.
A bronze card the size of a normal playing card, a small, white stone with some weird writing on it, and 4 gold coins with the letter 'E' inscribed on them.
I was observing the blank bronze card when a description suddenly appeared right next to it.
Item: Bronze Card
Usage: Breaking the card will grant user any Bronze Rank equipment ranging from weapons and armor to potions and medicine.
Then I picked up the stone and surely enough I could also read its description.
Item: Skill Stone
Usage: Eating this stone will allow user to gain the 'Enhanced Hearing' Skill.
- Enhanced Hearing Lv 1 -
User's auditory preception wil increase by x1.5 for 5 minutes
Active Skill
20 MP Required
+ 1 Perception
*This skill has a cooldown period of 2 hours*
( Skill effectiveness and cooldown will improve depending on the skill level )
Without any hesitation I put the white stone in my mouth and swallowed it.
I was covered in black light for a couple of seconds and a confirmation notification popped up right after.
{ Skill ' Enhanced Hearing Lv 1' obtained! }
I then quickly snapped the bronze card in half and after a small explosion of bronze light, a black short sword with a bronze handle and sheath materialized in my hand.
Reading it's description I was beyond happy.
Item: Short Sword (Bronze Rank)
A short sword made with excellent material and craftsmanship. It can easily cut through bones and flesh.
Durability 6/6
+ 5 Strength
+ 1 Agility
'Looks like I haven't used up all my luck afterall! I got the one damn thing I know how to use!'
A few years back I had picked up some techniques for fun. Who would've thought it would help me in such a situation.
Clutching the wapon in one hand I was going to pick the stange coins up when they just... disappeared, but when I looked at my now updated Status screen it made sense.
Name: Kiyoshi Carter (25)
Class: None
Title: None
Level: 4
Next Level: 57.36%
HP: 94/120
MP: 25/25
[ Stats ]
SP: 1
Strength: 21* (16)
Agility: 14* (13)
Intelligence: 13
Vitality: 6
Perception: 8
* Equipment Effect
[ Skills ]
- Coward's Sense Lv 1 ( Passive ) Cooldown: 05:42
- Enhanced Hearing Lv 1 ( Active )
[ Equipment ]
- Short Sword (Bronze Rank)
[ E-Coins: 4 ]
When I focused on the E-Coins icon nothing happened, so I just assumed they would only be of use if my level was high enough.
After some calculations though, I was able to figure out the basics of how gaining a level effected me.
With every level, 1 SP was added to each of my stats except for Vitality, probably because it was harder to advance.
Adding 1 SP to my Vitality would increase my Health limit by 20 and 1 SP to Intelligence would increase my maximum MP by 5.
It was simple but it sucked that I couldn't distribute my Stat Points myself.
I did notice the 1 SP I had gained through the fight and focusing on it revealed that Stat Points that I, myself could assign to my Stats, could only be earned randomly through fights with the Infected.
The stronger the enemy the more the chance and number of Stat Points you could gain.
After some thinking I added my one SP to Vitality boasting my Health Limit to 140HP. I had already gained a good amount of other stats so I thought that this would be for the best.
Taking one last look at my Status I got up, slipped the the sword into its sheath, and picked up the duffel bag.
Standing at the door I paused and looked back to where the infected had died and with a deep breath once more took my first steps outside.
Just to be sure I activated Enhanced Hearing and sprinted towards my house which was 20 min away.
Thankfully I was able to avoid any trouble because of the skill, sometimes nearly avoiding the same kind of infected I had previously encountered.
Unfortunately the skill stopped after 5 minutes and I was left with my wits.
