Chapter 15: Promotion to Level 2: Life Completion

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

They retained their postures from life, as if still carefully examining their tiles.

In the remaining space, three more zombies wandered.

Judging by their clothing, one was the card room manager, the other two were elderly onlookers.

On the floor lay a ruined corpse, dressed in the manager’s uniform.

Probably, after the law transformation, it was lucky enough not to become a zombie—but unlucky enough to be surrounded by them.

The corners of the three wandering zombies’ mouths still hung with remnants of black-red flesh.

This was Fang Shi’s final stop today; he had already cleared the entire pedestrian street, leaving only this card room for last.

He wasn’t worried that the fight would attract other zombies.

The only zombies in this vicinity were those inside the buildings and along the road a hundred meters away.

As long as Fang Shi didn’t go too far off-script, a half-hour fight would hardly bring new zombies into the fray.

This time, Fang Shi didn’t go stealthy.

Mainly because there were too many zombies—no angle would escape detection.

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

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

Then the zombies at the mahjong table slammed their chairs aside and rose shakily to their feet.

But no matter how fast the zombies were, Fang Shi was faster.

His 15-point Agility granted him razor-sharp neural speed.

Just before the zombies reached him,

Fang Shi slashed off the manager zombie’s head in one strike, then kicked a senior zombie away with a single foot.

“Decapitation attack triggered.”

“Decapitation successfully executed. You dealt 22.5 points of lethal damage to the target [((Strength 15–10)/2 + Cleaver 6 (1d6) – Natural Armor 1) × 3].”

“Target deceased.”

“Soul energy extracted. You gained 10 experience points and 1 survival point.”

“Knockback attack triggered.”

“Knockback successfully executed. You dealt 5.5 points of damage to the target [((Strength 15/10)/2 + Unarmed Attack 4 (Specialty 1 + 1d4) – Natural Armor 1)].”

He spun and slashed again, severing another zombie.

Then he grabbed a stool and smashed the two zombies rising from the mahjong table.

The two remaining zombies, farther away, he cut down one by one with a single stroke each.

The entire sequence looked effortless, but it had drained Fang Shi’s strength to the limit.

Every strike was delivered with full force.

A moment’s hesitation would have left him surrounded.

At that point, it wouldn’t be enough to simply expend energy to break free.

He might have paid the price of injury.

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

Unlike in movies, injury wouldn’t turn you into a zombie—but it would cause limb paralysis and tissue decay.

Such wounds could be treated, but the time lost during recovery? Fang Shi couldn’t afford it.

This was why ordinary people struggled to hunt zombies alone.

One-on-one, with human intelligence, who couldn’t win?

No intelligence? Just charge in.

The problem was, dealing with injuries afterward was a nightmare.

The apocalypse wasn’t peace time—you didn’t have time to heal.

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

It hampered his early-leveling efficiency.

Fortunately, this time Fang Shi had 15 Strength, enough to sustain the battle he’d just fought.

Otherwise, if his kick had failed to knock the zombie back, if he’d lost his balance and stumbled backward—it would’ve been hilarious.

After slaying four zombies, the remaining three were easy.

He swung a stool, knocking down the wobbling zombies as they tried to rise again.

Then, with the cleaver, he slashed wildly.

When the last zombie fell,

Fang Shi’s experience reached 1000.

“Do you wish to spend 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 maximum HP increased by 8 + (Constitution 15–10)/2 = 10 points.”

“You gained the class trait Reflexive Evasion I.”

“【Reflexive Evasion I】: Through specialized training, you can dodge enemy attacks more quickly. (Reaction Speed +1)”

“As a Level 2 Martial Artist, you may select one personal specialty.”

He allocated the skill points as before—no need to worry, all main skills were already maxed.

For his specialty, Fang Shi chose Divine Step I.

“【Divine Step I】: You can easily clear obstacles. (Movement Speed +1)”

In the apocalypse, what mattered most wasn’t attack or defense—it was movement speed.

Sure, Fang Shi was invincible among zombies now.

But that was only among zombies. Later, he’d face far deadlier monsters—like Assassination Demons and Nightmare Beasts.

Then, fighting wouldn’t be enough. Only escape would save him.

As for threat detection,

Fang Shi’s Perception was at 19—more than sufficient for now.

Once he reached Level 4 and gained free attribute points, he’d invest them into Perception to unlock Extraordinary Perception.

Besides, increased movement speed would also make his attacks faster and more lethal.

“Name: Fang Shi”

“Race: Human”

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

“Class: Level 2 Martial Artist”

“HP: 25/25”

“Experience: 0/3000”

“Attribute Points: 0”

“Survival Points: 110”

“Race Specialty: 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, Hiding 10, Listening 10, Investigation 12, Roll 15, Taunt 6, Medicine 10, Jump 14, Intimidate 7, Swimming 6, Climbing 6, Spell Identification 5, Wilderness Survival 10, Dice 12, Estimate 2, Balance 2, Deception 2, Focus 2, Craft 2…”

“Personal Specialties: Iron Will I, Athlete I, Excellent Memory I, Resilience I, Natural Armor I, Fang’s Breathing Method III, Divine Step I”

“Class Specialties: Windstorm Combo I, Unarmed Attack I, Steel Bones I, Shatter Punch I, Reflexive Evasion I”

Fang Shi took a light step forward, feeling his speed increased by thirty percent—thrilled beyond words.

Not to mention his reaction speed, also boosted by thirty percent.

What immense power!

He waited a while, but no new data appeared. A faint disappointment crept into his heart.

“Indeed, one must never underestimate the world’s people.”

Fang Shi knew he was the first to unlock his attribute panel and combat class

because of his foresight advantage.

But being the first to reach Level 2? That was far less likely.

On Blue Planet, there were too many strong people—even after firearms became useless, there were bows and crossbows.

They could also set traps to massacre zombies en masse.

Moreover, this world had a leveling method called “leveling by proxy.”

After the apocalypse, some organizations survived.

In the early stage, when individual power hadn’t diverged yet, leaders still held great authority.

They could organize large groups to tie zombies in place and let others land the final blow.

Such efficiency was far beyond what a lone wolf like Fang Shi could achieve.

Added to that, when the apocalypse struck, the Western Hemisphere was in daylight.

Those people wouldn’t be trapped by nightfall—their leveling speed would skyrocket.

But this is enough.

With Fang Shi’s promotion to level 2, he has a strong chance of obtaining the regional chest.

Aside from the enhancement of specializations and skills,

another key factor is health points, which represent the main gap between levels.

Simply put, the higher the health points, the higher the defense.

And it’s a comprehensive increase, including resistance to internal injuries, external wounds, poisoning, and disease.

For example, if a zombie has 30 health points, Fang Shi absolutely cannot sever its head in one strike.

The blade would definitely get stuck as it cuts into the neck.

This is also one reason why higher-level creatures can easily slaughter lower-level ones.

With the same attributes but different defenses, the one with higher defense naturally has the advantage.

In “Blue Star Online,” constitution generally affects health and endurance, but higher constitution does not mean higher defense.

Level must also be taken into account.

The only benefit of constitution is that the higher it is, the more health points are gained upon leveling up.

Fang Shi’s current health points are 25, a full half more than his previous 15.

It can almost be called a qualitative change.

With his improved defense, reaction speed, and movement speed,

Fang Shi can easily handle a group of one level-2 elite zombie plus ten regular zombies.

“Since I didn’t get the reward for being the first to reach level 2, it doesn’t matter.”

“But I must secure the reward for being the first to advance.”

Level 2 is merely the beginning compared to the apocalypse.

Three days later, with the first wave of impact, extraterrestrial creatures fully descended.

Those terrifying monsters are no match for zombies.

After all, although zombies are powerful, there are simply too many ways to deal with them.

Humanity, relying on its own wisdom, could quickly eliminate them.

Over time, restoring humanity’s glory didn’t seem difficult.

Little zombies might be just another species wiped out on the upright ape’s journey.

But afterward, humanity would discover that extraterrestrial creatures were ten, a hundred times more powerful than zombies.

What we call zombies are merely appetizers.

The little order humanity had barely regained would face a second collapse.