As he walked down the dormitory corridor, Andrew's nerves were taut, and his muscles slightly sore from the tension.
Since it was Saturday, most of the guys in the dorm had gone out to enjoy the evening. Many of them could afford to have fun in their free time because their families supported them financially. Unfortunately, Andrew's life was not nearly as fortunate.
The combined income of his father and mother was enough to cover tuition for only one of them: Andrew or Anna. For this reason, Andrew categorically refused to accept money from his parents and began earning it himself to attend university. This way, his parents' money could be used for his younger sister. Although the situation was difficult at first, things improved thanks to his efforts, and he managed to enroll at New York University, which covers tuition for students from families earning less than $100,000. There were not many options for a low-income family.
Brunilde, who had been following him step by step, suddenly said in a casual voice, "How about using the four free status points you have?"
Andrew didn't turn around and shook his head in response. "No. If I use them carelessly now, I might regret it later. Right now, I don't know which attribute could save my life in a critical moment, and a sudden impulse might be my only hope."
Brunilde was silent for a few seconds before nodding in understanding. She bit her lip as she looked at him and said, "I like you more and more~"
Andrew's breath became slightly heavier when he heard that alluring tone, and it took all his willpower not to turn around and tear the clothes off the woman behind him. Something told him that if he tried such a thing, he would probably be killed.
Moreover, although she seemed to be guiding him with advice, Andrew was naturally cautious. Therefore, he remained slightly wary of Brunilde.
Suddenly, three zombies appeared at the end of the corridor: two male and one female, staggering toward him. Although these creatures seemed like they might collapse at any moment, their steps were steady as they walked slowly but inexorably.
Andrew focused, clearing his mind of thoughts about Brunilde, and quickly calmed himself in the face of the three threats. He knew that losing control of his emotions at such a critical moment could cost him his life.
Brunilde watched him with a smile. She was genuinely curious to see how he would handle the situation.
At the moment, there were no traps or other resources nearby. Andrew could have gone back to his room and used the corpses of the zombies he had killed earlier, but that would have exposed him to more zombies coming out of locked rooms, hearing the constant banging. At this rate, many more zombies would soon appear and block the way out.
Andrew took a deep breath and advanced slowly, observing the zombies' movements. They moved very slowly, but that did not make them any less terrifying, and from what Andrew had seen so far, even a scratch meant death.
He tried to use his Fire Manipulation skill directly, only to discover with dismay that it seemed ineffective against these zombies.
Brunilde felt the flow of mana and quickly explained, "Even though your skill is really strong, dead creatures are practically your enemy in the early stages, because these zombies feel no pain. Try to heat their bodies internally and guide the heat to their eyes!"
Andrew's eyes flashed as he quickly understood what the succubus behind him meant. With a thought, he spent fifteen mana points to intensify the internal heat of the zombies' bodies and directed it toward their eyes.
The results were immediate.
The eyes of the three zombies exploded from the heat, and smoke began to pour out from their sockets. Andrew did not miss the opportunity and spent another thirty mana points to create three fiery arrows from the residual heat, killing the three zombies simultaneously.
[You have acquired Soul Power of Zombie Level 3.]
[You have acquired Soul Power of Zombie Level 3.]
[You have acquired Soul Power of Zombie Level 3.]
[You have reached Level 3. You get 2 status points to distribute freely.]
Andrew had killed another two zombies after reaching Level 2 in his room, one of which was Level 4. With the accumulation of three other Level 3 zombies, he leveled up again.
The only regret was that he could not acquire any benefits from these Level 3 zombies other than experience.
Every time Andrew leveled up, his stats were immediately restored to their maximum. In short, even though he had spent 20 mana points in his room and another 45 just now to defeat the zombies, his mana recovered thanks to the level-up.
After a moment of thought, Andrew concentrated his [Fire Manipulation] to create small chains of flames, temporarily immobilizing the zombies. Taking advantage of that brief moment, he approached and stabbed the zombies' brains with the mutated bee stinger.
So far, Andrew had killed a total of 33 zombies since leaving his room.
A thin chain of fire slid silently across the floor, catching one of the zombies' legs, making it almost fall and stopping it in place.
Using his 13 points of agility, which made him nearly 50% faster than a normal person before the apocalypse, Andrew quickly circled around and stabbed the zombie in the back of the head, bringing the total to 34.
[You have acquired Soul Power of Zombie Level 4.]
[You have reached Level 5. You get 2 status points to distribute freely.]
Reading the green message flashing on his retina, Andrew let out a sigh of relief. To climb from Level 4 to Level 5, he had to kill about sixteen zombies, which drained his stamina and mana considerably.
Upon reaching the first floor, Andrew stopped and stared in shock at the zombie blocking his path.
This zombie had two grotesque, powerful arms the size of an adult man's thighs. It was also at least two meters tall.
Obviously, this was a far more dangerous species.
The hulking zombie sensed Andrew's life force less than five meters away and moved toward him.
Although this particular zombie was slower than Andrew, it was at least twice as fast as normal zombies. Taken by surprise, Andrew quickly moved his head to the side, narrowly avoiding the zombie's punch.
Bang!
The zombie's fist punched a hole in the wall behind Andrew, and his face turned pale as he realized that if the attack had hit him, his head would have exploded like a watermelon dropped from the tenth floor.
In the moment of crisis, Andrew kicked forward with his 14 strength points, pushing the burly zombie back a few steps.
Before the zombie could attack again, Andrew released a wave of [Fire Manipulation], creating four robust chains of flames.
Under his control, the fire chains tightly wrapped around the zombie's body, throwing it to the ground.
Seeing his opponent immobilized, Andrew advanced and stabbed with the mutated bee stinger. To his surprise, the stinger penetrated only a few centimeters into the zombie's flesh.
The strange zombie struggled to break free, but the chains of fire held it tightly.
Andrew did not dare relax and continued stabbing in the same spot repeatedly. Only after about fifteen strikes, using all his strength, did he finally crush the zombie's brain, reducing it to a smoking, bloody mess.
[You have acquired Soul Power from Level 15 Zombie. Strength +6, Health +5.]
[You have reached Level 6...]
[You have reached Level 7...]
[You have reached Level 8. You get 2 status points to distribute freely.]
Andrew felt his body grow much stronger in just a few seconds, and all fatigue from stabbing with full force vanished completely.
"Ah! What's this?" Andrew advanced and picked up a sphere that had fallen from the Level 15 Zombie's corpse.
[Treasure Sphere: contains a rare-category treasure inside.]