"Haahhh!!"
Chris swung the crowbar with all his might. There was no technique in his movements, only the raw instinct to survive.
Raven pushed himself up from the ground. His wound slowed him down; he wasn't as agile as before. Yet he gripped the bone in his hand and began to strike at the undead.
Strangely, the undead didn't seem to notice Raven at all.
They didn't even try to dodge his attacks.
At first, Raven didn't realize it. His only thought was to escape from this nightmare and kill every last one of them. So he did just that, screaming in fury, channeling every ounce of strength he had left into crushing them down.
"Ahhhh~!"
Crack! Bang! Thud!
Minutes later, Raven leaned against a wall, breathing heavily, his body screaming for rest.
His clothes were soaked in sweat and blood, his own blood. Looking down, he saw the fabric had turned a deep, dark red.
Fatigue clawed at him. Hours of ceaseless fighting, no proper sleep, no time to rest, and now this battle. He was standing on the edge of collapse.
'This is not good.'
He looked down, towards his wound.
The wound wasn't deep, but leaving it untreated would be a mistake. It wasn't just restricting his movements, it could get infected. And in this environment, where even the air felt poisonous, infection could kill him long before an undead ever would.
Chris stumbled over, just as exhausted. His face twisted with worry and guilt as he examined Raven's wound.
"Are you okay, man?" he asked softly, blaming himself for not acting sooner.
If only he had helped faster, Raven might not be in this state.
"I'm alright."
Despite his pale face and trembling hands, Raven didn't blame Chris.
"I-I'm sorr-"
"Don't be. This is nothing. I'll be fine," Raven interrupted, brushing him off.
He knew this injury could turn fatal, but this wasn't the first time he'd been hurt like this.
"I've had worse," he said with a faint, pained smile. "I won't die from something like this."
But as those words left his lips, the pain that flickered in his eyes wasn't from his body.
'I won't die from this… I can't die from anything. No matter what happens, even if everyone else dies… I always survive. That's how it has always been.'
It was a blessing but at the same time his greatest curse.
He scanned the area. All the undead were down. Yet, something felt off, they hadn't seemed as strong as he expected.
"We dealt with them easily," he muttered, frowning.
"Oh, I used my crafting ability on this crowbar," Chris explained, lifting the bloodied weapon. "Guess that helped."
'Hmm… maybe. But my weapon was crafted by him too. Then why…?'
His gaze drifted to the bone he had tossed aside, and then it hit him.
'The bone…'
He stared at it, realization dawning.
'So they don't see their own as a threat? Maybe because they can't sense properly yet. That's why they didn't react to my attacks.'
The theory made sense. With this knowledge, surviving here might be a little easier, assuming they don't run into something stronger or smarter.
Ding~
[Congratulations, awakener. You have killed 9 red zone undead.]
A familiar chime echoed in Raven's mind. At the same time, Chris received his notification:
[Congratulations, participant. You have killed 5 red zone undead.]
Unlike Raven, Chris couldn't hide his excitement.
"Damn, dude, I killed five of them! Heck yeah. If this keeps up, we might actually survive this place!"
Raven didn't respond. His gut told him survival wouldn't come that easily.
Not when they'd barely lasted two hours before almost dying. A whole month? That would be hell.
"Pick up the star fragments from their heads," Raven instructed calmly.
Chris nodded and began collecting the glowing fragments from the corpses. Meanwhile, Raven forced himself upright, pressing his hand against his wound to stop the bleeding.
'We made so much noise… and no more undead showed up? Have their numbers dropped? There were so many earlier.'
By the time Chris returned, he was holding a small handful of fragments.
"There were fourteen cores. Looks like one core equals four fragments. I'll take five, same as the number of kills I got, thanks to you. Here's your share."
He handed Raven nine cores.
Ding~
[You have received 36 star fragments.]
[Collect 40 more to form a complete star.]
'Forty more, huh? I only had one before. Seems the amount varies based on the type of undead and the zone.'
"Can you walk?" Chris asked, noticing Raven's strained expression.
"I can. Don't worry about me." Raven's voice was firm. "I don't think anyone else is alive nearby. Either they're hiding, or they're gone. The undead seem to have thinned out too. We should take advantage of that and find somewhere safe."
"Yeah… but where? Is there even a safe place left in this world?"
Raven didn't have an answer. But he knew where they might have the best chance.
"I don't know. But for now, let's go somewhere that feels safe. A high place, where the undead can't reach us. That's our best bet."
Chris nodded quickly. "Then how about up there? We can rest and patch you up."
He pointed toward the tallest building nearby.
That was the tallest one nearby, and Raven badly needed a rest right now.
"Alright, let's go there."
***
Thanks for reading.
Also, Thank you Lafy for the golden ticket.