Kael remained in the narrow space behind the door for almost five minutes, the heat gradually suffocating him.
During that time, he pondered several things.
First, he checked his experience bar and noticed he was gradually progressing toward level two.
His exp was currently sitting at 13.
He also thought about his commendable feats ever since finding out he could use his Energi to boost his physical stats.
He had never really been in a fight and wasn't the best at sports. After all, most of his time was spent on books.
Yet the way he had sprinted across the roof, jumped off, and rolled into safety was, to Kael, almost unreal.
For some reason, enhancing his body with Energi made his thoughts flow smoothly into action.
'It must be a hidden effect of the class...'
Shaking the thought away, Kael focused.
'I need to move.'
Of course, he hadn't forgotten the tense yet embarrassing situation he had been put into.
To him, the fate of those three zombies, especially the last one, was already decided. Once his Energi bar filled up, he would take his revenge.
[ENERGI : 1/25]
'As for the person in the bathroom…'
Kael's eyes flashed with cold light as he allowed that thought to fester for a few moments.
He was petty at heart, and he didn't care about the person's reason or how the situation looked.
Kael released his grip on the knob slowly to prevent the door from making noise.
With his path no longer blocked, he walked out of his hiding space and looked outside to make sure the coast was clear.
'A bit over an hour has passed since the apocalypse descended. I need to move fast.'
The more time he wasted, the more danger he would be exposed to.
'I can't wait for my Energi to regenerate. If I could just take them out one by one…'
He took a step toward the entrance as a plan quickly took shape in his head, only for his body to come to an abrupt halt.
For just a moment, he had caught sight of the corpse of the zombie he had killed.
Perhaps because of his rough movements, the girl's white shirt buttons were loose and her inner blouse was almost torn.
The sight of the large mound peeking from beneath caused Kael's breath to involuntarily quicken.
All one needed to do was shift the shirt just a little and that mouth-watering sight would be revealed.
Despite it being a zombie and even a fallen one—though that hardly mattered since the girl was technically already dead—the almost revealing figure of the girl, who appeared to be in her late teens and whom Kael recognized as being in her final year of school, sent the young boy's hormones running into overdrive.
In less than a month, Kael would be fifteen, so he was a healthy teen.
'B-boobs!'
His mind almost blanked out.
He had never seen that wonderful sight in his life.
He had always yearned for it.
Dreamt of it.
Of course, he didn't consider the situation he was in a while ago while plastered on the pillar like a wall gecko at such a great height. Only a lunatic would have gotten distracted at that moment.
Also, considering his family's situation wasn't good, Kael didn't have a phone of his own.
His mum would occasionally lend him hers to do research or read novels in his free time.
And what boy would be stupid enough to use his mother's phone to watch…
Ahem!
Back to the situation.
Kael had always been tormented by his fellow male classmates' discussions during their private talks. And considering no one liked him in class, he could only restrain his hormones and walk the path of forced self-restraint.
Yet…
'Boobs… just a peep!'
Kael didn't even realize when his steps brought him closer to the corpse.
'But seriously man! This is disgusting. She is gone, bro. Respect the dead.'
A look of hesitation flashed on his face, yet his steps didn't stop.
'I am so disgusting…'
Before that thought could even settle, another one sprang up.
'It's just one look. Come on, no need to act so righteous. Do you think you are one of those heroic MCs in novels? You are human! Act like one! Besides, it is nipples we are talking about here…'
All hesitation flew out the back door at the mention of those cherry tops.
'Just one glimpse. Who knows when I will kick the bucket? Especially with this damn apocalypse. No! I must at least fulfill this particular wish.'
With that thought to justify his actions, Kael arrived beside the corpse and bent down toward it with his good arm outstretched, only to freeze on the spot.
He had caught something from the side of his eye.
His head turned stiffly toward the door.
And there, he saw the door on the other side opened halfway.
Two pairs of beautiful eyes were looking back at him—one filled with curiosity, the other with questioning… and a bit of disgust.
Ahem.
Clearing his throat, Kael brought his outstretched hand to the twisted neck of the zombie and checked its pulse.
'Yep, she's definitely dead.'
With that verified, he stood back up, dusted his bloodied and torn clothes, and walked away.
'Alice…'
He whispered the name in his mind as he looked at the older of the two girls watching him.
Alice was his classmate.
Before he came to this school, a bit over a year ago, she had been the best in their class and had even been awarded at the end of the second year of middle school as the overall best student of the section.
Of course, that changed when he arrived.
A part of him wasn't that surprised to see them here. After all, before the start of the biology class this morning, her junior sister had come to their class to request her help with something.
So she hadn't been present for the biology lesson.
'They must have come to the dorm. If I remember correctly, they live here.'
He stopped a bit away from the door entrance, not willing to attract those damn zombies again, and waved at the pair in silent greeting.
However, his thoughts were something else entirely.
'Why is this bitch looking at me with those beautiful judging eyes?'
"Sister…"
The younger girl muttered under her breath as she tugged at her sister's shirt.
A glint of hesitation flashed within Alice's gem-like amethyst eyes for a moment before she gave her sister a silent nod.
Then Kael watched the junior sister close her eyes for an instant, placing the fore and middle fingers of her right hand on her head.
A few moments later, she suddenly snapped her eyes open and gestured wildly to him, mouthing a word several times.
"Now! Now! Now!"
Kael's hesitation lingered for only a moment before he decisively ran out of his room and into theirs with quick but silent steps.
Luckily—or as planned—nothing happened. It seemed the zombies hadn't noticed him.
Immediately when he entered, Alice quietly shut the door with a low click.
The girls' dorm was simple, yet fairly large. Four bunk beds rested at the side, with a moderately sized desk near the huge window. A wooden door lay at the side of the entrance leading directly to the bathroom.
Seeing the room wasn't any different from the one he had just left, Kael's eyes fell back on the girls a short distance from him.
Now that he took some time to observe them, he noticed they didn't look distressed; the girls' uniforms still appeared neat, especially the younger of the duo.
Alice, his classmate, was just as beautiful as ever. Her shoulder-length dark hair fell neatly behind her, a small nose resting smugly on her pale, beautiful face. Her mesmerizing amethyst eyes appeared tranquil like a calm lake as she studied him in silence.
'As usual. Yeah, she's totally a creep.'
The younger girl suddenly grabbed his good hand, her voice tinged with excitement, though she was careful enough to control the volume.
"Big brother, you were super cool out there. The way you threw that zombie was so epic…"
Kael almost recoiled from the unexpected touch, a look of discomfort flashing briefly on his face, but the young girl didn't seem to notice as she continued:
"And when those zombies appeared, I thought you would die." Her face turned slightly pale at the mention of the danger, the excited expression quickly fading.
'Her mood switch is something else.'
Deciding to carry out what he came for—gathering information—Kael spoke:
"I saw what you did out there. Combined with you knowing my situation when I am sure your door was locked must mean that..." he didn't finish as he looked sharply at the young girl.
Blushing slightly from his intense stare, the young girl let go of his hand before muttering:
"I… It is my power."
"Oh!" Kael raised an eyebrow, his look encouraging her to continue.
"My class allows me to share senses with small animals..." she muttered shyly, her head lowered to avoid his gaze.
Kael's eyes widened in surprise at the girl's strange but valuable ability.
'That is neat and pretty useful.'
At the same time, he thought silently:
'What a dumbass! She is easily revealing her powers.'
Deciding to try his luck, he turned toward Alice, who kept her silence and merely watched, and asked:
"What about you?"
Alice didn't answer for a moment, her eyes fixed on him.
Just as the silence was beginning to stretch uncomfortably, she finally opened her alluring pink lips.
"Guess."
"Huh?" Kael appeared stunned.
"How can I guess something like that?" He shook his head with a rueful smile. "If you don't want to tell, just say."
'Fucking bitch…'
"Hehehehe! Big brother, my sister is pretty strong."
"Natalie!" Alice called suddenly, sending a warning look toward her sister.
"I know. I know."
'Jeez! She's too excited. Was the apocalypse good to her or what?' Kael questioned inwardly, as the young girl looked so unaffected.
What he didn't know was that Natalie had always admired him. He had surpassed even her seemingly unmatched elder sister.
Natalie had always lived under the shadow of her elder sister. Not only was Alice the best in her studies, she shone just as brightly in sports, even displaying great talent in martial arts.
"You tried. But you can do better…" Her parents would say after seeing her school results.
"Your big sis is so admirable. I want to become like her..." her friends would whisper in her ears.
She didn't hate her sister, not at all. If anything, she loved her dearly, as Alice was the textbook definition of a responsible first child.
Still, always being compared to her big sister had left some darkness in her heart.
Thankfully, Kael appeared—a ray of light in that bleak darkness—showing her that her desires weren't impossible.
"So, big brother, why can't I see your level?"
"Huh?" Another blank look surfaced on Kael's face. "What do you mean?"
Natalie tilted her head slightly as she looked at him questioningly. "Didn't you know you could see a person's level? Even the zombies. You just have to focus on them and will for their levels to show until the system senses your intention."
Kael didn't even reply as he swiftly carried out what she said. He focused on Natalie and willed her level to show—only for a scream to almost escape his lips.
"Bloody hell!"
Above Natalie's head floated bright yellow text [LV 4 ??? (ELITE)].
'How does this make sense? This little girl, who looks like she's barely seen the world is higher level than me?'
Natalie caught his surprise and wisely said nothing.
As if remembering something, Kael shifted his eyes to the quiet Alice and focused intensely on her, green text soon flashing in his vision.
[LV 3 ??? (EPIC)]
'I refuse to accept this bullshit!' Kael screamed wildly in his heart, though his expression appeared calm, albeit a bit stiff.
'After everything I've gone through, I don't believe these two have killed more zombies than me! This must be a prank from the system.'
'That motherf...' Kael caught himself and didn't finish the thought. Last time he cursed the system, a swarm of terrifying birds had suddenly appeared above him out of nowhere.
If only he knew how terrifying an advantage Natalie's ability truly was.
"Big brother, you look so bloodied, and one of your arms is missing. You must have killed a lot of zombies to appear like this."
Kael was pulled out of his wandering thoughts by Natalie's voice. The more he heard, the harder he struggled to keep the side of his mouth from twitching.
"Big brother must be super strong."
Almost instinctively, Kael puffed out his chest and flashed a confident smile.
"Of course, I am."
Natalie quietly clapped her hands in excitement and quickly asked:
"What is your level? Why can't I see it?"
Kael lingered for a moment, his eyes falling on his status screen where a number appeared glaringly:
LEVEL: 1 [13/100]
*****
AN: We are already at chapter 8, yet the book has received no power stone, golden ticket, comment, review or even collection. Please, help anyway you can to make this book more popular. Also, it will motivate me to write more.
Thanks for reading.