The boulder came crashing down. Blaze turned his head away at the last second, narrowly missing the spot. But the zombie didn't seem to give up and lifted the boulder again before Blaze could grab it.
I'm telling you to stop, damn it!
"Grr… roar!"
No matter how much he groaned and roared, unlike before, the zombie didn't seem to register his words.
The necrolink isn't working!?
"Roar!?"
Blaze's confused roar didn't seem to affect the zombie as it raised the boulder above its head, ready to slam it down.
Blaze couldn't move, but he could use his good arm and immediately grabbed the zombie's leg before pulling with all his strength. The move took the zombie by surprise and it tried to balance itself, but the boulder's weight was too much for it to hold with the sudden shift.
Just like that, the zombie fell to the ground, and the boulder dropped on its head instead. Rotten blood splattered everywhere as the boulder crushed the zombie's head.
Its body twitched for a moment, before going still.
The zombie was dead.
It must suck to die from the same boulder twice.
With the zombie taken out, Blaze reached for the rebar to drag the boulder. After struggling for a minute and dislocating his shoulder to extend his reach, he finally got the boulder in his hand.
Lifting the darn thing was a struggle, especially with one hand, but he lifted it and broke his joints in quick succession. First came the knees, then the remaining elbow.
It took a while, but the joints slowly began repairing themselves. It would appear getting multiple injuries at once took longer to heal. The slow healing gave him some time to organize his thoughts.
However, it also confused Blaze. If his body could regenerate, then why did he still have a broken ankle?
He expected the floating screen above him to answer, like in those games and webtoons. But no one answered him, leaving him to come up with his own theories.
Is it because I got these injuries as a human?
It was the only theory he could come up with on the fly. After all, he had more problematic things to think about, such as the zombie's strange behavior.
Last night, he saw the zombies working in unison to hunt him and Min. Not once did he see them attack one another. Yet the zombie before him tried to smash his head with the boulder, and it happened while he was controlling it.
Don't tell me this necrolink thing has a time limit.
It would make sense that the zombie had stopped obeying him because of it. Still, it didn't explain why the zombie attacked him.
He thought about it more, but couldn't come up with any reason, primarily as he knew nothing about those zombies.
At some distance, he noticed two zombies walking around. Unlike his encounter, the zombies didn't attack each other. It appeared the two weren't even aware of each other's existence.
It's as if they think they're one and the same.
Suddenly, it clicked to Blaze.
They can tell I'm different.
Prior to using Necrolink, the zombie had behaved normally towards him. However, the moment it got freed from Necrolink, it attacked him.
It seems Necrolink links my conscience with the zombies, and they realize I'm different.
Blaze looked at his broken body. From the outside, he appeared as a zombie, but on the inside, he held his human conscience. By using Necrolink, he was essentially exposing his true nature to the zombies. Hence, they perceived him as human and attacked him.
It was the only logical explanation Blaze could think of.
Just when I thought this ability was broken.
Blaze shook his head and finally stood up. Some bones in his body cracked from the sudden motion, but Blaze didn't feel anything. As he stood, his body remained unsteady, as if he was walking for the first time. He paid little attention to it, focusing on his dilemma instead.
He was a zombie, but the undead saw him as a human, and humans perceived him as a zombie. In other words, he was an enemy of both sides.
It seems my luck is as rotten as this body of mine.
He looked toward the distant campus buildings. The place was teeming with zombies and humans alike.
Like Neha, others could have evolved into superhumans and to top it off, he didn't know what kind of powers they had or how many of them were there. Staying there would increase his chances of encountering them.
Although they were timid now, once they began controlling their powers, it wouldn't take long for them to venture outside and start killing off the undead.
If that happened and someone came across him…
They'd kill me, thinking they were doing my soul a favor.
Just the thought made him want to gag.
To make things worse, since the normal zombies could attack him, the headless ones would probably do the same. As much as Blaze wanted to kill them and evolve himself, he knew he couldn't do that.
I'm way too weak right now.
He wasn't escaping. It was a tactical retreat.
I'll get them later.
With that thought, he took a step, only for something to plop between his legs. Blaze looked down and saw his innards spilled all over the ground.
So… fucking… annoying!
"Gr… Grr… ROAR!"
A roar escaped his lips before he bent down, picked his organs up, and shoved them back inside. Then he took off his shirt and tied it around his waist so the guts wouldn't fall out again. It was just a temporary measure until he found suitable tools to sew himself.
He took uneven steps, walking away without looking back. Just then, the screen appeared before him, and with it, a strange task.
[Quest: The Apex Predator (I).]
[Type: Chain quest.]
[Task: Walk a thousand steps without falling.]
[Progress: 2/1,000]
[Reward: Agility upgrade.]
Blaze wanted to sigh. Instead, a grunt escaped his lips.
Is this some kind of game for you?
Blaze asked, not expecting an answer, and froze when the screen shifted and a single word appeared before him.
[Yes.]