The man with glasses was introduced as Cai Dajian. Interestingly, only then did the name above his head update to his real name. Before Lu Zhang knew his name, every Inspect only showed [??? Lv 1] above his head.
'So it can't show me what I don't know...'
'How did it show me the mutant zombie then?' Lu Zhang mused to himself, before noting another, more important thing.
........
[Name: Lu Zhang]
[Level: 3]
[Strength: 6]
[Speed: 19]
[Intelligence: 7]
[Endurance: 7]
[Mana: 62/70-> 65/70](recovering)
[Skills: Inspect lv 2, Empty Fang Lv 3]
........
'My mana is recovering faster than earlier... Or am I just imagining it?'
He didn't dwell on it for too long. As he looked back up, Su Yao hammered in the head of a level 1 zombie with her fist, mashing it against the wall as it's rotten limbs clawed towards her weakly. She had gotten a lot more confident after the first few kills, especially since the zombies didn't seem to be like the ones in regular zombie stories, capable of infecting others.
A few paces away, Cai Dajian was struggling to dodge a zombie's flails, his fear evident.
"Lu Zhang, it's done! I finally levelled up!" Su Yao said, the level above her head changing to 2.
........
[Su Yao]
[Level 2]
[Strength: 4 ->6]
[Speed: 5 ->6]
[Intelligence: 9 ->11]
[Endurance: 3 ->4]
[Mana Pool: 110/110]
[Skills: Inspect Lv 1]
........
'Her Mana Pool is being wasted with no skill to use.' Lu Zhang thought, before giving her an approving nod. Su Yao was the most proactive among the survivors, followed by Cai Dajian. Lu Zhang hadn't even bothered to learn the others' names, the group staying huddled in the back while they hunted zombies.
One of the survivors, a thin man with a ratty mustache and tired eyes, gathered up his courage and asked Lu Zhang a question.
"E-Excuse me. What... did it look like outside? Are our families okay?"
Lu Zhang knew the answer he wanted. To let the zombies be an event stuck to this library, and their families to be safe. Unfortunately for him, Lu Zhang had some idea of what was going on.
'The zombies... aren't even the worst thing going on right now.'
From the screams that began outside the library at first, to the people randomly turning into zombies, to strange monsters and beasts. Lu Zhang had a hypothesis as to what this could be.
'A classic spiritual energy resurgence type novel?'
'This, combined with what I saw earlier from the balcony, just reinforces it. What's outside is way worse than whatever we have to deal with in here.'
Despite knowing the reality of the situation, he simply told the man- "Maybe."
Maybe they survived. Maybe they got lucky. Maybe they died. He wouldn't be the one to crush that final spark of hope in this man's heart. Those without hope were too annoying to manage.
Su Yao looked at Lu Zhang with a hint of curiosity. She didn't understand exactly what was going on, but she hadn't expected such softness from someone like him, since everytime she had seen him, he had looked just like a madman having his way in this apocalypse.
Lu Zhang ignored the troubled man, as the group continued on their zombie killing expedition. At all times, at least two people were to keep watching the corridors they had cleared, to watch for the Blob. Any unopened doors and higher levelled zombies were only to be dealt with by Lu Zhang himself.
With this plan, they slowly traversed the entirety of the first floor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Squelch!
Lu Zhang watched the final visible zombie on the floor crumble in a boneless heap as he retracted his hand, the gore splattering off his hand as he shook it clean.
[Level 2 Zombie killed!]
........
[Name: Lu Zhang]
[Level: 4]
[Strength: 6 ->8]
[Speed: 19 ->22]
[Intelligence: 7 ->10]
[Endurance: 7 ->9]
[Stat Points: 5]
[Mana: 95/100]
[Skills: Inspect lv 3, Empty Fang Lv 4]
........
Su Yao's level had also risen to a 3, while Cai Dajian reached Level 2. None of the other survivors' levels had increased, since all they did was watch out for the Blob, not partaking in the combat.
"It's time." Lu Zhang's steady voice rang out, now that there was no need to whisper due to the zombies on this floor.
"To hunt it."
"I will go alone. The rest of you just watch the stairwell." Despite heading towards a deadly opponent that had nearly killed him in the past, Lu Zhang couldn't suppress the smile leaking through his demeanour.
Su Yao mentally added 'egoistic' to her list of characteristics that she categorized Lu Zhang with, a list that was looking increasingly convoluted. "Understood."
"What? No, we'll help!" Cai Dajian tried to speak up for rationality, but was shot down immediately. Su Yao shook her head at Dajian's insistence, but said nothing.
Eventually, the others retreated to the stairwell, staying well away from the balcony after seeing the horrifying sight on the floors below. Su Yao and Cai Dajiang formed the line of defense on the stairwell, to deal with any zombies that were drawn upstairs.
Cai Dajiang complained in a low voice as they waited, "That guy, just because he's some levels higher, does he think he's invincible?! To refuse help to go against a higher level monster is crazy. Completely irrational."
Su Yao listened to his complaints without response, letting him vent. 'It's better if he's accepting the new reality and complaining about that, rather than being lost in the hope of the past like these guys.'
Her disdain for the rest of the group was obvious.
"Lu Zhang..." Su Yao finally began speaking, as the groan of a zombie meandering up the stairs came up to their ears. She paused, the metal ruler's edge tearing the zombie's eye open, before she violently bashed it's head against the stairs with a kick.
"-will be the one to lead us to a new world. So trust in him."
Further away on the same floor, a man stood against a giant, rotting mountain of flesh.
"Did you get even fatter?"
His only response a growl from the Blob, as the mutant zombie began undulating.
Round 2, start!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Name: Lu Zhang]
[Level: 4]
[Strength: 8]
[Speed: 22]
[Intelligence: 10]
[Endurance: 9]
[Stat Points: 5]
[Mana: 100/100]
[Skills: Inspect lv 3, Empty Fang Lv 4]
[New Fact discovered!]
[Zombies are just the beginning...]