Through the broken roads and crumbling buildings, five figures sprinted across the street, their destination was gymnasium looming in the distance.
In the front was Seraphine.
Genuinely speaking, holding back her speed was a hell of a lot harder than she had imagined.
Occasionally, she would instinctively burst forward, her legs moving faster than her brain could even register. It felt like her body had a mind of its own.
It was the side effect of dumping a mountain of attribute points into a single stat. Seraphine slightly regretted putting everything into one, but back then the situation had been dire and she hadn't had a choice.
'I guess it will take me some time to get adjusted to this' she thought.
"Se... Sera... Sera! How the hell are you so fast?" Rina panted, gasping for air as she tried her absolute best to keep up.
"I leveled up a little bit," Seraphine replied smoothly.
"That doesn't look like a little though," Rina muttered suspiciously.
"Leave that and tell me how is Jessica's group?" Seraphine diverted the conversation.
"Even though Lisa's condition is terrible, they are at least safe right now," Professor Harin responded from behind, pacing himself. "Jessica and Jasmine wanted to come along, but I told them to stay behind and take care of Lisa."
"Oh, I see," Seraphine nodded slightly, glad to hear the others were safe.
"By the way, you know one thing, Sera?" Rina interrupted with a genuine smile. "Arya and Sylvia are alive. They're a little injured, but they're okay." Relieved smile breaking across her face.
Suddenly, Seraphine froze.
Her boots skidded against the gravel as she stopped dead in her tracks, standing completely stunned in the middle of the road.
"Is... is there a problem, Seraphine?" Professor Harin asked, nearly bumping into her as the group abruptly halted.
"N… no, I… I'm okay. Just leave it. Let's go," Seraphine said quickly, forcing herself to continue running with them.
While running, a violent shiver ran straight down Seraphine's spine. Every ounce of her hard-earned, calm composure vanished in an instant.
And it was now replaced by something else.
Fear.
Not a simple fear of zombies or mutated beasts.
It was the fear of the unknown.
She didn't know what to do. She turned her head to look at Rina, who was now running beside her.
Rina looked very happy, as if she was someone who had reunited with their friends.
Sweat beads flowed down her forehead.
Her heart started to beat faster.
It was not due to running.
It was due to the fear.
'Wh... Who was it then? I... If... If it was not Ariya, then... then just who was it that night?'
She had already suspected deep down that the thing in the dark wasn't Ariya, but having it confirmed like this opened a void of terrifying questions. If it wasn't her classmate, what kind of horrific entity had been mimicking her?
She looked at Rina. Seeing Rina's expression, Seraphine didn't want to remind her of last night.
It was better if Rina had forgotten it.
But can that event even be forgettable?
She gulped her saliva. As she tensed, she looked at her watch.
6:00 PM
A little more time before night falls.
W... Will that thing come again? Seraphine asked in her mind. I... I'd like to think... the... there is no chance that will ever come again, right?
Yet, no matter how much she tried to rationalize it, she couldn't tear the terror out of her chest. It felt as if that entity had planted a deep, poisonous root inside her soul last night, and the approaching dusk was watering it.
"I know what you're thinking about, Sera. I'd have to be a total idiot to forget about last night."
Seraphine's eyes widened in surprise as Rina's quiet voice cut through the sound of their heavy footsteps.
'She knew?' Seraphine looked over, realizing she had drastically underestimated her friend. She had thought Rina was just being blissfully ignorant.
"I was completely stunned when I saw Ariya and Sylvia back there too," Rina continued, her voice dropped to a whisper so the that men wouldn't hear. "I was terrified, just like you, thinking about whatever the hell that thing was. But... you don't have to worry too much. I don't think something like that will happen tonight."
"How are you so sure?" Seraphine blinked, completely thrown off by Rina's sudden wave of confidence.
"I'm not entirely sure," Rina admitted, a small, fragile smile breaking through her tense expression as she tried to mask her own deep-seated fear. "But at least we won't be alone this time. It's better to be scared together in a big group than hiding in the dark by ourselves, right?"
Her words carried both fear and courage.
Seraphine smiled, seeing Rina's attitude. Rina was right. They weren't trapped in a isolated room anymore. They had weapons, skills, and numbers now.
"Then… let's hope nothing happens toni--"
"ZOMBIES!!!"
"ZOMBIES!!!"
"Left side, sir, there are zombies coming!" Dhev screamed, his voice cracked panic.
"Let's run, everybody! Fast!" Professor Harin roared.
The five of them surged forward, feet pounding against the broken road.
But...
But suddenly...
Rina fell.
Crack!
"Ahhhhh! M-my leg!"
Her leg got stuck in between two broken concrete pieces and twisted.
Unfortunately, it was the same leg where her ankle was broken earlier and Seraphine had tied it up.
It was turning to night and it was becoming hard to see where you step.
THUD!
Rina fell flat onto the broken ground.
"Rina!" Seraphine yelled, skidding to a halt.
"Z-zombies! They're coming! Left, left!" Dhev's eyes were wide as he pointed frantically toward the shadows.
"8, 9, 10, 11...? Zombies?" Professor Harin's eyes bulged out at the sheer number. Without hesitating, he stepped in front of the group. "Students, carry Rina and run! I... I will hold them off!"
"Ouch... I... I think my ankle loosened up again," Rina cried out, biting her lip so hard it bled as she tried to pull her foot free.
"Don't worry, don't worry. I'll help. Here, hold onto my hand—try to stand up," Seraphine said quickly, pulling her up and somehow managing to get her on her feet. Rina leaned heavily against her shoulder.
"Grooooakkk, greeekakaakaka"
"Groooaak grekkk."
"grekkk."
"Everyone, please go! I will hold them off somehow!" Professor Harin screamed. He clutched the toy hammer Seraphine had given him, his knuckles turning dead white as he braced his trembling legs.
The zombies were nearing.
There was 1 zombie in the front, and 10 zombies coming in back.
The 10 zombies were a little away.
"W... we will not leave you, sir!" Ravi shouted, stepping up beside the his teacher.
Ravi had taken the Fireball skill and Dhev Static Field.
"Sir, don't worry--we'll help you out!" Ravi shouted, glancing at Dhev with determination.
"D‑Dhev, you slow them down with your skill, and I'll take care of killing them. Everyone, we can do this!"
"Okay! C'mon, we can do it!" Dhev yelled back.
They both encouraged each other.
"You guys..." Professor Harin didn't know what to say, He didn't know whether to feel immensely proud of his students or absolutely terrified for their sanity.
The one zombie in the front was only 20 meters away. Its rotting jaws snapping at the air.
"Everyone calm down, we have time, don't worry!" Ravi declared, completely throwing himself into the role of a battlefield commander.
"Dhev, be ready. I'm gonna cast—"
He froze.
"But… wait.... H..how do I cast?"
Silence fell over the group for a fraction of a second,
O_O--(Dhev)
(⊙ˍ⊙)--(Harin)
◉_◉--(Rina)
(•ˋ _ ˊ•)--(Seraphine)
"Wait, wait! I know, I know! Give me some time, guys!" Ravi panicked, scrambling to find the mental trigger.
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration hit him, and he dropped into a highly specific, deeply familiar stance from his favorite T.V show.
He planted his right leg firmly forward, slid his left leg back, and leaned his torso forward. He brought his wrists together at his hip, cupping his hands into a hollow bowl.
He shut his eyes tightly, concentrating every ounce of his willpower into his palms, desperately imagining a sphere of pure flame.
It first started with a small spark, then it started to form.
Fire!
It was absorbing the air to slowly form the fireball.
Ravi's face lit up with pure joy. To speed up the process and pump himself up, he threw his head back and chanted the most sacred pop-culture mantra known to mankind:
"KAAAAAA... MEEEEE... HAAAAA... MEEEEE..."
The fireball swelled, crackling and hissing until it reached the size of a solid fist.
"HAAAAAAAA!"
Since he couldn't actually shoot a continuous energy beam out of his palms, Ravi simply lunged forward and chucked the fiery sphere like a baseball directly at the sprinting zombie. "Hell yeah! Burn to ash, you bastard!"
Meanwhile, Dhev activated his skill. He somehow understood how to activate it.
Zzzzt! Snap!
A small crackling electric field formed, covering everyone.
The moment the zombie stepped into the electric circle, it instantly slowed down.
The zombie who was running at 1x speed turned into 0.5x speed.
Meanwhile, the fireball slammed dead-center into the lead zombie.
To be precise, it hit the creature's rotting shirt. The flames immediately caught, spreading rapidly across the dry fabric,burning the zombie's skin even more.
But...
wait a minute...
What the hell is fire actually going to do to a zombie?
Nothing!!
Fire hurts humans because our skin is packed with sensory nerves, causing agonizing pain and shock.
But for a zombie, whose internal organs and nervous system are already dead? It didn't feel a damn thing. It was just a regular zombie now, except it happened to be on fire.
"You idiot! Aim for its head, not its clothes! They aren't human, they don't get hurt by burns!" Seraphine shouted, her voice cutting through the panic as she struggled to keep Rina upright.
"What? Wait... What do you mean by that?" Ravi asked.
Seraphine could see the zombie on fire nearing him.
"Zombies don't have sensory nerves like us to feel pain! Either you cut the head off or you burn the brain to ash!" Seraphine yelled back.
"Holy shit…" Ravi's stomach dropped. He had been ignorant, fooled by movies where zombies screamed and writhed in flames.
But this wasn't a movie. This was real life.
The blazing zombie crept closer and closer. Luckily, Dhev's [Static Field] was still active, keeping the monster locked at that sluggish, 0.5x half-speed crawl.
"Ravi, do... do something!" Dhev screamed, sweat pouring down his face as his arms trembled. "I can't hold this field open much longer!"
"Shit, shit, shit! What do I do?! Wait, wait, I'll cast it one more time!" Ravi panicked. This time, there was no badass posing, no sacred chanting. He just smashed his hands together, desperately trying to summon another sphere of flame.
A spark ignited.
"Yes!"
But then dim.
"What!"
Ravi frantically pulled up his status window to check his mana bar.
-----------------
ATTRIBUTES :-
• MANA : 5 (-10)
------------------
He had initially had a mana point of 15, and since he used 10, there was now only 5 left.
At that moment, Ravi...
He understood one thing with brutal clarity.
He had completely...
Fucked up...
"Shit, shit, fuck! What do I do now?!" Ravi shrieked, his voice cracking as he took a frantic step backward. "Dhev! Dhev, do something, that thing is nearing!"
"What the fuck am I supposed to do?!" Dhev screamed back, his teeth gritted as the pale blue electricity crackled around his boots. "I'm holding the field open! You're the one who said you'd kill them all!"
Ravi instantly regretted every single life choice that had led him to this moment.
The pure arrogance he had felt just minutes ago-believing that obtaining an active skill made him a god among mere passive-skill survivors evaporated into thin air.
His ego had completely blinded him, and now it was going to get him killed.
He frantically glanced back at his status window, hoping for a miracle.
-----------------
ATTRIBUTES :-
• MANA : 6 (-9)
------------------
'It only went up by one point?!' The mana recovery speed was way too fucking low.
Panic seized his throat. Everything had spun entirely out of his control.
He had genuinely thought he was some kind of main character, a big shot who was going to conquer the apocalypse.
But now it made him realize: He was nothing but a poor and pathetic prey to be hunted.
But suddenly, something flickered through his vision.
A hammer...
WHACK!
A toy hammer came flying out of nowhere, striking the flaming zombie dead in the face and smashing its skull into an absolute pulp.
It was Professor Harin.
"Huff... Huff..." Professor Harin gasped for air. It had taken quite a lot of stamina out of him for a single swing.
-------------------------
{ [ You have successfully killed and absorbed the Dharma Power of level :1 - 'Zombie Student' ]
[ You have acquired 100 Dharma Power (DP) ] }
-------------------------
"Dh-Dhev, try... try to slow them all down! I will smash them up!" Professor Harin yelled.
The toy hammer was incredibly heavy, completely contradicting its ridiculous name and description, and it was draining his stamina with every second he held it up.
"Seraphine, Ravi, please take Rina and go! We will buy you some time!" Harin shouted, bracing his feet as he readied himself for the next strike.
"Sir… I can only cast one more time. I'm low on mana," Dhev admitted, biting his lip as he struggled to maintain the static field.
'These idiots. Was I seriously trying to form a loyal party with them?' Seraphine thought, letting out a heavy, irritated sigh.
'Seems like I need to step in.'
She had held back until now, deliberately watching to see how capable these so‑called survivors were.
But the truth was clear, they were far weaker than she had hoped.
Then again, she couldn't entirely blame them. She would have been just as pathetic and helpless if she hadn't gotten lucky with her own skills. Plus, she was the one who had handed Ravi that trash fireball skill in the first place.
'Seems like he's starting to regret it.' She thought, looking at his figure, who was standing there like a statue, staring blankly at the approaching horde, completely paralyzed by fear and regret.
He stood frozen, staring helplessly at the others.
"Rina, can you stand here for a few seconds?" Seraphine asked suddenly.
"W-what are you going to do?" Rina asked, her eyes widening with panic. "Are you planning to do another damn sacrifice?!"
"Shut up and just tell me if you can stand or not."
"Mmm…" Rina hummed softly, then nodded.
"Good. I'll be back."
"Wha—"
Seraphine didn't wait for Rina's response as she walked to the front.
"Sir, I'll take care of them. Step back."
Professor Harin tightened his grip on the hammer. "But, student Seraphine, you don't have to-"
"Step back," she said again.
Her voice turned ice cold.
The professor froze instantly.
He took a step back before he realized he'd moved. Every survival instinct in his body told him that crossing her right now would be a catastrophic mistake.
"O…Okay."
And in that moment he remembered that she wasn't just his student.
This was Commander - General Thorne's daughter.
Ravi and Dhev exchanged a look and swallowed hard. The girl who'd been smiling and handing out skill books a minute ago was gone.
From the oncoming darkness, a snarling zombie broke from the pack, launching itself forward aggressively.
"Groooook! Greeeakkk!"
Seraphine's hand drifted to her hip, fingers curling around the hilt.
Shing!
The blade slid free from its sheath.
She took one small step forward.
BOOM!
The ground cracked faintly under her boot as she left.
Wind exploded through the entire area.
Seven meters disappeared in the space of a blink. The first zombie was still reaching for her when her blade was already passing through its neck.
Before anyone could even react...
The zombie's head flew into the air.
Its body remained standing for half a second before collapsing heavily onto the ground.
THUD!
Silence...
One zombie down...
Seraphine didn't even pause to watch it fall. She slowly lifted her gaze. Her cold, predator-like gaze locked onto the remaining nine zombies rushing her position
She exhaled quietly..
Then took three rapid steps.
In a single blink, she reached the center of the swarm.
Her sword rose in a wide, effortless arc and three heads spun into the air instantly, so clean the bodies stayed standing for half a second before they realized.
Blood erupted like fountains from the bodies.
Before the bodies even hit the ground..
Seraphine was already behind another zombie.
Another neck split open.
One zombie desperately lunged toward her from behind, only for Seraphine to duck effortlessly beneath its claws before driving her blade upward through its jaw.
CRACK!
A zombie lunged from her right and she turned into it, pivoting on her heel, letting the momentum carry the blade back across.
Another head rolled across the ground.
The remaining zombies stumbled toward her mindlessly..
Too slow, far too slow.
To them, Seraphine looked less like a human…
One after another, the zombies collapsed.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Within seconds..
The final body hit the ground.
The whole thing took maybe 20 sec seconds, maybe less.
Seraphine calmly flicked the blood off her blade before sliding it back into the sheath.
Click.
For a long moment, nobody said anything.
The three men and Rina stood completely paralyzed, their minds struggling to process the absolute slaughter they had just witnessed.
-------------------------------
{ [ You have successfully killed and absorbed the Dharma Power of level :1 - 'Zombie Student' ]
[ You have successfully killed and absorbed the Dharma Power of level :1 - 'Zombie Student' ]
[ You have successfully killed and absorbed the Dharma Power of level :1 - 'Zombie Student' ]
[ You have successfully killed and absorbed the Dharma Power of level :1 - 'Zombie Student' ]
[ You have successfully killed and absorbed the Dharma Power of level :1 - 'Zombie Student' ]
.
.
.
.
[ You have acquired 3000 Dharma Power (DP) ] }
---------------------------------
"Wh... what... what the fuck just happened here?" Ravi muttered under his breath, his knees shaking so violently he had to grip his own thighs to stay upright.
"What the actual fuck is this?!" Dhev blurted out, his static field completely dissolving as his concentration shattered.
Professor Harin gulped. He'd known Seraphine was strong.
But not this extend.
At this moment, standing over a dozen freshly slaughtered zombies without a single scratch on her, she looked like a superhuman weapon.
But out of everyone, Rina was the one who was truly shocked to her core.
Her friend who once found it difficult to kill a single zombie was now chopping their heads like chickens.
"What are you looking at?"
Seraphine was already in front of Rina.
"Wha... What... Whe... When did you—?" Rina was stunned to the core. A second ago Seraphine was over there. Now she was here, in front of her.
"Ho... How are you so fas--"
"Let's go, everyone," Seraphine said, cutting her off. She slipped an arm under Rina's shoulder, lifting her effortlessly.