Chapter 29: The Zombie Cat’s Horn
"'Yazī'! It's Yazī again! Who is this guy? Why do all the world announcements feature him?"A man huddled at home sighed in exasperation.
"Damn, I haven't even killed a single zombie, and Boss Yazī is out there solo‐slaying BOSSes—this is insane!"A young man in a warehouse at a shopping mall exclaimed in similar disbelief.
"Isn't everyone the same? Damn it, we're all players—but why is the gap so enormous?"Another person beside him agreed.
"Wow, Brother Yazī is so handsome! When will he ride on a rainbow cloud to come and marry me?"A regular girl confined to her 50‑square‑meter apartment continued to dream.
"Hmph, I couldn't care less about show-offs—I'm not even bothered to read that announcement."A burly man remarked bitterly.
"Not acceptable! If someone can single‑handedly kill a BOSS, then I need to step up my game too!"A young man grabbed a kitchen knife, marched out of his house—and was promptly bitten in the face by a zombie waiting outside.
"Bronze‑Grade BOSS? Damn, how is that guy so strong! I'm out here slaughtering zombies non‑stop, and Boss Yazī is killing BOSSes all by himself—I'm pissed!"A man angrily smashed a zombie's head with a hammer.
"This kind of mythically "Dragon Kingdom" name must belong to one of us natives! If a strong fighter like that is willing to join our ranks, our power would skyrocket!"In a grand estate, a big shot calmly analyzed the situation with his subordinates.
"Woof woof woof…"Meanwhile, a little dog barked again. (Heh, I'm still alive!)
…
"Yazī!"That name reappeared for the second time in everyone's field of vision—each appearance accompanied by an earth‑shattering announcement.
If the first zombie kill might be dismissed as sheer luck, then the first solo kill of a Bronze‑Grade BOSS was Yazī's resounding slap to all his doubters. In a world where 99.9999% of people had never even seen a Bronze BOSS, Yazī managed to defeat one in a one‑on‑one duel. What a staggering message!
"Uh… this level of commotion is insane. I guess I'll have to hide my handsome face better from now on," muttered Yazī.
At the third floor of the Modu Sports Center, Yazī touched his face with a resigned sigh. Then he pulled out a card labeled [A Chair]. Activating it, a chair materialized right before him, and he flopped down onto it."Phew…," he panted heavily.
During the entire battle with the zombie cat, he had maintained an incredibly high state of mental tension. Every collision with the zombie cat—whose strength exceeded his own—required him to pour every ounce of effort into his counterattack. Anticipating the cat's next move had drained him mentally. Yet through sheer willpower, he withstood the immense physical load and never once allowed the zombie cat to land a hit. In short, he had achieved a flawless, unscathed solo BOSS kill.
The system flashed: "Congratulations, player, you have earned the global achievement 'The Bronze Tragedy'." "Reward: 1000 Reputation, 1000 coins, 3 free attribute points, and an increase of 1 cubic meter to your storage capacity."
The global announcement reward had come a bit late, but Yazī didn't pause to rest. He quickly reviewed his haul:
His reputation had surged to 2000 points—marking him as one of the most authoritative players in the apocalypse.
His accumulated coins now totaled 5000—a sum that would require someone else to kill thousands of Level‑2 zombies.
Adding 3 free attribute points (plus one more from reaching Level 7) in his allocation—he had boosted his stats by adding 2 points to Strength and 2 to Agility.
His storage space had ballooned to 2.4 cubic meters, a 24‑fold increase over everyone else's.
Moreover, he had received a Bronze‑Grade item from the task reward along with the "The Bronze Tragedy" achievement.
[The Bronze Tragedy]:A unique title awarded only to the first person in the apocalypse to kill a Bronze‑Grade BOSS.Effect: All attributes +2; additionally, against any BOSS or ordinary enemy below Bronze tier, their base attributes are reduced by 5%.
That achievement was—very beautiful indeed. Without hesitation, Yazī replaced his "First Blood" title with "The Bronze Tragedy." (Its effect, however, wouldn't kick in until one hour later.) His list of achievements now included not only this but also titles like "Zombie Butcher" for killing 100 zombies—but those were common and unimpressive, so he paid them no mind.
After donning "The Bronze Tragedy" title, his base attributes were further enhanced to: Strength: 23 Spirit: 19 Constitution: 16 Agility: 21Now, even if the zombie cat were to resurrect, Yazī was confident he could utterly trounce it. He wondered what his stats would be like after his next job change.
After sorting through his rewards, he opted to claim the Bronze‑Grade item from the task reward: [Stamina Potion]: A one‑use Bronze‑Grade item that instantly restores 20% of your stamina, then restores 5% per minute for 5 minutes (with a 30‑minute cooldown after use)."Ah, an old familiar! This is the kind of life‑saving item you want in a pinch," he mused, and promptly stored it.
After resting on the chair for nearly half an hour, Yazī finally recovered. He strode over to the corpse of the zombie cat. If he wasn't mistaken, when the zombie cat died, it had dropped a white object. A Silver‑Grade item? Or perhaps a tool? Yazī felt his heart skip a beat. Approaching it, he confirmed it was indeed a Silver‑Grade item!
He bent down and picked it up. [Zombie Cat's Horn]:When blown, this horn summons a "Clawed Zombie Cat" that the player can command in battle for 30 minutes. (Cooldown: 48 hours.)The summoned cat inherits 60% of the player's base attributes; all XP and coin rewards from its zombie kills count for the player, though its kills do not drop items.
"Oh, for crying out loud…" he muttered. A summoning-type item that scales with growth—a truly formidable piece, as awe-inspiring as a legendary beast!