Stage 1: A system

The sun had barely risen, but Alex was not deterred. She was determined to overcome the seven unrestrained greater zombies, for that reason, she had been meticulously preparing.

During her fights with the horde, it was a constant struggle. Not only did she have to prevent encirclement, but she also had to ensure she did not get overwhelmed by the sheer number of zombies she was facing at once. Therefore she remained in constant motion, sprinting backwards at the slightest indication of attracting too many zombies and piercing forwards when the inflow of zombies she was facing was inadequate.

While attempting to control the amount of zombies she would fight at once, she realized that the zombies have a range. This range, a certain radius, was constant for all the lesser zombies. The zombies were maddened the moment she entered that radius, not a meter before, whether they could 'see' her or not did not matter, only her distance from them.

With the lesser zombies, she had determined their estimated awareness range through countless tests and visual estimations. For these tests, Alex would kill the countless zombies chasing her except one. The last one would serve as her experimental subject.

She estimated the zombies had a range of approximately two meters. This alert range is what would aid her in facing each of the greater zombies separately.

125: 16: 49

The golden timer still loomed overhead, reminding Alex of each second lost and all the things she had to achieve.

' I'm going to be rich with shards after this.'

With air-splitting speed, she ran across the sands, her target, greater zombies.

The sand particles jumped above the ground, following each step Alex took. The group of twenty-four was a pitiful number compared to the staggering 700 they started the march with.

Perhaps due to their lack of intellect, the remaining zombies showed no concern for their fallen comrades and only got closer to the underground base overnight, most likely stepping over their dead allies.

Alex approached the greater zombie marching at the edge of the group. It had the same disturbing features as the lesser zombies, not considering its arms. Its thin, spindly arms appeared boneless, their length spanned from the shoulders down to the grey ankles. Its piercing talons extended farther than any of its kins', enhancing their undeniable lethality.

Carefully, Alex diminished her speed, before circling them and finding a decent position behind her target. She matched the pace of the lanky zombie far outside of its range.

With measured speed, she approached the moving zombie, successfully attracting solely her target after a few seconds of cautious stalking.

The moment she entered its radius, there was an instantaneous reaction. The greater zombie faced her with a snarl. Unlike the lesser zombies, it did not immediately shorten the distance but swung its arm at her. Its right arm elongated and reached her at an alarming rate. Since she had never once let her guard down, she easily responded to the attack.

She blocked the arm with the flat side of her left wakuzashi, then swiped her right wakuzashi through her foe's halted arm. Her movements were quick, quicker than what the beast could respond to.

It let out a pained shriek, its bleeding arm stained the golden sand as it writhed around in an expression of agony. The creature let out a roar. The madness in its eyes widened with fury. Then it ran at full speed, hoping to destroy the dangerous girl.

The moment it began moving, so did Alex. This zombie was faster than the others but not so much that Alex felt threatened by its speed, as far as she was concerned it was still too slow.

Rather than slowly wear down the zombie, Alex went for a more straightforward approach.

She was now a few inches away from the zombie, having her shimmering blades poised to attack. The zombie realized the threat had already come too close and raised its arms to trap her instead.

Alex had anticipated this retaliation: her previous battles had honed her insight and analytical ability. She took note of each muscle movement and its indication, decoding the next attack before it came.

She responded to the zombie's attempt by raising both her blades and using sheer power to push away the creature's arms. She raised her right foot and kicked the side of the zombie's neck with enough force to send it staggering sideways.

She stabilized her footing, then threw the blade in her right hand right between the creature's eyes. The force behind the blade was enough to push the entire blade through the zombie's head. Even after emerging from the zombie, the blade did not stop and continued to soar through the sky.

Alex ran to the zombie to confirm its death. She dug her hand into the corpse's head through the hole created by her attack. She was pleased to find an iridescent shard in the zombie's forehead.

The lesser zombies did not have any crystals causing Alex to understand that they were quite valuable. The zombie crystals and the disgusting method of using them reminded Alex of the typical zombie apocalypse web novels she and her brother loved. If not for the fact she had not found her brother, she would be enjoying this entire ordeal a lot more.

' What if the reward for qualifying is a system, or mana, or better we're thrown into a fantasy world with a system.'

A faint smile appeared on her lips because of her silly thoughts but quickly vanished, replaced by a stony expression.

' Would be more exciting if I knew where he was… Right, I need to be faster.'

She did not waste any time cleaning the crystal, instead, she placed it in her pocket before heading in the direction her weapon had flown.

Coincidentally, her weapon had flown in the direction of the zombie group, meaning she would not experience too much of a delay looking for her second weapon.