Chapter 94: Choosing the Battlefield
Byeol had raised the front half of his body and was currently treating a tiny blade of grass growing out from a crack in the wall as if it were a cat teaser toy.
He was even preparing to bite it.
Apparently, while Joo Joowon had been searching for treasures, Byeol had already finished grooming his dirty fur.
After waiting so long that he had started to grow impatient, the little cat had no choice but to find his own entertainment.
And to a cat, a foxtail grass swaying in the breeze was the perfect toy.
"Don’t!"
Without even thinking, Joo Joowon immediately fired out spider silk and tied Byeol up like a dumpling.
Byeol: "...?"
Ignoring the completely bewildered expression on Byeol’s face, Joo Joowon narrowed his eyes and looked carefully at the swaying foxtail grass.
The tiny plant had completely withstood the scrutiny of Enhanced Cognition.
He could not detect even the slightest flaw in it.
Precisely because of that, Joo Joowon’s spirits immediately rose.
This talent only failed to provide information when he was looking at living things.
Of course, there was another possibility.
Perhaps the current rank of his talent was simply too low, making it incapable of analyzing objects of a higher grade than itself.
No matter which explanation was correct, one thing was certain.
The thin and malnourished looking foxtail grass in front of him was definitely not ordinary.
Afraid that something might happen to it while he was out killing monsters and that it would disappear before he returned, Joo Joowon did not hesitate for even a second.
He wrapped both the grass and the surrounding soil in spider silk and stuffed the entire thing into his backpack.
Then he happily rubbed Byeol’s fluffy head.
"Byeol, you’re really a lucky star."
At this point, Joo Joowon was completely convinced that Byeol’s awakened skill had to be related to luck in some way.
There was simply no other explanation for all of these coincidences.
He chased a few rats that had only just evolved and had not yet realized that the world had changed, and before he even needed to expend any effort, the rats had practically thrown themselves to their deaths.
Joo Joowon had spent ages searching for hidden treasures without finding anything, yet Byeol casually wandered around for a few minutes and immediately discovered one.
If that did not prove something, then what did?
Joo Joowon smiled cheerfully to himself.
Byeol’s belongings were his belongings.
Didn’t that basically mean that from now on, he was lucky too?
The realization was incredibly pleasant and satisfying.
However, the moment Joo Joowon stepped outside, he immediately suppressed those wandering thoughts in his mind.
Invisible strands of spider silk quietly spread throughout the surrounding area, while he deliberately chose routes with as many obstacles as possible.
For most people, the best choice would naturally be open areas with clear visibility.
That way, any danger could be spotted immediately, and they would not trip over obstacles while running away.
Joo Joowon, however, was different.
Spider silk required a complicated environment in order to remain hidden effectively.
Dangers descending from the sky were already difficult enough to defend against and even spider silk had its limits.
Things became very different if tall buildings were nearby.
Because of that, the more complicated the terrain, the more Joo Joowon liked it.
After all, enemies were not necessarily capable of moving through such environments as effortlessly as he could.
As he observed his surroundings, Joo Joowon could not help thinking back to the rats from earlier.
They had probably only just evolved and therefore had not yet realized that the world itself had changed.
The moment Byeol appeared, they completely panicked.
Even so, in Joo Joowon’s eyes, a Level 2 Mutated Beast was still weaker than a Level 1 Zombie.
Was it because they had not fully evolved yet?
Joo Joowon felt that was unlikely.
After thinking about it for a while, he could only attribute it to differences between species.
Without skills involved, even a Level 5 Mutated Rat might not necessarily be stronger than a Level 1 Mutated Tiger or perhaps even a tiger with no level at all.
The difference between species was simply too vast.
The differences between humans were even more obvious.
Healthy individuals could not be compared to people with physical disabilities.
Most adult women naturally possessed less physical strength than adult men.
People suffering from poor health could never compare to healthy individuals who exercised regularly.
Before the appearance of the class system, these differences simply could not be erased.
Joo Joowon himself was the perfect example.
His starting Strength and Physique had both been only four points.
He had begun the apocalypse already two points behind many other people.
In a sense, he had lost at the starting line.
Without the bonuses provided by his equipment, Joo Joowon would never even have considered increasing his Mental Power.
The Free Attribute Points in his possession were simply too limited.
He could not afford to waste them on an attribute whose effects he could not yet clearly see.
Looking at it this way, mutated animals actually seemed to be much better mobile experience packs than zombies.
There was not even any need to worry about the risk of infection.
However, after thinking it through carefully, Joo Joowon reluctantly gave up on that tempting idea.
This was the city center after all.
Where exactly was he supposed to find a slaughterhouse full of animals for him to kill?
The markets had long since closed and everyone had already gone home before dawn.
There were no fish, chickens, or ducks waiting for him to harvest for experience.
As for pet stores...
What a joke.
What kind of pet store owner would be crazy enough to open a shop in a neighborhood that was full of poor people like this one?
After thinking it through from every angle, the only realistic option left was to continue killing zombies honestly and properly.