"A dimensional portal? It feels like the sudden energy that brought me here. But why are zombies entering this portal?"
Matthew was somewhat surprised. He had expected to encounter survivors or something similar, but what he found exceeded his expectations.
"It's strange. I feel like there's something on the other side drawing me in. It's similar to the feeling I get when I encounter living beings. Are there living beings on the other side?" Matthew considered backing away because he didn't know if there was any way back once he entered the portal, but his question was answered when an arm holding a bloodied mace emerged from the rift.
It was clearly a zombie's arm, and a high-ranking one at that.
Matthew approached, took the arm, and detached it from the mace before stepping back.
He climbed one of the buildings that was still standing and observed a robust zombie, nearly three meters tall, wielding two spiked clubs.
[Ogre Zombie: Rank C+]
The ogre zombie, with its purplish-gray skin, was nearly naked. Its appearance was beyond grotesque and terrifying, and its expression was that of an aggressive creature.
Bang!
The zombie ogre brandished its clubs and crushed and scattered the zombies that stood in its way.
Matthew watched it all as he devoured the fingers of the zombie arm that had emerged from the "space rift."
The moment the zombie ogre entered the "space rift," Matthew decided he would leave the city if the ogre's body rolled away in pieces like the arm Matthew was still devouring.
A little over an hour later, Matthew dusted his hands.
[Host's right arm possesses superior strength and durability]
[Zombie: Rank D+]
[Coins: 9 brains]
"If just devouring one arm got me to Rank D+, that means the zombie that arm belonged to was pretty strong," Matthew thought as he continued watching the parade of low-rank zombies enter the "space rift."
...
When the sun rose, Matthew didn't see any zombies or zombie remains emerge from the portal, which only increased his curiosity.
On his way to the portal, Matthew saw two zombies, one a Rank D and the other a Rank D+, running towards it. They were both fast zombies with elongated limbs.
Without hesitation, Matthew held his spear in his right hand and threw it at the Rank D+ zombie.
The spear pierced the zombie's body, and it was impaled, stuck in the ground.
Matthew quickly climbed down the building, his stainless steel knife in hand.
"Stab!"
Matthew stabbed the zombie's right eye with the knife.
The eye exploded, and a white-grayish liquid dripped onto Matthew's face. He continued to drive the knife in until it reached the zombie's brain, causing its final death. Matthew dragged the long-limbed zombie's body to the safety of one of the buildings and once inside began to devour the disgusting, putrid D+ rank zombie.
"I have to be careful, because there are zombies that attack weaker zombies. I don't want to become rotten meat squashed in some unknown place," Matthew thought as he began to forcefully tear the skin, flesh, and bones from the D+ rank zombie's body with his teeth.
...
Night fell again, nothing changed, the horde of zombies continued to surge, sometimes pushing and shoving, into the "space rift."
[Your joint strength and flexibility have increased slightly]
[The strength of the muscles used while running has increased slightly (click for more details)] Matthew remained in the D+ rank, but his body was quite versatile, adapting to the improvements he gained from devouring zombies.
Matthew lingered in the area, observing for almost two days, but one night he had to hide upon seeing a flying creature 2.36 meters tall and 3.20 meters long. It was a zombie resembling a crow, though to Matthew, this creature, missing black feathers in parts of its body, with sharp teeth in its beak and enormous talons, was more like a mutated zombie with the appearance of a crow.
[Flying Zombie: Rank B-]
[Be careful or you'll end up in pieces]
The flying zombie circled the space rift.
[Zombie: Rank C]
A humanoid zombie, nearly two meters tall and powerfully built, wielded a heavy sword which it dragged along as it headed toward the rift.
Bang!