Only fools shout.
The screams, moans, and roars of the zombies rang out one after another. The noise grew louder and louder until it all merged into a deafening cacophony.
No one could make out any individual shouts. Terrified by the horrifying din, people lost their minds and began screaming along with it.
There were too many people!
As a famous check-in destination, this mall wasn't filled only with people buying genuine designer brands. There were also plenty of internet celebrities and men who had come just to gawk at the girls.
The mall had six floors, with more than seven thousand people inside at any given time. Including the plaza outside, the number easily reached tens of thousands!
Worse, the plaza and the inside of the mall were both relatively open and flat, with few obstacles. The survivors had nowhere to hide, and the entire mall became a cafeteria for the zombies.
People screamed and ran. Zombies roared as they chased them. And on the fourth floor, amid the chaos, there was a zone of death that the zombies couldn't approach.
A young man swung the longsword in his hand, like a character who had stepped out of a martial-arts fantasy. Whether human or zombie, anyone who dared approach even one step would see a flash of beautiful icy crystal. In the next instant, they would all become corpses sliced cleanly in half.
Slash, hack, smash, cleave, cut, stab.
Shi You didn't know any advanced sword techniques, but combined with maxed-out Sword Mastery, these most basic moves were even more useful than advanced techniques.
Experience +2
Experience +2
Experience +2
Notifications continued to appear.
“Just two more and I'll level up, huh?”
Shi You brought his sword down. A dark-blue line spread from the zombie's head to its crotch before splitting apart, dividing the zombie into two pieces.
Shi You flicked his sword and walked through the gap between the two halves of the corpse. After he had taken a few steps, the ice covering the zombie's cut slowly melted, and thick black blood poured out.
This was why Shi You had loved Frost Jade in his previous life.
Besides Frost Jade, he had also obtained an evolvable semi-legendary weapon and a legendary longsword in his previous life.
Compared with the latter two, Frost Jade's attributes might have been slightly inferior. But its icy power could temporarily freeze wounds after killing a zombie, so he didn't have to worry about the stinking zombie blood splashing onto him.
That alone was enough to make him love it.
Avoiding zombie blood was incredibly important during the apocalypse.
It wasn't just a matter of disgust. Zombie blood also contained a huge amount of zombie virus. It could splash into someone's eyes or mouth, or even get onto their hands. They might accidentally contaminate their food while eating and become infected, turning into zombies themselves.
Worse, Shi You had once seen someone with zombie blood on their hands accidentally put a finger in their mouth while asleep. By the time they realized it, it was already too late.
To prevent incidents like that, it was perfectly normal to restrain one's hands to some extent while sleeping or wear a clean surgical mask.
“Rrrgh!”
A zombie roared and lunged in from the side. Shi You flicked his sword upward, slicing cleanly through its throat.
[Level Up]
The level-up notification flashed into view. Shi You clearly felt his body grow lighter.
He didn't rush to open his status panel. He couldn't stop time. Diverting his attention to look at his status panel while surrounded by zombies would be no different from begging for death. But even without checking, Shi You knew what his stats would look like.
Every time a Player leveled up, all four basic stats increased by 5 points. They also received 1 free attribute point.
Shi You didn't hesitate to put the point into Agility.
Spirit was useless in the early stages. He could ignore it completely.
Normally, Strength and Vitality should be increased first.
Strength increased damage and made it easier to lift heavy objects.
Vitality went without saying. It not only increased endurance but also improved the body's Resistance to minor illnesses. Once Vitality reached a certain level, it granted the ability to recover on its own.
Those two attributes were indeed good, but they had one serious drawback: when stats were still low, it was difficult to deal with a horde of zombies.
There was a saying that Strength could destroy everything, but 1 free attribute point was still far from reaching that level.
Besides, with Frost Jade already in hand, it didn't matter whether he increased Strength or not. If he could kill something in one hit, it would still die in one hit.
Agility was different. It not only increased Shi You's sword speed, but also improved his reaction time and the speed of his legs.
As the saying went, those who could run away were the true experts!
Shi You had spent many years in the apocalypse. He didn't care about appearances in the slightest.
What was so shameful about staying alive?
Not shameful at all!
If he couldn't fight and couldn't kill them all, couldn't he still run?
After Shi You put 10 free attribute points into Agility, a warm current spread from his heart and circulated throughout his body. His hands and feet instantly felt lighter.
“Rrrgh!”
Three zombies charged from different corners. It was almost a situation that could be called certain death.
But Shi You merely raised his foot lightly. In the next instant, he appeared beside the zombie in front as swiftly as the wind.
By the time its corpse hit the floor, the other two zombies had only just arrived, lumbering slowly toward him.
Shi You dodged the attack from the zombie on the left, killed the one on the right with a single slash, then cut the left zombie in half with a horizontal swing.
There was nowhere to go ahead. An iron door blocked the way.
He turned to look behind him. A blood-soaked path stretched back the way he had come. It had taken him less than five minutes to fight through the horde of crazed zombies from the restroom to the stairwell door.
Shi You kicked the door. He didn't know whether it had already been locked or someone was hiding inside and had locked it. The iron door shuddered twice, but it didn't open.
But... whatever!
Shi You raised Frost Jade with both hands. Brilliant blue light shimmered along the blade.
[Frost Strike]
Frost Jade came slashing down at lightning speed. With its razor-sharp edge and his increased Strength, the iron door was like tofu—completely unable to resist. The door was cut neatly in two.
With a thunderous crash, Shi You stepped on the fallen iron door and entered the stairwell. It was fairly dark, with no windows and only a small bulb casting a dim light.
The apocalypse had only just begun, so the power hadn't completely failed yet. But before long, the electrical system of the entire city would be destroyed.
The mall's stairwell was quite spacious. Even five people walking down side by side wouldn't feel cramped. Several people were hiding in the stairwell. They looked stunned, as if they still hadn't recovered from the shock. How had that sturdy door suddenly been sliced in half?
Everyone's eyes followed Shi You. Just as he was about to disappear around the stairwell's landing, one of them came to his senses and shouted shrilly, “You wrecked this place and think you're just going to run away?!”
Shi You stopped and turned to look at the person who had shouted.
Why did he dare yell at me?
Shi You was very puzzled. Did he think I was easy to bully?
That couldn't be it. After all, he was holding a longsword this big.
Then was he just stupid?
Or was he angry that a relatively safe place had been destroyed, his rage clouding his mind and making him speak and act without thinking?
Of course, it was also possible that he wanted to use this tactic to make Shi You feel guilty and repent, then compensate them for the damage so he could return to the safety of this place, right?
Shi You didn't know why the other man had done it, but he knew that in the apocalypse, only fools shouted.
Shi You glanced at the door, then continued down the stairs without looking back.
“Stop right there!”
The man hurried down the stairs, but before he could even raise his leg, an ugly, horrifying face appeared right in front of him.
While they had been staring at Shi You, a zombie had slipped in from the blind-spot entrance. The mall's chaotic surroundings had concealed the zombie's footsteps, and no one had noticed that the grim reaper had arrived.
“AAAGH!!!”
When he heard the scream ring out, Shi You smiled faintly. He trampled the desperate howl beneath his feet and continued down the stairs without looking back.