Deathmatch

Kirk and Little Fatty had both bought quite a lot of consumable food. When Little Fatty saw T-Dog get killed, he cried out in grief and fired his M16 wildly. Kirk seized the opportunity to run over to Mori and use the [High Protein Potassium Injection]!

He didn't know whether this precious restorative could revive the gravely injured Mori. But their numbers were dwindling, and Mori's abilities were crucial.

Mori opened his eyes, and his visible injuries began healing rapidly. It seemed that the system's restorative items could be used on Plot Characters.

Mori saw T-Dog's head beneath the Walker King's feet, eyes wide with rage. T-Dog had been his sworn enemy ever since he'd lost his right hand, but now he'd died at the hands of a monster made of flesh and blood. Mori couldn't tell what he was feeling. He had only one thought: kill the monster!

Mori barked an order for Guillermo and the other gunmen to keep firing, then slipped behind a steel pillar like a cat, hiding in the shadows where the walkers couldn't see him.

When the Walker King passed by, Mori sprang out and drove the blade on his right hand into the walker's brain, then twisted it violently!

The Walker King let out a furious howl! It yanked Mori off the ground, and just as it was about to use that terrifying [Slaughter Tear] again, Mori suddenly roared. A flash of pale green light streaked by, and a blade plunged into the walker's right hand.

The walker's right hand burst apart, sending flesh and blood flying!

Mori dropped down and unleashed that pale green blade thrust again, driving it deep into the right calf of the fat walker, already wounded several times.

The fat walker's right calf burst apart again, splattering bits of flesh and exposing the ghastly white bone.

Kirk was amazed. This explosive muscle effect must have been one of Mori's special skills. It had worked wonders against the Walker King time and again.

But using the skill seemed to take a heavy toll on Mori. After landing, his face went pale, and he crouched on the ground, seemingly too exhausted even to stand up and flee.

Kirk panicked. The Walker King had focused all its hatred on Mori. If Kirk didn't do something now, the exhausted Mori would be torn to pieces.

He charged in. When he was five meters from the Walker King, he gulped down the [Stone Skin] potion he'd bought.

An indescribably strange sensation rose from his stomach.

Why does this taste a little like McDonald's McSpicy Chicken Leg Burger? Could Stone Skin work by adding loads of additives until you're as indestructible as a chicken burger? Kirk wondered.

Then his skin started to burn, hurting so much that tears welled in his eyes. Fortunately, it didn't last long. His skin began cracking, forming calluses, and hardening. Just as he was wondering if he'd bought the wrong potion and ended up with [Petrification Spell], doomed to stand before the boss like an idiot and die, the System Prompt informed him that he had successfully used the [Stone Skin] potion. His physical defense had increased by 30%.

Kirk felt as if he'd put on a suit of stone armor, and his Action Speed had dropped slightly. He charged at the Walker King again.

The Walker King had already slapped Mori, who was crouched on the ground catching his breath, flying away. Then it tried to use [Brute Force Heavy Armor] to finish off the tough man who had hurt it so badly.

Kirk leaped at the Walker King's legs. A flash of Light Blue blades streaked by as he struck the Walker King's leg again, now stripped to the bone! This time he focused on its tendons. With Stone Skin bolstering him, Kirk was willing to risk everything. He darted around the 2.4-meter-tall Walker King, repeatedly attacking its right leg.

Little Fatty and the others kept at it too, continuing to target the Walker King's huge head.

If they all focused fire on its legs, they might accidentally hit Kirk. Aside from well-known Plot Characters like Guillermo, who could shoot accurately, the others were better off attacking its head to draw its attention.

The Walker King was truly enraged. The little bugs kept buzzing around, how annoying! It kicked out with its left leg. Kirk's instincts kicked in, and he dodged the attack like a nimble cat, barely escaping in time. He seized the chance to deliver a vicious thrust into the Walker King's right support leg.

The Walker King finally lost its balance and crashed to the ground. The whole floor shook like it had been hit by an earthquake.

Little Fatty and the surviving gunmen cheered in unison. They'd finally brought the fat bastard down.

"Grab your weapons! Everyone, attack!" Little Fatty growled. T-Dog had always treated him well, and his tragic death had hit the shut-in hard.

But the Walker King took their Focus Fire and staggered as it tried to get back up.

Kirk panicked. While the Walker King was crouched down and still hadn't stood up, he boldly activated his only Active Skill, [Throat Cut]: if the opponent failed a toughness check, they died instantly. If they passed, they suffered four times the lethal damage plus 30 points of bleeding damage.

The Walker King passed the toughness check without breaking a sweat. A creature with such a robust constitution was bound to have high toughness too. But it still took massive damage. Filthy blood sprayed from its throat, and it let out a series of pained groans, clamping both fat hands around its neck. Its massive body lost its balance again and toppled over, hitting the ground.

Kirk had no time to check the battle log. He aimed at the fat walker's throat again and used [Throat Cut]! Each use cost him 10 energy, and he could use it nine times in a row.

This time, the Walker King couldn't dodge Kirk's skill and took another hit. But a vicious glint flashed in its murky little eyes as it grabbed a five-meter-long steel pillar in both hands and slammed it down!

The blow struck Kirk's head. His ears rang as if he'd been hit by rebar falling from a construction site. He immediately spat out blood and collapsed.

The battle log showed that the physical attack had dealt Crushing damage again! The Walker King's immense strength had added to the base damage. Fortunately, it wasn't a critical hit, but even with his total defense boosted to 150%, Kirk was still severely injured.

Kirk struggled back to his feet, blood gushing cheerfully from his nose.

Eyes red, he roared and charged in again, using [Throat Cut]!

Before he died, he had to use all nine of those Throat Cuts!

The walker lay on the ground and couldn't dodge, forced to endure another cut to its throat. It tried to slap Kirk to death, but Kirk dodged and used Throat Cut again!

Just then, Little Fatty ran over to Mori and used [Delicious Toast]. Mori stood up and saw Kirk unleashing his attacks on the helpless walker. A satisfied look flickered in his eyes. He licked his dagger (Little Fatty: Man, you've got some taste. Won't the Walker King's blood infect you?), then stalked toward the howling Walker King with a cold expression.

The master and his apprentice began to mercilessly dissect the Walker King, now unable to walk. Kirk used [Throat Cut] on one side, Mori used [Explosion] on the other, and they attacked with great enthusiasm.

The Walker King had entered a severely wounded state and was truly enraged. Suddenly, it rolled across the ground eighteen times, and Kirk and Mori's attacks missed.

An ominous feeling rose in Kirk's heart. This fat bastard isn't going to pull another stunt, is he? So many people have already died here.

But just as this book had proclaimed from the outset, fortune never came twice, while disaster never came alone. The fat bastard rolled over to a nearby incubation vessel and punched through its glass cylinder. The nutrient fluid burst out everywhere, and a humanoid corpse came tumbling out with it. It looked like a person with a pair of bat wings, its whole body blackened as if burned. The Walker King let out a strange cry, picked up the corpse, and started gnawing on it!

(Kirk was speechless. Come on, man, you've got some seriously weird tastes. You even like eating Batman?)

What's more, the Walker King's injuries seemed to be healing little by little.

Kirk and Little Fatty exchanged a look. "What the hell? You can't do that." Little Fatty grumbled, "Is it a believer in Chun Ge, blessed with eternal life? Can it really come back to full health on the spot?"

(The boss smiled without answering, thinking to himself, I've been a vegetarian and prayed to Buddha for years. I've already been very kind to you. If I still had my old temper, I'd make the protagonist restart the game the moment he dared to use a potion.)

"We can't let him keep using potions. Open fire!" Kirk shouted.

Everyone aimed at "Batman," whom the Walker King was chomping on, and shot the corpse to pieces. The Walker King angrily tossed it aside. Its badly injured right calf had healed a little, and it charged at them again with [Savage Charge]! Its hatred was now focused on Kirk, who had stopped it from "taking its medicine."

Kirk hurriedly dodged, but the fat bastard had just taken a couple of bites of "Batman." Not only had its Health Points been replenished, its intelligence had also increased! After using [Savage Charge], it barely paused before leaping into the air and dropping its enormous backside onto the ground! Maybe it was a hidden skill, or maybe it was a mutation caused by eating the corpse. Either way, it had never used the move before. If the one-ton monster landed on Kirk, he might not die, but he'd be crushed and unable to escape, leaving him to be eaten.

But Kirk was already caught in the gale raised by the fat man. This leaping butt-drop skill even had a lock-on effect over a certain area! He clenched his teeth until they nearly shattered, veins bulging, but his body still wouldn't move!

"It's over!" Kirk shut his eyes in despair. "Mom, Dad..."

Suddenly, someone shoved him aside. A Black man with a Spanish accent yelled, "***! ***!" Then came a scream!

Guillermo!

He'd arrived just in time to shove Kirk away, only to be crushed beneath the fat walker. The Walker King was also a little dizzy from the recoil of its landing. It gave a foolish chuckle, but beneath that vacant expression lay blood-soaked bones and a pool of blood: Guillermo, who had always been an angry young man.

"Goddamn it!" Kirk rushed forward with tears in his eyes. He had only one thought: either kill the fat bastard or get killed by it! There was no third option!

Now he finally understood the cruel nature of the System and the meaning of survival. A living person had become a pile of warm flesh and bones in just one second. His smiles, words, laughter, curses, and jokes had all turned into eternal gray, never to return!

This wasn't a game! It wasn't an online game! There was no respawning with full health. When you died, you were dead, reduced to a cold lump of flesh or chewed up and eaten by a monster.

Now T-Dog and Guillermo were both dead, along with several gunmen. They had all died at the hands of this fat walker.

It had to die.

Kirk lunged in front of the fat walker and stabbed his special forces dagger into the Walker King's right leg again. The force of his rage drove the blade deep into the leg bone, and he couldn't pull it out right away.

The wound in the fat walker's leg suffered another devastating blow. It howled so loudly that it nearly deafened them, then grabbed Kirk.

"Don't hurt my big brother!" Little Fatty rushed over with a steel shovel and struck the walker's arm with it. Kirk managed to escape in time. Little Fatty's instinct to fear death had now been overwhelmed by anger and grief. All that remained was madness and fury.

Mori also rushed to the fat man's right leg and unleashed his blade's explosive skill again. The other gunmen fired furiously, pouring a storm of metal onto the fat walker's head.

But courage couldn't overcome the overwhelming difference in strength.

Three minutes later, Kirk had been knocked into a near-death state!

Little Fatty had been knocked into a near-death state!

Mori had been sent flying into the iron door, his face covered in blood. He was unconscious, his life uncertain!

The other gunmen had been smashed to pieces, crushed into bloody pulp, or eaten alive! Not one survived!

Of the ten people who had entered to complete this Silver hidden Main Mission, seven were dead and three were near death! They had been all but wiped out!