NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 5: Leveled Up
Chapter 5: Leveled Up
Thud, thud, thud!
The dense sound of footsteps echoed through the stairwell.
For the number of residents in a single unit, it was impossible for there to be this many zombies.
Unless all the residents were living in the stairwell.
But that was clearly impossible.
The only explanation was that the unit door was left open, allowing zombies from outside to enter the stairwell.
Damn!
Wu Heng cursed his bad luck, realizing he had indeed encountered such a situation.
He turned to retreat with the skeleton warriors back to the rooftop.
Just as he turned, he stopped in his tracks.
The narrow stairwell might actually give his skeleton warriors an advantage.
Besides, he would have to clear this area eventually, and the next stairwell might not be any safer.
Even if things got really bad, he could still retreat to the rooftop and block the iron door.
After quickly considering his options, he decided it was worth a try.
More gray-skinned, grimacing zombies crowded and shoved their way up the stairs.
Wu Heng hesitated no longer and decisively ordered, "Attack."
The skeleton warriors began charging down.
Crack…!
The kitchen knife sliced through a zombie's skull, and it fell to the ground.
Meanwhile, more zombies pounced forward, clawing, tearing, and biting, using every possible way to try and shred the targets in front of them.
The skeleton warriors kept swinging their weapons, hacking at the attacking zombies.
The stairwell was narrow, allowing only two or three zombies to attack side by side.
In the jostling and crowding, some zombies fell over the railing or were trampled underfoot, unable to get back up.
The sounds of zombie roars, clawing, slashing, and bone breaking echoed continuously in the stairwell.
"If I get the chance, I definitely need to learn more ranged skills."
Wu Heng stood behind the skeletons, stabbing downward with his short spear while muttering to himself.
This close combat was too exhausting.
In the battle, zombies were dying in droves, many trampled to death by the zombies behind them.
The scene was chaotic.
The number of skeleton warriors was also rapidly dwindling.
This made Wu Heng feel a pang of heartache.
After all, under his watch, skeletons were continuously being torn into piles of bones.
Wu Heng stopped the exhausting spear thrusts and began casting 【Raise Skeleton】.
One by one, skeletons rose from the battlefield between the two sides.
Without needing orders, they swung their fists and struck the zombies.
The battle grew more intense, with the two sides colliding like swarms of ants.
They shoved, tore, and attacked each other non-stop.
Wu Heng followed behind, sweat beginning to form on his forehead.
In previous battles, he had time to rest and recover his state.
But this time was different; the high-intensity, continuous use of Raise Skeleton was taking a toll on him.
His whole body was soaked in sweat as if drained of energy, and a sharp pain pulsed through his head.
He had heard people mention it in the taverns of Blackstone Town.
Frequent spellcasting, especially for mages, exhausts the mind.
Overuse of physical strength only damages your muscles, which can recover after some rest.
Mental exhaustion, in severe cases, could lead to dementia or even a vegetative state.
【Your level has increased to Level 2. Intelligence +1, Constitution +1, Mental Strength slightly increased.】
At that moment, a notification sounded in his ear.
He had leveled up.
Just as Wu Heng felt he was reaching his limit, the notification appeared.
Instantly, the sharp pain in his head eased slightly.
"Time to go all out."
The skeleton forces were now on the third floor; all they needed to do was reach the first floor and close the door.
He continued to order, "Attack with full force."
Clatter!!
The skeleton warriors charged forward like mad, wielding kitchen knives and their bare fists, forcibly pushing the zombies back.
Wu Heng quickly ran back to the rooftop with a few skeletons by his side.
His eyes scanned the construction materials before him. He pointed to a piece of blue-painted iron sheet and said, "Pick that up."
A skeleton warrior picked up the iron sheet and followed him to the edge of the rooftop.
Under Wu Heng's direction, they threw it down.
Bang—Clatter~!
The iron sheet hit the ground with a loud crash.
Like a signal being released, all the surrounding zombies went wild, rushing towards it.
They crowded and trampled on the blue-painted iron sheet.
Wu Heng quickly returned to the stairwell, noticing that the number of zombies below had significantly decreased.
"Quick, push forward."
The skeleton warriors resumed their charge downward, and the battle grew even fiercer.
They fought their way to the door.
He ordered a few skeletons to rush outside to draw the attention of the zombie horde, while they completely closed the stairwell's iron door.
Bang, bang, bang!!
The zombies pounded on the iron door with great force, producing loud thuds.
After killing the remaining zombies in the stairwell, Wu Heng had the skeletons pile up debris to further block the stairwell door.
Fortunately, zombies clearly lacked intelligence.
After hammering the door for a while and hearing no movement from inside, they slowly dispersed, drawn away by other noises.
They didn’t continue to batter the battered green door.
Wu Heng sat inside one of the apartments, leaning his head against his hand and gasping for breath.
The situation just now was truly dangerous.
Thinking back, he still felt a bit shaken.
Fortunately, they managed to block the stairwell door; otherwise, things would have been much more difficult.
After resting for a while, he started to feel a bit better.
The stairwell was filled with corpses and shattered bones.
He decided not to use Raise Skeleton right now.
Since the door was already blocked, he could come back and summon more skeletons when he was in better condition tomorrow.
Stepping over the corpses, he led the remaining skeleton warriors to clear out the zombies in each apartment and loot for spoils.
…
Inside one of the third-floor apartments.
Wu Heng was holding a black motorcycle helmet, examining it closely.
The room’s owner was probably a motorcycle enthusiast; there were many motorcycle-related items and some outdoor gear.
Climbing ropes, portable lighting—quite a variety.
What interested him most was the sturdy helmet in his hand.
It was a full-face design, with a clear plastic visor on the front, perfect for keeping zombie blood from splashing into his eyes or mouth during combat.
The material seemed to be composite, very sturdy, and the weight was manageable.
He took off his leather cap and tried on the helmet.
It felt good, though a bit stuffy, but he could tolerate it for the sake of safety.
He put the leather cap on the skeleton warrior with the iron sword.
After packing up everything he could use, he left the apartment and moved on to the next one to continue looting.
At dusk.
He returned to Blackstone Town, ate a simple meal, and then went to bed.
He had exhausted too much mental strength today, so he decided to skip the spear training for a day.
…
The next day, around noon.
Zombie World.
Wu Heng spent the entire morning converting the corpses from the second unit stairwell into skeleton warriors.
He did it slowly, taking breaks in between, and it took him several hours.
Now, a large group of skeletons was standing on the rooftop.
Holding kitchen knives and hammers, they looked somewhat intimidating.
He counted a total of 52 skeleton warriors.
It was fewer than he expected. After killing so many zombies yesterday, it was surprising that only this many were converted.
Among them, the skeleton with the sword had leveled up to 2.
【Attributes: Constitution 10, Strength 13, Agility 8.】
Its strength had increased by one point, but there were no other changes.
It didn’t feel much different from not leveling up at all.
But leveling up a bit was still better than nothing. He hoped that as the levels increased, the attributes would accumulate.
Based on normal experience points, more should have reached Level 2, but many skeletons had died during the battle.
Most of the remaining skeletons had been summoned from the ground this morning, so their experience was at 0.
Raising these skeletons was proving to be a tricky task, something that needed careful planning.
At the very least, he needed to cultivate a few high-level ones first.
After distributing kitchen knives to the newly summoned skeletons, Wu Heng opened his own attributes.
【Name: Wu Heng】
【Class: Necromancer】
【Level: 2 (550/900)】
【Attributes: Strength 9, Agility 11, Constitution 13, Intelligence 15, Perception 10, Charisma 12.】
【Skill: Raise Skeleton】
He had also reached Level 2, with improvements in Constitution and Intelligence.
It was better than the skeletons, but still not by much.
He had indeed improved, but it didn’t feel like much of a difference.
The effect was barely noticeable.
He sat down, waiting for his mental strength and stamina to recover.
After a while, he stood up again, put on the motorcycle helmet, pulled down the visor, and gave a muffled command, "Follow me."
Clatter!!
Over fifty skeletons started moving, following behind him.
They arrived in front of the third iron door.
He took out the bronze key and gently unlocked it.
The cold, rotten smell seeped through the visor and into his nostrils.
The stairwell was eerily quiet, with a few broken corpses lying on the ground.
Wu Heng frowned as he looked at the corpses on the floor.
The zombies were dead?
How could zombies be killed?
Were there survivors?