No Escape

Roar!

Ju had only run a few steps forward.

Yet the corpse that had just risen seemed to have triggered some special mechanism. It immediately abandoned Linsey, whom it had only just locked onto, and roared as it charged after Ju again!

"Monster! Your opponent's over here!"

Bang! The pursuing corpse was sent flying by Linsey, who had rushed into it.

But Linsey did not stop there. He had charged with killing intent.

The moment the corpse was knocked down, Linsey pressed his advantage. He drew the small knife at his waist, gripped it tightly with both hands, put his full strength behind it, and stabbed straight down at the corpse's head.

Crack—

Linsey twisted his wrist, sucking in a sharp breath from the pain.

The frozen corpse's head was as hard as steel.

His knife had only sunk a few centimeters before it could go no deeper. Instead, his own hand was hurting.

"Damn it!"

Linsey cursed, though he had no idea whether the corpse could understand it.

He did not dare linger. He immediately sprang away from the struggling corpse and jumped to the side.

Just a few seconds later, the corpse lying on the ground climbed back to its feet.

Linsey's attack had caused it no apparent change. Just as before, it located the living person, swung its stiff hands, and pounced on Linsey again.

"A simple reanimated corpse. Its emotions aren't affected... It's probably mindless, like a zombie..."

Having just gone through a fight, Linsey was remarkably calm.

He stared fixedly at the corpse lunging at him, analyzing its condition while adjusting his footing. He lowered himself into a half-crouch, holding his knife tightly at his side.

Then Linsey charged toward the incoming enemy.

Rip—

Linsey slipped past the side beneath the corpse's arm, and the short blade in his hand slashed across its waist.

This time, the blade easily cut through its clothes as well.

But just as before, the entire corpse was frozen solid. Even the waist and abdomen, which should have been soft on a human body, were lumps of ice.

Linsey could barely leave a cut.

He could not inflict any more serious damage on the thing at all.

"..."

"This isn't something courage and wisdom can solve!"

Linsey swiftly made a rational, calm judgment.

Then—run!

A monster whose defenses he could barely break was not an enemy he could handle under the current circumstances.

Linsey was not some brute who only knew how to stubbornly fight.

With the enemy strong and himself weak, running was absolutely the right choice—indeed, the best choice! Especially since he was injured.

Trying to defeat such a troublesome enemy in his wounded state was nothing but wishful thinking.

Linsey immediately began sprinting through the forest.

The corpse behind him paused only slightly before immediately giving chase.

As he fled, Linsey turned to observe the corpse behind him.

He discovered something despairing.

The corpse was clearly frozen stiff in the heavy snow, yet as it chased him, its thighs swung back and forth from its hip joints without slowing down in the slightest.

And those were an adult's long legs! As they alternated, they moved tirelessly like wound-up gears.

There was an obvious difference in height and stride length between an adult and a thirteen-year-old child. Without outside interference, the distance between the monster and Linsey was shrinking at a visibly rapid rate.

After only a little over two minutes of running.

Not only was the small amount of stamina Linsey had just recovered nearly exhausted.

The corpse chasing close behind him was now only five or six meters away! If he stopped for even two seconds, he would immediately be pounced on by the corpse! "Simple mind, stiff body. Simple mind, stiff body..."

Linsey kept repeating the corpse's traits under his breath.

In his desperation, inspiration suddenly struck.

In the snow-covered forest around him, he found a plan that might work.

"I'm doing it!"

Without another thought, Linsey locked onto the nearest painted maple. He took a running leap onto it, hugged the trunk, and began climbing.

Bang! Barely two breaths later.

The relentlessly pursuing corpse slammed headfirst into the trunk.

It flailed its arms, but could only strike the sturdy tree. It could not harm Linsey in the branches at all.

"Hah..."

Linsey, having just climbed up the tree, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He watched the monster below. Though its frozen body could move, it was limited in how agile it could be.

Therefore, the tree Linsey had climbed.

Had become a natural barrier the corpse could not cross.

"Damn it!"

"What the hell is this thing?"

Watching the corpse below continue to ram the trunk, Linsey could not help cursing.

The good news was that as he stayed safely in the tree, his stamina was beginning to recover.

As long as things stayed like this.

Whether Dan returned from hunting the magical beast in the forest, or Ju brought back more support from town, he would most likely be able to safely lea—

Crack—

The very next second Linsey thought that.

The tree beneath him made a completely different sound from before.

Linsey focused his eyes and saw that the corpse, which had been helpless against the tree just moments ago, had suddenly driven its fingers into the trunk.

Then it exerted force with both arms and instantly shot itself upward.

At the same time, it clamped the trunk between its feet to keep from falling, drove its hands into the trunk again, and hauled its body higher.

Repeating the process over and over, the corpse climbed faster and faster, actually ascending even more quickly than Linsey had! "Huh?"

"That works too???"

Linsey stared in disbelief.

Wasn't it supposed to be a mindless corpse? How had it suddenly learned to climb trees?

At that moment, his gaze met the corpse's below.

Then Linsey noticed that black mist was now spreading and drifting through the cracked sockets of those once-simple dead eyes.

Ordinary people might have considered it some strange phenomenon.

But Linsey, who possessed Life Source Material, could sense a faint vitality hidden beneath the sight.

"..."

"So you can keep evolving, huh?"

Linsey no longer even felt like cursing.

He glanced at his status panel. His stamina had recovered somewhat while in the tree, enough to handle another stretch of pursuit.

Then the answer was simple.

Linsey silently lowered his head and calmly watched the corpse climbing up.

The instant it used both hands again and lifted its body into the air, Linsey jumped down from the tree without hesitation and drove a left kick into the corpse's face.

"Get down there!"

Bang! Man and corpse crashed to the ground one after the other.

But with the corpse serving as a cushion, Linsey was in much better shape.

He deftly rolled across the ground, dispersing the impact of the fall.

Then, without even looking back at the corpse behind him, he seized the time and sprinted straight ahead.