The building Leo was currently in was only five storeys tall.

Leo stepped out of his room, his boots making faint, dusty sounds on the concrete as he checked each floor, room by room. It didn’t take long; the layout was small, mostly tight corridors and identical doors.

​He found only three more zombies. They were scattered across different floors, solitary and slow.

He crept up on them one by one, driving his weapon into their flesh , before they could even register his presence. It was clean, easy work.

The frustrating part?

Not a single one of them dropped a card.

With the interior cleared, Leo pushed open the heavy door to the rooftop to get an overall picture of his location.

His predecessor had fled in such a blind panic that accessing the man’s memories gave Leo zero clues about where he actually was

Arriving at the rooftop, he leaned against the ledge and looked up. Seeing the darkening sky, he noticed that night was approaching soon.

In this world, leaving his safety to luck , the way the previous guy had ,was a surefire death sentence. He needed a secure place to hole up before total darkness hit.

His mind drifted to the card belt at his waist, specifically to the purple Epic Card .

"The card description said that the metal used to make the Apocalypse Truck could shield the presence of life force. So could it be used as a place to sleep?"

The more he pondered on the idea, the more it felt like his only real option.

If things got problematic, he wouldn’t just be trapped in a room; he could step on the gas and plow through whatever was in his way.

He went to the rooftop , peered over the edge of the roof , scanning the asphalt below .

Four zombies were wandering aimlessly in the street. He needed them gone before he could bring out the truck, but a direct confrontation was out of the question.

Even though he’d reached Level 1, his body still felt hollow and weak, his physical stats lagging below those of a normal, healthy human.

He could probably take them in a straight fight if he absolutely had to, but the risk was too high. If a mutant zombie showed up while he was out in the open with nowhere to hide, he could be injured or probably even die .

Putting his mind into overdrive, he managed to form a plan in a matter of minutes .

Leo checked his firearm. Seven bullets left in the mag, meaning he’d burned two earlier. Nodding to himself, he scavenged the rooftop until he found a coil of thick iron wire. He carried it down to the building’s main entrance, stretching it taut across the doorway at shin height and securing it firmly to the frame.

Crowbar in hand, Leo carefully stepped over his makeshift tripwire and slipped out into the fading light. He kept his footsteps silent, closing the distance on the nearest wandering corpse from behind.

He swung with everything he had, a move the system had formally dubbed ’Crowbar Smash.’

"PUCHI.."

The heavy iron split the creature’s skull with a wet ’puchi’.

Without waiting to see it fall, Leo spun on his heel and bolted back toward the building. Behind him, the sudden violence snapped the remaining three zombies out of their stupor. Their guttural growls echoed against the concrete as they gave chase.

Leo ran as hard as his weak lungs allowed, but his legs felt heavy. The ragged breathing and shuffling steps behind him were getting louder, closing the gap with terrifying speed.

The building entrance appeared ahead. Leo focused, pushing through the fatigue, and leaped cleanly over the wire.

The zombies didn’t know what a tripwire was. Driven by pure, mindless hunger, they charged straight through the door and caught the iron wire full-force against their shins. They pitched forward, crashing heavily onto the floor in a tangled heap.

Leo didn’t waste a second. He turned and brought the crowbar down hard into the closest skull. In the same breath, he raised his gun with his left hand and lined up the remaining two struggling shapes.

Bang! Bang!

The muzzle flashes momentarily blinded him in the dim hallway. He dropped the pistol, gripping the crowbar with both hands to deliver one final, crushing blow to ensure the first zombie was finished.

Krunch.

The body beneath his weapon dissolved into glowing particles of light, leaving a single card resting on the floor. His two gunshots had been perfectly placed; the other two zombies lay completely still.

Breathing heavily, Leo walked back out to the street to check on his very first kill. Sure enough, a second card was waiting for him where the corpse had disintegrated. He snatched it up, his chest still heaving.

When he looked up, the transition was jarring. While he’d been planning and fighting, the twilight had vanished. The air had turned sharply cold, and the pitch-black of night had officially arrived.

There was no time left to lose. Leo pulled the epic card from his belt, held it out toward the dark, empty street, and activated it.