Chapter 5: Level up Zombie

Eventually, Zain had no choice but to accept his situation. He couldn't just stare at the mirror forever. Of course, that wouldn't change anything, but now he had multiple questions going through his head that he needed answers for.

‘So I'm an undead? A fancy word for a zombie, but why can I think? Aren't zombies supposed to be mindless? I can speak, and my body is also under my control. This is nothing like the zombie games or movies that I play. Although they are all different, case to case, something like this never happened in any game I have played.

‘And I have this game-like interface that I can summon anytime? I need to find out as much as possible about myself and this damned zombie system. I swear if this were a novel, they would call it My Zombie System or something.' Zain tried to joke to relieve him of his situation, and it was the only thing he could do to uplift the mood.

Through a few checks, he could confirm that he did indeed appear dead. For one, there was no heartbeat, and his sense of pain seemed gone. He still had the sense of touch and pressure, but it wasn't as accurate as before.

To test it somewhat, he picked up a toothbrush. He could feel his hand holding the brush, but he couldn't sense its temperature. Just to be double-sure, he rotated the tap, and as the water flushed out of it, he put his fingers in the stream of water.

Once again, although he felt the water, he couldn't tell if it was hot or cold.

As for the other questions he had about himself, fortunately for Zain, the system had plenty of in-depth explanations. An explanation prompt would appear after focusing on the (i) icons next to the stats.

[Body function]

[An undead's body will naturally continue to deteriorate with time. As this stat decreases, the functions of the human body will start to slow down. Consuming flesh will allow the body to restore itself. Based on the freshness of the flesh the user consumes, the higher the body's functions will be.]

At the moment, this Stat was at 98 percent, and most of his body functions seemed to be working fine, mainly to be able to walk and talk. However, how bad or quickly his body would deteriorate, he didn't know, and he was just hoping it wasn't some time soon; otherwise, he would have to complete the quest sooner than he thought.

[Energy]

[Energy is consumed naturally throughout the day depending on the user's activity. User can also use energy to heal wounds. The amount of energy consumed in this will depend on the severity of the wound. Once all energy has been used, the Undead body will deteriorate quicker.]

Based on the quest he had received, Zain also knew that consuming flesh was the way to restore his energy as well.

‘At least I don't have to look for two separate substances or items to help my body. But that quest stated that I needed to consume human flesh to complete it. So perhaps that doesn't mean that it's a requirement to restore my energy and body function but only to complete the quest. At least, I hope.

‘I don't know how long my mind will stay sane, but while it is, I would prefer just to eat animals and such over humans.'

It was quite quick for a person to accept the position Zain was in, but due to the system interface, it helped Zain think of the whole situation like a game scenario, and there was also the fact that at the moment, he couldn't feel pain either.

‘Then there's the exp bar, levels and quests.' Zain thought. ‘How am I seeing this screen? Is there a chip in my brain or a server sending me updates? It doesn't make any sense. Do all of the Zombies have a system like this? Can they all think like me?'

Eventually, staring down into the sink, Zain noticed there were hand prints, his own hand prints. When in shock, he had clenched onto the sink so hard that his handprints were embedded in it. Something that, as a human, would be impossible for him to do.

Then, he let out a big sigh and looked at his face in the mirror.

‘This isn't a game; I will have to keep reminding myself of that. But if I take this as a game scenario, I would try to level up as quickly as possible in this type of situation. Higher levels mean more chances of surviving with more skills, items and information at my disposal, but based on the first quest, I'm not going to like this.

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‘First, I need to see what's going on.'

Before leaving the bathroom, Zain wrapped bandages around his hands and his neck where the bite mark was. Although it was unlikely that perhaps Zain was the cure to all of this, the virus must have affected him differently from the way it had to the others.

Because one thing was clear, the person who had bitten him wasn't acting rationally. Clearing his thoughts, Zain lightly punched the mirror in front of him. It cracked it into several shards, and then taking a large piece of it, he placed it behind his belt underneath his shirt.

‘I don't have much choice for weapons. I don't even have a knife here in the University dorms, so this will have to do.'

Back in the room, Zain could only find a piece of wood that had broken from the bunk bed, the piece was quite long, and with a rounded end, Zain didn't think it would be much use.

However, using his strength, he pushed on both ends and then, while holding it vertically, he slammed his knee into it, snapping it, creating a sharp edge. The wood log now looked like a stake that he could use to finish a vampire, but he wasn't going up against vampires.

‘I can't rely on my strength to defeat whatever is out there. I have to assume that whatever I can do now, others can as well, so I need to stay a step ahead.'

Rather than heading to the door, Zain went towards the closed curtain, which had been untouched for days since he preferred to play games in the dark. Upon drawing the curtains, the view outside his apartment block finally came into his sight, and it was hard to tell if he was surprised.

‘It was what I thought…the human race…will have to fight for their survival.'

He could see smoke rising from several buildings, while many buildings were even destroyed. Looking closely, Zain noticed that most of the windows were broken, and there was chaos everywhere.

‘This doesn't just look like some type of attack. It almost looks like a meteor strike has hit the earth or someone has launched missiles on this city. And with how the buildings are destroyed, it almost looks like a crater is in the distance.

‘Just..what in the world happened? Did this happen while I was unconscious, or maybe when I was playing the game…no, that can't be possible. I would have definitely heard the explosions since I even heard that zombie knocking on the door. Either way, I won't get my answers or complete my quest just by staying here.'

Turning around, Zain walked towards the door and placed his hand on the door handle.

‘This wasn't how I imagined I would start my journey if something like this happened, but I'll just have to deal with the fact that I'm now a zombie."

Then, without hesitation, unlocking the door, Zain opened it and took his first steps into the newly changed world.

*****

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