Corpse

In a quiet place, darkness was descending.

Standing still in place, a chill rose in Arthur's heart.

Through the crack in the door, good visibility allowed him to clearly see the appearance of the thing opposite him.

It was a pale, humanoid monster, with a woman's face, but her complexion was incredibly pale, like a corpse.

In the depths of its pupils, endless negative emotions surged, as if trying to devour Arthur.

"Ding! Unknown force field detected, recommend immediate evacuation!"

The mechanical voice of the chip in his mind continued to sound, constantly reminding Arthur to leave immediately.

Listening to the prompt, Arthur made no move.

The room was completely sealed and sturdily built, and outside the door, the humanoid monster was blocking the way, showing no intention of letting Arthur leave.

Moreover, even if he left, it might not be safer outside than here.

Arthur could already feel it; as night fell, the world seemed to have changed. An eerie atmosphere filled the outside, and a sense of terrifying danger washed over him.

A jolt of premonition struck his heart. Arthur slowly reached for his waist with his right hand, drawing his longsword. Then, maintaining this posture, he met those eyes without hesitation.

He dared not move, nor could he rashly open the door. He could only stand still, confronting the other party.

Opposite him, the corpse-like monster also remained motionless, standing there like a statue.

Time seemed to stand still.

After an unknown amount of time, a faint sound slowly came from behind.

A chilling cold enveloped the surroundings, waking the middle-aged man among the three behind Arthur.

It was clear that this man had the best vigilance among the three. As he just woke up, he looked at Arthur standing at the door and immediately felt something was wrong.

As if discovering something, fear appeared in his eyes, his expression almost contorted, as if he had seen something terrifying.

He immediately covered his mouth with his right hand, his body completely still, afraid that a single careless sound would awaken whatever was here.

At some point, the area suddenly fell silent. The faint sounds from outside gradually disappeared, and the air became oppressive.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Outside the door, a knocking sound gradually began, sounding exceptionally clear in the quiet place.

Facing the door, besides the knocking, Arthur seemed to faintly hear faint breathing sounds from outside, constantly approaching.

The scene fell silent for a moment.

But outside the door, the intermittent knocking grew clearer and louder.

The door was shaking slightly, as if it couldn't withstand the force and was about to be smashed open by the monster outside.

Sensing this change, Arthur sighed and finally retreated two steps, gripping the longsword made of Black Rui Steel tightly.

Behind him, under this drastic change, all three had already woken up. They were now staring at the door in horror, their eyes filled with fear.

"Why? Why did we have to encounter something so bizarre?"

Among the three, the woman looked at the vibrating door and gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with deep fear.

Beside her, as if resigned to fate, the middle-aged man sighed, "The monster from upstairs got out."

"Three years have passed, and we all thought that corpse was dead and buried. We didn't expect it to complete its transformation! Now it's been drawn by our scent!"

Their eyes were filled with despair and fear, deeply understanding the terror of the monster outside.

Unlike the mutated insects and beasts outside, which were powerful but still fundamentally flesh and blood, the one before them was a true anomaly, an existence that humans could absolutely not defeat.

These reanimated corpses were extremely tough and could rapidly regenerate from any damage, as if they were immortal.

Normally, encountering such a monster would spell disaster even for a settlement of hundreds, leading to their slow extermination.

Trapped in a small room with a terrifying monster outside the door, it was fortunate they hadn't completely broken down.

"We were careless."

Looking at the increasingly loud sounds at the door, this thought flashed through Arthur's mind.

Sensing the familiar eerie aura from outside, he was ninety percent certain that the monster outside was the one previously locked in the room upstairs.

Before, he had vaguely sensed a strange aura emanating from there, but since it was locked inside and showed no signs of escaping, he hadn't paid it much mind.

He hadn't expected it to come out tonight, and judging by the current situation, it was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

BANG!!!

A loud bang suddenly erupted. At the door, a pale white arm punched straight through the door, and the entire door was flung open.

Standing before the door was a pale white female corpse. Her icy eyes swept coldly around, gradually focusing on Arthur.

A terrifying pressure surged into his heart. Arthur felt his entire body tremble, as if he had been targeted by something horrifying.

"Target is shrouded in an unknown force field. Unable to parse body data!" The mechanical voice of the chip sounded in his mind.

And at the very moment the chip's voice sounded, a pale white arm suddenly appeared before Arthur's eyes.

Crack!!!

A black longsword flashed, cutting fiercely at the corpse's hand, emitting a sound like colliding steel.

As if truly striking hard metal, the longsword became stuck in the opponent's arm. Even a longsword made of Black Rui Steel couldn't sever the arm.

"Step back two paces!" The Chip's prompt sounded in his mind again.

Arthur leaped back, narrowly dodging the opponent's attack, then charged forward without hesitation.

This time, he held nothing back, charging forward at his fastest speed. The longsword slashed down fiercely, striking the opponent's neck.

A powerful force suddenly slammed into him, sending him flying.

Across from him, the corpse's head was more than half severed by the longsword, with only a bit of flesh still connecting it.

Tiny tendrils of flesh continuously emerged, connecting the flesh on both sides. In an instant, the horrifying wound on the opponent's neck healed completely, returning to normal.

A figure quickly arrived, kicking the opponent away. They slammed into the wall behind them, leaving a large dent in the structure.

Roar!!!

A hoarse growl came from the corpse's mouth. Its eyes were filled with venom. Even after taking that heavy blow, it seemed completely unaffected and immediately charged forward.