With his sword in hand, Mathew waited.
The three zombies lunged at the dogs, but the dogs ignored them.
"Cut!"
"Rotten blood!"
The head of one of the zombies rolled, and after decapitating one of his own, Matthew stabbed the E+ rank zombie dog.
A fragment of the "bone sword" remained inside the body of the zombie dog, which fell under Matthew's control.
Matthew repeated the process.
Finally, under the increasingly dark sky, Matthew devoured the fourth dog he couldn't control.
Now, Matthew continued walking around as the E rank dogs entered the ruined residences.
...
Sitting on a wall, Matthew simply observed what the dogs were noticing.
Thunder!
"Looks like it's going to rain soon," Matthew thought as he gazed at the cloudy sky in the distance, and for some reason, he felt drawn to whatever was in that direction.
...
Two days later, Matthew continued his journey, this time entering a nearly wooded area.
Run!
Under the sunlight filtering through the treetops, the three dogs chased a live bear, following Matthew's commands.
Since the bear was a normal animal, despite its appearance, it was at most as strong as an F-rank zombie, and now it was being pursued by an E+ rank dog, an E rank dog, and a third E- rank dog. The bear had decided to escape almost instinctively upon seeing the three dogs, each nearly 1.58 meters tall and 2.99 meters long.
Roar!
The bear roared as one of the zombie dogs lunged for its throat, and the other two bit its front paws, causing it to fall. At that moment, Matthew didn't wait any longer; he jumped and plunged a bone sword into the bear's head.
Then the four ate the bear they had hunted until they were drenched in fresh blood and temporarily satiated with the bear's flesh and entrails.
...
A few days passed under a nearly clear sky, and upon leaving the forest, they reached the banks of a river where the imposing metal structure of a bridge was clearly visible.
"If I hadn't become a zombie, I'd surely feel a chill at the sight of the bridge and think about swimming across," Matthew shook his head and sent the zombie dogs ahead to cross the bridge, which, despite being covered in vines and some vegetation, still retained its solid and stable structure.
...
After crossing the bridge, they followed the dilapidated path toward an uncertain destination.
...
The sun had just risen, and zombie dogs roamed the area.
Matthew was putting one of two beetles he had caught into his mouth.
"It's clear that the number of zombies has decreased due to the vastness of the territory, but what strikes me is that most of the zombies I've seen are F+ rank. Before, whenever I moved away from a zombie-infested area, the number of zombies would decrease and then start to increase as I approached another place with a higher concentration of zombies, but in this case, now that I'm only seeing F+ rank zombies, I think the next populated area might be relatively dangerous." Matthew stopped after thinking for a moment.
He looked at the sides of the road.
"I think I'll dedicate myself to hunting live animals until I get the 'monster' pill." Matthew brought the second, still-moving beetle to his mouth. Bite! The beetle burst in Matthew's mouth, and then he swallowed the entrails and the rest of the insect.
...
Un ciervo corría inútilmente, cada vez más cansado, y Matthew dejó que los perros zombi lo persiguieran, cortando cualquier posibilidad de escape hacia la maleza o los árboles.
Caería la noche en unas horas; Matthew había esperado varios días, y ahora solo faltaba un día para conseguir la pastilla, así que estaba más que tranquilo.
"¡Salta!"
Uno de los perros saltó al cuello del ciervo, que ya no tenía fuerzas para correr.
Sangre fresca y caliente brotó del cuello del animal mientras exhalaba lentamente su último aliento, convirtiéndose en el plato principal para Matthew y sus perros zombi.
...
Sitting among the weeds, Matthew patiently waited for the moment he could buy the "monster" pill.
Zombie dogs patrolled the surrounding area.
At that moment, it began to rain. The night sky was overcast, but the rain wasn't heavy, so Matthew paid it no mind.
He closed his eyes and let the cold rain wash over him, and although he remembered his days before appearing in this terrifying world, he could only attribute his apathy to the fact that he was a zombie.
"I'd say that remembering is a reflection of nostalgia. Something that would make a human heart beat," he said, putting into words the feelings his body didn't reflect.
When the sun rose again and the rain had stopped, when the sun was at its zenith, Matthew stood up.
Soon he would return to the road to continue moving toward the uncertain future. Because only by rising in rank could he improve his current situation.