The number of zombies increased just as Matthew had expected. He put the "monster" pill to his mouth and waited to swallow it at the perfect moment.
Matthew climbed onto a roof and observed three vampiric zombies and two butcher zombies in the area he had chosen as his escape point.
"Run!" Matthew gave a quick command to his two zombie dogs as he carefully scanned the surroundings, running nonstop toward the city's perimeter.
The zombies on guard noticed Matthew's presence, but he was already close enough.
Swallow!
Matthew swallowed the pill, created two bone blades, and threw them with great force at the heads of two vampiric zombies, who fell to the ground with a thud.
The flesh zombies had barely started running when two bone blades sliced through the heads of the last "vampiric zombie" in the city and another "butcher zombie."
At that moment, Matthew leaped past the remaining butcher zombies.
The three seconds were up, but he kept running, using the distance to his advantage. Just then, he felt an energy surge coming from the city center, but Matthew didn't look back.
The butcher zombies that had threatened to follow him re-entered the city immediately after the surge was felt.
...
Elsewhere in the city, the Zombie Woman walked through the alleyways between buildings on the city's outskirts. In each hand, she carried a rat, writhing under the squeezing grip of her thin fingers.
She had tried to leave the city, but the secondary system had warned her that the zombies guarding the city's perimeter were extremely dangerous. She had decided to be cautious and wait for the perfect opportunity to escape.
That night, she suddenly saw the butcher zombies and the vampiric zombies move together toward another point on the city's perimeter, and she used this as an opportunity to flee.
...
Matthew had run tirelessly for hours across a terrain of varied vegetation and uneven ground in places.
Feeling he wasn't being followed, he sat down near a mound of earth. At that moment, the two zombie dogs approached him, carrying the bodies of the vampiric zombies.
One was the body of a Rank B vampiric zombie, and the other was the body of a Rank B+ vampiric zombie.
"It's a shame I didn't get the body of one of the butcher zombies, but I mustn't let greed lead me to make stupid decisions."
As dawn was breaking, Matthew ordered the zombie dogs to stand guard while he devoured the vampiric zombies' bodies.
First, he painstakingly tore away the flesh, skin, blood, and bones from the wings, bite by bite.
While eating, he noticed that the dark blood of the vampiric zombie did not appear to be coagulated and spoiled, yet he did not stop and continued devouring the zombie because the system had not given him any warning.
By nightfall, Matthew was covered in dark blood, plunging his hands into the belly of the second vampiric zombie to devour its entrails.
...
The organs ripped from the zombie's body were chewed by Matthew, who didn't stop until he had completely devoured every part of both zombies.
[Zombie: Rank B]
[Coins: 13 brains]
Matthew thought of the bat-like wings of the vampiric zombies, and at that moment the skin on Matthew's back jerked grotesquely, and then a pair of bloody bat wings emerged.
In addition to the wings, Matthew had acquired stronger nails and fangs, and his saliva now had a paralyzing effect.
Matthew retracted the wings, and they compressed grotesquely until they were tucked back into the skin on Matthew's back.
"It's been a great gain, though. I also feel another qualitative leap; now the blood is circulating through my body. I don't know if it will be useful or not, but I feel that my body has strengthened considerably. Now it will be easier to hunt zombies, and the number of zombies I can control will be greater. I can also help the zombie dogs rank up..."
Matthew looked up. The two dogs sensed something approaching, and Matthew did indeed sense what they felt, but since it didn't seem like a great threat, he decided to wait.
"Are you a blessed being or a demon from hell?"
[Zombie: Rank F]