Chapter 14: Apocalyptic Trial: The Awakening

Everything around was in utter disarray; judging by the décor, he must be inside an apartment building.

In one swift motion, Yenir drew his tactical dagger from his waist while carefully surveying the towering buildings outside.

This instance was set for a single player—here, he could push his abilities to the limit.

Noticing the silent digital clock, Yenir quickly deduced that this scenario simulated the moments just after an apocalyptic outbreak.

Click.

He took a deep breath and swung the door open.

Light streamed into the room in an instant.

At the sound, a zombie smeared in dark red blood suddenly turned in the corridor; upon catching the scent of human flesh, it let out a howl and charged forward.

He remained impassive.

Seeing the zombie charge, Yenir seized the moment—dodging its snapping jaws with a quick shift before driving his dagger straight into its skull.

Thud.

A faint stabbing sound echoed as the dagger twisted.

With the blade tearing through the zombie’s brain, Yenir skillfully finished it off in less than a second.

Time to hunt down the boss mutant in this instance.

Using zombies to test his skills was a complete waste.

With a spark in his eyes, Yenir casually withdrew his dagger and quickly charted his course.

Glancing at the map provided by the system, he bolted toward the fire escape.

….

Two minutes later.

Roar!!

Roar!!

On a street strewn with crashed vehicles, several charred human bodies lay amid the wreckage of burned-out cars.

With Yenir’s arrival, six mutilated zombies let out savage howls and surged forward, while a half-devoured male zombie clawed at the ground, dragging exposed entrails as it shrieked.

Scanning the area, Yenir calmly assessed the zombies barricading the exit and charged the nearest one head-on.

After a powerful kick to the closest female zombie, and as she faltered, Yenir quickly thrust his dagger into her rancid mouth.

With a swift twist, he pulled out his dagger and, after a quick pivot, plunged it into the temple of the zombie to his right.

Splat.

Twenty seconds later.

Yenir let out a light breath, stepping on the face of a zombie that had once looked like a student, then slowly retrieved his blood-smeared dagger.

The fight was over.

Even without using any skills, relying solely on his base-level physique took a toll on his stamina.

Had he not been battle-hardened from his past life, a typical newly-awakened fighter would have been utterly overwhelmed by the six-zombie ambush.

Wiping off the slick, stinking blood from his hand, Yenir quickly surveyed his surroundings.

This instance wasn’t too challenging—the map showed that the main boss area was at the square ahead to the right.

Without a moment’s doubt, once his course was set, Yenir headed straight for the Square.

His footsteps echoed with determination.

A biting wind lifted scattered newspapers and debris off the ground, swirling them through the air.

In this city, barely after the apocalypse, a pervasive sense of desolation and ruin hung in the air.

Disregarding the hordes advancing along the distant street, Yenir kept his cool as he weaved nimbly between vehicles, occasionally leaping onto roofs for a burst of speed.

Roar!!

Roar!!

As he neared the Square, more zombies began to swarm around him.

In a quick sweep of his eyes, he saw nearly a hundred zombies surging in from all sides, intent on encirclement.

Bang!

Bang!

Perhaps drawn by the scent of living flesh, several zombies smashed through shop windows and fell from high floors, howling as they crashed down.

They felt no pain, felt no fear.

After tumbling from the building, the bloodthirsty zombies quickly shuffled back into the horde, dragging their broken limbs.

Bang!

With a single, powerful kick, he smashed the skull of the nearest female zombie, then stomped on her neck before quickly jumping back.

Around him, hordes of zombies bolted forward at speeds rivaling a full sprint, their dense, blood-red eyes filling his vision.

And… further off.

A slight frown etched his face.

Yenir lifted his gaze toward the distant Square, where nearly a thousand zombies aimlessly wandered—a remnant of the outbreak’s peak.

In the very center, a colossal mutant squatted on a landmark, voraciously devouring human corpses.

Its bulging muscles and powerful arms effortlessly shredded the corpses into strips of meat.

From afar, it looked like an enormous, black, humanoid crab.

The Corpse Chewer—a Tier 1 Apex Mutant!

Whew!

Sidestepping the lunging zombies, Yenir leapt onto the nearest car roof, agilely hopping across the vehicles.

Just 400 meters away… once he gets there, he’ll have the chance to truly test his abilities!

Disregarding the attacking zombies, Yenir charged directly toward his goal.

Taking out ordinary zombies doesn’t grant any psychic experience—in fact, it only sapped his strength.

For an Awakened, the only way to level up was either to complete system missions or to defeat mutants.

Typically, one Tier 1 Apex Mutant would require the combined force of at least three similarly skilled Awakened fighters to overcome.

Every mutant evolved from zombies was fearsomely powerful.

As humanity’s chief enemy, even the flesh of a standard Tier 1 mutant could deflect bullets; with immense strength and breathtaking speed, any such mutant crashing the frontline could dispatch scores of soldiers in an instant.

And Tier 2 mutants could tear armored vehicles apart and snap cannon barrels with nothing but their bare hands!

Without his skills, a 0th-level Yenir—even with extraordinary talent—wouldn’t dare face a swarm of Tier 1 mutants head-on.

He moved with incredible speed.

Thanks to his precise body control, within a minute, Yenir reached the edge of the Square despite the zombie chase.

Meanwhile, a relentless wave of zombies surged after him like a dark tide.

A quick glance revealed he was completely surrounded by undead on all sides.

Even an elite strike team would find it nearly impossible to break free.

Rapidly adjusting his breathing, Yenir fixed his gaze on the Sword Storm skill in his panel.

If the skill didn’t live up to his expectations, he’d have no choice but to retreat in disarray.

Thud!

His focus locked onto the Corpse Chewer still feasting on corpses.

Without hesitation, Yenir delivered a powerful kick to the nearest car door. Instantly, a piercing alarm blared.

At that moment, while only the peripheral zombies had noticed him, the sound triggered a mass reaction—countless undead turned in unison, paused briefly, and then, their grotesque faces twisted in a snarl, surged forward at breakneck speed.

Moreover, the giant mutant at the very center of the Square suddenly dropped a half-devoured girl and fixed its gaze on him.

Roar!!

A colossal roar reverberated across the Square as the Corpse Chewer slammed aside the half-eaten corpse and barreled through the zombies like a truck, coming in hot.

Whew.

He inhaled deeply.

Unfazed by the grim scene, Yenir’s eyes hardened as he locked in on the Corpse Chewer.

Sword Storm!

In a heartbeat, a terrifying pressure emerged. Amid a flash of dazzling purple light, Yenir felt as though a crushing psychic force enveloped him.

His breath caught.

The sky seemed to dim in an instant.

Just 0.1 seconds later, nearly a thousand destructive sword streams materialized, encircling him like wings.

Swish, swish.

The sword aura spun, with the razor-sharp streams slicing through the concrete like butter, carving delicate marks.

In the next second, his raging sword aura expanded to a hundred-meter radius and erupted like a storm of blades.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosive hundred-meter sword aura slammed into the horde, pulverizing zombies into mush like an all-devouring black void.

Amid the intense psychic explosion, even the fastest-advancing Corpse Chewer was effortlessly shredded by the terror, like a mere sheet of paper.

Sword streams rained out in every direction at supersonic speeds, striking indiscriminately.

From above, Yenir unleashed his Sword Storm like a giant sword blossom, sweeping away everything in its path.

A few seconds later.

Rumble, rumble.

Bodies tumbled down amid a torrential blood rain. As the ground violently shook, Yenir stared in awe at the devastation before him.

The once-marble Square was now nothing more than ruins, with surrounding buildings perforated by countless holes like a shattered beehive.

Within a hundred meters, every zombie had vanished—only pools of shredded flesh testified to their past existence.

At the spot where the Corpse Chewer had rushed, a massive pit over thirty meters deep gaped before him.

One strike to clear the field!?

Rising smog billowed from the pit, and inside it, only palm-sized mutant carcasses remained, melted away by the searing, high-velocity onslaught.