Chapter 3

Then he froze. The zombies weren't just aimlessly moving. They were helping the anteater climb, letting it step on their backs to get better footing.

Ashburn didn't panic. He just waited. He kept still, muscles coiled, watching as the anteater climbed higher. The moment it got within range, he braced himself against the tree, made sure his footing was solid—then struck.

The sharpened stick shot forward, piercing straight through the anteater's eye.

He had aimed for that spot deliberately. Even if he hadn't put enough force behind the strike, the soft tissue would still give way, ensuring a fatal blow.

The anteater thrashed, but Ashburn didn't let go. Twisting the stick, he pressed the creature firmly against the tree, keeping it from falling. It struggled, claws scraping against the bark, but he only pushed harder, forcing the stick in deeper.Only when the anteater finally went limp did he stop.

[Leveled up to Level 2. All stats +1. You have gained 3 stat points.]

Ashburn blinked in shock as a strange sensation washed over him. His mind felt sharper, his body lighter, his strength more solid—everything seemed to have doubled.

He quickly focused on his new stat points. 'For now, I'll focus on speed and strength'. But instead of dumping all three points at once, he decided to allocate them gradually. He wanted to feel the difference, to understand how each point affected his body.

[STATUS SCREEN]

Name: Ashburn Blackheart

Race: Human

Age: 38 minutes old

Level: 2

Title(s): None

[STATS]

HP: 40/40

MP: 30/30

HP Regen: 0.2 per minute

MP Regen: 0.8 per minute

[ATTRIBUTES]

Power: 4

Speed: 3

Durability: 2

Intelligence: 2

Charm: 2

[CLASS & SKILLS]

Job Class: Shadow Monarch

Skills: None

Job-Specific Skills: [Shadow Extraction]

"Ha… what a complex system." Ashburn sighed, running through the mechanics in his mind.

Power didn't directly determine his attack strength—it simply measured how much force his body could generate. Even if his Power stat reached a billion, his attacks could still be useless if his Speed wasn't high enough to create momentum. At the same time, Durability was essential to withstand the force he generated.

Movement speed relied on both Power and Durability. He needed power to push off the ground and durability to handle the strain of moving at high speeds.

But the balance didn't stop there. Durability required both Speed and Power—and Power needed both Durability and Speed. It seemed Durability increased his mass, meaning he needed enough Power to support his own weight and enough Speed to avoid becoming sluggish. If his Speed fell too far behind, even the simplest movements would become slow and inefficient.

It was an endless cycle, each stat dependent on the others to maintain equilibrium.

Ashburn exhaled, shifting his weight. Despite the changes in his body, he could now hold himself up with just one hand, gripping the tree branch without any concern about falling.

"Arise." Ashburn's voice rang out, and darkness immediately swallowed the anteater's corpse. But just as quickly as it formed, the shadows shattered, dissipating into nothing. His frown deepened. He Failed.

Without hesitation, he tried again. This time, the shadows surged properly, enveloping the lifeless body before receding—revealing the reanimated anteater, now under his command.

"Go. Kill them all." At his command, the anteater lunged forward, claws slicing through the undead that moved to attack it. Ashburn watched for a moment before springing into action.

He leaped from the tree, landing behind the distracted zombies. With precise, controlled movements, he drove his stick through their heads, targeting the weaker ones first—the frogs, the rabbits—those he could kill in a single strike.

He stayed cautious. One mistake and it's over.

The moment the undead turned to face him, he jumped back into the tree, waiting for their attention to shift back to the anteater before dropping down again to strike. The anteater fought relentlessly, shrugging off every hit it took. As long as Ashburn had MP, his shadow soldier would continue to recover.

Before long, the battlefield fell silent. The last zombie collapsed, and a system notification flashed before him. Ashburn didn't simply complete his missions, but he also gained 2 extra levels from the slaughter.

[[Mission Complete: You've found yourself in the Marvel universe of zombies.]

Objective: Kill 10 zombies. 15/10

Reward: [Zombie Virus Immunity], [2 Levels]

Punishment: [Death]

{Congratulations, Host! You have leveled up to Level 6.}

+6 to all stats.

You have gained 18 free stat points.

The host has gained [Zombie Virus Immunity].

{Milestone Reached!}

Congratulations on reaching Level 5!

+2 to all stats.

New Skills Acquired: [Shadow Preservation], [Stealth].

'Oh? I didn't expect there to be milestones. And I even got a new skill.' Ashburn focused, calling up the skill descriptions.

[Shadow Preservation (Lvl 1)]: A specialized Shadow Storage ability that allows the user to store, summon, and reabsorb Shadows within their own shadow.

(Sub-Skill 1) Storage Capacity: Shadows can be stored indefinitely in a stasis-like state until summoned.

(Sub-Skill 2) Instant Summon: Stored Shadows can be summoned instantly, allowing for strategic deployment in battle.

(Sub-Skill 3) Reabsorption: Shadows can be reabsorbed into storage without requiring a physical medium, preserving them for later use.

[Stealth]: Allows the user to blend into their surroundings, becoming invisible both physically and magically.

Mana Cost: 200 MP to activate, 10 MP per second to maintain.

"Nice."

Ashburn wasted no time, allocating all 18 of his available stat points. When he was done, he pulled up his updated status screen.

[STATUS SCREEN]

Name: Ashburn Blackheart

Race: Human

Age: 53 minutes old

Level: 6

Title(s): None

[STATS]

HP: 245/245

MP: 186/186

HP Regen: 1.4 per minute

MP Regen: 2.8 per minute

[ATTRIBUTES]

Power: 19

Speed: 15

Durability: 14

Intelligence: 13

Charm: 10

[CLASS & SKILLS]

Job Class: Shadow Monarch

Skills: [Stealth]

Job-Specific Skills: [Shadow Extraction], [Shadow Preservation (Lvl 1)]

Ashburn grinned, flexing his fingers as the surge of power coursed through him. He was now far beyond normal human limits.

But there was no time to dwell on it. His gaze shifted toward the scattered remains of the undead. With a simple command, shadows erupted from the corpses, consuming them in darkness.