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1.67% The Innkeeper / Chapter 24: Awakening

Capítulo 24: Awakening

Lex picked up his speed and tried to run past the zombies before they noticed him. For the ones who came out as he was running past, he was successful, but there were many times where zombies had already exited buildings as he ran past. They would always be attracted to him and start moving in his direction. Initially, he was still able to dodge them, but as time went by, he had to preemptively start attacking them.

Killing zombies wasn't his goal with these attacks. With one look, he determined his optimal escape path, then stabbed or tripped any zombies in or near his path, turning them into a hindrance to the zombies behind them. Quick and efficient. Those two words could describe his actions at that moment.

At first, it was just a couple that would come his way, but the hordes slowly grew. The once empty streets were filling up with the walking dead. Under normal circumstances, Lex would be panicking once again, but unbeknownst to him, he had entered an extremely focused state. When two zombies would approach him from the front, he would slash the first one's neck and push it towards the other with his body, acting too fast for the zombie to scratch or bite him. When more zombies came his way, he would quickly duck and slash the zombies' thighs, making it trip, creating an obstacle for the zombies behind to slow them down.

Lex didn't know, but slowly and steadily, even though he didn't mean to, his zombie kill counter was increasing. This was because often when slashed the neck he started cutting the head clean off and other zombies would then stampede over the head, killing it. In barely a few minutes, he completed the 20 kills, and the quest was updated, but Lex remained completely unaware.

This was because by now he was almost completely surrounded. Giving up trying to run, he climbed up onto one of the cars. On an instinct he instructed the Fancy Monocle to collect data on how the "blue light doors" that the zombies were coming from worked and updated him when it discovered something.

The "car" was rectangular and around 8 feet high and almost 15 feet long, which gave Lex a decent amount of space to maneuver. But he didn't have time to think further - zombies were climbing up behind him.

He kicked a zombie hard on its chest, flinging it away into the zombie behind it, knocking them all down, but there was no respite. Behind him, he felt a zombie cling onto his shoulders and attempt to bite him, but before it could, he elbowed it to push it away. He turned, stabbed it through the eye and moved onto the next zombie as if it were nothing.

By this point, he could no longer continue to dodge scratches. On his chest, his arms, his legs, everywhere zombies had tried to scratch him, but fortunately so far it seemed they were unable to break through his skin - but repeated attempts might still be able to pierce through. That's not to say he was unhurt, his body was covered in bruises both old and new, but he felt neither. Even his synthetic armor started to show signs of wear, but in the dark, rainy night, who was paying attention to that?

Slowly, his efficiency improved even further. He used the momentum from one attack to flow into another, turning from his rigid, repetitive motions to smooth, flowing ones. When he saw an attack coming he could not avoid, he would try to catch it on his chest so his under armor could protect him.

He got another notification from the System, but it was ignored just the same. The monocle gave him a notification, but as if it were an unnecessary distraction, Lex ignored it. Lex was now a killing machine. With his right hand he would stab, and with his left hand he would use his index and middle finger to stab zombies through the eyes. It was not something he consciously thought of; it was something that he naturally started doing. A pile of bodies had fallen on the ground around the car, which had built a path for zombies to climb up, which only increased the pressure on him.

While this was happening, Lex was mowing through anything that approached him, his clothes ripped to shreds and his backpack lost somewhere along the way. He was covered in sweat and the spilled blood of his enemies.

A zombie approached him slowly from the back, waiting to catch him off guard. It studied him, studied his attack patterns, and slowly crawled towards him. It was mixed in with the "dead undead" bodies on the floor so as to not attract attention to itself. Lex turned his back towards the zombie to attack in the other direction, and the zombie immediately launched itself at him. In one quick jolt, it had gone from the ground to almost on top of Lex, and just when it thought it was about to reach him, Lex moved. Spinning on his heel, Lex avoided the zombies lurch and swiped at its neck with his knife, using its own momentum to cut its neck. From start to finish, Lex had not even seen the zombie. To him, it was just a single moment between so many other intense moments, but he would be surprised to know that this was the third "mini-boss" zombie he had dispatched so effortlessly, whereas he had struggled so much with it before.

Somewhere along the way, Lex lost his knife, too. It broke or got stuck or was pulled from his hand, he could not remember, but he had lost it. That had not slowed him down, though. His punches delivered a devastating blow to the zombies' skulls, his fingers piercing though as if daggers and his kicks launched zombies far away as if they were shot through a cannon. He had awakened a primal side of him he had never known. His brain was working faster than he had ever thought possible, and his actions followed almost as quickly as he thought of something.

In this life or death moment, Lex had completely let his instincts take over, and if the "mad" Marlo were to look at him now, it would be up for debate about which one of them was the mad one. The downside of such feral fighting was that he had become completely numb and so did not notice that, along with battered bruises, his body was slowly starting to be covered in cuts and scratches.

"LEX QUICKLY HIDE!" he suddenly heard a roaring sound in his head, and he recognized it as Mary. Before he could ask her what happened, he noticed a red warning flashing on his monocle, pointing towards his left. When he turned to look, his pupils shrunk, and he was filled with horror. The giant mutated lion was rushing in his direction, being chased by what looked like a giant ten feet tall zombie. Lex didn't need anymore motivation, he jumped as far off from the car as he could and launched into a sprint.

"Approach the center of a building and put your hand flat against the wall!" Mary instructed urgently, and Lex obeyed, not wasting time on questions. To his great delight, as soon as he did so, a blue light formed on the wall and he ran through. As soon as he crossed, he turned his attention to listen to the sounds outside - the lion and giant zombie seemed to pass right beside the building and crossed it. Lex waited a few more moments to ensure they had passed. When he was assured, he asked the monocle how to lock the door and followed the instructions, after which he took a look around the room to see if there were any zombies.

The room appeared to have been a lounge once. Sofas were arranged neatly around a table and various decorations filled the room. A few plants that had seemed to have overgrown let out a soft, green light, illuminating the room creating a pleasant environment. Lex, however, had no time to appreciate any of that.

When he finally found there were no zombies, he collapsed onto the nearest couch. He was thoroughly exhausted. He had lost all his supplies and his clothes had been ripped to the point that he was practically nude.

Without thinking too much, he pulled out the second bottle of Botlam Dew from the system and moved his aching hand to deliver it to his mouth, a simple action that had suddenly become immensely painful as soon as he let himself relax. Once he drank the bottle, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. He was completely mentally and physically exhausted. He did not know it, but he had spent nearly three hours continuously fighting zombies. His body was completely black and blue, and his originally pristine and flawless skin could not be differentiated from an old piece of beaten leather.

If he had known how bad his condition really was, he would have panicked, but the last time he had checked his body, the zombies had been unable to pierce his skin, so he thought he was still safe. If he had known how many scratches his body had sustained, he would have assumed that he was infected. Which he was, for a short time, but a closer examination of his wounds would show tiny droplets of Botlam Dew killing off even tinier black, wriggling spores. Unwittingly, he had saved himself. Even Mary did not notice, as she was not able to view the status of his body. She just appeared in the air and watched him sleep, worry painted across her tiny face.

"You can't die, not yet…" she whispered, her thoughts completely unknown.


REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES
lifesketcher lifesketcher

Hey guys, I'm doing a Power Stone promotion! At 40 power stones I'll release an extra chapter, and then an extra chapter for every 10 additional Power Stones! Happy Voting :)

Also I hope you're enjoying the novel, if you have any thoughts feel free to share as the feedback will let me know what aspects of the novel readers like or dislike!

Capítulo 25: Epiphany

When Lex finally woke, the first thing he became aware of was pain. His entire body, from his toes to his head, was filled with pain. He was also incredibly sore, and that was a feeling he had barely felt since he started cultivating Regal Embrace. With difficulty, he got up, and all his bones cracked as he did. When he got up, he was hit with a sudden bout of nausea and leaned to the side of the sofa to let out pitch black vomit. Lex was horrified looking at it, but he suddenly felt much better once he was done.

Other than the constant pain, the soreness and the weakness that filled his entire being, Lex felt pretty great! Shaking his head, he got up and moved to a different corner of the room to get away from the smell. He looked at his completely bruised, almost bare body and was honestly impressed. Not a single cut was visible. Regal Embrace really lived up to its claim of having the best defense in the universe, even at this level.

Previously, when he had Botlam Dew, it had almost completely healed and reinvigorated him, compared to this time when he was clearly still pretty badly hurt. It was a testament to how miserable his condition must have been. He opened up the system to buy another bottle of Botlam Dew, but froze when he saw the list of notifications.

Quest Completed: 20/20 zombies killed!

Quest Reward: 1000MP delivered!

Quest Updated: Kill 50 zombies before returning to the Inn!

Quest Reward: 1500MP

Quest Completed: 50/50 zombies killed!

Quest Reward: 1500MP delivered!

Quest Updated: Kill 100 zombies before returning to the Inn!

Quest Reward: 2000MP

Quest Completed: 100/100 zombies killed!

Quest Reward: 2000MP delivered!

Quest Updated: Kill 5 Rank 2 zombies before returning to the Inn!

Quest Reward: 5000MP

Quest Status: ⅗ Rank 2 zombies killed

He read the notifications multiple times before he could accept what was written. He had unwittingly earned 4500MP, and that was amazing. BUT HE HAD KILLED OVER 100 ZOMBIES!? Honestly, he didn't even recall what happened.

When he thought back, he could only remember flashes. He remembered feeling sweaty, he remembered feeling pain from being hit, he remembered feeling that his body was extremely hot! At some point, he was on top of a car. He had lost track of his backpack, his knife, and most of his clothes. He vaguely remembered telling the monocle if it could figure out how the blue-light doors worked when it saw zombies coming out of buildings, and at some point, it must have done that. He remembered... the giant lion... running? He remembered Mary's warning.

"Mary, are you there?" he croaked. His throat was very dry and his voice was barely audible.

"I'm here," she said, appearing in front of him. She was floating in the air before him, looking down at his beaten body with sympathy. "You did really well. Who could have guessed your first trip to another world would be so dangerous?"

Lex chuckled. He had anticipated many things when he thought of what he could encounter on another planet: hostile civilizations, primitive life-forms, aliens, but he never considered zombies.

"How much time is left before I can leave?" he asked her, this time using his thoughts.

"It's been 21 hours since you've been on his planet. 3 more hours before the minimum time required, and it could be any amount of time after that. I suggest you get as much rest as you can, in case it takes much longer. You've lost your food, so if it takes much longer than 24 hours for you to be able to go back, you might have to think of something."

"If I can continue hiding, I'll just buy Saturn Cake from the Midnight Store. It's expensive, but I'm in no condition to continue fighting. Anyway, I've earned quite a few MP. Did I really kill that many zombies?"

For a moment, Mary just looked at Lex with a complicated expression on her face. "You killed quite a few zombies, but you've over exerted yourself. You lost yourself in combat, which was very dangerous. You could have easily escaped much earlier, but you were so focused on fighting that you completely forgot about everything else. In the future, try to maintain your self-awareness at all times."

Lex was startled. He was under the impression that he had done really well, but Mary's lecture reminded him that his primary purpose wasn't to kill zombies. He should have only fought as long as needed. Instead, he got caught up in a cycle of acting without thinking because the situation was too intense. As a result, he was not thoroughly exhausted.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said as he moved to buy another Botlam Dew finally, but right before he made the purchase, he had an idea. He had an idea of how to solve another problem he had been having.

"Mary, how do I recruit Marlo as a valet?" he asked.

"You can purchase an employment key from the Midnight Store. It's a platinum key you can give to someone who can then use it to enter Midnight Inn. There they can view an employee contract that details their responsibilities, based on their job, and if they accept, they will become your employee. You must also give them a test to complete before they can officially join, as becoming an employee of the Midnight Inn should not be a leisurely task.

"Once you have an employee, you will also have to provide them with an employee residence. The employee can choose to live in the residence permanently or travel back and forth between their world and the Inn, but either way they must have one. The employee can also never harm you, in any world, but you can also not harm an employee or ask them to perform a task that will kill them. You can only give them orders related to the position they are filling, and anything else you tell them to do will be a request that they can turn down if they so wish.

"You also have to pay the employee in MP, and their salary will be based on their cultivation level as well as position and result during the test. If you are unable to pay your employee at the end of every month, the system will instantly kill you. There is no such thing as credit when it comes to the system.

"Right now you only have basic positions open to fill, such as valet, but later on you can recruit better and more skilled employees such as Pill refiners, Blacksmiths, Spirit Array refiners and more to provide the best services to your guests."

Lex understood the basics, and it was more or less as he expected it to be. Slowly a plan formed in his mind, but enacting the plan would depend on when he would be able to return to the Inn.

He closed his eyes and rested while he waited for the last 3 hours to pass. Normally, his body was very quick to recover since he cultivated Regal Embrace. This was the first time his feeling of weakness persisted.

He checked his status mentally and was shocked at the state his body was in, especially since this was after he had drunk Botlam Dew.

Name: Lex Williams

Age: 23

Sex: Male

Cultivation Level: Regal Embrace Body Tempering Stage 1

Health: Suboptimal (developing brain tumor), severe muscle damage (recovering), severe exhaustion (recovering), multiple hairline fractures (recovering)

Midnight Points: 5331

Midnight Inn Level: 2

Inventory: Bathroom Slippers, Self Defense Butter Knife, 1 Golden Tickets, Host Attire

Quests:

New Quest: As the most renown Inn in the universe, the Midnight Inn does not only host the rich and the powerful! Setup and develop the Pro Bono wing of the Inn and accept your first Pro Bono guest!

Remark: Keep working hard! If you raise your cultivation high enough, one day you'll be able to cast illusions to make yourself look better!

Sudden Quest: With a great personality and abundant energy, Marlo is a great candidate to serve as a valet for the Inn! Hire Marlo as your first valet!

Quest Time limit: 1 month

Quest Reward: 1 small staff dormitory, 1000MP, +1 Midnight Inn Level

Quest failure punishment: -1000MP (if host is unable to pay, it will result in immediate death!)

Lex rested with his eyes closed, though he was not able to fall asleep due to the pain. He waited patiently for his 24 hours to be complete and prayed for the Inn to connect the worlds as soon as possible. Fortunately, his luck was good, and he got the notification.

Midnight Inn Update: World Vegus Minima connected! Access available!

Quests completed before connection: 3

Rating: C-

Host Reward: Serene Whistle, Trials

Lex didn't have the patience to go through his reward right now. He was in too much pain, for goodness sakes! He could tolerate it if he had to, but he had no intentions of prolonging it.

He quickly left Vegus Minima and returned to Earth. He threw on some random clothes and hailed a cab to Marlo's apartment. He did his best to make himself look as miserable as possible, which wasn't very hard to be honest, as he was still covered in dried black blood from the zombies and smelled like death.

He rang the bell for Marlo's apartment and when the butler answered the door, he gave one look at Lex and delivered an annoyed look rather than a surprised one.

"I will summon the master," the butler said, escorting Lex to the least luxurious part of the apartment: a bathroom.

Marlo appeared quick enough and his face was plastered with the largest grin Lex had ever seen, and his eyes were practically screaming with excitement.

"I had an epiphany about self defense," Lex said weakly as he chuckled. "Giving up an opportunity that's too dangerous for you is also a form of self defense."

Before he could explain further, the behemoth of a man before him burst into a roaring laughter.


REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES
lifesketcher lifesketcher

Hey guys, I'm doing a Power Stone promotion! At 40 power stones I'll release an extra chapter, and then an extra chapter for every 10 additional Power Stones! Happy Voting :)

Also I hope you're enjoying the novel, if you have any thoughts feel free to share as the feedback will let me know what aspects of the novel readers like or dislike!

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