"No, this is actually perfect." Li Ke smiled, but his smile froze when he looked at the zombies outside the door. It wasn't one or two zombies, but a dense, packed crowd of several dozen.
"Well, it seems we do need to have a serious talk about your mistake later."
Even with dozens of zombies at the door, Li Ke wasn't worried. These zombies weren't like the ones at night with their ferocious speed; they were still shuffling slowly toward them. And most importantly, there was only one way for them to get in—the front door.
"Here they come…" Li Ke took a deep breath. As long as the door held, he would only have to face one zombie at a time. As long as he didn't panic, it wouldn't be a big problem. The main issue was that these American houses were made of wood and weren't very sturdy, so he was a little worried that the door or windows would break.
Just as he was worrying, a zombie's arm burst through the wooden window. Zombie arms appeared all over the room. And unlike zombies in other worlds, the zombies in this world could climb! He had noticed this when the wolf pack was luring the zombies away, but he hadn't expected them to be able to do it even during the slow-moving daytime.
Li Ke watched as the zombies entered through the windows and the door, and the corners of his mouth twitched. "Erina, you take the windows, I'll take the door. If you can't handle it, just yell, and we'll retreat!"
With that, Li Ke rushed over, his axe falling heavily on the skull of a staggering zombie. The fragile, half-rotten skull was easily split open. It was clear that this zombie was not in good condition; its body showed clear signs of decay, and correspondingly, it fell quickly.
Realizing this, Li Ke didn't hesitate. He pulled out his hammer and slammed it on the skull of another zombie, knocking it to the ground and blocking the path of the zombies behind it, causing the one behind to fall as well. Li Ke didn't hesitate. He stepped on the first zombie's skull, pulled out his axe, and split open the skull of the fallen zombie, putting it out of commission for good.
Taking advantage of the moment before the next zombie could get in, Li Ke looked toward Erina's position. He expected her to be hesitant, but what he saw was a shocking sight. Facing a zombie that was trying to climb in, Erina swung her axe with a perfect form and cleanly chopped off its head. Not only that, but she also used a kitchen knife to stab another zombie's neck and sliced it open. Li Ke saw a large amount of blood spray from the zombie's neck, but not a single drop landed on Erina. After that, with a slight flick, the zombie's head lolled to the side, and it lost its ability to move.
Li Ke was stunned for a moment. Her fluid movements, her decisive actions, and her grace—even after chopping off a zombie's head and slicing its throat, not a single drop of blood splattered on her. Li Ke was dumbfounded.
But he quickly reacted, dodging another zombie's lunge and bringing his axe down, shattering the back of its neck, causing a spray of blood to land on him.
Noticing this, Erina Nakiri couldn't help but yell. "What are you looking at! What are you staring for! I'm a chef, after all! Of course I know how to use a knife!"
Right. He was right. Li Ke felt the fatigue in his arms and looked at Erina Nakiri, who was now in a rhythm. She had swung her axe three times in a row, chopping off the heads of three zombies, and she wasn't even out of breath. A thought couldn't help but cross his mind. This girl's… combat power seems to be stronger than mine? Her speed, agility, timing, and precision were all far superior to his. Although it was clear that she was still scared and her mindset hadn't fully changed, her fighting ability was truly a step above his.
"This is really…" Li Ke initially thought it was ridiculous but quickly came to terms with it. Although Erina Nakiri was a rich young lady, a blonde tsundere, and even a picky eater, you couldn't deny one thing. She was a chef. And a very good one at that! Don't let her slender waist, long legs, and large chest fool you. She was a chef who could flip a heavy wok, and her profession was arguably the most proficient at butchering meat with cold weapons! Even a so-called swordsman's grasp of a blade and butchery wasn't as precise as a chef's! A chef, a modern-day master of cold weapons? Li Ke was stunned by his own thought.
Li Ke's mind was running wild, but seeing the zombies getting close to him again, he immediately stopped his stray thoughts and brought his axe down on another zombie's skull. More brains and blood splattered, and Li Ke couldn't help but gasp for air. Even though they were rotting, swinging an axe and a hammer was physically demanding, and he, an injured office worker, didn't have much stamina.
"I can't be outdone!" Li Ke took a moment to catch his breath and then swung his axe again, felling another zombie that had just entered the room. He stretched his arms and then crushed the zombie's head on the ground.
After doing all that, Li Ke suddenly thought of something. He thought to himself again, and the game interface reappeared in his vision. He wanted to see how much experience he got for killing a zombie. The moment the game vision appeared, Li Ke brought his axe down on the next zombie's head. The zombie instantly fell and died, and a string of numbers appeared in the corner of Li Ke's eye.
+1250 EXP.
The experience bar on his item panel also advanced sharply, almost enough to level him up. "So it takes nine zombies to make Erina Nakiri a player? No, the required experience should be reduced because Erina Nakiri hasn't… hmm?"
Li Ke looked toward Erina Nakiri again and was stunned. In just a short time, there were over a dozen heads piled at her feet, and she was still not out of breath. She wasn't even covered in blood. The zombies had some intelligence. They would tear apart their dead companions to get inside. But their intelligence wasn't very high. They would still stick their heads in one by one, trying to climb into the house with their stiff limbs, giving Erina Nakiri an opportunity for one decapitation after another. In fact, because they would tear apart their companions, the window had become an efficient zombie guillotine.
So, how did you get chased by a few zombies before? Li Ke watched the fierce scene and couldn't understand it. With this kind of combat power, let alone zombies, he probably couldn't do anything to her either. "So how can that body have so much strength?" Looking at her slender arms, Li Ke truly couldn't figure it out, but that didn't stop him from continuing to kill the zombies in front of him.
Because Erina Nakiri was constantly clearing out the zombies like a guillotine, the pressure on Li Ke at the door wasn't very high. But unfortunately, the zombies at the door didn't understand the virtue of waiting in line. They frantically pounded on the walls with their arms and circled the house, trying to find a way in. So when Li Ke took down another zombie, an arm with exposed bone suddenly reached in from the side of the door and smashed the already-rotten wooden board, damaging the already-open door even more. But thankfully, it didn't create a complete opening, but it served as a reminder to Li Ke that these houses definitely couldn't be used as shelters. If they really wanted to build a shelter, iron and concrete would be much more reliable.
But… Looking at the zombies charging toward him, Li Ke swung his axe again, splitting open a zombie's skull. "I can't be sure if there are zombies in this world that can dig through concrete walls or are so powerful they can ignore firearms." Li Ke was unsure of this. He was still exploring everything about this world. He had just seen firearms and ammunition for sale at the merchant's place, which meant that firearms and ammunition were not hard to come by here. So the question was, would the game really be without difficulty? Li Ke remained skeptical and continued to swing his axe mechanically.
Then, when another zombie fell, he leveled up. But there was no recovery of stamina or health, let alone a clearing of negative statuses. His body was still tired, sleepy, and hungry. Li Ke had no idea what the purpose of this level up was, and he didn't have the time to care about it right now. As Li Ke and Erina Nakiri continued to swing their axes, the last zombie finally wobbled and fell to the ground. Li Ke and Erina Nakiri finally let out a sigh of relief.
Li Ke's arms were already aching, and he could barely hold anything. He looked at the finally tired Erina Nakiri and the corpses on the floor. "Should we find another place or rest here for a bit?" Erina Nakiri shook her head impatiently. After taking a few breaths, her face suddenly turned pale. The smell of decay and blood made her stomach churn. So she waved her hand and walked outside. During the fight, she hadn't felt anything, but now that it was over, she realized what she had done and how terrible the smell around her was.
Li Ke didn't like it here either. He was just too tired and didn't want to move right now to avoid new dangers. But since Erina Nakiri wanted to rest somewhere else, they might as well go. Li Ke followed Erina Nakiri's lead, but as they were about to exit the house through another door, Erina Nakiri froze. Just as Li Ke was about to ask what was wrong, he saw the door in front of Erina Nakiri open without anyone touching it.
"Oh? You got the system too?" Although he had already expected it, Li Ke still felt a strange feeling when he saw that Erina Nakiri had also gained the system by killing zombies. He felt a sense of relief and a sense of loss at the same time.
"Yes, I got it too, but is this really not a hallucination?" Erina Nakiri looked as if she was questioning reality. The door in front of her kept closing and opening, looking like a haunted scene.
"But this will allow us to survive." Li Ke wanted to rub the young lady's head, but looking at his blood-stained hands, he gave up. "Oh, right, check your character panel to see if you have a 'treated infection' or something. Like opening the door, just press B in your mind." Li Ke reminded Erina Nakiri, and she did as he said.
But after checking her information, she shook her head. "No. Besides 'treated scrape,' 'hunger,' and 'thirst,' I don't have any other statuses."
"Ah, that's…" The corner of Li Ke's mouth twitched. He never expected that Erina Nakiri wasn't infected. "No, she did show symptoms of a fever and dizziness before, which means her immune system was working. So, is my immune system not as good as hers?" This made him speechless, but thinking about it, it made sense. She ate all kinds of nutritious food and exercised regularly, and she even had a secretary who specialized in medicinal cuisine. Meanwhile, he ate takeout every other day, worked overtime in an office all day, and barely saw the sun. It would be strange if her physical condition wasn't better than his!
"Looks like you don't have my problem, Erina." Li Ke was a little helpless. He smiled and opened the door, walking outside.
Erina didn't understand why Li Ke looked so dejected, but she quickly followed him. "You perverted old man! Do you think we'll ever be able to go back?" Erina Nakiri grabbed Li Ke's clothes. Even after chopping off a dozen zombie heads, her hands were still perfectly clean, unlike Li Ke, whose hands were covered in blood and grime.
Li Ke casually wiped his hands with a few pieces of scrap cloth and shook his head. "I don't know. No one knows what the person who threw us here wants. If they're just giving us a trial, maybe we can leave this world after we beat the game. But maybe we'll never be able to leave… And 'perverted old man' is a strange nickname. I'm not old enough for you to call me that!" Li Ke tried to argue, but Erina Nakiri stuck out her cute, pink tongue at him and then immediately pulled it back because of the smell of decay in the air.
"Because you're a pervert! Not only did you strip me naked, but you also did that to that scary female merchant!" Erina Nakiri couldn't help but get angry at the thought of Li Ke grabbing the merchant's chest. But she didn't even know why she was so angry.