Zombie Mode — 1

When the game system's words echoed, the players immediately began to stir in panic. Many who decided to stay in the city formed alliances and quickly chose a main building to defend to the last drop of blood. But there were others — namely those who believed staying in the city wasn't the best idea. Lin's group belonged to the latter.

Nal and Egro quickly led Zon and Lin. They knew the city better than the others, so there were no disagreements in the group. After taking another turn, Nal suddenly opened his mouth and said:

"There's a house here that leads to the city's sewer system. We can use it to escape quickly."

Egro frowned slightly and asked:

"But this is the rich district of the city — how could there be a house that leads to the sewers? I don't even recall there being such a building here."

Nal shook his head.

"Looks like you haven't studied this city well if you don't know about this building. Anyway, it's that one. We need to go inside," he pointed his finger at one of the houses.

Egro said nothing and followed Nal into the building. When they got inside, Nal quickly removed several planks on the floor and revealed a dark passageway leading downward.

"Well, admit it — you really didn't know about this passage," Nal smirked and began descending the dark staircase, followed by the others.

As the four of them descended through the completely dark space, Lin suddenly frowned and felt a sense of unease.

"Something's going to happen. Be careful," he warned them briefly and was ready to draw his blade at any moment.

The others quietly nodded. They knew Lin wouldn't say something meaningless. If he said something might happen — it would, though when exactly was unknown. So they all tensed a little and stayed ready to draw their weapons at any moment.

After a while, they reached the bottom of the staircase and found themselves in a fairly spacious sewer, which naturally reeked of everything imaginable, but at least there was enough space for maneuvering.

Nal looked around. Not seeing any zombies, he turned to everyone and said:

"Sometimes zombies appear here, but they're far fewer than on the streets. Still, we need to stay alert," he turned to the right and led Lin and the others.

"You know quite a lot about this map. So that's what you do after losing — study maps?" Zon smirked and asked.

"Don't mock the one holding the helm." Nal didn't even look at Zon as he replied.

"But the one holding the helm is so lost in himself, he doesn't realize he's steering a motorboat." Zon chuckled a bit, enjoying putting the arrogant guy in his place.

Nal coldly snorted and quietly continued on.

As they approached the next intersection, a strange man came out from around the corner — half his face was missing. His body was torn and covered in tiny bloody holes, looking like a homeless person with obvious issues in "life".

Nal didn't even look at the zombie. In a swift motion that an ordinary person couldn't follow, he pulled out a dagger and plunged it into the zombie's lower jaw!

"Not bad," Zon slowly walked up to the zombie and knocked it down. He pulled a large axe from his back and swung it down at the zombie!

Bam!

Zon's axe chipped some of the stone, but more importantly — he split the zombie cleanly in two!

Lin watched the zombie with interest and said:

"So far, these zombies look like vegetables left under the scorching sun for too long. Just as soft, weak, and disgusting."

"That's only at first. After the second or third upgrade, they become real monsters that are extremely hard to kill," Egro didn't even glance at the zombie and simply followed Nal.

The four of them continued on, occasionally encountering zombies, but there were so few that one team member alone was enough to kill ten or more. After covering a large distance, they heard a message from the game system:

[Attention! Attention! Attention!]

[Zombies are starting to evolve! They can now run at the speed of a regular person and can punch and kick!]

[Also, check your map. The first zone shrink has begun — if you're in the shrinking area, run quickly to the safe zone before you become a zombie!]

[Good luck surviving!]

As these words sounded, the sewer began to tremble slightly, as if the chaos on the surface was so intense that even the stones below couldn't withstand it.

Nal sighed in relief and gave a crooked smile.

"I picked the sewers exactly to avoid what's going on outside."

"And what's going on up there?" Lin asked.

"The second wave. It's much stronger than the first, with zombies numbering in the thousands — maybe tens of thousands." Egro explained to Lin.

"But are we really safe down here?" Zon frowned and asked Nal.

"Of course, yes. In all the games I've played on this map, only the sewers stayed safe." Nal smirked and continued walking.

"Wait," Lin stopped Nal.

"Something wrong, Boss Lin?"

"They're coming. Fast. We need to go the other way."

"What? Coming? Who? Zombies? I've played here more than ten times, what zombies could possibly," Nal began to respond confidently until he felt a strong vibration — and went silent.

"No way..." He looked forward and felt the tremors getting closer and closer. It was as if they were directed exactly at Lin's group!

"Run! Everyone run after me! It's a horde! There's too many!" Nal instantly turned around and sprinted, shouting to everyone.

They all quickly followed Nal, occasionally glancing back to see the massive horde of frenzied zombies who only craved human flesh!

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

Zon looked back and saw nearly a hundred zombies packed into the narrow sewer passage!

"Damn you, Nal!" he cursed in his heart and sped up to escape the horde as fast as possible.

But the upgraded zombies ran like Olympic sprint champions! In almost no time, they caught up to Lin's group and were right on their tail, leaving bloody trails everywhere.

"Guys… we're doomed..." Nal, who was leading in front, suddenly stopped and stared ahead with an empty gaze.

Not understanding Nal's actions, the other three followed and looked ahead as well. What they saw was that in all three sewer passages ahead, there were thousands of zombies heading straight for them!

Standing at the intersection, the four looked at each other and slowly drew their weapons. They all understood without words. Lin unsheathed his katana and smiled:

"I think this number of zombies is enough to help me feel the sword a little."

Egro drew his spear and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll try to feel the spear too — as I kill them."

"I'm just gonna kill them all!"

"Blood only sharpens my axe even more!"

Each of them took one direction. They all assumed their battle stances with weapons in hand, ready to take on the incoming zombie onslaught!