Leaping like a happy little deer, Scott bounded away from the corpses. His body shivered slightly at the near fatal nature of their battle, but he was free of their grasping hands now. Even better, three seconds had passed.
"Class dismissed," said Scott in an attempt to regain a bit of his former bravado. He aimed his shots as well as his skills would allow, and soon the remaining zombies were put down for good.
He poked his head into the room that they'd come from, but other than a bloody ruin and trashed desks, he saw nothing of interest. Scott shook his head then growled a little. "Fuck that was close. If they were just a little stronger or faster..."
Scott shook his head to free himself from the nightmare inducing image. He'd become a little cocky after surviving a few times. The gun made things much easier, but that did not make the possibility of death any less real.
Cautiously, he went back to clearing the rooms. Not long after the dead-end incident, he broke his way into the school nurse's office. The moment the door opened, something light and smelly impacted his face.
"Stay away!" cried a feminine voice.
Scott blinked owlishly then looked down at the missile that struck him. "A shoe?"
"It's that asshole!" cried the same voice.
Scott snorted at the girl then said, "You're welcome."
"Welcome?! Welcome for what?" snarled the girl. Her friends gathered around her, each of them holding some makeshift weapon or other.
"Ah, because you meant to say, 'Thank you, handsome stranger, for killing the zombies so that we can leave,'" said Scott.
The girl threw her other shoe at him in response. Scott dodged it easily and laughed. "Honestly, who throws a shoe?"
"The zombies are dead? All of them?" asked the blond woman in the tight skirt.
"Almost. I've cleared everything outside, and most of the rooms now. Can't imagine there being more than a handful left since there were less than a hundred fifty here," said Scott.
"How do you know there were less than a hundred fifty here?" asked another girl.
Scott shrugged. "I didn't count them. That's just what the mission stated."
"Mission? Who are you? Are you with the government?" asked the blond woman.
"Who the fuck knows?" he asked. "All I can tell you is that the barrier will be down soon. I didn't put it up, but the asshats that make me go on these missions put it up to keep these things from escaping while I kill them all. It also kept other zombies from coming in here."
"It keeps other zombies, out?" asked a black haired girl.
"It does right now," said Scott. He looked to the blond woman, the obvious adult in the group, "You're going to want to get out of here and hopefully out of this town as soon as possible. It's still bad in the countryside, but there aren't as many of them."
"It's better in the country?" asked the blond woman.
He pointed at her and said, "There are probably thousands of these things roaming around in the cities. Other than one larger horde roaming around, I barely saw any far from town."
Scott neglected to mention that he'd only been to the world a few times, but it seemed logical. The lawnmower didn't have that many zombies to attract. Otherwise he would have been swarmed.
"If you're thinking of going out into the countryside, though, I suggest you go to the actual countryside. Suburbs and the like probably aren't a lot better than here," suggested Scott. "If you can't fight zombies effectively, you'll need a strong place that's away from people like a prison, or a concrete building."
"Can't you just take us with you when you leave?" asked the blond.
"Don't think I can," said Scott. He remembered how the zombies were thrown back when they tried to drag him out of the door of light. "I mean, I don't think it's physically possible for you to go with me."
The black haired youth who led the group groaned a little. He was unconscious. Scott eyed him for a moment then asked, "What's up with dumbass over there? Did he lose too much blood?"
"You shot him! That's what's wrong," cried out the girl with the injured arm.
"Well, no shit. I'm asking why he's unconscious," said Scott.
"I had to give him something for the pain. The bullet passed right through, and left a weird burn around it," said the blond woman. "It caused him a lot of pain."
"You a doctor, then?" asked Scott.
"Studying to be one. I'm the school nurse till then," she said.
"Right. Well, if dumbass wakes up, be sure to tell him to have more sense in the future," said Scott.
"Don't talk about Johnny like that," snapped one of the girls. "He's only like this because you shot him!"
"He's like this because he saw a guy with a gun and decided he'd steal that guy's gun. Honestly, he's lucky that I didn't just kill him," said Scott. He left out the part where he'd aimed at the guy's face. It did not seem like it would be helpful for the conversation.
"You couldn't shoot for shit!" she retorted.
Scott eyed her critically for a moment. "So, by that logic I should have just given him my gun?"
"Yes!" snapped the girl.
"Damn, you people won't live five minutes when you leave this place," said Scott with a sigh. He glanced at the hot school nurse. "It's a shame, too."
"What do you mean?" asked a brunette girl wielding a broom handle as a spear. "We've done alright so far."
Scott pointed at the girl who thought it made sense for him to give away his gun. "By her logic, if you people ran across someone who could shoot a gun better, you'd give them all your stuff."
"No, we wouldn't..." said the girl, "That's just—"
"Stupid?" asked Scott helpfully. "Yeah, I think so, too."
He waved his gun toward the unconscious dumbass. "I don't know how you people decided he was worth a fuck, but it is obvious that he'll get you killed soon."
"Johnny kept us all alive," said the brunette. "How dare you—"
Scott pointed his gun at her and tilted his head to the side. "How easy would it be for me to kill you right now?"
"A-are you threatening her?" asked the blond woman.
"No, just asking a question," said Scott. He never took his eyes off the brunette. "You see a gun and think, that thing could kill me. Best not antagonize the guy holding it unless I have to, right?"
"Y-yeah," said the brunette.
"The dumbass you're all trying to make excuses for decided that the smart thing to do was attack the guy providing cover fire, and try to steal his gun," said Scott. "More to the point, he did that while dozens of zombies and a special zombie were all converging on your position."
"You were wasting ammunition, though..." said the injured girl sullenly.
Scott snorted at her. "My ammunition, you mean? You'll notice that I cleared most of this school on my own. With the strength of this gun it still takes a perfect headshot to kill these things. Your douchebag leader boy over there would probably not even do as well as I did."
"His family hunts, though. He knows how to use a gun!" snapped the girl.
"I suggest he finds one then, because I'll be damned if I'll let him steal mine," said Scott.
"People do dumb shit when they're scared. I know I do," said Scott before pointing at the unconscious douche with his gun. "I don't hold much hope for someone as stupid as he is, though."
He lowered his gun then continued, "He threw away his only weapon for a chance at stealing one from someone else, someone who had already shown interest in providing you with safety."
Scott looked them over for a second then said, "I'll admit that I'm not the sharpest guy around."
He pointed to the idiot on the aid station bed. "If a zombie broke in here right now, I'd probably even try to save that dumbass despite his stupidity."
"Right," said the injured girl with a snort.
"Is he dead? I've killed well over a hundred zombies with perfect headshots today. Hell, I had no choice but to do it that way with this equipment," he said.
Scott pointed
to the lightly moaning dumbass. "So, tell me he wouldn't be dead if I didn't want him dead?"
No one spoke for a moment. Scott took a breath then sighed. He was reluctant to leave these people despite the fact that they tried to use him as a chance to save their own asses. Hell, it was even understandable. Who knew how long they'd been trapped in this place?
It was the end of the world, the mother-loving zombie apocalypse. People all over the world would be desperate for any chance at finding hope. He knew what it was like to constantly be on the edge of with, hope fading with each passing second. He lived that way daily as well, now. In truth, he was just glad that they didn't try anything worse.
"Anyway, I'd go to bat and try to help most people in this shit whether I know them or not," said Scott. He did not know why he continued to talk while they remained silent. However, he needed to say these things. He held no doubt about it.
He snorted at them. "But give my gun to a guy I don't know, especially after he casually told you all to abandon me?" Scott looked them over briefly then continued, "I'm not that stupid, and I hope none of you still are after this little episode."
Scott took a breath and said, "Each of you is all the other has in this world. Bravery and aggression will help, but being smart is best."
Mini-rant over, he hopped down off of his metaphorical soapbox and stopped preaching to these survivors about how to survive a zombie apocalypse. He did not feel bad about what he'd told them, however. If anything it helped him see his own thoughts clearly. That little speech was as much for him as it was for them.
The girls remained silent after that, the blond woman included, each of them showed signs of deep consideration regarding what they'd heard. Scott took a step back and eyeballed the halls of the school. Nothing stirred. He did hear a few weak moans from down the hall, but it was obviously the last few zombies that were still trapped in the school building.
"I'm going to finish up here. You can come help, or stay here. I'm fine either way, but I do need to get this done so I can move on," said Scott.
The girls remained in place. A few stared at him, the others looked away in shame. There would be no high school girl zombie apocalypse harem for him it seemed. Ah, such was life.
Nothing else came of the situation, however. Soon he finished off the last zombies in the high school building, but was unable to leave. For a moment he thought that he was left behind, but he opted to double-check everywhere in case he missed a zombie. After heading back to the parking lot, he realized the truth.
As it turned out, there was one zombie trapped in a car that he'd missed. A few shots rang out. The zombie's reign of terror over the confines of the little beat-up car ended in bloody revolution. The door of light rose up.
Scott sighed loudly. He was ready to be free of this place. He immediately headed toward the exit. Just before he was about to step in, a voice called out to him. "Hey! What's that?"
It was the school nurse, the blond woman with the inappropriately tight skirt. Scott shrugged. "I'm going home."
"Home, that weird door? What is all this? What happened?" she asked him.
Scott glanced at the door timer then looked back to her. "I still don't know for certain, but you can leave the school now if you want. In fact, I suggest you get far away from here. The cities aren't safe."
"Thank you for what you did for us," she said, a gentle smile on her lips.
He nodded to her then said, "Glad someone appreciated it. Sorry about the wanna-be harem king."
Determined to leave, but unwillingly to go without one more statement, he offered her a smile and saluted her with his pistol. "Good luck out there," he said, before he stepped through the door and left her reality behind.
Nurse Tight Skirt was shocked by what she saw. The moment that he stepped into that light he disappeared completely. "I knew it. Aliens did it!"
Back in his private sanctuary, Scott sighed in relief and walked over to his image. The first thing that he did was check to see how much EXP it would take to restore himself. This time it would require three points. He accepted it then waited for the light of healing to do its work. Both his body and his equipment were completely restored.
"Right then," he said with a smile. "Time to see how they screw me out of EXP this time."
[Mission Score]
You have completed your second daily mission. Congratulations!
[Why so mean, Senpai?]
Grade: B
Base Reward: 50 EXP
Grade Bonus: X2
Total: 100 EXP
Elimination Bonus: 54 EXP
Settings Bonus
Bastard Survivor Route: You protected survivors, a hero. But your respect amounts to zero. You like to preach, that much is true. One girl got mad, and threw a shoe. [Two actually.]
You shot Johnny in the shoulder, but aimed for the face. In the end, you were the only reason they got out of that place. You found favor with a pretty girl in a tight skirt. Too bad you're a champion, or you'd have more time to flirt.
[You stud, you.]
Grade: A
Route Bonus: 200 EXP
Tactical Bonus: You figured out an intelligent way to quickly kill large special zombies.
Grade: C
Bonus: 60 EXP
Entertainment Bonus
You proved to be highly entertaining on several occasions. This reduces the annoyance of our people as they wait for your race to fail their challenges and become our property.
Entertainment Grade: B
Entertainment Bonus: 80 EXP
Fan Following: You have acquired new fans. Once you have 100 fans, you will be granted a one percent bonus to all EXP earned. Each additional 100 fans will increase your EXP by one percent as well.
Fans: (16)
Total EXP Earned: 494
[—]
Scott's eyelid twitched slightly. Where was the 'screw you, buddy'? He received his full EXP. After he began to accept the truth, he could not help but laugh a little. Finally, he'd gotten a break!
He began to expend his points without hesitation. He had a little over five hundred sixteen total EXP with what he saved before. The first thing he purchased was two more days of life. That would give him a slight cushion in case he failed a side mission.
The next thing that he did was upgrade his pistol. He decided not to spend points to make it a type two unlimited ammo weapon, as the current version seemed to work well enough. Instead, he spent fifteen points to upgrade to plasma rounds, then increased the damage rating for another five EXP. He only had four more points to spend before it was maxed out, but he decided to try to upgrade damage one more time to see if it worked.
Scott grinned a little when he saw that he could go over the remaining on experience point usage when choosing upgrades. The second damage upgrade was accepted! However, he received a little warning buzzer when he tried to do it again. His pistol was maxed out, and could become no stronger. Any upgrade could be chosen until the level of the weapon reached maximum, however.
The maxed out weapon looked quite different than it did previously. Originally, it looked like an ordinary, even generic, black handgun. Now it possessed a strange rail-gun appearance and a few holes in the side. Total attack damage increased by fourteen by upgrading damage directly. It seemed that the damage increase rounded upward to the next whole number when it increased. Changing the ammunition to plasma rounds increased the damage output by another fifteen points. That combined to drastically increase the total damage generated.
[Combat Item]
Black Hawk Combat Pistol
Level: Max
EXP: 29/28
Damage: 76
Durability: 34/34
Type: Semi-Automatic Pistol
Accuracy: Moderate
Recoil: Average
Ammunition: Plasma Rounds [Handgun]
Capacity: 12/12 [Unlimited Ammunition Type I]
[—]
"So, twenty-five points down." he said, before h
e checked the combat items. He could afford a few cheap items such as a leather vest that counted as actual armor, or gloves that would double as armor and weapons. The problem was that cheap was a relative term. The vest would cost one hundred eighty EXP.
In the end, he opted to purchase only a few things. He bought a set of hardened leather Cesti that would fit over his cotton gloves, a set of leather armguards, and a set of leg guards with sabatons to cover the top of his shoes. The total cost for those items was ninety-seven EXP. He thought about it a moment and then spent the left over fractional EXP to buy food and water so that he would have a whole number of EXP to use.
There was no way to see what the stats of the items were till he purchased them. He was aggravated to no end about that, but that only meant that he would have to be careful about his purchases. Scott checked the first item after purchasing it, and for a moment he did not notice anything off. It was not until he took a second look that he realized that there was something weird about the statistics.
[Combat Item]
Black Hardened Leather Cesti
Level: 1/2
EXP: 0/6
Damage: 4
Hit Points: 1.0
Durability: 28/28
[—]
"Hit Points?" he asked in surprise. Why would armor have durability and hit points? Wasn't that the same thing?
He tapped the hit points section then read through the information provided. Slowly, his eyes widened. A feral grin spread across his lips.
Immediately, Scott splurged six EXP to upgrade his Cesti to level two. He checked his other items. They were not particularly remarkable either, but they also offered hit points. From what he could tell, the primary purpose of armor was to provide bonus hit points.
His pathetic little hand protectors previously offered him one whole hit point. Increasing their level increased their hit point capacity by a factor of ten.
Galactic Fist of Legend Page 7