Chapter 96: Mental Attack
Joo Joowon could not help feeling grateful that his current attribute panel was powerful enough.
Otherwise, dealing with these upgraded zombies would undoubtedly have become a headache.
What pleased him even more was the fact that there was no experience penalty.
He had already prepared himself for the possibility that killing lower level enemies might result in reduced experience gains.
Fortunately, the worst case scenario had not happened.
He could not help letting out a sigh of relief.
This meant he could simply rely on these lower level zombies to grind his levels upward.
There was absolutely no need to take risks by hunting high level zombies.
Under the control of the spider silk, these zombies were nothing more than stationary targets incapable of moving.
Joo Joowon harvested experience points with almost absurd ease.
However, as the wandering group of zombies gradually became thinner and thinner, one of the higher level zombies finally noticed that something was wrong and began following the disappearing zombies to investigate.
The high level zombie suddenly froze the moment it arrived.
What exactly was this mountain of corpses in front of it?
With a quick glance to the side, the high level zombie immediately noticed the highly conspicuous figure above, the reflection from the helmet standing out like a beacon.
Unlike ordinary zombies that would recklessly throw themselves at fresh flesh without a second thought, it immediately changed direction.
There was great terror in this place!
The high level zombie exercised the superior intelligence that came with being a higher ranked zombie and instantly chose a strategic retreat.
It was only fresh flesh after all.
As a dignified high level zombie, was it really less capable of enduring hunger than those low level zombies?
It was not going to fall for such an obvious trap!
However, before the high level zombie could escape, it suddenly realized that its legs were no longer under its control.
The high level zombie’s pupils trembled violently.
In that instant, it finally understood how those idiots in front of it had all died without making a sound.
It struggled.
It howled.
It crawled forward in dark desperation.
It was lifted directly in front of Joo Joowon.
Like a puppet, the high level zombie was dragged before Joo Joowon’s eyes.
Joo Joowon looked at it with a solemn expression.
He was not surprised that higher level zombies possessed a certain amount of hunting instinct and combat instinct.
What surprised him was that this zombie’s intelligence was unexpectedly high.
The moment it sensed danger, it had actually known to run away!
The zombie’s mouth had been blocked and it was unable to make any sound.
Because of all its previous struggling, the hunting thread had only wrapped itself tighter and tighter around its body.
At this point, it could not move at all.
Joo Joowon quietly observed it.
Unlike the Zombie Chimera, this zombie possessed no especially distinctive features.
At first glance, it looked no different from an ordinary zombie.
Its eyes were a grayish red color.
Even its skin had changed from the obvious corpse like complexion of low level zombies into a paper white shade that resembled someone suffering from albinism.
If someone put sunglasses and a hat on it, mistaking it for a seriously ill person would not seem strange at all.
Joo Joowon slowly let out a breath.
Then he raised his crossbow and aimed directly at it.
Before Joo Joowon could fire, a sudden sharp pain exploded inside his brain.
The intense pain immediately caused the spider silk under his control to become unstable and difficult to command.
A wave of dizziness struck him almost instantly.
However, his hands reacted even faster than his thoughts as he released the bolt from the crossbow.
At such a short distance, the high level zombie had no way to dodge.
More importantly, it had no ability to dodge at all.
Unlike ordinary spider silk, the hunting thread never required Joo Joowon’s Mental Power to control it in the first place.
The only thing affected by the mental attack was the strand of spider silk that had been suspending the zombie in the air.
However, before the zombie could even fall to the ground, the crossbow bolt had already been fired.
The high level zombie’s expression twisted with fear.
Its Mental Power instantly formed a shield in front of its body.
Unfortunately for it, its Mental Power was still far too weak.
It had not yet reached the advanced level where thought alone could interfere with physical matter.
The shield only managed to slow the bolt slightly before the projectile continued forward and struck its target.
At that moment, the high level zombie’s survival instincts exploded.
Ignoring the damage that would come from exhausting its Mental Power reserves, it immediately spread its Mental Power outward in all directions.
"ROAR!"
"ROAR!"
The invisible wave of Mental Power spread through the surrounding area and instantly attracted the attention of the wandering zombie groups nearby.
The zombies began gathering together with excitement, converging on the source of the signal.
Joo Joowon shook his head, which was still spinning slightly from the attack.
This was the first time he had encountered a zombie capable of using skills.
Not only that, but as if he had won some terrible lottery, the very first skill user he met happened to possess a Mental type ability.
Fortunately, Joo Joowon’s own Mental Power had already reached thirteen points.
Although he had been caught completely off guard by the sudden attack, he recovered surprisingly quickly.
The mental shock seemed to last for only a single instant.
Once he endured that initial burst of pain, the unbearable agony faded almost immediately and no longer posed any threat to him.
Unfortunately, that brief moment of opportunity was all the zombie needed.
It had already used the time to summon every nearby zombie to its location.
The approaching zombies stared ahead with excited and bloodthirsty eyes.
Their roars rose and fell continuously throughout the streets.
Leading the charge was a sight that Joo Joowon was all too familiar with.