"It's been a week, and all I see are ruins. I also see the power of Mother Nature. The road seems more and more ruined, and it's been several days since I've seen a zombie higher than rank F+. I've started to think that the zombies' rank depends on the location. What I mean is that places with the right conditions probably allow for a greater variety of higher-rank zombies. Shit, who am I talking to?"
Matthew ran a hand through his hair and continued walking under the night sky, in a cold wind that would make him shiver if he weren't a zombie.
A few minutes later, Matthew remembered the flying creature and the Being he'd found in the basement of the building in that city.
With a hand on his chin as he continued walking, his mind wandered once more.
"So, did that city have the right conditions? Or was there somewhere nearby with the right conditions?" Matthew checks the map and sees other paths he didn't choose. At that moment, he thinks that maybe on one of those paths there was a city with survivors or stronger zombies.
"But was that flying creature lurking around because of the Being in that basement?"
Matthew sighed; he knew he couldn't find answers to his questions or hypotheses.
In the end, he could only keep walking.
The sun rose, and Matthew continued walking, encountering only low-ranking zombies. He sometimes glanced around the path and suppressed his urge to leave the road and enter the woods.
Night fell again, the breeze whipping his face. Thanks to the ability he had gained from the elongated-limbed zombie, he was now faster.
Bored with just walking, he decided to run to increase his chances of reaching a new destination.
As he ran, his keen senses detected the presence of beings running around the path.
Matthew gripped his spear and smiled slightly. Finally, something had appeared to alleviate his monotonous journey.
Stab.
The jet-black spear pierced cleanly through a wolf 1.20 meters tall and 2 meters long. Matthew tasted the fresh blood of the E-rank wolf.
Matthew smelled the fresh blood of the E-rank wolf.
If he had been alive, he wouldn't have been able to stop salivating the instant he caught the scent of fresh flesh and blood, but he restrained himself and didn't let his guard down.
Howl!
To his surprise, the wolves retreated.
"They must have thought I was alive. The instant they saw a zombie, they moved away. Their instincts are close to a form of primal reasoning. They must have some instinctive idea of the virus lurking in the zombies' bodies."
Matthew brandished his spear and killed every low-ranking zombie that tried to approach his prey.
Then, he began to devour every delicious piece of flesh and blood, not holding back, and even devoured the skin and fur. By the time the sun rose, Matthew had finished devouring the wolf's entrails, but there were still bones and flesh to eat.
His face and arms reddened with the wolf's blood, Matthew continued to devour the bones, which crunched as he chewed them.
...
Evening had arrived, and Matthew continued on his way, feeling a strange satisfaction he hadn't felt before while eating zombies.
"Perhaps it's similar, but to a greater degree, to what I felt devouring that beetle."
Each hour of the night gave way to another, and suddenly Matthew noticed that the number of zombies was increasing slightly.
"It seems I'm approaching an important place where there are survivors or food sources. Well, it's a possibility."
...
Three days later, under the night sky, Matthew saw hundreds and hundreds of zombies in the surrounding area.
Matthew climbed a tree, and from the top, he saw a ruined city with a few buildings still standing, just a few hours away.
...
Matthew climbed down from the tree, gripped his spear tightly, and walked among the zombies.
There were hundreds upon hundreds of zombies, but he only gained benefits by devouring useful ones, which allowed him to improve, restore, or regenerate the useless parts of his body.
He knew that the system's method was both an advantage and a disadvantage.
On the one hand, if he gained experience by devouring or killing zombies, places like the one he had just found would be a worthy feast.
On the other hand, by devouring just one zombie with better stats, his body improved, as did his rank, which required less effort. But for the moment, he had found it difficult to find more zombies to devour.
Putting aside any thoughts, he concentrated on what he was doing, and almost two hours later, he entered a city teeming with zombies and saw a "space rift" through which the zombies were entering an unknown place.