Zombie King

[Optional Mission 1: Kill Five Zombies. Progress Rate: 1/5]

After stealing the kill for the first zombie, Xiao Lin smiled apologetically at the unlucky person beside him before turning his target to other people. 

Xiao Lin could feel an obvious loss of strength after using the Slashing skill. The muscles in his arms were also slightly sore. He only had 3 Physique points. It was just like what the Smart Computer had warned him about; if he used the skill one more time, he might not even have the strength to wield the dagger. 

Xiao Lin chose to wait silently instead, but he did not waste time. He began observing his next target; he judged the person's true attack power based on how many strikes were needed to kill a zombie. He could not afford to waste the Slashing skill when he could only use it once in a minute. 

After resting for a minute, Xiao Lin's soreness gradually disappeared. As the person next to him raised a sword to slash the zombie, Xiao Lin lifted his dagger and gathered his strength for a short moment. After the person's third strike, Xiao Lin's Slashing skill followed; the blow struck the zombie's head and knocked it down to the ground. 

[Progress Rate: 2/5]

"Sorry, sorry!" Xiao Lin continued staying low-key and apologized. 

The person who had his kill stolen was annoyed, but like Xiao Lin's previous victim, he did not care much for it. He just blamed it on his own luck. 

The situation seemed to be smooth-sailing. The team of over a dozen people was on a roll. Reaping zombies seemed as easy as cutting vegetables to them. Although some of them were accidentally scratched, the zombies were not that strong. They endured the pain, bandaged their injuries hastily, and continued fighting. 

Xiao Lin maintained his method consistently and quietly completed the mission after five minutes. About half of the team had completed the mission by this time. 

The Zombie King had yet to show up, but it did not matter; everyone was confident about completing the mission. Xiao Lin did not stop attacking even after completing the mission, as he realized that he earned 4 Basic Dagger Mastery EXP and 4 Slashing EXP every time he used the Slashing skill. 

[Basic Dagger Mastery LV2: 20/500]

[Slashing LV1: 20/100]

Xiao Lin possessed the passive effect of Academic Genius' two-fold upgrading efficiency; this meant that every time he used the skill, he would be given 2 EXP. It looked like using the skill was more efficient than relying on a normal attack. 

However, the fish that nibbled at every bait would eventually be caught. After nearly everyone had their kills stolen once by Xiao Lin, some of them began to get suspicious. 

"Eh? How did you steal my kill again?"

"Again? He stole your kill as well?" The complaints echoed by many people at once. Soon after that, everyone became suspicious about what was going on. Those who had played games knew that 'killsteal' was a technical term. To do so, one had to have enough attack power; meticulous calculation and observation were secondary. 

"I have 7 Strength points, it's at least twice of what this guy has, but even I had my kills stolen. Twice." 

"That's nothing, I have 11 Strength points, and I had one kill stolen!" 

"Is he doing it on purpose? How could he be so lucky!" 

… 

The more Wang Dalin listened in on the chatter, the angrier he became; he had the urge to charge toward Xiao Lin with his sword. Other people had two kills stolen at most; Xiao Lin was vigilant about not pissing everyone off. However, Wang Dalin had four kills stolen; as a result, he still needed another kill to complete the optional mission. 

It was hard to continue his plan after coming under fire for it. Xiao Lin smiled apologetically in the face of everyone's suspicion and decided to stop what he was doing. He looked at his EXP bar in regret; he was already at 80 EXP. 

Truth be told, everyone was more curious than anything about how Xiao Lin, who had less than 10 total attribute points, managed to steal their kills so precisely and consistently. However, Xiao Lin did not plan on explaining anything. 

Apart from Wang Dalin, everyone else had completed the optional mission. 20 minutes had passed as well, and there were only 10 minutes left to the mission's deadline. There were still plenty of zombies on the field moving toward the group slowly, and everyone was obviously exhausted as well. 

As ordinary people, they reached the limit of their physical strength. Their strength while swinging their weapons was declining as well; this led to the direct consequence of an increase in casualties. Several people were scratched by zombies in a matter of minutes; one of them had a large chunk of flesh torn off directly from their chest cavity. A simple bandage could not stop the bleeding completely. 

At the moment, the person's face was as pale as paper. Using his sword as a crutch to barely support his body, he panted, "Let's go! Time is running out!" 

Everyone agreed. The Zombie King had yet to appear; even if it did, they felt that it was difficult to win with their current state. They preferred to keep the rewards at hand. 

Xiao Lin hesitated a little as he glanced at a straight-faced Gu Xiaoyue. Apart from the first five energy bombs, the girl had been resting; Xiao Lin believed that she was not tired at all. However, was she really going to wait for the Zombie King? He stared at the girl with a confused gaze. 

"F*ck it! You should wait until I complete the mission at least, I still need one more kill!" Wang Dalin was angry; he needed one more kill to complete the mission as he was Xiao Lin's main target for killsteals. 

Everyone ignored him; for one, they did not like his arrogance, and secondly, everyone else was tired. They wanted to conserve their energy to rush to the safe area. There was still quite a distance between the safe area and where they were. 

"Hmph, I'm a man, with 32 attribute points! I don't need you!" Wang Dalin said, glaring at the troublemaker — Xiao Lin. He only walked toward a zombie nearest to him after making sure that Xiao Lin was not following him; he had a little PTSD from Xiao Lin stealing his kills. 

Gu Xiaoyue was still holding back, and Xiao Lin did not plan on waiting for her. Since his Slashing skill could only be used once every minute, he was destined to follow behind others before getting to use his skill. He waved to the girl and said, "Alright, I'm going back." 

Although Wang Dalin had been showing off, he did have the capabilities; his physique was obviously better than everyone else's. He still had the energy to draw his sword before killing the zombie nearest to him swiftly. 

Right after that, the Smart Computer's voice rang in everyone's minds. 

[The number of zombies has been reduced by one third. The condition has been met. Activating the Zombie King.]

"Really?" Xiao Lin was mildly surprised. They guessed it right; the Zombie King would only be activated after enough zombies were killed. However, no one expected that the zombie Wang Dalin killed would trigger this mechanism. 

The field tremored violently as if there was an earthquake. Even the Academic Building, which was assumed to be an absolutely safe area, was affected. Cracks of varying sizes began appearing on the old walls, and the building collapsed slowly. The over 20 people who had been staying inside were forced to escape the building. 

The remaining zombies on the field lost their ability to move and fell onto the ground. The dozen people, who were about to arrive at the safe area, witnessed what happened and grew excited. Everyone turned back after hesitating briefly, while the person who was seriously injured insisted on moving toward the safe area. 

They were still exhausted, but they felt that it was a good opportunity given that the remaining zombies on the field had all disappeared. This meant that their next opponent was only one Zombie King. Combat had given them full confidence; they felt that no matter how strong the Zombie King was, it was possible for them to kill it with their numbers. 

Completing the compulsory mission provided 10 credits and 100 redemption points; completing Optional Mission 1 provided 10 extra credits and 200 redemption points; meanwhile, completing Optional Mission 2 provided 20 extra credits and 500 redemption points. The reward of a zombie king was bigger than the other two missions combined; it was pretty tempting to the team. 

However, Xiao Lin's expression darkened. With the Academic Building's collapse, the 20 people who were hiding in there were now forced to join the fight. There were now more than 30 of them, but there was only one opponent. 

30 VS 1!

Although they looked like they had strength in numbers, this also meant that the mission assumed the Zombie King was as strong as all of them combined. No, the Zombie King could be stronger than that! 

A big crack appeared in the middle of the field before a rotten arm thrust from the ground. The final target of the mission -- the Zombie King -- finally showed itself. 

The Zombie King was about twice as tall as a normal one, and there were more rotten pieces of meat and dark red accumulated all over its body. The hanging flesh stuck together, making the Zombie King look extremely lean. Its blood-shot eyes looked around before locking its gaze on Wang Dalin. 

Wang Dalin was nearest to where the Zombie King was — there were merely two meters between them. He picked up his sword and charged toward the Zombie King to slash at its right leg. He aimed to make this thing lose its ability to move. 

Bang! 

Xiao Lin heard the sound of a metallic collision from not far away. He frowned and took a few steps back subconsciously. He sensed that the Zombie King might be harder to beat than he imagined. 

Wang Dalin's strike was on target, but his sword was not even an inch deep into the Zombie King's calf. It was as if his sword had connected with a metal beam; it was impossible for his sword to go deeper. 

The Zombie King waved its arm suddenly and smacked Wang Dalin seven or eight meters away. Wang Dalin got up fast, but his face was smashed. He wobbled a few steps, mumbled something as blood bubbled from his mouth, and fell backward. Although he had only passed out, he was not waking up anytime soon. 

Everyone who was about to charge toward the Zombie King stopped in their tracks; the Zombie King's attack power was higher than they expected. They could not help but hesitate with their decision, but the Zombie King did not give them much time to think. After a low growl, the Zombie King rushed toward the dozen people nearest to him.

They were the 10 who turned back from the safe area. After seeing the Zombie King making them its first targets, they froze. A scream could be heard nearby. "Stop daydreaming! The Zombie King should be on a random attack mechanism; it'll make the nearest person its first target!" 

Xiao Lin had warned them, but they realized something was off; if the Zombie King attacked anything nearest to it, Xiao Lin would be second after Wang Dalin.

As they looked closer, they realized Xiao Lin had quietly retreated to a further location. They were now nearest to the Zombie King. 

One other difference the Zombie King had from the ordinary zombies was that it would chase the crowd, and its speed was not inferior to theirs. In order words, even if they turned around and ran toward the safe area right now, the Zombie King was likely to catch up. 

They had no choice but to bite the bullet. They got in formation to face the Zombie King.