Volume 1: Chapter 4 – Gnoll Choppper
Fatty may have seemed timid and insignificant at first glance, but within his bones there was a sort of tenacity that yielded courage exceeding that of a common man’s in a time of great peril, an extremely rare attribute. People tended to need a significant amount of time to adapt due to their originally peaceful lives and even those normally brave would panic in fear upon meeting a group of murderous hostile monsters. Therefore, early in the calamity, very few people dared to fight the monsters.
It was no coincidence that Fatty would later become the first berserker.
Zhang Mu briefly glanced at Fatty’s crotch and said scornfully, “Old mister was scared until he p.i.s.sed his pants, such a waste of putting on a couple hundred kilograms!”
“Don’t poke fun at my sore spot! I also did not want to put on so much weight.” Fatty distressingly said, “Besides, are you even a human? How can I even be compared to you!?”
Zhang Mu created a party and invited Fatty into it. As they walked past the gnoll corpses, Zhang Mu noticed there was a small object suspended in mid air, a finger-sized mini-machete. Ordinary monsters usually had a very low drop rate, and even after killing a couple of thousand you might not get a drop. To find a piece of equipment after a mere few minutes of effort could be considered as having inhumane luck.
As soon as Zhang Mu touched the mini-machete, it immediately disappeared and reappeared in his backpack.
Players originally had five s.p.a.ces in their backpacks, and could only store objects with attributes.
Zhang Mu removed the equipment from his backpack and a heavy looking knife appeared in his hands. The knife was one meter long, slightly heavy with its tip curved backwards, making it very similar to a machete. The knife’s handle was a pitch black with a blade as white as snow and here and there you could see some signs of wear and tear.
(Inferior Black Iron), Attack: 5, Durability: 15/15.
Equipment quality could be divided into different categories: Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Dark Gold, Epic, Legendary, Miracle, and Mythical. A total of nine grades. The higher the quality of the equipment, the stronger its properties, with Black Iron possessing the lowest quality. However, at the moment it was priceless, its usability far exceeding that of the fireman’s axe.
Fatty immediately cried, “This knife is good enough to cut the wind!”
Zhang Mu pa.s.sed the fireman axe to Fatty while saying “Don’t talk nonsense and let’s go!”
As the two left the bridge, they met another gnoll that dropped two gold coins and although two gold coins were nothing compared to the mini-machete, it was still better than nothing.
While panting and dragging the luggage and fireman’s axe, Fatty cried “Boss, wait for me, don’t run so fast!”
Zhang Mu glanced backwards to realize that Fatty was being left far behind. “You couldn’t possibly not have selected a cla.s.s right…?”
Just by choosing an occupation, one’s strength would rise. Even if it was the 100 kilogram Fatty, he should not have been running so slow.
“Occupation ?”, only then did Fatty remember that prompt in his ears that he received when he killed the monster, a flood of job information entering into his mind, “So many cla.s.ses… Which one should I choose?”
Zhang Mu irritably snapped, “Choose yourself!”
Fatty smiled wryly, “I suffered from hydrocephalus when I was young, so my brain isn’t that great. Perhaps you can give me an idea?”
“Since you’ve already grown to be 100 kilograms, no point wasting it. Choose the berserker cla.s.s.”
“What does that have to do with being 100 kilograms! Don’t link everything to my weight problems!”
Having said that, Fatty stretched out a finger and selected the berserker cla.s.s
Occupation: Berserker
Health: 30 (100)
Magic: 10 (100)
Strength: 10
Vitality: 6
Agility: 6
Spirit: 3
Experience: 0
The berserker was a melee based combat cla.s.s and had the highest strength, as well as an output damage which was only second to that of a.s.sa.s.sin’s and the overall power was second to that of an elementalist. Upon selecting his cla.s.s, Fatty felt like his body was filled with infinite power and with the strength of a mature bull.
The two people ran towards the bus station about five to six kilometers away, a feat easily accomplished within 15 minutes due to their improved const.i.tutions.
“I don’t understand. Why are we going to the bus station?” Fatty asked, carrying both his heavy body and the oversized luggage on his back as he ran. “Since there are monsters everywhere, we should find someplace safe to hide.”
Zhang Mu only glanced at him. “Don’t ask so many questions.”
From their front, waves of strange sounds emerged, causing them to slow down. Fatty raising the axe in apprehension.
The ground was littered with flesh and guts, fresh blood flowing everywhere. Soon after, they came upon the corpses of several humans that had been attacked. Four or five ugly monsters were dismembering them, dragging them to the flower bed in the middle of the road, biting and chewing on the bodies with great relish.
The monsters were about 1.5 meters tall, their bodies covered in yellow fur with a speckled pattern with a pair of cat ears, a long tail and mouths that issued “ow ow” noises.
As the two of them had player qualifications, they could see a part of the monster’s information by focusing their gaze on the monsters, eventually causing a wall of text to emerge.
Level 2 ordinary monster, Health : 25 (100), Mana : 10 (100), Properties : ???, Skills : ???
“d.a.m.n! These monsters are eating people!” Fatty felt really nauseous, contracting his neck as he said, “Since they haven’t noticed us yet, why don’t we bypa.s.s them?”
Zhang Mu noticed there were two blue coloured skill spheres within the flower bushes. They were probably pretty good skills, so he directly ignored Fatty and walked towards the bushes, raising his knife.
The Cat-men were speed-type monsters and had very good reflexes. Their keen hearing picked up on the approaching party, and they stood up immediately, their slitted eyes reflecting the faint light. Blood and flesh dripped from their mouths as they loudly issued “Meow!” sounds and pounced with their four limbs. The Cat-men’s primary weapons were their claws, and while lacking in attack power, they were extremely fast.
Zhang Mu’s speed was slightly inferior to that of the Cat-men’s, but his timing was extremely accurate. As he dodged the Cat-man’s attack, he chopped into the Cat-man’s abdomen. The Machete’s blade sliced open its fur; a waterfall of its intestines and guts fell out as its health dropped with a “whoosh”sound, from 25 points downs to 7, a loss of nearly 70%. Zhang Mu kicked the severely injured monster over, resolutely brought up the knife, and claimed its life.
At that moment, another Cat-man pounced over from the side and while Zhang Mu’s reaction was fast enough, his body could not keep up, forcing him to slant sideways to dodge. Barely missing his vital points, the attack left five deep claw wounds stretched across his chest. The Cat-man’s claws were elongated, leaving a tearing pain that would cause a person’s vision to go black. Zhang Mu’s recently refilled health slid down to 79 points.
Zhang Mu grasped the knife’s hilt and a cold light flashed across the Cat-man’s neck, almost cutting its neck wide open. The slash was ruthless and accurate. A spike of blood erupted from its neck. Zhang Mu faced the third Cat-man, using a gap in its attacks to dodge before putting it down in three blows.
“Help me!”
Fatty was being beaten by a Cat-man. Because of his lack of combat experience, he could only rely on aggression, swinging the fireman’s axe six to seven times without touching the Cat-man even once. His back and shoulder had been clawed by the cat man several times, and he nearly fainted from the pain.
Zhang Mu rushed over to attack it, promptly cutting down the cat man with his blade.
“I almost lost my life just then,” Fatty cried out in shock. “Your skills are too great, were you in the special forces in the past?”
Zhang Mu was too lazy to bother with him, picking up the two gold coins that the Cat-man dropped and the two blue skill spheres from within the lawn of flowers as he walked away. Upon identifying the two skills, he pa.s.sed them to Fatty to keep.
D rank skill, maximum level of 5. With a maximum attack distance of 30 meters, dash at 200m/s to strike the target, causing 100 attack with 5 points of damage, and a one second of stun to the target, consuming 5 points of mana with 3 minutes of cool down time.
In the early levels, D rank skills were very precious. Although not as strong as Zhang Mu’s A rank skill, it’s still an attack skill, very practical for the current situation.
Fatty cried out in pleasant surprise: “There is a skill in the light sphere!”
Zhang Mu said, “These are skills gifted by the system to prevent players from dying out. Each person is only allowed to have one, so don’t expect to be able to absorb another. Don’t waste any more time.” He tossed the other blue ball of light into his backpack, and they continued towards the bus station.
Along the way, they sporadically met a few monsters, but managed to get to the bus station successfully, without major issues. From afar, they smelled the sickly thick smell of blood.
Not too far from there, they saw several big white buildings; Jiang City University Hospital!
By following this road, a few miles down would be the Jiang City University main campus.
The bus station had recently been renovated, having been closed to the public, there wasn’t anyone else around. However, regardless of whether it was the hospital or the university campus, this was a densely populated area. The more densely populated the area, the greater the number of monsters that were sp.a.w.ned. Therefore, this area could be considered to be a very dangerous area.
Zhang Mu secretly brought Fatty with him to the bus station parking lot. Although the distance from the hospital was very far, they could clearly hear the sound of people screaming and the roars of monsters. There were barks of gnolls, the meows of Cat-men, and many other indistinguishable sounds.
The hospital’s gla.s.s windows have been dyed red, dripping with fresh blood. That place… had mostly likely become a killing ground!
Fatty’s two legs were trembling as he spoke, “Isn’t it pretty good if we just hide here on the outskirts?
Zhang Mu stared at him saying, “No-one forced you to follow me.”
This promptly shut Fatty up.
Apart from the gnolls and Cat-men that the pair saw on the street, there were also many monsters that they hadn’t encountered before. Several of these monsters were not unfamiliar, as they were often portrayed in computer games or on the television.
There was a type of monster that had green slippery skin, a long nose, sharp ears and emitted loud frog-like croaking sounds from its mouth,.
Level 3 common monster, Health : 30, Mana: 20 (100), Attributes: ??, Skills: ??
There was also a humanoid monster that was shorter than a goblin, about 1.3 meters tall, with gray, shriveled skin and a skinny, hairless body, accompanied by pointy ears and eyes that bulged outwards with a mouth full of sharp incisors-like teeth. Its grey skin folded on itself, somewhat like a ten-year-old man.
Level 3 common monster, Health: 20 (100), Mana: 30 (100). Attributes: ??, Skills: ??
There was a veritable horde of monsters.
Zhang Mu whispered to Fatty, “Enter the bus station, but do not disturb the monsters.”
Fatty gulped down a mouthful of saliva and voiced his agreement, “ Y-y-yes!”
Zhang Mu walked towards the bus station. Fatty trembled as he followed closely behind. Zhang Mu had long ago calculated the awareness range of the monsters and calmly walked in their visual blind spots, avoiding the sense of smell of the gnoll as he walked closer to the bus station. Inside the iron gate was the car park with a dozen motor coaches and buses parked inside, but without a single person in sight.
Zhang Mu silently slid the luggage through the iron gate, making a hand gesture toward Fatty to enter the car park. Fatty started to climb the gate, squeezing his way slowly through the half opened gate. Thankfully his const.i.tution had improved because of his Berserker occupation, otherwise he would have gotten stuck. Just as Fatty climbed half way, an accident occurred.
Fatty did not properly hold his axe, and with a “Ke-dang” sound, it crashed onto the floor. This immediately attracted the notice of the monsters in the vicinity.
“Is it possible for you to be any more r.e.t.a.r.ded?” scolded Zhang Mu, picking up the axe as he jumped, quickly climbing the iron gate and past Fatty in two to three breaths and entering first. “Hurry up and come down!”
The whole 100 kilograms of Fatty’s body fell heavily to the ground, causing the earth to shake. The horde of monsters were attracted to the sound and started gathering outside the parking lot, roaring continuously.
“We’re finished! This time I really f.u.c.ked up. Boss, I’ve dragged you down!”
“Can you not add to my troubles?” Zhang Mu was resisting the urge to kick Fatty. “Go, they won’t be able to enter for the time being.”
Be it gnoll or Cat-men, they had no way of pa.s.sing through the 3 meters of iron gate, despite being stronger than the average man.
As a relatively simple person, Fatty was unable to suppress his curiosity. As he opened his mouth to ask, he realised that there was a person’s silhouette behind Zhang Mu. It was a tall man wearing a cape, with a black hood covering half his face while still exposing a portion of his bandage-covered face. A strange red light shone from his red eyes, creating a chilling atmosphere, as the inhuman creature sat on a tall black van.
“Oh my G.o.d, there’s a demon!”