I grabbed another glass and filled it with water. Slowly, I sipped from the first, then drank three more in quick succession. My throat burned from dehydration, but it was nothing compared to the gnawing hunger in my stomach.
I tore open a packet of bread, ripped off a piece, and chewed. Dry, but tolerable. Swallowing, I picked up the glass of eggs, shook it lightly, and gulped it down. The taste was strange, thick, and slimy, but I forced myself to bear it. I needed protein—I hadn't eaten or drunk anything for three days.
Bite of bread. Gulp of eggs. I repeated the process until my stomach no longer screamed at me.
After finishing, I summoned my stats. A translucent blue screen materialized in front of me.
---
[Status Window]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: Zane Somnus
Level: 0 ⟦100 / 1000 EXP⟧
Title: ???
Race: Human
Class: ???
Coins: 200
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
900 more EXP to level up. The goblins I had just killed were Dormant-ranked—the weakest of the F-Grade monsters.
I frowned. If Dormants only gave 50 EXP and 50 Coins each, this grind was going to be hell.
Frustrated, I started testing commands, asking the system about quests, missions—anything to speed things up.
Nothing. No response.
"Damn useless system," I muttered.
Just as I was about to give up, a new screen flickered into existence, listing a hierarchy of F-Rank creatures.
---
F-Rank Monsters
Overlord – 250 EXP / 250 Coins
Tyrant – 200 EXP / 200 Coins
Rampant – 150 EXP / 150 Coins
Awakened – 100 EXP / 100 Coins
Dormant – 50 EXP / 50 Coins
---
I scanned the list.
"So… I really did just kill the weakest ones."
I sighed. 100 EXP. 200 Coins. Nowhere near enough. I either had to kill stronger monsters or grind more Dormants.
Dismissing the screen, I opened my Skills menu.
A small arrow blinked beside [Sleep].
Curious, I tapped it.
---
☾ **[Sleep] (S-Grade) ⟦ Upgrade^ ⟧
[Skill upgrade from S-Grade to SS-Grade requires 1,000,000,000 Coins]
[Yes/No]
---
My heart nearly stopped.
"A billion coins?!"
That was beyond absurd. Impossible—at least for now. But this revealed something crucial. Coins could upgrade skills.
Immediately, I tried another question:
"Can I use coins to increase my stats?"
Silence. No answer.
I ran a hand through my hair. For now, I was on my own.
"Fine. If I had to grind, then so be it."
Suddenly—movement from above.
I tensed.
Impossible. I was supposed to be alone here. Hadn't everyone fled or died when the apocalypse hit three days ago?
The stairs to the second floor weren't connected to the main living space. There was a small side room near the front door with a stairwell leading up.
My grip tightened on the knife, still stained with goblin blood.
"Don't tell me there are more monsters in here…"
I swallowed hard, glancing at the ceiling. The angle was bad—I couldn't see anything.
Cautiously, I called out, "Is anyone there?"
Silence.
Seconds passed.
"I mean no harm. If you can hear me, answer."
Nothing.
Just as I turned away—creak.
My instincts flared. I snapped my knife up, pointing it at the ceiling hole. My body coiled, ready to strike.
Then—a face appeared.
At first, relief flooded me.
"A person?"
But it didn't last.
As the figure leaned closer, my breath caught in my throat.
Half his face was missing. Flesh clawed away, exposing jagged bone. His right eye dangled from its socket, barely hanging by a few strands of tissue. His cheek was torn open, revealing sharp, bloodied teeth.
Bile rose in my throat.
The… thing tried to squeeze through the hole, but it was too small.
Then—snap.
Plop.
The dangling eyeball tore free and dropped onto my bed.
I didn't move.
Recognition flashed in my mind.
"Kevin?"
Lu Qian's boyfriend.
Or at least… he used to be.
The grotesque creature snarled, its mouth twitching unnaturally.
I didn't hesitate.
"Sleep."
The second the word left my lips, the zombie froze.
Its body went limp, like a puppet with its strings cut.
Silence.
Then—
"Hahahaha!"
Laughter burst out of me, wild and uncontrollable.
"This—" I gasped, shaking with laughter, "this is what happens to you, Kevin! Look at you now! This is your fate, and it's all ending in my hands!"
Grinning like a devil, I grabbed a nearby five-meter rope and tied it around the handle of my knife.
"Don't take it to heart, Kevin," I said mockingly.
"Think of this as clearing our debts. Hahaha!"
With a flick of my wrist, I swung the knife in a controlled arc. The blade spun like a pendulum of death.
I hurled it at his face.
Pick!
Miss. The knife lodged into the ceiling.
I sighed and yanked the rope. The blade dislodged and snapped back into my hand.
"Lucky bastard."
I swung again.
Thud!
Another miss. The knife embedded itself into a wooden beam.
My eye twitched.
"Are you dodging on purpose, you undead freak?"
Climbing onto the bed for a better angle, I steadied my breathing.
This time, I wouldn't miss.
"Alright, third time's the charm."
With a sharp flick of my wrist, I let the knife fly.
Schlck!
A satisfying crunch filled the air as steel pierced rotten flesh. The knife sank deep into Kevin's decayed face, skewering his cheek like a kebab.
A grin stretched across my lips as I gave the rope a slight tug, twisting the blade inside the wound.
"Got you now, asshole."
The zombie twitched, still locked in place under the effect of my [Sleep] skill. Its grotesque, half-missing face jerked slightly, but there was no resistance.
"Bet you never thought you'd go out like this, huh?" I sneered.
With one last, vicious yank, the knife tore free, taking a good chunk of his skull with it.
Squelch!
Grayish brain matter oozed out, slopping onto the floor like overcooked oatmeal.
Plop!
Kevin's severed eyeball bounced off the bed, rolling lazily across the bloodstained floor.
Ding!
[You have slain an F-Rank Dormant Monster: Zombie]
<+50 EXP>
<+50 Coins>
I exhaled sharply, wiping the sweat off my brow.
Then, slowly, a smirk curled across my face.
"Hah. That was easier than I thought."
Spinning the bloodied knife on the rope, I started humming to myself.
"Who needs a gun when you've got creativity?"
Then I turned my gaze upward, as if speaking to the heavens.
"Lu Qian," I muttered, my smirk widening into something cruel, something personal.
"Your boyfriend's debt has been cleared."
I chuckled darkly, gripping the rope tighter.
"Now, only you remain."