Chapter 18: Reward
It swung both claws downward.
Ni Mengxue narrowly rolled to the side. The claws slammed into the ground with enough force to crack the concrete.
Without hesitating, she lunged forward. Slash!
Her sword sliced across the zombie’s chest, leaving behind a deep wound. However... it barely slowed down.
"So tough..."
The zombie grabbed a broken traffic sign lying beside it and swung it like a club. Bang!
Ni Mengxue barely managed to block the attack with her sword, but the overwhelming force sent her flying several meters away.
She crashed into the hood of an abandoned car. Crack! The metal dented inward.
"Ugh..."
Pain spread through every bone in her body. The zombie didn’t give her time to recover. It sprinted forward with terrifying speed.
Its rotten mouth opened wide, revealing rows of jagged teeth. Just as it reached her... Ni Mengxue’s eyes narrowed.
"I’ve got you."
Instead of retreating, she stepped forward. The zombie’s claws shot toward her throat. At the last possible moment, she twisted her body.
Swish! The claws brushed past her neck, cutting off several strands of hair. She drove her shoulder into the zombie’s chest while using the momentum to slip beneath its arm.
Then, her sword flashed upward. Slash! The blade entered through the underside of its jaw and pierced straight into its brain.
The zombie froze. Its body trembled violently before collapsing onto the ground with a heavy thud.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, for defeating a level 1 and level 2 zombie. Reward: Experience bar feature!]
Ni Mengxue ignored the incoming notification and focused on fighting a few more zombies. After just 10 fights, she was tired to the point where she couldn’t even stand straight.
Yet she continued to put herself in danger. She was injured heavily; however, she refused to give.
’Only when I am in danger, and my body reaches its potential, would I be able to awaken a power.’
To her dismay, even when she started to feel dizzy, she didn’t awaken any powers. The base entrance was near, and though the zombies were increasing in number, she easily escaped.
Along the way, many stared at her in the hopes of seeing if she had zombie crystals, but when they saw her empty hand and injured body, they gave up.
"Hmph! This woman is crazy! Why did she even leave the base? Can’t she just rely on her husband?"
"Don’t get me started! She must be thinking of herself as some kind of heroine!"
"Exactly, it’s time that women should understand that they can never defeat a man in terms of strength!"
"Maybe she was envious of Su Yao again?"
"It’s time that someone shows her the reality."
On returning to her apartment, she quickly dealt with her injuries and sat on the sofa contemplating the fights
With her current progress, she might need half a year to return to her original state, which would be troublesome.
She needs to leave the base within the next 3 months to reach the Fair Shallow Land and can’t rely on her... worse comes to worse, she might have to protect Lu Yucai.
She needs allies... but more than that, she needs a faster and more reliable combat training method.
"System, do you offer some zombie simulation feature or such?"
No response.
"I pretty much guessed it... sigh. Show me the feature I got as a reward." She ordered, and the next second, a holographic screen appeared in front of her.
Clicking on it, she saw an experience bar was stuck at 12 out of 100 and a level 1 as a title. Her eyes flashed as she asked.
"System, have I awakened a power?"
No response.
"Would I awaken one when I level up, or is it physical strength?"
[Physical strength.]
"Can you provide protection when I fight zombies?" She asked.
No response.
Ni Mengxue’s mind reeled, and she finally had an idea.
Her gaze fell upon the map lying on the coffee table. The outskirts of the base were divided into several danger zones according to zombie density.
Most superhumans formed teams and challenged areas matching their strength. Nobody was foolish enough to fight enemies stronger than themselves.
Except... Ni Mengxue.
She took out a pen and began marking several locations.
"This supermarket... The abandoned hospital... And this residential district..."
These places all had one thing in common: a large number of zombies.
But they also had countless narrow alleys, collapsed buildings, and obstacles.
To ordinary people, they were death traps. To her, they were the perfect training grounds.
What she lacked wasn’t experience. It was a body capable of keeping up with her experience.
"If I keep pushing this body to its limit every day... its growth speed will far exceed normal training."
Of course, the prerequisite was surviving. She had no intention of dying a second time.