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After spending several hours honing his skills with the hatchet, Shane was eager to put it to the test in a real combat scenario. 

'I wonder how easy it will be with this Exceptional Hatchet.' Shane mused with a grin on his face as he was no longer worried about having his hatchet stuck in the bone or flesh of the Zombie.

He felt a lot more confident with such a great weapon in his hands.

The Runner Zombie, seemingly unaware of his presence, appeared to be resting inside the dilapidated peasant's house.

After taking a deep breath, Shane cautiously approached the Zombie. 

However, it seemed to possess an uncanny awareness, suddenly pivoting to face him as if it had eyes in the back of its head. 

'Does it have Perception stat as well? I'm sure I'm barely making any sound…' Shane thought as he realized that sneaking a surprise attack on these zombies was a lot harder than he expected.

With a guttural growl, the Runner Zombie detected Shane's presence and swiftly charged towards him!

Undeterred, Shane steadied his grip on the hatchet, focusing on the figure that was approaching him.

He wasn't looking at its face since he didn't want to succumb to revulsion at the sight of the decaying creature's visage. Even if he had gotten used to their face, it didn't mean he liked seeing their rotten faces!

As the Runner Zombie lunged at him, Shane swiftly sidestepped the attack, seizing the opportunity to swing his hatchet with precision.

This was the same move he had made when dealing with Runner Zombies since they have terrible agility and could only move in a straight line. Being unable to change direction when running was their biggest weakness.

Bam!

The blade cleaved through the air, finding its mark as it landed a powerful blow on the Zombie's neck, severing its head from its decaying body. 

With a final, agonized groan, the Runner Zombie collapsed to the ground, defeated by Shane's swift and decisive strike. 

He didn't even have to use his hatchet's special effect to kill it.

[ You have eliminated a Runner Zombie. ]

'As expected, sidestepping works really well against a Runner Zombie.' Shane muttered to himself as he looted the zombie.

[ Do you want to retrieve the loot? ] 

"Yes."

[ You have earned 5 Experience Points. ] 

[ Loots obtained: 1 Item Upgrade Crystal, 1 Zombie Core, 500mL water, 100mL Runner Zombie Blood, 1 Spirit Enhancement Bottle ]

There were no changes to the loot he obtained, and Shane was thankful for that. 

After a few moments, Shane found another target; they were the Crawler Zombies, and they seemed to have heard the commotion and were slowly crawling to his location. 

Shane felt more confident since the strongest of them all, the Runner Zombie, was no more. 

He just had to be patient and ensure not to get too close to the zombies… After all, he doesn't have a helmet or gloves yet. He could still be infected by the virus if he gets scratched or bitten by them. 

He couldn't play around while fighting, so he spent 20 more minutes hunting all the zombies around his estate. 

[ Inventory: Memory Spherex25, 12 Item Upgrade Crystals, 14 Zombie Cores, 300mL Crawler Zombie Blood, 200mL Walker Zombie Blood, 100mL Runner Zombie Blood, 18L water, 1 Experience Potion, 6 Spirit Enhancement Bottle ] 

Shane felt satisfied after seeing this result as he returned to his shelter.

Now that his gears and weapons had been upgraded, it was time to upgrade his shelter.

At the very least, he wanted to upgrade his tent or even his sleeping bag for added comfort and security.

Without hesitation, Shane started with the tent that was already set up inside the small house.

[ Upgrade Successful ] 

[ Common Tent has been upgraded to Uncommon Tent. ]

[ Item Description is now available on the specific item. ]

Shane then checked the description, and only the durability and air freshening effect was added. It wasn't that impressive at all.

With this in mind, he used two more crystals to upgrade it again.

[ Upgrade Successful ] 

[ Uncommon Tent has been upgraded to Rare Tent. ]

[ Tent ( Rare ): A sturdy and spacious tent that can provide shelter and comfort for the user. It is made of durable fabric and reinforced with metal poles, and has several windows and vents for ventilation. It can be used by a survivor to have better sleep, and to store some items inside. It also provides some resistance to weather and zombie attacks, reducing the damage and noise effect. ] 

It was still not the effect he was looking for, but he knew that he was getting there. 

He believed that once he upgraded this tent to an Exceptional Grade, he would get what he wanted.

Unfortunately, he only has 9 Item Upgrade Crystals left in his Inventory. 

'Maybe tomorrow…' Shane thought.

As Shane considered having dinner before sleeping, he recalled checking the Chat Function.

[ Regional Chat ] 

Chat Limit: 10

Online: 2/99,840

"Oh?! Finally…" Shane's eyes lit up after seeing another person being online. However, he also noticed that the 100,000 limit had changed to 99,840!

'Does it mean that 160 people died during this time?' 

Shane sighed after realizing what had happened over the past few hours. Then, he checked the message board.

[ Raze: Hello! I thought I was the first to reach level 2 since I dared to venture out of my safety zone. Did you also get an Epic-Grade talent? No, maybe even higher? ]