"Impossible..."
Marcus didn't want to look at the creature anymore. His eyes were hurting.
"Let's go, I want to complete this quest.
"What quests do you have?" William asked curiously, wanting to know if the quests were the same for everyone or different.
"One hundred zombies, two special zombies, and one..." Marcus frowned. "There's also a hidden zombie quest."
When William heard this, his nerves were on edge. He looked around carefully but couldn't find anything.
"A hidden zombie? But if it's hidden, how are we going to find it?" William smiled. Still, he remained alert.
An attack from a zombie that could hide in a difficult situation could be deadly.
"How about we do the special zombie quests?" William asked, glancing at Marcus. They had already killed one.
"Sure, but you got the last kill, so it's my turn."
William nodded in response to Marcus' words.
Although the system worked like a game, there was no party system yet. Therefore, every kill and every experience gained was individual.
Since William had delivered the final blow, he had received the rewards for the special zombie.
There were no items, but it was a nice exp contribution.
William finally completed level ten that day. In addition, by completing both Marcus's and William's quests together, he also received a rare item reward.
[Large Hammer (Rare) Lv9]
[Strength +10%, Speed -5%]
"William took out the hammer and handed it to Marcus. I think this is more suitable for you."
William had no intention of using the hammer. Plus, it was very heavy. The speed loss effect while using it wasn't a joke either.
Marcus took the hammer with a slight look of surprise and thanked him. He then looked at his own reward.
"I won't give this to you."
A helmet appeared in his hand. It was a classic, medieval helmet, but it was much stronger than it looked.
[Flat Helmet Lv9 (Rare)]
[Physical Defense +10%, Line of Sight -10%]
Marcus put the helmet on his head.
When William saw this, he said, "It's okay. I don't want it."
Then he chuckled softly. "You look even worse than before."
"Hmpf!" Marcus breathed like an angry bull but said nothing. Then they broke the keys together and went outside.
That day, they secured a small neighborhood and quickly surrounded it.
The next morning, Marcus and his team set out.
William and Pete went out to clear the zombies around them, while the rest of them set their sights on a building. It was an old, three-star hotel, but it had enough rooms and living space. The only problem was that there was no water. It was impossible to connect to the water supply here because they couldn't dig a well like they had at the shelter.
As a solution, they found a few water tanks. William spent a few thousand sc to fill the water tanks.
Then they had to demolish the surrounding buildings. They didn't want those buildings to fill with zombies and catch the people here unprepared.
Demolishing the buildings took a whole day, even with a few strong people. Then there was the rubble to clear away.
They spent three days cleaning up the area, but in the end it was worth it.
Now there was only one building left in front of the monolith. There were no other buildings within a hundred meters. This hundred-meter radius was surrounded by barbed wire, and there were metal gate on both the west and east sides. The metal gates were makeshift, but they did the job.
On the second day, Marcus and his team returned, and William saw the rescued people. According to Marcus, all of these people had been gathered for the party. It was clear that they were all rich snobs, but now they had nothing left. They had run out of food three days ago, and the brave ones among them had gone to the city and never returned.
William didn't care about these people. From this day on, they had to work.
After William and Pete finished converting the hotel into a shelter, they held a small opening ceremony.
Pete named it "The Beginning Hotel."
Today was their fifth day here, and there was one last thing they had to do before entering the open dungeon. That was to gather all the useful materials in the surrounding area.
For a whole week, accompanied by William and Pete, they swept across the entire west side. They found thousands of useful supplies, food, and tools. A few shops had been completely untouched, and William emptied them himself, leaving what they needed at the beginning hotel and sending the rest to the shelter.
With that, the team was ready to go. They made their plans and decided to enter the open dungeon.
William wanted everyone on the team, even the survivors who had never killed a zombie before, to enter the open dungeon.
At first, Pete objected, but after a few days, he saw that people were gaining levels and getting stronger, which made it easier to do heavy work, so he gave up arguing.
Mick, Jason, Min-Jun, Kim, and William, after helping the others for the first few days, decided to form a team and advance to the second level.
The agreement was that William needed evolution points, and the others needed to level up, so William didn't touch the low-level zombies; he only asked them to take out the special zombies.
In addition, if he gained rare equipment, he would share it according to the team's compatibility.
After three days of clearing the open dungeon, the team had indeed reached good levels. They could now fight without needing William's care, but they still didn't have enough power to pierce the bones of special zombies.
Min-Jun was the best among them in terms of pure strength. His large sword seemed to have been made to cut zombies in half.
Kim had even managed to damage a special zombie.
When she proved to be the most skilled sniper in the shelter, Joseph gave her the best sniper rifle and bought a new ability from the market after giving her two points.
It was very simple and effective, an ability called unlimited ammunition.
As long as Ley didn't run out, she wouldn't run out of bullets.
Although she could only maintain this state for an hour at most, it was enough to kill thousands of zombies.
As her level increased, her body began to grow stronger, and she had already grown a few inches.
Despite looking comical with his sniper rifle and the machine gun on his back, which was probably as heavy as she was, she was an army of one.
Jason had a quiet personality, but behind that quietness lay extreme speed. William sometimes had trouble even seeing Jason's movements.
Jason was skilled at taking down wounded or immobile targets.
He was the one who cleared the team's rear and even reduced the pressure on them with his speed.
Mick, on the other hand, was a master of balance. He increased the overall strength of the team and was able to stand tall against powerful enemies.
Even though he felt a hernia pain in his back from time to time, he never lowered his shield. He always kept it at head level and looked for openings with his small machete. He was intelligent and avoided unnecessary movements.
The team had finally improved to the point where they would officially become the pillars of the shelter. Now they started training new people because they couldn't hunt with William anymore. William began to pursue a different goal.
[William Aunitidis – Level: 1 (C1)]
[EXP: 120/2000]
[STRENGTH: 6.7 (+++)]
[SPEED: 9.7 (+++)]
[PERCEPTION: 3.2 (+++)]
[LEY: 1 (+++)]
[EVOLUTION POINTS: 6/10]
[LEVEL CYCLE: 1/10]
[SP: 0] (System Points)
[Abilities: Power of Breath V, Weight Master III, Advanced Perception II]
"Level cycle 1." William looked at the system screen while sitting at the top of the beginning hotel.
He had returned to the first level.
He gained two system points when he reached the first level, but the exp required to level up also doubled. William did a quick calculation.
"At this rate, it will be impossible to complete the 10th level cycle... I guess I'll have to kill all the zombies in the world."
William looked at his watch. It was 1:15 p.m.
"It's time. They should be here soon."
At that moment, he looked at the hills to the west, and saw several vehicles coming down the clear roads between the hills. Several vehicles were also waiting under the hotel.
After a while, the vehicles arrived and stopped right at the entrance of the hotel. Then the vehicles waiting at the hotel also set off towards the west.
It was Marcus and Eliza who had arrived. They had come to take over the work here for a short time and gain levels.
William had just finished a week of difficult decisions. The following decisions had been made during that week.
"People who want to reach Level 11 will be given priority. People who are entering the level cycle will be given good luck, including William. No one will attempt to clear the dungeon without at least two Level 11 people."
These were the decisions made that week. At first, Joseph was angry with William. He wanted William to reach Level 11 as soon as possible. He was more curious than anyone else about what would happen when he reached Level 11.
Moreover, the conditions were forcing everyone to reach Level 11, but no one knew what it would bring.
That's why William didn't want to rush to reach Level 11. There was an open dungeon at the bottom, and as far as he understood, the number of zombies was infinite. Even if it was completely cleared, the same number of zombies would be there the next day.
So William decided to take a risk. Unlike the others, he was younger and prone to mistakes.
Now he and Marcus were going to hunt for Evolution Points.
By the end of the day, Marcus had collected 10 evolution points.
However, they did not rush to advance to Level 11.
When night fell, they gathered in the garden of the beginning hotel. William wanted to watch closely because advancing to Level 11 seemed like a special situation in the system. Everyone was there to protect Marcus.
Marcus focused on "yes" on the system panel. Then he saw that his ten evolution points had been reset. Several options appeared in front of him.
[Which class would you like to choose?]
Marcus was unaware that his consciousness had been completely drawn into the system area. He was defenseless against any outside interference. Fortunately, William and the others were there.
Marcus' options seemed to be determined by his stats.
[Shield Warrior (20%)]
[Master of Strength (5%)]
[Knight (15%)]
[Heavy Warrior (10%)]
[Master of Defense (30%)]
[Striker (3%)]
[Crusher (4%)]
[Steel Guard (2%)]
[War Master (1%)]
And finally, [Shield Lord (2%)]
Some names felt almost the same, but when Marcus looked closely and saw what they were and what abilities they provided, he understood the difference.
For example, the difference between a Shield Warrior and a Shield Lord was that one was individual, while the other provided defense as a group.
As soon as he chose one of these classes, he would gain one passive and one active ability.
It was up to him to improve this ability.
The percentages next to these classes indicated their rarity.
This showed what percentage of people in the universe had the chance to choose these classes. Marcus thought long and hard. All the options available to him in class selection were related to power. Even defense-related classes could not be unlocked without a certain level of power.
It didn't take him long to make up his mind. He decided to go with simple logic.
[War Master: Raw power is the key to this class.
They are experts in using shields. They must dominate the battlefield in both attack and defense. Strength +10%, Physical Defense Substat +10, Physical Damage Substat +10, Perception +20%, Awareness Substat +10, Foresight Substat +10]
[Battlefield Control: Everything within a 100-meter radius appears as an image in the mind.]
[Command Area: Within a selected 100-meter radius, Power +10%, Speed +10%, Perception +10%]
Marcus couldn't believe his eyes. He used this opportunity by looking at the stat points and features offered by other classes. Even in the rarest class, defense master, he could gain more than twenty stat points. He wasn't even counting the percentage-based effects. According to Marcus' preliminary estimate, after reaching Level 11 and focusing all his power and abilities on a single battle, his strength stat would rise to twenty-five points.
In addition, thanks to the increase in his sub-stats, his damage and defense abilities would also increase exponentially.
After studying all the classes and taking notes in his mind, Marcus chose the War Master class.
Then he suddenly felt relieved. It was as if he was flying in the sky.
In the outside world, an unexpected event was taking place. Marcus' body suddenly began to float in the air.
Blue Ley energy was constantly flowing into Marcus' body from his surroundings, and they were even competing for it.
After a while, the feeling of relief inside Marcus disappeared and was replaced by pain.
An unbearable, unforgettable, and undeniable pain. It was as if all his bones were being broken and then put back together again.
Fortunately, it didn't last long. Five minutes later, he experienced even more of the relaxation he had felt at first and opened his eyes calmly.
His body had grown a little, even his height had increased.
He wanted to slowly get up from the cold concrete floor where he was lying on his back, but he damaged the concrete floor.
The place where he had placed his hand was broken and turned to dust, as if he had grabbed a piece of butter.
He looked around in confusion, and everyone, including William, backed away.
William wanted to use his advanced perception on Marcus, but it failed as he had expected. He couldn't see anything other than his name and level.
William soon succumbed to his curiosity and approached Marcus, who was examining his hands.
"What happened? How was it? What did you see?"
"Was I unconscious?" Marcus asked with a frown and looked at everyone. Everyone nodded affirmatively.
"Ten class options appeared in front of me. They were all compatible with my stats. Their rarity rates were written next to them, and I chose the rarest one. A class called War Master."
Marcus tried to put his hand on William's shoulder, but William quickly pulled away and didn't let him.
"You can't control your power. I think you should avoid touching anyone for a while."
Marcus looked at his hands again. "I guess you're right."
William nodded. "Let me guess, it's not a power-focused class, is it?"
Marcus smiled. "You're so full of yourself... no, it's power and perception-focused. It increases my area control... ahhh... I can feel it... I can hear, see, and feel everything in the hotel and around it..." Marcus closed his eyes and stretched, focusing on his surroundings. He could even feel the grass moving behind the hotel.
"An amazing feeling."
William shook his head and felt envious. "Did I make a mistake?" he thought, but then he remembered what Marcus had said about rarity and realized he hadn't.
"I could have chosen a rarer class. I can unlock more classes by earning more evolution points."
William looked determinedly at the open dungeon. "I have to get the best... the very best."
That night, everyone slept peacefully. Marcus' presence now gave everyone the confidence to sleep soundly.
From now on, everyone in the shelter would feel the same way. Better, more comfortable days awaited them.