Increased Difficulty

'I knew it...it really did rise in difficulty.' Cedric mused as he sliced through several zombies at once.

While he hadn't stopped moving as soon as the timer started, Cedric's senses were sharp enough to pay attention to everything that was happening around him. He knows where the zombies are, how far were they from where he was, and how many spawned in clusters.

Since his brain could process multiple thoughts at once, organizing information was a simple task for him. At the same time, the wonders of the 『Tactics』 skill were giving him an absolute edge in his fight against the horde.

Even though the spawn rate of Zombies definitely increased in numbers and lethality, Cedric was able to handle everything coming his way with relative ease. His tactical skills allowed him to minimize his energy expenditure while producing maximum results.

Cedric was like a ghost on the battlefield. Wearing his new equipment, he was like a tiger that had grown wings. It's been nearly 20 minutes since he started his Hell Dive and so far, he was confident that all of his victims fell before even seeing his silhouette.

Since his Body Rating increased, he's exponentially faster than before and that's without leveling up at all. This just further proves the importance of Aptitude Ratings, even more so if there was a way to increase them.

Cedric's title as the "Jr. Undead Slayer" was working in real-time as well. Even though the zombies were braindead, they showed an instinctual reaction against him. He noticed the subtle pause in their movements the moment they spawned, something that only happened this time, and he allowed that to the effect of his title.

Continuing his work, Cedric dashed through the battlefield with grit and vigor. He sliced through zombies, his sword was like a hot knife through butter. He met no resistance at all.

He was in his prime. His Ki thrummed beneath his skin, supplying him with a vigorous flow of energy that supported his activities. The gleam of his sword became the only thing his first few victims saw before they died.

Cedric was admittedly having a fun time tearing through clusters of zombies with relative ease, but he wasn't showing that on his face. He was calm and collected on the outside but he runs hot on the inside.

With his zombie-slaying rate, it's the battlefield that couldn't keep up with him. It could spawn enough zombies to keep him still or even slow him down. Additionally, Cedric hasn't missed so far. Whenever a zombie gets touched by his sword, they will die. He has yet to require a second strike to feel like a zombie.

Cedric was akin to a bulldozer at this point. He demolishes every cluster of zombies he encounters. He couldn't be slowed down or touched at all, he fluttered like a gracious dancer across the battlefield, carrying a lethal grace that proved deadly to all zombies he encountered.

Soon, the Mutated Zombies started appearing. But, so what? For Cedric, that change could hardly be felt. To him, Mutated Zombies are just a tad bit stronger zombies. Against the cold gleam of his sword, they all fall the same.

Of course, he prioritized the Mutated Zombies first. After all, if they're left alone, they could pose a problem to him, but that won't happen if he could get to them before they could do anything, right?

It is truly absurd for someone of his Tier and Level to have this kind of strength, but if one thinks about it, it would start making sense.

People who had the same Aptitude Rating as his could do as much as he could. Of course, that's under the assumption that they have the same skills and dedication that Cedric possesses. In fact, they might even perform better than he could.

It makes Cedric wonder if there were people who discovered this method and are capitalizing on it. This fighting capability was just too out of his world. And the fact that he could still increase his overall strength by leveling up was utterly insane.

Cedric always knew that Superhumans were powerful. He had seen them in action after all. But honestly, the power he possesses currently was something only a Tier 2 or Tier 3 could display. He's Tier 1, for crying out loud. Possessing this kind of capability feels illegal to him, but you certainly won't hear him complaining.

... especially not when faced with this, frankly, unreasonable Mandatory Service.

As he was having fun, Cedric decided to test out his other toys. He threw all types of explosives available to him to see how the zombies reacted to them.

The Incendiary Bombs did their thing, incinerating zombies in large clusters, reducing them to ash in mere seconds after exploding. Smoke bombs obstructed their already dull senses even further, he even saw them mistaking each other as prey. Flashbangs caused permanent blindness to all zombies who had the unfortunate fate of looking at it. It quite literally burned their eyes, causing them a world of pain.

Molotov cocktails produced a similar effect as the Incendiary Bombs did minus the explosion. The difference was that the former's flames spread more than the latter's did.

He also tried Decoys which either produced sound or contained rotten flesh that attracted the zombies' attention. He also tried deadly traps and so on.

Of course, he took a mental note of their reaction towards them because it would naturally affect his decision the next time he shopped for supplies. But of course, the most important aspect of everything was his skills and his main equipment.

His Combat Suit worked wonders. He could feel the special effects applying already the moment the first zombie spawned. The difference was obvious to him since he possessed heightened senses.

Cedric was also fairly certain that he loved his new sword. While it might be longer compared to his Training Sword, that posed no problem to him thanks to his expertise at handling swords.

Even though the 『Fencing』 skill evolved to 『Sword Ki』, that doesn't mean that the effects of the former were lost to him. The former allowed him to basically use all types of swords almost instinctively since he maxed it out. The latter was the budding essence of what Swordsmanship truly was.

With these skills, he didn't face any difficulty transitioning from a regular sword to a longsword. The weight was also not one of his concerns. Hell, if he so desired, he could fight just as well while holding a Collosal Greatsword. That's the type of guarantee that his skills give him, especially when they're maxed out.

Eventually, the first BOSS appeared. And again, Cedric wasn't surprised nor panicked about its arrival. He already knew that he would be facing one ahead of time so he was quite relaxed about it.

Sure, the first Boss was stronger than before, but again, it hardly made any difference for him. Cedric killed it with a single strike aimed at its head.

The horde continued to evolve since then. Increasing the challenge again and again after every 10 minutes. Slowly but surely, Cedric was being forced to reveal his strength to deal with them but that's not surprising at all.

His Ki reserves have grown, and his Sword Ki remained just as sharp even after an extensive period of usage. All in all, Cedric remained fierce as he eliminated all zombies that entered his field of senses with extreme prejudice.

The surprising part occurred at the very end of the run, where he was supposed to face the Final Boss...

Instead of a single Tier 2 Boss like he was expecting, he was met with two Tier 2 Boss; one was a Scavenger Type, and the other was a Brute Type.

It was mildly alarming for him, but not enough to cause panic in him. The Scavenger screeched in ferocity at him while the Brute started throwing large chunks of stones at him.

Still, with how lithe and agile Cedric was, he managed to evade most of their attacks. Some landed on him, but because of his flexibility and 『Tolerance』 he could shake them off. The injuries didn't do much on his equipment either so it's all good.

Since he was facing two Tier 2 Bosses, Cedric didn't dare to hold back. He unleashed every strength he could muster to eliminate them and eventually, he did.

He won and cleared his Mandatory Service for this month. Now, he earned his +1 Clearance Streak. And with his growth, it's to be expected that this count will only increase from this point onwards.

When he returned to reality, only 30 minutes passed as per usual. He unequipped his armor and sat on the bed to assess his earnings.

Cedric killed thousands of zombies in one go, and because their spawn numbers increased, his rewards also increased as well since he killed every single one of them.

He once again received an S-rank rating on his performance which made him giddy. He also received a rounded-up total of 1 million Demon Souls, plus 20 Tier 2 Demon Souls as his reward.

There were no bonuses but that hardly mattered to him. In the end, Cedric retired for the day knowing that he had become a millionaire.

He's truly grateful for his progress...