Chapter 13: Awakening

Lynn grabbed the dusty medical books off the shelf and carefully put them in his backpack.

"Normally it would be impossible to read all these books within 5 days," he muttered. "But thanks to my Gemini Soul ability, I don't need to worry about that."

As Lynn retrieved the books, he also found several unopened cans of food and intact water bottles that were still safe to consume in this rest area. He gathered these supplies and returned to the room where the injured woman lay unconscious.

When Lynn arrived at the room, he checked on the injured woman. She was still breathing with a faint heartbeat, though her condition remained critical.

"I don't think a normal person would have survived those kinds of injuries," Lynn said shaking his head.

He went to sit in a chair in the corner of the room and began unpacking the zombie cores he had harvested.

"This should be enough," he nodded, as he gazed intently at the glowing crystals spread out before him. He counted 39 normal zombie cores and 1 brawler core.

First, he wanted to check the difference between a normal zombie and a mutated one like the brawler. He grabbed the brawler's core, feeling it pulsating with potent energy and emitting a faint glow.

With that, Lynn began absorbing the energy from the brawler core, directing the flow into his muscles. As the potent energy coursed through him, he could feel his muscles swelling and pulsating, expanding beyond their previous limits. The pleasant warmth from the core suffused his tissues, invigorating his fibers down to a cellular level.

After fully absorbing the massive core, Lynn heard the notification sound.

[Ding!]

[+2 Strength]

"Incredible!" Lynn exclaimed out loud. This single brawler core contained enough concentrated energy to increase his strength attribute by 2 full points.

"So one brawler core contains roughly the same amount of energy as 24 normal zombie cores," Lynn muttered to himself.

Turning his focus to the remaining 39 normal cores, Lynn continued the process of absorption, carefully guiding the energy to different parts of his body to enhance various attributes.

This time, he aimed to bring all his attributes to an equal level.

The warm, invigorating essence of the cores seeped into his tissues. He directed it in turns to his muscles, bones, organs, and nerves…

[Ding!]

[Ding!]

…

…

After finishing extracting the last bit of energy from the zombie core, Lynn glanced up at his attributes panel.

[Player: Temporary Number F0001]

Class: [Doctor lv2] (66%)

Talent: [Gemini Soul]

Attributes:

[Strength 10] [Dexterity 9] [Constitution 9] [Intelligence 9] [Perception 9]

Class Skills: [Cell Proliferation]

General Skills: [Evaluation lv1]

Equipment: [Zombie Slaying Sword]

Lynn sat in the corner of the room, his eyes closed as he savored the feeling of the potent energy coursing through his body. He flexed his muscles, feeling them bulge and stretch with incredible strength. It was an addicting sensation, a rush of power that he had never experienced before.

Lynn's eyes fluttered open, and he gazed around the room, taking in every detail with clarity. It was as if a veil had been lifted from his vision. He could discern every inch of the room with perfect clarity.

"I feel incredible," he muttered to himself, his voice low and awed. "I've never felt so alive, so powerful."

Lynn flexed his muscles, feeling them bulge and ripple beneath his skin. He felt full of vibrant energy, every movement infused with newfound strength and precision.

Lynn nodded in satisfaction at the increased attributes. "And I still have some cores left for emergencies," he thought to himself.

He then looked at the [Missions] section and as expected, the side mission for killing zombies was complete.

[Zombie Massacre]

[Side Mission: Kill 50 zombies, 50/50] (redeem the reward)

He clicked to redeem the reward. Immediately, he felt a sudden influx of information flooding his mind, large amounts of data were being directly poured into his brain.

At the same time, he felt a sudden surge of energy coursing through his body. Enhancing and modifying his physical form to make him more suitable for this skill he is getting. He could feel his muscles bulging and his reflexes quickening as the energy flowed through him, honing his senses and sharpening his mind.

After a few moments, the flood receded, leaving behind a new skill: [Swordsmanship]

He could feel the knowledge of sword fighting coursing through his mind and body as if he had been training from a young age. He knew he was now capable of wielding a sword with great skill and precision.

In addition to the new skill, he felt a subtle change in his body. He could feel that he was more nimble and agile than ever before. He checked his stats and saw that his dexterity had increased by one point, which made him even more capable of wielding a sword with deadly accuracy.

"Are the rewards being adjusted to my current situation?" Lynn muttered to himself, doubt and curiosity filled his thoughts

Lynn's mind raced with possibilities. "Maybe it's the advantage of the trial dungeon"

He looked back at the side mission, and as expected, it was updated again.

[Zombie Extermination]

[Side Mission: Kill 50 zombies, 59/150]

After checking everything, Lynn sat down to rest, closing his eyes and entering a light sleep state to recover his energy.

He remained like that for several hours, this first day was exhausting.

...

...

...

Lynn was awakened by the sound of a notification.

[Survive]

[Main Mission: Survive for five days, 1/5]

"What happened yesterday wasn't a dream" he muttered.

Lynn turned his head to look, and not far away, the woman lay wrapped in a sheet, sleeping deeply.

He approached and touched her forehead, feeling that she had a slight fever.

"She's actually still alive? My efforts weren't wasted," he thought with relief.

Lynn let out a sigh. Though her breath was weak, the woman's face had finally gained a little color. After pondering, he removed the sheet and checked on the healing progress of her chest wound.

Under the combination of his surgical skills with the help of [Gemini Soul] and the repeated use of [Cell Proliferation], the wound's healing was accelerated.

"She survived, the wound's not infected, and the healing is on track," Lynn muttered.

After inspecting the injury, Lynn placed his hand over the wound, ready to utilize [Cell Proliferation] again.

But just as he activated the skill, an accident occurred.

Perhaps awakened by the hand touch, the blonde woman's closed eyes suddenly shot open. Her instinctive sense of crisis made her grab Lynn's wrist with lightning speed.

In that instant, the two pairs of eyes locked together.