Chapter 17: Evolved Mutated Zombie!
<Evolved Mutated Zombie, Weak Flesh-Eater Bloodline Lv 25☠️ >
It stood there towering. The little feeble level 3 Zombie was nowhere to be seen.
It was about 10 meters tall and extremely bulky. It wanted nothing more but to rampage, to reduce Josh to tiny pieces and devour him.
Its putrid smell was so strong that Josh was able to know where it was without looking.
Its grey skin was bulging with muscles. Its hands were big with nails looking like blades. Seemingly the strength type. Strong enough to swat away an elephant easily.
It was at that moment that Josh finally registered it as an opponent. Unlike all the ones he had fought before. This one was truly dangerous. It had the potential to kill him.
Josh had exaggerated a tin- a lot with the feeding. Now he was paying the price of his folly.
The monster quickly turned around charging once more. Josh threw himself sideways, dodging it. He was able to feel the air it displaced, an extremely foul one. It finally stopped, causing a crater in the ground.
Josh would need to be careful, for one punch and he would be a goner.
He had two choices. Either take it down, hoping for a miracle, or survive until time ran out.
Josh kept dodging while calculating.
3840 Zombies in total. It took 1 minute for the Boss to eat 4 Zombies. This meant it had eaten for 960 minutes, coming to a grand total of 16 hours! Accounting for the initial spawn delay Josh still had to run for about 4 more hours.
He simply kept fleeing, evading any charge.
Josh felt everything was going to be fine. While the monsters had specs far above his, it was especially dumb with its movements too obvious.
In such a manner started a game of cat and mouse. The desolate field quickly started looking like swiss cheese. Completely full of holes!
That is when Josh noticed something.
In their last exchange, the distance between them had reduced. Josh at first thought he had messed up slightly. But then he understood that the creature was learning.
It was one thing to deal with an oversized brainless lump of a monster, but another to deal with one that could improve.
Josh had no choice but to fight. Perhaps the monster had a limit to its growth, but he wouldn't take the chance. Josh still had things to accomplish.
Josh turned and faced the monster. It quickly charged at him and he dodged. What was different this time was that he did so with the least amplitude of movements possible.
Then Josh dashed toward its back before plunging his dagger straight in. Or at least, that was the plan *TING*.
Josh couldn't believe how sturdy its skin was. But then he understood why. Every level-up gave him defense, it was probably the same for the Zombie. It was level 25. How was he to defeat an enemy he could not even pierce the defense?
As Josh was thinking the creature aimed a massive punch at him that he dodged. That gave him an idea.
Josh started running toward the creature fearlessly. He knew the risks, but he wanted to finish this as soon as possible.
The creature seemed to be stunned for a second. The human that had been running all along was finally going on the offensive.
Josh did a run-up before jumping straight at the creature's face. Barely dodging its bite, he clung to it.
That is when the monster sent a powerful punch toward Josh.
He had to get the timing and the angle both perfectly right. Wait....now!
Josh threw his dagger, then he jumped off evading the attack. The huge fist stayed true to its initial trajectory. Colliding with the dagger it pushed it straight into the creature's head with powerful momentum.
The creature started howling in pain, somehow.
Now that he had found the clear method, the rest was simple. Well, simple for Josh. Anyone faced with the same situation would have probably kept running instead. Killing a creature more than thrice one's level was deemed as impossible after all. Of course, Josh didn't know.
It took a while, but finally the massive monster fell. The hardest part had really been to retrieve the dagger after every hit. Dislodging it repeatedly from the head had been a challenge for sure.
[Congratulations! First to Defeat Fully Fed Floor 6 Boss! Tu-du-du!]
That is when the monster disappeared in red particles. Leaving something behind.
Josh was going to be so rich!
He approached to inspect his gains.
<Rank E+ – Expendable Ring of Necromancy>
<Rank F+ - Bloodline Pearl of Gluttony. >
<Rank F - Zombie Skin Cloak.>
The merchant had said that a rank E was worth 1k Credits. Josh couldn't help but be happy.
<Rank E – Expendable Ring of Necromancy>:
-Magic Ability + 20, Mana +200
-Summon the power of necromancy contained inside the ring thus consuming its power. Allows Summon Undead (D) once before the destruction of the item.
This item was amazing. Not only was it a stat boost item, but it also doubled as a life-saving treasure! Next time Josh encountered an unbeatable enemy, He would swarm them with the undead!
Then he promptly equipped it. A new ring slot had just opened.
The rank F item seemed even more attractive, for it had Bloodline in its name. At this point, Josh was cheering internally.
Josh didn't any qualm about leaving behind his humanity. As long as no god touched his memories. Of course, he would research it a bit before making his decision.
<Rank F+ - Bloodline Pearl of Gluttony. > :
-Grants a random ability or form of the Gluttony Aspect.
<Rank F - Zombie Skin Cloak.>:
- Defense +2
-Unique ability: Zombie smell
Wow! Unique!
Josh instantly equipped it, then he realized what it was. It literally was a Zombie smell. It stank so much! Few years old decomposed body smell. Josh would keep it in his inventory slot but no way he would summon it!
After all this excitement, came…. A really long wait.
Josh wanted to complain about it to the gods. Now that there were only normal Zombies left it was back to idle game simulator.
It seems the gods had failed to set defeating the boss as a clear condition.
At least Josh had all this loot to himself. He couldn't imagine having to share with party members. It would have been fine normally, but not when a time-based mission was involved.
Well, that was disregarding that it was too early to talk about real profit.
Still, Josh couldn't help but be impressed by how fast his fellow earthlings had cleared all of this.
At least he had learned from his mistakes. He wouldn't waste any more time playing with beetles in the future or thoughtlessly feed a Boss.
While walking he found something, a stone stele.
<We eat not because we need to, but because we are hungry.>
"I read you not because you are relevant, but because I am bored.", Josh answered.
A few hours later Josh finally exited the Tower. As soon as he did, he couldn't help but exclaim. "What the Hell happened?!"