Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Guild Hall

Luke Wixx, a young teen, no patents, no ability, no strength to fight. 

Luca stared at the mirror dumbfounded, after all the mud was washed off, one can clearly see the soft and beautiful face. Even if the cheeks are a bit sunken in, it doesn't take away from the fact that he is an absolute beauty. Before, one could describe him as handsome and cheeky, but now looking in the mirror, while still very attractive, his face is on the delicate side. 

Having such a face, without any strength to speak of, certain people would definitely get bad ideas. Especially since nowadays, the law system is in chaos and the higher-ups would only intervene in a crime if it is beneficial to them. 

His hair is not black as Luca has previously guessed. After washing off the mud, light brown hair is revealed. It seems like the hair wasn't cut at all since the apocalypse started as it almost reaches his shoulders. 

He has very soft facial features, but not like a girl at all. If he could describe it, he looks very similar to those Korean pop stars from before. He has a round oval face, a small straight nose, and upturned full lips. What surprised Luca was that his eyes and eyebrows are exactly as they were before, fierce and sharp, it doesn't look out of place, but only adds to the overall attractiveness. 

Now Luca wants to smack his past self for always complaining. This child probably had no other option than to always be dirty, if he revealed his true face, one can't imagine what troubles it could bring. 

In the previous society, people were well-behaved as the laws were heavily enforced, however, the world turned upside down overnight and people’s most inner dark desires and thoughts were released. Without being monitored and controlled, some people really became monsters. 

Luca’s past appearance was definitely attractive, but no one would dare lay a hand on a Sergeant’s son. But for someone with a good appearance, no ability, and no one backing them up, it could only bring trouble. 

Nowadays, even average-looking women would get kidnaped as long as they aren't able to fight back. He definitely needs to hide his face somehow, he isn't willing to roll in mud to conceal himself, so he needs to think of something else. 

His eyes then landed on the half-torn shirt he ripped earlier, guess he could tie it over his mouth and nose and use it as a mask, yea that could work. And he will have to delay getting a haircut, as his long bangs are covering his eyes and forehead. 

Being caught by surprise, Luca totally forgot that he was about to brush his hair. And only got reminded when he saw the brush in his hand. The brush doesn't look used at all, his hair is probably terribly tangled. If he could, he would rather chop off all of his hair than try to detangle it, but he can't do that yet.

As he is trying to brush his tangled hair, he keeps hearing ‘cling, cling, cling’ sounds. Luca suddenly remembered that the previous owner seemed to have hidden some points somewhere, but the thugs couldn't find them in his belonging nor on himself. 

Luca stared at the hairbrush astonished, then twisted off the handle from the head. He found the money the previous owner was hiding! The head of the hairbrush was hollow and inside he found several coins, they all added up to exactly two hundred points. 

Luca looked at the points and wondered if that little amount would make people so crazy that they hurt others. He definitely thinks it’s not with it. Luca never worried about money before, he spent around that much on a single day hanging out with his previous friends.

However, what he doesn't know is that a regular person living frugally can survive for two to three months with that. 

This base, compared with others, is heaven for people. This base has a huge plantation farm that produces plenty of mutated grain, enough for people not to starve. In addition, the second year into the apocalypse, the base started producing and selling clothing made from mutated plants which are of better quality than the previous ones. And by this time, the fourth year since day zero, clothing has become very affordable. 

Most buildings have modified roofs and water-collecting gutters for rainwater, and they each have a huge water tank. The base is like a self-reliant small city. 

A regular person who doesn't want to hunt zombies can get a job inside and different jobs vary from thirty to fifty points a month. For example, Luke Wixx worked at the plantation farm and got paid forty points a month, of which he managed to save all of them. 

The price is very affordable, for example, refilling a water bottle is one point, and a package of crackers, which is the cheapest and wildly available food is two points. Renting a room starts from ten points a month and can go higher. Even the newly developed clothing costs from four to six points, with shoes and thick jackets costing ten points. The only thing considered overpriced is weapons. Just a small kitchen knife costs thirty-five points and as the weapons get better, they get more expensive. 

Luca knows he doesn't have the best awareness of how much this money is actually worth and by how hard Luke tried to hide and save these points, he knows now that he was definitely throwing money to the wind before.

Even though he doesn't know exactly what he can get for this amount. As the previous owner was guarding the points so well, it must be a substantial amount to a poor person, and well, he is a poor person now. He must adapt. 

He put the points back in the hairbrush, as he doesn't have a better hiding spot, and finished tidying himself up.

Luca looked like a completely different person currently, so the aunty at the front desk didn't even recognize him as the dirty boy who walked in earlier. Now that he has some money, he definitely needs to change his home. He is certain that one of his roommates was the one that informed those thugs that he has points stashed somewhere. So he can't stay there, but currently, it's too late to move so it will have to wait for tomorrow. 

 

Luca didn't sleep this night, he was too afraid that the others will wake up before him and would notice his change. He just laid down resting his body as it still ached from the beating he took. He was thinking the whole night and made a plan for himself. He first needs to move out to a safer location, somewhere safer and without roommates. He also needs to get his body healthy and strong, as he wishes to venture out of the base. 

That is the one thing he wished to do before, but his father never allowed it, with the excuse that he didn't have the ability. He has checked before and is certain that he doesn't have his psych ability anymore. It probably disappeared when he merged with this body. However, as he knows even ‘regular’ people have abilities, he just needs to absorb more zombie nuclei and he can awaken this body’s ability. And with it, his life will be more easygoing.

Eventually, he can also join a team that ventures out of the base, but for that, he needs to train his body first. Also, his dad had said that good weapons are very expensive, so he could work in a manual labor job which could give him some muscles in addition to points. While Luca was thinking of his future, he noticed that the room was geting lighter. OK. Time to move. 

Luca grabbed his duffle bag and sneaked out of the room. He didn’t want to deal with anyone’s questions, especially since none of them had a friendly attitude toward him. 

He doesn't know this area, so he just walked in a random direction. He doesn't know if the previous owner had any friends or acquaintances, so he would rather avoid this district altogether and start somewhere new. The base is divided into many districts and the further into the center, the richer the neighborhoods. 

Every district has its own guild hall, so the first thing he needs to do is to go to another district, then he can ask for directions to the guild hall. There is still electricity at the base but it is restricted to the rich districts in the center and the base-operated buildings such as the guild hall. And it is no problem for him to go to a different guild hall to change his residence and quit his job.

Everything on earth has mutated including plants, and most of them are very toxic and harmful. He knows nothing about plants, especially mutated ones, if he tries to continue working there, he will definitely mess something up. 

Luca is very hungry currently but he forgot to take money out of the hairbrush, and if he did that in plain view, he might get targeted by thieves, so he has to wait for a bit.

He walked for a while and passed through 3 districts. Luca finally stopped as this area seems to be decent, it must be because one of the entrances to the base is located there. As he asked around, he also found out that there is a market near the guild hall, he can head there after.

As he entered the guild hall, Luca was surprised to see so many people inside. He got into the line marked ‘housing’. After waiting for a while, it was finally his turn.

“Hello sir, what can I help you with today?”

The young front desk lady smiled at him. Luca said that he has been living in the free assigned home before, but now that he was nearing sixteen he had up some points, he decided to rent early. 

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“Alright, what type of accommodations are you looking for and what is your price range?”

“I want a single room, no roommates, with a door that can lock, and in this community. Also cheaper if possible, I don't have much saved up.”

He got a binder which showed a few locations available, he was told that as this district is near the wall, the price is better than that of others. 

Most people wish to live as close to the center as possible, as the closer they are to the wall, the closer they are to danger. But Luca wanted to live closer to the base entrance/exit as his future plans include going out regularly.

Luca looked through the information and was surprised to find that the housing is also very cheap, he chose an apartment that had one room, one livingroom/kitchen, and one bathroom, and he had to only pay 13 points a month. Such an apartment in the base center would cost at least 30 points per month. 

There is no electricity, but the building, like many others, has its own water supply, so he should be able to have access to water whenever he needs it. Although he couldn't take a bath, he could take a shower every other day and that's enough for him. 

After geting the apartment key and updating his ID card, Luca proceeded to resign from his current job. What surprised him is that the guild hall doubles as a small mall. The upper floors have shops selling food, appliances, medicine, and even weapons. 

There is also a place to exchange zombie nuclei for points and vice versa. You can sell your zombie nucleus for 5 points, but if you want to buy one, you need to spend 7 points. What trickery is this?  

He was told that all the guild halls have the same products for the same price regardless of the district, which is completely different from the market. 

Luca excitedly headed upstairs, straight to the weapon store. 

He was amazed by the different types. They vary from small kitchen knives to machetes, to baseball bats, to spears, there were even crossbows. Luca has received military training from his father and is able to fight well, but, with his body the way it is, he is afraid a single gust of wind will blow him away. So he wants to find something suitable for his current body. 

Daggers are for close combat, but he is not fast enough for that, a sword or a machete needs arm strength, and as for the crossbow, he doesn't even know how to use it. 

As he was thinking about what to get, he got approached by the store owner.

“Hey kid, are you thinking of buying something? What type are you looking for?”

Luca was overwhelmed and didn't know which weapon would be the safest option. Also, as he’s only sparred with humans before, he doesn't know what it's like to face a zombie. 

“I don't know yet, can you recommend something that is useful against zombies?”

The man looked him up and down and responded: “I usually recommend the mace, easy to use and cracks their heads open. But with how scrawny you are, it wouldn’t work for you.”

He looked around at the weapons thinking for a while.

“I’d say to go with a spear, it’s not too heavy and it will keep the zombies further away, which is safer. Then as they walked towards you, you can just stab their heads. The only problem is geting used to using it, also I would recommend only taking on one or two at a time. If you get surrounded by zombies, it's game over.”

Luca thought it over and decided on the spear. He looked over the selections and found one he liked. But in the next second, he wanted to cry. 

180 POINTS!! That is basically the rest of his money! He got used to the low prices of everything else, he totally forgot that weapons are crazy expensive. 

As the store owner looked at Luca’s dejected aurora, he thought ‘I knew this would happen, this is why I have no customers’.

Luca felt sad, but only for a moment. He looked over the different spears and chose a cheaper one, this one looked less impressive but it was much cheaper. It had a wooden shaft, which is not ideal, but the blade itself was long and sharp on both sides.

“Excuse me, sir, I will get this one.” Luca pointed at the spear worth 120 points.

Ignoring the shop owner’s shocked expression, Luca set his duffel bag on the counter and looked for his hair brush. There were no other customers here and it is a guild-operated store, so he thought it was safe for him to take out his points.

After paying the huge amount for the spear and one month's worth for his apartment, he was left with 67 points. Luca wants to buy some new clothes and some food. The shops here don’t sell clothing so he would need to go to the market for that. 

As he was on his way to the stairs, to go to a different place. Another store caught his eye, it seemed to be an equipment store. What interested him was that it had face coverings. He walked in to browse, he definitely wants to use something else besides his old t-shirt to cover his face.

He ended up buying two black face masks, a pair of eye goggles, and a pair of gloves.

This store advertises the face mask as more breathable but still protecting from any zombie blood that may spray your face. As for the goggles, they will protect his eyes in addition to hiding his face more, however, if he wears them in the base, he will definitely get stared at. The most expensive item was actually the gloves, they have thin chainmail embedded in the fabric and they can withstand most zombie bites. He spent one point for two masks, four points for the goggles, and eight points for the gloves, a total of thirteen points. 

Well, it's fine, he will earn back the points after he kills some zombies and collects their crystal nuclei.

Luca immediately replaced the shirt rag tied on his face with the new face mask while no one was paying any attention and headed to another store to get himself some food, he was starving. 

Before, he used to have every meal handmade by a kitchen aunty, and he has never seen the food that regular people eat. Vegetables were on the pricy side and meat wasn't even sold here. 

He chose a couple of different flavored crackers, some protein bars, there was also some weird paste in a tube, it looked like the ones that had yogurt for children before. The sign above was marked with different vegetable combinations, and some even seemed to contain meat? It was probably processed to last long, so Luca grabbed a few of them too. He also found something that looked to be bread, except that it was orange, and he grabbed a loaf of that too. 

In addition to the food, he bought three water bottles, as his single one wouldn't be enough for trips outside. The total he spent this time was twenty points. And the food should last him about a week.

After he got everything he needed, Luca headed to his new home.

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