Chapter 8

The kitsune paced nervously around the tavern, twitching her ears and tail occasionally. After the "death" of his double, Yuri reverted to his furry form to save the considerable mana he had spent. Mana potions weren't infinite, and a serious fight awaited them ahead—natural regeneration, slow as it was, would have to do for now.

"— We're in deep trouble. Really bad trouble," Yuri muttered, kicking the corpse of a dispatched zombie with his foot.

The floor was littered with corpses. They were faintly smoking and seemed to decompose, turning into dry soil. But the "living" dead were just outside, tirelessly assaulting the doors and pushing against the walls. They even tried to squeeze through the windows, which were too narrow for them. One window featured a bouquet of grasping, bluish hands; another had a particularly nimble zombie hopelessly stuck, groaning horribly and clawing at the floor.

"— This looks a lot like the rare in-game event 'Phantom Village,' designed for players levels 1-5. If you talked to a random NPC, they might tell you about a strange village where travelers went missing. If you went to the location specified in the quest during the evening, it would transport you to a separate area—a village full of zombies. To complete the quest, you had to survive until morning, fending off waves of undead. Great farming with a good party. And a nice reward at the end. But here, we didn't get the quest. Obviously, we've played the role of those very travelers who… you know, disappeared."

"— So, if we survive until morning, the monsters will retreat?" Zina asked. Besides Yuri, she was the only one still capable of speaking.

"— Maybe. But..." Yuri gestured towards a window. From the windowsill, a noticeable fresh crack stretched downward. "— They might break through the wall first. And then we're done."

"— So what do we do?"

"— I'm thinking."

Yuri was indeed thinking—and he had to think fast. Meanwhile, Killer and Gennady Alekseevich were starting to recover.

"— Ugh, for crying out loud, no more of these reincarnations," the bakeneko groaned as she stood up, stretching so hard her bones cracked audibly. "— You, Killer, if you pull something like that again—I'll take you out myself later. I thought I was dead for real, geez. So, what's going on? Haven't we won yet?"

Killer was also coming to life—he announced in a disturbingly angry voice that he was going to personally kill everyone. The demonologist brought the recovering members up to speed.

"— Alright!" Yuri suddenly perked up, clearly having come up with a plan. "— Zina and Killer! Empty your bags. We need all your mana potions and whatever else you've got. We'll also open the gift packs. We need everything that can make us stronger!"

The unopened potion sets from Zina and Killer yielded five vials of each type.

Yuri started opening the gift boxes with a heavy heart. He hadn't lied when explaining to Gennady Alekseevich earlier that they mostly contained crafting materials. Mostly. He had planned to sell them for a starting capital and wasn't sure he could carry them to the nearest shop. That's why he had been saving them "for later." But in general, the boxes could contain many interesting things, and Yuri hoped to find at least something to boost their chances of survival in the upcoming insane escapade.

Soon, a pile of items grew before him, half of which even the student didn't recognize. But the properties window confirmed that they were all reagents for crafting. Additionally, there were a few party poppers and cheap trinkets, utterly useless.

The only item that provided any attribute bonuses was:

+3 Intelligence

As planned by Yuri, Killer was the one to wear the glasses, and the student hoped they would add at least a drop of common sense to him. The lion-headed beastman was about to play a role he most definitely wouldn't like.

The wardrobe-sized Killer looked ridiculous in the glasses, but that was the least of it. The worst part was what came next—the loot contained two sets of clothes: one male and one female.

The male set provided no bonuses but looked relatively decent. It included: polished long-toed shoes, a blue tracksuit with three white stripes, a cap, and a tank top. The set's name, "Your Northern Neighbor," was a reminder that we live in an era of globalization.

The female set, on the other hand, boosted all attributes by one but looked so outrageous that the mere thought of wearing it made the kitsune's fur stand on end. It consisted of something resembling tall, black patent-leather army boots, extremely short black leather shorts, an item Yuri first mistook for a belt but turned out to be a leather bra, and impossibly long leather gloves—all in black patent leather.

The kitsune dressed like this would undoubtedly find success streaming on certain, let's say, "specialty" sites.

Demonologist Zina let out a treacherous snort and offered her help.

"— Thanks, I'll manage," Yuri snapped and disappeared into the back room with both sets.

He had no desire to strut around in the "Private Amazon Uniform," as the female set was named, at least not in the presence of people who knew him personally. The game likely wouldn't have allowed combining the two sets, but Yuri was counting on the fact that they weren't in the game.

The kitsune's return was a showstopper. For a moment, even the zombie stuck in the window stopped groaning to look at Yuri, then started clawing frantically as if trying to retreat back into the yard. Only Zina dared comment:

"— Now you look like the devil."

"— Ok," grunted Yuri.

He now wore blue track pants tucked into army boots, a provocative leather bra over the tank top, long leather gloves, and a stylish cap. The bonus from the female set did indeed work.

"— Now, Killer, summon your alchemical gear."

"— What?!" Killer's astonishment knew no bounds.

"— Summon it, come on, right here," Yuri pointed toward the barricaded door, "— as close to the door as possible."

Yuri added in the calmest voice he could muster:

"— No, I haven't lost my mind."

The alchemist's primary item was his table. By the whim of the "Grind" developers, it was a stone table. The thunderous crash that followed its summoning confirmed that the table was VERY heavy. Killer was tasked with moving the table flush against the door instead of the bench. Yuri's strange plan didn't end there:

"— Mr. Gennady, try saying 'Nya.'"

The veteran did not "nya," nor did he understand what was being asked of him. His eyes darted around as if searching for a straitjacket for Yuri.

"— Mr. Gennady, I haven't gone crazy. Your type has a passive ability—'Cuteness.' I don't understand what conditions activate it, but maybe it's what separates us from victory or defeat. Just say 'Nya!' and wave your hand like this."

The Bakeneko increases the stats of party members.

The vague description gave few hints, and Yuri had never seen it in action, leaving him guessing about both its application and its bonuses. The bakeneko did look incredibly cute and could cheer up anyone—if they didn't know that behind the adorable exterior lurked a grumpy pre-retirement miser.

The girl raised her hand as instructed and, in the sweetest voice, said:

"Nya! Gosh, darn it…"

Tiny pink hearts floated around the party members. The kitsune opened her status window:

Strength 2 (+1)

Dexterity 3 (+1)

Perception 2 (+1)

Endurance 2 (+1)

Intelligence 4 (+3)

"— One point each—that's from the outfit. Plus two Intelligence—that's from the weapon. I don't see any bonus from 'Cuteness.' This is nonsense…"

"— Yuri, care to finally explain the plan?" Mr. Gennady asked, swatting away the pink hearts.

Yuri explained. The plan was a little absurd—something that wouldn't even be possible in the game. But then, in the game, zombies didn't destroy walls. According to the plan, after placing the heavy table under the doorframe, Killer would kick the doors outward and step back slightly, staying out of the zombies' reach. He would activate his "Alchemical Circle," which dealt AoE damage, and use "Domination" to taunt the enemies. Zombies would start crawling over the table one by one while the main horde suffered damage from the AoE. Yuri's duplicate and Mr. Gennady, both proven fighters, would stand on either side of the door to take down the zombies trying to get inside. The demonologist would guard against any that broke through the barricade, ready to eliminate them alongside the lion-headed alchemist and Yuri.

Everyone except Killer agreed to the plan—they didn't have any other options. Killer proposed killing them all himself, but was promised he could do that next time.

On cue, the lion-headed warrior kicked the door into the yard, possibly taking down a few zombies in the process. He immediately retreated and let out a roar that shook the walls. The reanimated corpses poured through the doors, clearly aiming for one target—Killer. He positioned himself exactly where Yuri had indicated, in a circle marked by bottles of mana and health elixirs designated for him. Then, he tensed, paused—possibly recalling the skill's name—and shouted, "Alchemical Circle!"

Black ribbons, like slithering snakes, streamed from the alchemist beastman, forming a circle. Though they were completely black, they somehow emitted beams of every color of the rainbow. The circle extended beyond the walls, glowing symbols appeared within, and it began spinning. From outside came a collective moan. The zombies near the door began smoldering like embers, faint light marking their forms.

Yuri peeked outside and felt a chill in his chest. There must have been a thousand undead out there, with at least fifty already burning from the alchemy. Escape was impossible—unless they could fly. He gripped a mana potion tightly, praying their supplies would last until morning.

There were 12 mana potions—five each from Zina and Killer's kits, plus two leftover from Yuri and Mr. Gennady's dash to the village. They were split evenly between Killer and Yuri. There were 19 health essences; everyone took one, and the rest went to Killer, who would need to convert health into mana due to his pitiful mana pool. There were 15 spirit potions, most of which went to Mr. Gennady, who had developed a bad habit of sipping from a bottle at every opportunity. The demonologist, due to the lack of useful skills and basic combat ability, received nothing except a single health potion for emergencies.

"We'll hold out. We have to hold out," Yuri told himself, though he didn't believe it. He hadn't mentioned it to the others, but in "Grind," many noobs had perished on this quest. Though the strange dungeon was accessible from levels 1 to 5—a trivial range in the game—parties at level 5 sometimes wiped trying to farm it one last time.

Their level 1 party had marched all day with only a brief lunch break, and now they had to stay awake through the night. Not just awake—they had to fight until dawn.

Yuri's duplicate swung its sword like a guillotine, cleaving the first zombie in two.

The battle for survival had begun!