The door creaked softly as Hans opened it from the inside. His steps were light as he took in the blood-slick floor and scattered limbs outside.
Damn, I want to retch, but something is holding me back.
The familiar cooling sensation washed over him again, calming his unnerved body and mind until he could think properly.
Hans closed the door behind him and gulped, hoping no zombie waited around the corner.
The hallway light flickered incessantly, forcing him to squint. His nose burned from the smell of iron and rotting flesh as he approached a room with its door left ajar.
Hans barely remembered his neighbors. He had spent most days gaming, sleeping, or grinding through work. Still, he had no choice but to inspect the rooms one by one. Missing anything valuable now could cost him his first unit.
He slowly pushed the door open, gripping the combat knife tightly in his left hand. After confirming the room was empty, he searched the desk and found a silver watch beside a small gold ring. He picked up both items.
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[ Detected: 125 grams of silver and 10 grams of gold. ]
[ Convert to Gold? ]
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"Convert it."
The two items vanished from his hands.
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[ Conversion complete. ]
[ Gold: 0 (+23) => 23 ]
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"System, do you automatically round things up?"
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[ Fractional conversion values are rounded up to the next whole Gold unit. ]
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"Hmm..."
Hans continued searching the room for anything else he could convert. Unfortunately, the resident must have been somewhere else when the disaster began. There was nothing more of value inside, not even a useful bag.
He left reluctantly and moved toward the next closed door. Just as his hand touched the doorknob, a groan echoed from the stairwell.
Damn it, a zombie?
Hans immediately stepped back and pressed himself against the wall. Heavy footsteps thumped somewhere above him.
The eighth or ninth floor? It's still far from me, but I have no time to dwell on it.
He returned to the door and slowly turned the knob until it clicked open. His heart drummed as he waited, then slipped inside.
The room was clean and easy to search, but he found nothing useful.
"No resident, or did they move out?"
Hans took a breath and continued checking the remaining rooms.
Most of them were locked. He couldn't tell whether someone was still inside, whether the doors had been barricaded, or whether the residents had simply left during the day.
Only two more rooms were open. Together, they yielded another 35 Gold.
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[ Gold: 23 (+35) => 58 ]
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"Just 42 more..." Hans gritted his teeth and approached the stairwell, peeking through the gaps between each flight.
A single zombie in a formal suit stood on the floor above him. Something gold flashed from one of its wrists.
The zombie's arm had become tangled in the railing, leaving the creature facing the wall as it pulled uselessly against the metal.
Hans narrowed his eyes at the object around its wrist.
A gold watch!
Moments ago, he had been reluctant to engage it. Any commotion could draw more zombies from the upper floors. Yet that watch might contain enough gold to train his first unit.
Scavenging the lower floors could be safer, but he had no idea what waited below or whether he would find enough valuables there.
The zombie above him was alone, partly restrained, and carrying exactly what he needed.
The thought excited him, and Hans immediately formed a plan.
He needed to end it as quickly as possible. Testing the zombie's senses would only give it time to react, and he couldn't afford to lose this chance.
Better to strike first and confirm later!
Hans ascended the stairwell, watching both his footing and the space above. He kept close to the wall to avoid striking the metal railing with either his body or the combat knife.
One accidental clang could be no different from firing the M1911 inside the building.
As Hans closed in, the edge of the combat knife gleamed beneath the flickering light.
Each step felt like walking on glass. The zombie's low moans echoed against the concrete, but it still didn't turn. Hans steadied his breathing. One mistake and the entire floor might wake.
When he reached the landing, the zombie remained facing the wall, unaware of him.
Great, that makes things easier!
Using the reaction speed and close-quarter combat ability granted by the System, Hans held his breath, gripped the knife with both hands, and drove it toward the zombie's head.
The strike forced the zombie down in one motion. The blade broke through its skull with far less resistance than he expected.
His momentum carried him down with the corpse. For a second, the stairwell went silent except for blood dripping from the knife.
Hans stared at the body. He hadn't expected the System's minor enhancement to make such a difference, but the zombie was dead.
Then the impact echoed through the hallway.
Groans answered from somewhere above.
Hans's body tensed. Adrenaline and the unfamiliar strength in his limbs urged him to turn toward the noise and fight whatever came.
The cooling sensation returned, cutting through the impulse and bringing his attention back to the watch.
He pulled it from the zombie's wrist, then retreated with quick, careful steps to the seventh floor and locked himself inside his room.
He didn't dare linger or wait to see how many zombies had heard the fall. All of his focus settled on the bloodied watch in his hands.
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[ Detected: 85 grams of gold. ]
[ Convert to Gold? ]
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"Yes."
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[ Conversion complete. ]
[ Gold: 58 (+85) => 143 ]
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Hans watched his balance soar.
"System, train one Conscript."
The Infantry tab flickered, and a countdown spinner appeared over the Conscript's thumbnail.
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[ Conscript queued. ]
[ Gold: 143 (-100) => 43 ]
[ Training Time: 1 minute. ]
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Hans smirked and went to the bathroom sink, washing the blood from his hands and knife while waiting for the training to finish.
Only then did he notice that his uniform remained clean despite the blood that had covered his hands and blade.
"Wait... do these clothes clean themselves?"
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[ Commander equipment is cleaned automatically. ]
[ Damaged equipment will not repair itself. ]
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By the time he finished cleaning, another prompt appeared.
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[ Conscript training complete. ]
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"System, where will they appear?"
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[ No Physical Barracks detected. ]
[ Trained units will deploy at a nearby safe location outside the sight of others. ]
[ Deployment Point: Gaming Room. ]
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Hans sighed in relief. Otherwise, explaining where his soldiers came from would be impossible.
While he considered the implications, a figure stepped out from beside his gaming desk.