Theo discovered that besides him, 53 other people also tried to awaken an ability later that same day.
Seeing him succeed made them want to try their luck, but unfortunately for them, all had the misfortune of failing to awaken an ability.
Moreover, the cruise ship was almost reaching another city.
'It's almost time.' He thought.
While he had expectations, he was also afraid.
At first, he hated being sent to this zombie apocalypse world, but after awakening an ability and having a system, all the irritation he felt vanished as if it had never existed.
So far, this system seemed excellent to him.
By the way, he hadn't had time before, but now that he did, after returning to his room, Theo opened the 'Interface' and clicked on inventory.
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[Inventory (Locked)]
Introduction:
To unlock, you need to use a level 1+ core; upon using a core, it unlocks 1 slot with 1 cubic meter of space. Slots can be combined based on the item's size, allowing the use of 2 slots to accommodate an object over 1 meter in length or height.
Warning: [The required number of cores doubles for each slot unlocked.]
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It was easy to understand. Basically, he needs to spend cores to unlock the inventory and gains slots by using cores as currency.
The biggest problem was the warning.
At first, it's still easy, but as the number doubles, up to the tenth slot, it's still okay. It would take 512 level 1 cores to unlock the tenth slot, but for the 20th, for example, it would require 524,288 level 1 cores.
'Well, I'll be happy just unlocking about 6 slots.' Theo thought.
With 6 slots, he would still have 6 cubic meters of space.
He could even store a car.
To reach the 6th slot, he would need to spend a total of 63 cores. While it shouldn't be easy to obtain, it was still manageable.
Opening the shop, he clicked on one of the items.
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[Neutralizer]: 100 Essence
Description: Capable of neutralizing 10% of the zombie virus.
Warning: Can be used multiple times without risk.
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One concern for those who consume zombie cores was the zombie virus that accumulates.
From what Theo heard, the more 'zombie virus' a person has accumulated in their body, the colder they become. This is because most of the time, that person is restricting the zombie virus to prevent it from spreading.
'This is very useful!' Theo thought.
And the price wasn't high.
If it's possible to neutralize 10% of the virus per use, even if someone has 90% of the virus in their body, as long as they use it 9 times, they can return to normal.
'If only I could replicate this…' If he had a deep understanding of chemistry, he might even try. However, even if he did, without the right equipment, it's almost impossible to replicate something like that.
'Now I have several things I want to do, starting with getting essence points.' Theo thought: 'Soon I'll be able to go out, I'll try to get some cores secretly…'
**
**
The day to gather resources arrived.
The cruise ship stopped.
The area where the ship stopped had also been evacuated; most of Brazil's inhabitants were in Brasília, as far as he knew. By the way, most people on the ship spoke English. Even those who didn't speak English had to learn.
Luckily, Theo had English as his second language.
Anyway, from what Theo heard before, very few people continued living in their cities, only a few who created smaller bases and tried to survive as best they could.
Meanwhile, ten vehicles left the ship.
Theo was inside one of them.
It was a white Fiorino. It was ideal for not taking up much space while being able to carry a lot.
The driver was Caleb, a quiet guy. He was blond with black eyes and 1.70 meters tall.
[HP: 420/420]
Besides this car, there were also 4 moving trucks and 3 heavy-duty cargo trucks.
The other two were the kind of cars you'd expect in an apocalypse. They were full of protection, with a pointed front and, coming out from the wheels at the center, there was an iron bar with a propeller at the end.
They called these cars 'road cleaners.'
It was the cars that went ahead clearing the path of zombies while the trucks followed them.
Although the trucks, even the Fiorino that Theo was in, had protections, they weren't like the road cleaners.
A random thought… Compared to the trucks and road cleaners, the white Fiorino that Theo and Caleb were in seemed almost insignificant, like it was small fry.
Not that it mattered much, but before getting into the Fiorino, Max went up to him, even wished him good luck with an awkward smile on his face.
It seemed like he was afraid Theo would take revenge on him.
Regarding that, Theo just responded with a simple 'thanks.'
"I'm going ahead." With an explosive sound, Violet, who spoke, jumped the ramp and landed right next to the Fiorino, accelerating and speeding off ahead.
After she went ahead, the zombies started being drawn to the sound of the motorcycle.
The road cleaners waited 5 minutes before starting to move.
Soon it was Caleb and Theo in the Fiorino, with the trucks following close behind.
"Don't worry, the windows are bulletproof." Caleb said suddenly.
"I see." Theo hadn't even asked; he was just looking ahead.
Maybe that made Caleb misunderstand and think he was worried that a zombie might crash into the window and break it?
Well, it hardly mattered what the reason was.
At first, the path was smooth, but soon zombies started appearing, knocked down by the 'road cleaners,' and the Fiorino drove over the corpses.
It was like being on a dirt road full of potholes.
The sound of dull thuds was constant.
"Grrrrrahhhhhhggrrr!"
Suddenly, from his side, a zombie slammed hard against his door.
"Damn, that scared me…" He muttered quietly.
Theo jumped as he watched the zombie slide down the door.
Caleb, who was driving, smiled a little.
'Jerk…' Theo thought, then laughed a bit.
**
**
*Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!*
At the end of the street, several people got out while holding firearms and started shooting at the zombies.
At the same time, with sharp knives used for hunting and fishing, several of them were opening the heads of the zombies.
It was quite a gruesome scene.
Theo had to hold himself back several times to avoid vomiting.
"Wanna try?" Caleb asked him.
Theo bet he asked to tease him, but…
"Yeah, I do." Theo asked: "Can I?"
"Seriously?" Caleb seemed surprised.
"Yeah, I want to be useful." Theo lied.
After three seconds of silence, Caleb said: "Open the glove compartment, you can use my knife, and there's a pair of disposable gloves."
Opening it, he saw a knife in an elaborate nylon sheath.
The handle was black at the tip, silver in the middle, and black near the blade.
The silver part was more curved.
The blade alone was about 25 cm. The whole thing must have been around 35 cm.
"Thanks." Theo said.
"I'm not giving you this knife, it's just borrowed." He said.
"I know." Theo replied. Before getting out, he grabbed the pair of surgical gloves and put them on.
As he was about to step onto the ground, an arm from under the Fiorino tried to grab him.
He jumped, dodging the arm.
When he stood outside, he thought he was in hell.
Corpses everywhere, hands sticking out from under cars, crushed and pierced heads, blood splattered on the ground…
Anyway, it was quite a sight.
Giving an awkward smile, he leaned one hand on the Fiorino and vomited all his breakfast.
Yes, nothing better than letting it all out.
After vomiting on the arm of the zombie that tried to grab his leg, Theo felt much better.
'Okay, time to crack some heads.' He thought.
His thoughts didn't match his appearance. At the moment, he had some vomit dripping from his mouth while his face was pale as if he'd seen a ghost.
Well, he saw zombies… Lots of zombies… Crushed zombies, zombies looking like sieves from so many gunshots, zombies missing half their bodies…
Anyway… Theo walked up to the group of people tasked with extracting the cores from the zombies' heads.
Around them, there were six armed guys.
Since Theo used stealth mode, he made no sound and was only noticed when he got a few meters away from them after turning off stealth mode.
"Easy, it's me." Theo raised his hands.
When they saw it was him and not a zombie, they lowered their weapons.
One of them said: "You don't need to be here."
"I know, but I want to help." Theo said with a smile. Though his face was still pale.
They looked at each other until their leader said: "Since you want to do this, it'll be a big help."
"Mm." Theo crouched down with the others who were opening the zombies' heads.
When he looked at the zombies, he noticed a singular difference.
[HP: 0/200]
[HP: 0/200]
[HP: 0/200]
[HP: 0/205]
[HP: 0/200]
[HP: 0/210]
[HP: 0/205]
[HP: 0/200]
[HP: 0/220]
Most of the zombie corpses had [HP: 0/200], but some had a bit more HP.
Theo crouched in front of the one with 220.
He wasn't a fool. Having more HP could mean it was more special.
Each person opening the zombies' heads had a different way of doing it; some simply stabbed the zombie's head and pulled hard, but that caused blood to splatter.
"Where's your mask?" One of them asked him.
Theo noticed that each of them was wearing one.
That's when he saw one of the armed guys reach out and hand him a blue surgical mask.
"Thanks." Grateful, he took it and put it on.
After that, he imitated the person closest to him, placed his hand on the back of the zombie's neck, and was about to pierce the head when a page opened in front of him.
[It has been identified that the Host found a level 1 core, 55% pure, do you wish to absorb it now [Yes] or [No]?]
[Warning: If absorbed through this method instead of directly digesting, only the pure part is given to the Host. However, the purer it is, the greater the gain and also in essence.]
This was a big surprise for him.
Although if he turned in the cores, they would be purified, it would hardly end up in his hands.
Without thinking twice, he clicked yes.
[+5 Essence]
He was thrilled to see this, even if it was only 5 essence.
Progress to the next level: 7%
Seeing that even the progress to level up had increased by 2%, he was even more thrilled.
Controlling his mood, Theo began to pierce the zombie's head.
It was one of the most unpleasant things he had ever done in his life, but he needed to keep up appearances. He couldn't just go around touching zombie heads.
After opening it, he pretended to sigh while his face was pale and moved on to the next one.
It was another with higher HP than the rest when 'alive.'
[HP: 0/205]
When he touched it, the familiar message appeared, but so did the warning.
[It has been identified that the Host found a level 1 core, 43% pure, do you wish to absorb it now [Yes] or [No]?]
'It seems the higher the HP, the purer the cores.' Theo thought.
"Why'd he go over there?" One of the 'core collectors' whispered to another.
"Who knows?" The other replied: "Some are superstitious, maybe he's one of those?"
Theo pretended not to hear them. And this time, he didn't choose to absorb.
He slowly opened the zombie's head and murmured loud enough for some to hear, pretending to be surprised: "Found one."
When he removed the core, one of the armed guys came with a cloth bag and said: "Put it in this bag and register your name there."
Standing up, he did as he said.
Handing over the core, under the envious gaze of those who hadn't found a single core yet, he wrote his name in a notebook that one of the armed men had and made a mark after his name.
Then, Theo moved on to the next one, again choosing one with high HP.
[HP: 0/230]
When he touched the head, he saw the warning.
[It has been identified that the Host found a level 1 core, 62% pure, do you wish to absorb it now [Yes] or [No]?]
He clicked 'yes.'
[+6 Essence]
Opening the head, he moved on to the next one.
He kept choosing all the ones with higher HP; he even tried some with 200, but none of them had a core. This proved his theory was correct: only those with more than 200 HP had cores.
He just let a few pass while going further.
After finding 5 and absorbing a total of 10, he received different looks.
"I'm gonna rest a bit." Theo said, stepping away, heading toward the Fiorino.
"Good job." Said one of the armed guys.
Now, he had earned some respect.
Finding 5 cores on his own seemed to be something rare.
Especially in just 3 hours.
Of course, for Theo, those three hours felt like an eternity. To keep up appearances, he kept opening several heads without cores.
And even the ones that had them, he still opened.
He lost count of how many zombie heads he opened.
When he got near the Fiorino and opened the door, his face was completely pale.
"Good job." Caleb said to him.
"Mm." Theo simply removed the gloves and threw them away. After getting in and closing the door, he leaned back in the seat, tilting his head back, not daring to close his eyes, since every time he did, the image of him opening zombie heads appeared.
'Interface.' He thought.
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Theo Dimas
Race: Human
Age: 20 years
Level 1
Progress to the next level: 41%
HP: 141/141
Essence: 81
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Only when he saw that all his work had been rewarded did a smile form on his lips. Not to mention that he was apparently right about what he had thought before; as the progress to the next level increased, his HP also increased.
By the way, he had tried several ways to unlock the inventory before, but apparently, it was only possible if he directly took the core in his hand and went with the intention of placing it in the inventory bar.
If it weren't for the fear of someone seeing, since there were looks from all directions, Theo would have taken one of the cores and unlocked the inventory.
Even if it was just 1 cubic meter, it was already a huge advantage.