A four-legged spider girl

Whoosh, whoosh~ After shooting down the last few zombies with a series of arrows, Ming carefully made his way down the stairs. The staircase was covered in filthy blood, and one misstep could cause a slip.

Four white beams of light contained cards, which he collected into his mind's storage. After making sure there were no living zombies left, he retreated.

[Ding~ Congratulations on leveling up to LV4, gaining +1 in all attributes and 1 free attribute point]

"I leveled up!" Ming rejoiced internally. At that moment, he heard more zombies growl coming from downstairs, getting closer and closer at an alarming speed. Ming looked down the stair railing and saw a zombie crawling up on all fours.

All fours?

Crawling?

"Am I seeing wrong?"

Ming took a closer look and realized that the zombie was using its arms to crawl up like a spider, moving incredibly fast while growling. The zombie's hair was messy, and dressed in a tight black leather outfit that accentuated its curves. Around its neck was a leather collar, dragging a chain that jingled as it moved.

What shocked Ming the most was that the chain was connected to the upper half of a male zombie. The male zombie's hands were tightly wrapped around the chain, with only its head and upper chest remaining. In its other hand, it held a whip wrapped in cowhide.

Holy cow! This scene...

All he wanted to say was, "What kind of bizarre characters live in this building?"

Ming stepped onto a platform, loaded his crossbow, and aimed at the spider-like female zombie. However, she was too fast, and the bolt grazed past her head.

Missed!

Ming held the loaded crossbow, aiming at the female zombie's path.

Fire!

Thwack! The bolt struck the spider-woman squarely in the chest but failed to hit her head.

"Roar!"

The spider-woman zombie let out a roar, standing on a pile of zombie corpses at the bottom of the stairs, baring her teeth at Ming, who was still holding his crossbow.

Then, Ming noticed her eyes were a pale green, utterly different from the grayish-white eyes of other zombies. Had he come across an even more ferocious one?

[Ding~ Random quest triggered. Congratulations on encountering an elite zombie in the Apocalypse game:

[Sadistic Love-Struck Spider-Woman]

[Endurance: 35]

[Strength: 30]

[Agility: 28]

[Spirit: 8]

[Killing her grants 100 experience points and 100 Apocalypse coins. There's no penalty for failing the quest, as you might already be dead by then]

[Accept?]

"Accept!"

Ming didn't hesitate for a moment. With the arrow on the bowstring, there was no turning back. However, the spider-woman's base attributes were relatively high, especially her endurance, which was more than double his own. Was he being impulsive?

Roar! The spider-woman growled at Ming on the upper part of the stairs.

Whoosh~ Ming seized the opportunity when she crouched and didn't move. Without any hesitation, he shot the crossbow. As the bolt flew, the spider-woman tilted her head, dodging the bolt once again.

"Damn it!"

Ming was slightly taken aback. Could she dodge that too?

Are all elite zombies this smart?

Roar!!

The spider-woman roared again, and with a flick of her body, she swung the metal chain around her neck, which dragged the half-zombie man at the end like a meteor hammer, hurling him towards Ming. Her movements were as fluid as water.

Holy crap!!

She could play with a meteor hammer too!

Ming was shocked by the scene and quickly stepped back. The half-zombie man, with teeth and claws, bared, barely missed Ming's nose. Right after, the half-zombie man whipped Ming with his cowhide vine.

Damn, damn, damn!!

It was bad enough that the zombie had the intelligence to use a weapon, but the half-zombie man being used as a meteor hammer could also use one was just absurd!

Roar! The spider-woman pulled back her 'meteor hammer' and continued to crawl up the stairs, growling.

Ming reloaded his crossbow, calculating the distance and firing another bolt at the zombie's head. It was difficult for her to dodge at such close range. However, the spider-woman suddenly leaned against the wall, avoiding the bolt, and continued charging forward, using her 'four limbs' to climb the vertical wall. If Newton were here, he'd have to admit she was terrific.

The bolt missed again, and Ming reached for his quiver only to find it empty. He had been too focused on shooting the spider-woman and hadn't noticed he'd run out of bolts!

At that moment, the spider-woman had already closed the distance and lunged at him like a dog.

Ming sidestepped to the right to avoid her attack and countered with a punch. The spider-woman's 'meteor hammer' struck again quickly, forcing him to withdraw his punch and dodge to the left.

The spider-woman relentlessly pursued, and just in time, Ming's quiver restored a bolt. He immediately loaded it and fired without aiming.

Thud! The bolt hit the spider-woman's chest slightly to the right.

Bang! A knockback effect was triggered.

The spider-woman was knocked back down the stairs and slammed into the wall. Ming took the opportunity to retreat into the fire door, quickly shutting it and locking it with a chain. He leaned against the door, catching his breath. Elite monsters were indeed much more robust than low-level zombies. He had to avoid her for now temporarily.

The main issue was that he was out of bolts in his quiver, and it only restored one bolt per minute. That was barely enough when fighting ordinary zombies, but not enough against this elite monster. What would happen when night officially fell?

Bang! Bang!!

The spider-woman started pounding on the door. However, the fire door opened outward, so her attempts to break in were futile unless she could break the door down. Ming leaned against the door, thinking he could hold her off for a while.

He checked the time: 17:25. Five minutes left until the Apocalypse Trade opened.

Ming weighed his options. He couldn't miss the opening of the trade, but he also had to deal with the ticking time bomb outside.

At that moment, he remembered the four cards he had obtained from killing the zombies earlier. He didn't know what they were, but he hoped they'd be helpful.

Ming quickly checked the cards one by one. The first card was:

[Novice Combat Gloves]

[Vitality +1]

[Agility +1]

"Nice!" Ming tore open the card, revealing a pair of black breathable gloves. To deal with the spider-woman, boosting his attributes was crucial.

After putting on the gloves, he pulled out the second card.

[Novice Combat Cap]

[Vitality +1]

[Spirit +1]

"Surprisingly, it even adds spirit attribute?"

"And the design looks pretty cool."

Ming ripped the card, revealing a black canvas baseball cap, which he put on his head to continue stacking his attributes. Then, he checked the third card:

[Glow Stick: Upon obtaining a glow stick, snap it in half to emit light. The light will last for 10 minutes]

"It's somewhat useful, I guess."

Ming tore open the card, and the glow stick appeared. He threw it into his mental warehouse, but it wasn't helpful for his current situation. Moving on to the fourth card:

[Apocalypse Toilet Paper: Only after using it on your buttocks will you truly understand the meaning of soft as if you haven't used it at all]

"What the hell~."

If it felt like not using anything, what was the difference between that and using his hand?

He rechecked the time: 5:29 PM. The Apocalypse Trade was about to begin, and he hoped the door behind him could hold on a bit longer.