First Victory

The next day.

Wang Tao got up early.

He first checked his fully charged phone. There was still no signal, and even emergency calls would not go through.

The water and electricity at home had not been cut off yet.

He looked up at the deep blue sky again.

"Did the cell towers go down, or did the satellites fail? Could there be some other disaster..."

Shaking his head, he stopped thinking about it.

Wang Tao took some food out of the refrigerator and made himself a hearty breakfast.

Then he took all the books off the bookshelf. He had bought them on sale as decorations, but they were real books.

Wang Tao found some books of suitable size and taped them around his forearms, calves, chest, and back for protection. He left his thighs and upper arms uncovered, since those were the parts that needed to exert force. Wrapping them would make it harder to use his strength.

Then came the weapon. There were several sharp kitchen knives in the kitchen, but they were a little short... After some thought, he tied a kitchen knife to a rolling pin, making a simple short spear.

Wang Tao had actually wanted to modify a mop into a long spear, but the hallway was rather narrow. A weapon that was too long might be hard to wield, and if it got stuck somewhere, he would be finished.

A rolling pin was just the right length. It was neither too short, which would increase the chance of infection, nor too long to use properly.

Finally, Wang Tao found a thick scarf and a pair of yellow blue-light-blocking glasses. He covered his head, face, and even his eyes.

After all, the Zombie Virus was contagious. Protective measures had to be taken with utmost care! Wang Tao looked at himself in the full-length mirror.

In the mirror stood a man over six feet tall and powerfully built, wearing black gloves, a black face mask, yellow glasses, and brown hiking boots. His entire body was tightly wrapped, homemade guards were strapped to his arms, and he held a Homemade Short Spear in his hands. He looked very reassuring.

Once everything was ready, Wang Tao waited quietly behind the door.

The zombie had been wandering around the stairwell. Before long, it came upstairs.

Wang Tao did not rush. He continued waiting.

The zombie first went up to the sixth floor, then returned to the fifth, and finally went back down toward the fourth floor.

When Wang Tao saw through the peephole that the zombie had its back to him and was heading downstairs, he took a deep breath and suddenly threw open the door.

Click—

The sound of the security door opening startled the zombie. It stiffly turned its head, revealing that horrifying, disgusting face.

Whoosh! Wang Tao gripped the Homemade Short Spear tightly and thrust it at the zombie's head.

After spotting a person, the zombie let out a roar and spun around. But its body was stiff and its movements uncoordinated. It nearly tripped over itself as it turned, staggering to the side. Wang Tao's thrust missed!

But Wang Tao had not expected a one-hit kill. The sharp kitchen knife could not only stab, but slash as well. He gripped the rolling pin with both hands and swung downward hard! Rip—

The slash cut from the zombie's shoulder all the way to its waist. Its clothes made it impossible to tell how deep the wound was, but Wang Tao could clearly see that the Health Bar above its head had dropped by a sliver.

-14

486/500

What the hell!

That slash only dealt that much damage?

Wang Tao knew zombies had a lot of health, but he had not expected this much. Or rather, his attack was simply too weak!

Though shocked, Wang Tao was not too panicked.

Both he and the zombie were in the stairwell. The zombie was below, while he was above. He had deliberately chosen this position. Holding the high ground definitely gave him an advantage.

Wang Tao quickly pulled back the kitchen knife. Taking the opportunity, the zombie lunged at him, its bloodstained hands reaching for Wang Tao.

Wang Tao immediately retreated two steps, dodging the zombie's attack, then stabbed out again.

The zombie would not actively dodge attacks. Before, it had merely gotten lucky. This stab struck the zombie squarely in the forehead, but... it did not go in! The skull was the hardest bone in the human body, while the kitchen knife in Wang Tao's hand was of average quality and even had a slightly curled edge. It was not surprising that it had failed to pierce through on the first try.

But what surprised Wang Tao was that this attack had barely dealt any damage.

-3

483/500

Wasn't the head supposed to be a zombie's weak point? Why was the damage so low? Was its skull too hard, so he had failed to break through its defense?

As his thoughts raced, Wang Tao gripped the Homemade Short Spear and viciously swung it upward from the lower right toward the upper left.

Swish! The blade sliced across the zombie's neck.

Splurt—

Slightly blackened blood sprayed from the zombie's neck as it staggered back a step. Wang Tao's cut had been rather shallow. Though it had slit the zombie's neck, it had not severed it.

But Wang Tao was a little excited.

Because this attack had dealt a great deal of damage.

-117

366/500

That one slash had taken more than twenty percent of the zombie's health!

"The neck is a zombie's weak point too! And compared to the head, cutting the neck is much easier!"

As if enraged, the zombie charged at Wang Tao again, stretching out both hands and fiercely swinging at his face.

A wall stood only a few steps behind Wang Tao, making this attack hard to dodge. He hurriedly held the knife in his right hand, raised his left arm, and used the guard on his arm to take the zombie's blow head-on.

Bang! Wang Tao was knocked back two steps, all the way to the wall.

This was the first time Wang Tao had been attacked by a zombie. He finally understood why people said zombies possessed immense strength. Even with his physical condition, taking that blow head-on made his arm go numb. If it had been someone else, they might have been knocked flat with a single hit.

But when he saw that his own Health Bar had not lost even a drop, Wang Tao felt encouraged.

This was reality, not a game! In a game, as long as a monster attacked you, even if it only brushed against you, you would lose health. The only question was how much. That was the so-called game mechanic.

But reality was different. In reality, as long as you were not injured, you would not lose health!

Wang Tao's physical condition was excellent. Taking that blow with the arm guard had caused neither external nor internal injury. His arm had merely gone numb, so he was still at full health!

After figuring this out, Wang Tao's eyes lit up.

When fighting monsters in a game, you had to follow the game's rules. If there was no one-hit-kill mechanic, then no matter how strong you were, you could not kill a monster in one move.

But reality did not need to follow that rule! With that thought, Wang Tao advanced instead of retreating and charged straight at the zombie.

The zombie also roared and attacked Wang Tao again.

Bang! Just as they were about to collide, Wang Tao used all his strength, suddenly planted his foot, and brutally kicked the zombie in the chest.

The zombie was strong, but it weighed the same as it had while alive, only a little over a hundred pounds. That weight could not withstand Wang Tao's Charged Strike.

The zombie immediately rolled down to the landing on the fourth floor.

Without slowing down, Wang Tao stepped onto the stairs and leaped up. Like a flying man, he plunged toward the zombie. He gripped the homemade spear with both hands and raised it above his head. As he landed, he thrust downward with all his might! Splurt!

Using gravity, the blade stabbed viciously into the zombie's forehead.

-366

0/500

One-hit kill!