As the door creaked and the hinges threatened to give way, Adam retreated into his living room. He planted his feet firmly, standing just before the narrow corridor between himself and the entrance. His body tensed with nervous anticipation.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each thunderous strike against the door rattled both the frame and Adam's already fragile composure. But with the recently imprinted knowledge of Basic Zanjutsu still fresh in his mind, his body moved on instinct. He lowered himself into a shaky, amateurish Iai stance—right hand gripping the hilt of his sword, his muscles coiled like a compressed spring.
Then—after what felt like an eternity—the hinges finally surrendered with a metallic shriek. The door crashed inward.
A horde of zombies, their skin pale and blotched with sickly purple tones, surged through the opening the moment they saw Adam.
Roar! ×7
The fear returned for an instant. But Adam gritted his teeth and exhaled sharply, steadying his breath as instructed in the Shinigami swordsmanship manual etched into his thoughts.
His eyes snapped to the closest target, instinctively tracking weak points. With his prior knowledge of zombie lore, he knew what to aim for: the neck. His body moved before his mind could catch up.
A flash of steel.
A streak of black-and-purple as corrupted blood painted the air.
To his own shock, his blade not only severed the zombie's neck but carved clean through its spine—and even sliced shallowly into the brick wall behind it. The surge in power caught Adam off guard; his blade had overextended due to unexpected strength.
Before he could even process it, another zombie barreled over the now-headless one, claws swiping.
Adam recovered fast. The cut in the wall was shallow—just enough for him to yank his sword free and twist into another slash. This time, he didn't aim for the neck. He severed the creature's clawed hand at the wrist, then kicked it backward into the horde.
Pain exploded up his leg. He'd forgotten—his injury.
He stumbled, hissing in pain through clenched teeth. That moment of hesitation cost him the momentum for a follow-up strike, and the undead regained their footing.
But Adam didn't falter. Gritting his teeth, he forced his aching body upright, drawing strength from raw willpower alone. As the next zombie lunged, he slashed downward—cleaving into its thigh and severing its tendons. The creature collapsed, blocking the narrow hallway and briefly stalling the rest.
Without wasting a second, Adam grabbed a nearby kitchen knife and rammed it into the downed zombie's mouth, forcing its jaw shut. With one enemy neutralized, he turned to deal with the rest, sword in hand.
Every swing targeted the neck—precise, brutal, efficient.
Again and again, his blade arced through the air, trailing blood and corrupted flesh. His arm burned with effort, each cut becoming heavier, slower. But he couldn't stop—not yet.
Only after nearly five relentless minutes did the final zombie collapse, its severed head rolling against the baseboard.
Panting, Adam lowered his sword, his right arm trembling from overuse. He didn't allow himself to rest. Not yet.
He stepped over the corpses, checking the corridor and stairwell for any signs of movement. When he was sure the coast was clear, he dragged each body out and barricaded the broken doorway with everything he could find—chairs, tables, even the frame of his bed.
Only then, with his home secured, did he finally collapse onto the mattress he'd dragged to the living room. His vision blurred. Consciousness slipped away before he even realized it.
*Ding*
[Reiryoku has increased.]
[Corruption Rate reduced by 12%]
[Current Honkai Corruption: 17%]
[Estimated Time Until Complete Corruption: 353:28:41]
[Rapid Reiryoku growth is essential to strengthen resistance against Honkai Energy.]
[Please work hard to temper yourself in battle to promote rapid Reiryoku growth.]
Adam remained unconscious—unaware of the System's alerts blinking silently in his mind.
———
Assaulted by a sudden pang of hunger, Adam woke up feeling fatigued and irritated as he took in his familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings.
Familiar because this was the living room of his apartment.
Unfamiliar because the living room looked barren without the usual furniture—especially his bed, which was usually next to a wall but now sat in the middle of the living room facing the balcony door.
As he sat there trying to recall what had happened—while hoping he hadn't gotten pissed drunk and caused all these changes—his sight landed on the pile of furniture stacked at the door like a desperate attempt to barricade it.
Everything instantly became clear in his mind: the strange morning, zombies, infection, floating screens, weapons, and battle.
But before he could think further, a sudden growl from his stomach followed by pain interrupted his line of thought.
He got up immediately, unable to bear the discomfort and pain in his stomach, and went to rummage through the fridge—only to be interrupted again by another pain in his leg.
"Right. The infection on my leg!" Adam panicked and immediately tore away the already ruined sleeve of his pants and looked at the scratches on his left shin.
The scratches had already stopped bleeding, with dark clots of dried blood around them. Also, Adam saw dark purplish lines stretching from the scratches, spreading around his left leg and crawling halfway up his thigh.
"This…"
The familiar symptom gave Adam a horrifying conjecture.
And as if to verify his guess, his System suddenly showed itself along with a series of notifications.
"Honkai… corruption…?" he muttered, his voice growing increasingly weak as his eyes suddenly lost focus.
"Ha… Haha… Hahaha!" He laughed derangedly.
At first, he thought he might be in a world like The Walking Dead or HoTD, where zombies are just normal zombies—and at worst, he might encounter mutated ones. In short, still within human limits.
With his cheapskate System, he could survive the world and live the life of a protagonist without worrying about his own survival.
But… Honkai?
Adam was familiar with this world as a veteran Captain with at least five years of experience under his belt.
Although he hadn't even reached the Post-Honkai Odyssey story, he was constantly engaged with the community and loved to explore the story—even debating numerous topics about the in-depth lore of Honkai.
Zombies?
Zombies, Dead Soldiers, and Honkai Beasts were the least of his worries—even the Herrschers, with the exception of Finality.
But the matter of the Herrscher was a problem for Kiana and the other main cast.
What he needed to worry about the most were Outbreaks and Eruptions—natural disasters that plagued this world.
Why?
Because he had no Honkai Resistance.
His body had already begun to succumb to Honkai Corruption, and the purplish marks were proof of it.
Without Honkai Suppression Serum or a Stigmata, his chance of surviving the corruption was basically zero.
Stigmata aside—which was basically impossible to obtain because he was neither a Kaslana nor female—the Honkai Suppression Serum was only available later in the story and only in the hands of big organizations like Schicksal.
For a nobody like himself, obtaining one was basically impossible.
However, Adam saw a glimmer of hope after he read through the System notification.
"Corruption rate reduced?" Adam suppressed his panic as he tried to analyze the information.
"So, increasing my Reiryoku can increase my resistance and slow the corruption rate."
"That actually makes sense…" he mumbled out his thoughts.
From what he knew, Honkai Energy was inherently chaotic in nature, destabilizing matter akin to nuclear radiation.
For those with Honkai Resistance, they could resist this destabilizing force from affecting them physically and spiritually. Meanwhile, Honkai Adaptability measured a person's ability to wield Honkai Energy.
Under this context, Reiryoku from Bleach strengthened a soul's integrity and increased the ability to resist corruption.
In his case, the pill that the System gave him in the newbie reward granted him Shinigami traits as a human—fusing his soul and body to allow himself to wield Shinigami power seamlessly without needing to separate his soul. Just like Ichigo's transformation after his training in the Dangai, except his own fusion was permanent. Which also meant the effect extended to his physical body.
By this logic, increasing his Reiryoku would indeed increase his resistance to Honkai Energy's corruptive effect.
As such, his goal was very straightforward.
He must do his best to raise his Reiryoku by battling enemies—as shown in Bleach, where Reiryoku grows fastest in life-and-death struggles.
With his life on a countdown of roughly two weeks before he succumbed fully to the Honkai Corruption, his short-term goal was very clear.
Fight and kill zombies!
"With a System by my side, I have nothing to worry about…" Adam reassured himself.
Then, he carefully stood up, his mind now clear of burdens, as he headed toward his fridge and pantry to rummage for food.
One cannot fight with an empty stomach after all.
—————
If you enjoy my fic and wanted me to support my work and effort, feel free to support me on Patreon.
patreon.com/DaoistKittyKat