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*****
After 30 minutes, the streets were calm again. Silent. The only sound was the faint crackle of burning flesh and the soft drip of blood pooling across cracked asphalt.
The road wasn't empty, though—now it was littered with heaps of broken corpses, a grotesque carpet of bodies piled on top of one another.
Well, the zombies were dead. Completely wiped out.
Luke stretched his arms overhead, joints popping, and glanced around at the carnage. The smell of gunpowder still clung to the air, mingling with the metallic stench of blood.
He had stocked up plenty of magazines for Selene's pistols back in the Hell's Kitchen black market, and with his own magic being essentially limitless, there was no way those walking corpses stood a chance.
Each kill gave 400 EXP, and by the time the last head rolled into the gutter, they'd cleared almost 500—maybe more.
Out of those, Selene had killed nearly 400 herself. Luke had deliberately stepped back during the fight, letting her take most of the kills. She needed the levels more than he did. Bigger threats were waiting out there in this world, and she had to be ready.
In just half an hour, Selene had gone from level 3 to level 12. An absurd jump, but one she had earned.
"Luke," Selene said as they walked down the narrow alley, her pistols cooling in their holsters, "these zombies aren't as dangerous as you said." Luke smirked, tossing a flicker of flame from one hand to the other like it was a toy.
"Selene, I said they're dangerous for normal people. Do we look normal to you? You're a vampire who can headshot faster than they can blink, and I'm a mage. To us, they're weak." He gave the nearest corpse a casual glance and shrugged.
"If anything, it's the zombies who should be afraid of us." Selene considered that for a moment. She knew he wasn't wrong. Still, without her guns, even she would struggle if she were truly swarmed by hundreds.
"Then…" Selene asked, her voice steady but curious, "isn't this world already walking the path of destruction?"
Her words carried no fear, just observation. She could already imagine it—streets overrun, cities collapsing, entire populations reduced to prey. No normal human could stand against such a plague.
This wasn't a battle that could be won with soldiers and barricades. It was the kind of infection that swept through nations like wildfire. Once it spread far enough, there would be no stopping it.
Luke's grin faded into something sharper, more calculating. "Yep. It's already crumbling. That's exactly why we should take advantage of it." His tone wasn't flippant—it was cold, pragmatic.
As he was talking, Luke's eyes flickered over the long list of classes that popped up for Selene.
There were way too many options, half of which he had never even designed himself. He knew the standard set — warrior, rogue, mage, archer, the usual suspects.
Easy, predictable, balanced. But for vampires? The system seemed to have pulled a "surprise DLC expansion pack" out of nowhere.
Some classes sounded edgy, some absurd. One option even had the word "Bloodlusted Accountant" in the title.
Luke had no clue if that was a typo or if the system was just trolling him. "Yeah, Selene balancing tax ledgers in the shadows… real threatening," he muttered.
After skimming through the nonsense, one finally caught his eye.
Unlike the others, it didn't scream edgy try-hard or system bug. It felt… clean, practical, and honestly matched Selene's vibe. There was a steady pull to it, like a gut instinct whispering this one fits. He felt some good vibes from it, so he selected it.
[Class: Night Stalker]
The moment he confirmed, the interface rippled. Words shifted across the glowing panel.
A new line appeared.
[Trait: Silent Predator]
Effect: Footsteps, breathing, and even the heartbeat are unnaturally muffled. Movements blend seamlessly with ambient sounds, making it seem as though the predator simply melts into darkness itself.
Luke blinked twice. Then leaned forward, eyes narrowing.
"…Ugh… are you kidding me?"
His thoughts ran hot. This was supposed to be a basic class. Since when did basic classes unlock traits right out of the gate? That was Unique-tier stuff.
Hell, even his own Combat Mage class — which was already absurdly broken for a "basic" — didn't hand out freebies like this.
This wasn't just good. This was busted. The kind of busted that made balance testers cry and scream into their keyboards. It was practically identical to something he remembered designing for the late-game Shadow Assassin unique class.
Luke let out a half-laugh, half-sigh, rubbing his forehead. "...Yeah, sure, why not. Balance is for nerds anyway."
---
[Name: Selene]
[Race: Vampire]
[Level: 12]
[Class: Night Stalker]
[HP: 1100 / 1100]
[MP: 150 / 150]
[Stamina: 470 / 470]
[Strength: 65]
[Agility: 70]
[Endurance: 67]
[Intelligence: 8]
[Wisdom: 7]
[Luck: 25]
[Unallocated Stat Points: 24]
[Unallocated Skill Points: 12]
[Traits: Minor Regeneration, Pseudo Immortality, Silent Predator]
[Skills: Gun Mastery, Close Combat Mastery]
---
Luke studied the panel carefully. Ignoring her Physical stats which are higher than him , he focused on the skill tree.
With twelve skill points ready to spend, Luke started unlocking abilities. Compared to his Combat Mage tree with multiple branches and endless decision paralysis, this was refreshingly straightforward. Just one path. No overthinking.
One by one, notifications popped:
[Shadow Step Unlocked] – Blink through shadows, appearing instantly at a nearby spot.
[Fangs of Night Unlocked] – Summon a giant jaws of darkness that crushes anything in its bite.
[Body Replacement Unlocked] – Swap yourself with a shadow dummy to evade lethal attacks.
[Shadow Bindings Unlocked] – Conjure shadow chains to hold enemies in place.
[Dark Bullets Unlocked] – Condense shadow energy into bullets.
[Veil of Shadows Unlocked] – Envelop enemies in darkness, stripping them of all five senses.
When the last line appeared, Luke just stood there staring at the text like it had personally insulted him.
'…What the hell… who the fuck coded this tree?'
The realization hit him: Not him. The system had clearly gone off-script, handing out skills like Oprah giving away free cars.
Holy fuck… this isn't even balanced anymore. If Selene decided to use these on him, he would be six feet under before he could blink. Actually, scratch that — he wouldn't even blink, because she could literally take his senses away.
Veil of Shadows? That wasn't a skill. That was a war crime. Losing all five senses in combat was basically an instant "you're screwed" button.
Shadow Step? She could teleport short distances, meaning there was officially no such thing as "safe range."
Shadow Bindings? Forget running. And then Fangs of Night — a giant mouth coming out of the floor to eat you alive. Just chef's kiss nightmare fuel.
And Body Replacement? That was basically a one-time "nope" card. Like hitting the undo button on death.
Luke pinched the bridge of his nose, half laughing, half exasperated.
'Sure. Totally fine. Nothing broken at all. Selene officially went from Death Dealer to Death Hacker. She doesn't even need guns anymore — this skill set alone is enough to make John Wick cry in the corner.'
She is now on a whole other level. .