Chapter 15: Promotion to Level 2: Life Completion

Inside the card room, four zombies sat at a mahjong table.

They maintained their postures from before death, as if still carefully examining the tiles in their hands.

In the remaining space, three more zombies roamed.

Judging by their attire, one was the card room manager, and two were elderly onlookers.

On the floor lay a tattered corpse wearing the manager's clothes.

It had likely been lucky enough not to turn into a zombie after the Law's transformation, but unlucky enough to be surrounded by them.

Blackish-red flesh still clung to the corners of the three roaming zombies' mouths.

This was Fang Shi's final stop for the day; he had already swept the entire pedestrian street, leaving only this card room to deal with last.

He was not afraid that the fighting here would attract other zombies.

The only zombies in the vicinity were in the various buildings and on the avenue a hundred meters away.

As long as Fang Shi didn't stray too far off course and the fight lasted half an hour, he basically didn't need to worry about new zombies joining the battle.

This time, Fang Shi did not stealth.

Mainly because there were too many zombies; no matter the angle, he would be discovered.

Fang Shi's appearance instantly drew the zombies' attention.

The three roaming zombies reacted first, lunging at Fang Shi.

Then the zombies at the mahjong table shoved the chairs and table aside with a clatter and shakily stood up.

But no matter how fast the zombies were, they were not as fast as Fang Shi.

An Agility of 15 had granted him keen neural speed.

Just before the zombies closed in on him.

Fang Shi directly chopped off the manager zombie's head with one slash, then kicked an elderly zombie flying with a kick.

"Decapitation Attack activated."

"Decapitation successful; you dealt 22.5 points of lethal damage to the target 【((Strength 15-10)/2 + Cleaver 6 (1d6) - Natural Armor 1) × 3】."

"Target dead."

"Extracting target soul energy; you gained 10 Experience Points and 1 Survival Point."

"Knockback Attack activated."

"Knockback successful; you dealt 5.5 points of damage to the target 【(Strength 15/10)/2 + Unarmed Strike 4 (Feat 1 + 1d4) - Natural Armor 1】."

Then, with a backhand slash, he chopped off the other zombie.

He then casually grabbed a stool and knocked down the two zombies that had risen from the mahjong table.

The remaining two, further away, were also rushed forward and cut down one by one.

The entire process looked easy, but in reality, it had exhausted Fang Shi greatly.

Every strike was delivered with full force.

If he hesitated even slightly, he would easily fall into a state of being surrounded.

At that point, it would not be a matter of simply exhausting his strength to break free.

He might even have to pay the price of injury.

In the early days of the apocalypse, zombie poison was no joke.

Although, unlike in movies, injury did not cause infection into a zombie, it would still cause limb paralysis and rot.

Such injuries were naturally treatable, but the time lost during treatment was something Fang Shi could not afford.

This was also why ordinary people found it difficult to hunt zombies alone.

Facing a single one, relying on human intelligence, who couldn't defeat it?

Without intelligence, brute force would do.

The problem was that treating subsequent injuries was very troublesome.

The apocalypse was not a time of peace, with time to let you recover from wounds.

In his past life, Fang Shi had suffered greatly in this regard.

It affected the efficiency of his early-leveling.

Fortunately, the current Fang Shi possessed 15 Strength, enough to support the fight just now.

Otherwise, if the kick failed to send the zombie flying, causing him to lose balance and stumble backward, it would have been truly ridiculous.

After slaying four zombies, the remaining three were much easier.

He grabbed a chair and knocked down the zombies that were shakily trying to get up again.

Then, wielding the cleaver, he hacked away frantically.

When the last zombie fell.

Fang Shi's Experience Points had reached 1000.

"Consume 1000 Experience Points to advance to Level 2?"

Fang Shi decisively clicked 'Yes' in his mind.

"You have advanced to Level 2 Martial Artist."

"You gained 4 + (Intelligence (14-10)/2) = 6 Skill Points."

"Your Hit Points increased by 8 + (Constitution (15-10)/2) = 10 points."

"You gained the Class Feature Evasion I."

"【Evasion I】: You have undergone special training and can dodge enemy attacks more quickly. (Reaction Speed +1)"

"As a Level 2 Martial Artist, you can acquire one Personal Feat."

The Skill Points were added freely as before; after all, the main skills were already maxed out.

Regarding specializations, Fang Shi chose Swift Step I.

"【Swift Step I】: You can easily clear obstacles. (Movement Speed +1)"

In the apocalypse, what matters most is not attack, nor defense, but movement speed.

Do not think Fang Shi is invincible among the walking corpses now.

But they are merely walking corpses; later, facing more terrifying monsters, such as Assassination Demons and Nightmare Beasts.

Then it would not be a battle that could be won; only escape remains.

As for sensing danger.

Fang Shi's Perception has reached 19 points; currently, it is already sufficient.

Once he reaches Level 4 and gains free attribute points, adding them to Perception will grant him Supernatural Perception.

Moreover, increased movement speed will also make Fang Shi's attacks faster and his killing power stronger.

"Name: Fang Shi"

"Race: Human"

"Attributes: Strength 15, Agility 15, Constitution 15, Intelligence 14, Perception 19, Charisma 15"

"Class: Level 2 Martial Artist"

"Health Points: 25/25"

"Experience Points: 0/3000"

"Attribute Points: 0"

"Survival Points: 110"

"Race Specialization: Versatile I"

"Life Skills: Focus 12, Reading People 6, Science 14, Mathematics 12, Chinese 15, English 10, Finance 13, Computer 9, Cooking 8, Driving 6"

"Class Skills: Stealth 8, Hide 10, Listen 10, Search 12, Tumble 15, Taunt 6, Heal 10, Jump 14, Intimidate 7, Swim 6, Climb 6, Spellcraft 5, Survival 10, Dice 12, Estimate 2, Balance 2, Bluff 2, Focus 2, Craft 2..."

"Personal Specializations: Iron Will I, Athlete I, Photographic Memory I, Resilient I, Natural Armor I, Fang Shi Breathing Method III, Swift Step I"

"Class Specializations: Gale Combo I, Unarmed Strike I, Iron Bones I, Crushing Fist I, Evasion I"

Fang Shi took a slight step, feeling the speed increase by thirty percent compared to before, and was extremely excited.

Not to mention the reaction speed, which also increased by thirty percent.

Truly a powerful force!

After waiting a while, Fang Shi still had not received new data; a slight disappointment arose in his heart.

"Indeed, one must not underestimate everyone under heaven."

Fang Shi knew that being the first to unlock the attribute panel and a combat class was due to the advantage of being a prophet.

But the possibility of being the first to advance to Level 2 was much smaller.

On Blue Star, there were simply too many strong people; even with powerful weapons like firearms scrapped, there were still bows and crossbows.

At the same time, they could set up traps to kill walking corpses on a large scale.

Furthermore, there is a leveling method in this world called power-leveling.

After the apocalypse, some organizations survived.

In the early stage, when individual strength had not yet diverged, the words of the leaders still carried great authority.

They could organize vast numbers of people, have them tie walking corpses in front, and secure the killing blow.

Such efficiency was naturally incomparable to a lone wolf like Fang Shi.

Moreover, when the apocalypse struck, the Western Hemisphere was in daytime.

Those people would not be trapped by the night; their advancement speed was incredibly fast.

However, this was enough.

Fang Shi advancing to Level 2 gave him a high probability of obtaining the Regional Treasure Chest.

Besides the improvement of specializations and skills.

Another key factor was Health Points; it was the main difference between different levels.

Simply put, the higher the Health Points, the higher the defense.

Moreover, it was a comprehensive improvement, including resistance to internal injuries, external injuries, poisoning, diseases, and so on.

For example, if a walking corpse's Health Points were 30, Fang Shi absolutely could not sever its head in one strike.

When the blade cut into the neck, it would absolutely get stuck.

This was one of the reasons why higher-level creatures could easily slaughter lower-level creatures.

With the same attributes but different defense, naturally the side with higher defense held the advantage.

In "Blue Star Online," Constitution generally affected health status and stamina, and did not mean higher Constitution meant higher defense.

Instead, the influence of level needed to be added.

The only benefit of Constitution was that the higher the attribute, the more Health Points gained upon leveling up.

Currently, Fang Shi's Health Points were 25, fully more than half higher than the previous 15.

It could simply be called a qualitative change.

Relying on his improved defense, reaction speed, and movement speed.

Facing a combination of a Level 2 Elite Walking Corpse and 10 regular walking corpses, Fang Shi could also easily take them down.

"Since the reward for being the first to advance to Level 2 was not obtained, it does not matter."

"But the reward for being the first to advance to the next stage, I must secure it."

Level 2, relative to the apocalypse, was merely just the beginning.

Level 2 was, relative to the apocalypse, merely the very beginning.

Three days later, accompanied by the first impact, the otherworldly creatures fully descended.

Those terrifying monsters were nothing compared to the walking corpses.

After all, although the walking corpses were formidable, there were simply too many ways to deal with them.

Relying on their own wisdom, humanity could resolve them quickly.

As time passed, restoring human glory did not seem like a difficult matter.

The small walking corpses might just be another species extinguished in the upright ape's journey.

But later, humanity would discover that the otherworldly creatures were ten times, a hundred times more formidable than the walking corpses.

The so-called walking corpses were merely an appetizer.

The little order humanity had so laboriously restored would face a second collapse.