Cassie crouched on the balcony of a building, overlooking what had once been a survivors shelter.

Her eyes narrowed, and a frown appeared on her lips.

"Looks like everything living here was massacred," she mumbled to herself.

Since the bone-armored zombie had chased Marcus yesterday, it was obvious that it was responsible for the erasure of the humans at this camp.

’Tsk. What a waste of human resources.’

She clicked her tongue and stood up, when she suddenly heard a distant roar echo across the city.

’Crazy... What was that?’

Her body trembled, forcing her back into a crouch. Her eyes darted around cautiously, but she couldn’t find anything that could have been the origin of that sound.

She stood up with a frown, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

’It better not be boss fighting another monster.’

Jumping down from the balcony, she landed steadily in the garden. Just as she turned, her ears twitched at the sound of leaves rustling, and a nearly six-foot-long mutated snake struck at her.

Cassie didn’t even turn. She simply stabbed back with her dagger, impaling its head smoothly.

[You have slain a Level 10 Mutated Rat Snake!]

She continued walking forward as the snake’s corpse slid along her blade, until it eventually fell off and dropped to the ground.

’Staying here gives me chills,’ she thought as she glanced back. ’I don’t know why, but I keep feeling uneasy.’

Feeling a knot of unease in her heart, she hastened her steps. However, she abruptly halted. Her eyes narrowed, and she looked at the flourishing farm to her left.

Every leaf was vibrant green, but there was something unnatural about the way the leaves moved.

’Strange...’

Before she could register her thoughts completely, something flew from inside the farm and struck straight at her.

Clang!

Despite reacting in time, she was still knocked back by several meters. Her boots skidded against the rural road before she eventually came to a halt.

Her expression had completely changed, becoming sharp and lethal.

Raising her head, she saw the creature that had attacked her. It was a green praying mantis whose front legs had turned into sharp scythes.

’A Mutated Mantis. I wonder if it’s edible.’

Without hesitation, she pressed her back foot against the ground, then dashed forward.

The mantis let out skittering sounds and raised its scythes to attack her. However, Cassie was slightly faster. She slid under the two sharp blades and slashed her dagger at its joints. Instantly, dark green blood spurted out, and the creature stumbled.

Before it could retaliate and pin her down with its scythe, she rolled away from under it.

As soon as she regained her footing, she propped herself off the ground with her right hand, flipping over the other scythe that was aimed at her waist.

"Die," she whispered as she stepped beside it, stabbing her dagger into the mantis’s neck.

It immediately recoiled from her in pain, swinging its scythes at her again. Once more, Cassie distanced herself from it, evading its attack and landing a safe distance away.

’It has a strong exoskeleton. How do I break through that with only this dagger?’

She cursed softly, then rushed at the creature again. This time, it was prepared for her attack.

The moment she came close, it suddenly blitzed forward, snapping its scythes on her.

Cassie’s eyes widened, ’So close!’

A few strands of her hair were cut as she failed to completely dodge its attack, and that annoyed her.

With her body very low to the ground, she slid closer to the creature, then stabbed its throat from underneath.

Blood instantly poured onto her hand, but she didn’t pull out. Instead, she twisted the dagger and drove it deeper.

The Mutated mantis froze as a terrifying poison ravaged its internal organs. It couldn’t move, even as the poison was actively destroying its cells.

Cassie calmly stepped out from under the creature, gazing straight into its eyes. The frenzied look in its eyes hadn’t faded, but most of it had now been replaced by caution and wariness.

A full minute passed, then its eyes turned lifeless.

[You have slain a Level 15 Mutated Mantis!]

Exhaling, she rolled her shoulders and kicked the corpse. She heard another roar in the distance, reminding her that she still needed to reach the Plaza Hotel and make sure Leon was alright.

Just as she turned, she saw something that made her expression darken. Several zombies were running through the street, heading straight for her.

’What? I thought the zombies were gathered around Hudson River.’

She frowned and immediately changed direction, darting into an alley not far from her.

As she rushed back to the hotel, she felt violent tremors from the ground, telling her that a grim battle was unfolding somewhere.

’Damnit! Why are the zombies coming over here?’

Being blocked again at the end of the alley, she grew frustrated and turned back, heading to the deserted settlement she was just coming from.

’I could try fighting my way through, but it’s going to be too dangerous.’

Just as she had this thought, she was forced to stop when zombies started pouring into the alley from both sides.

She was officially trapped.

’Perhaps not.’

Seeing them rushing at her, she broke into a building beside her through the windows, then began making her way to the rooftop. Thankfully, the buildings in this area had flat roofs and not slanted ones. This made it easier for her to move from building to building.

When she finally arrived at the rooftop, she paused.

The wind brushed against her face as she stepped toward the edge, then looked down.

"..."

Her throat tightened. The ground below looked impossibly far away. Zombies had thoroughly clogged the alley, pushing against each other in search for her. Some had already noticed the commotion and were gathering around the building she had climbed.

’One wrong step and I’m plummeting down into their midst.’

Cassie unconsciously took half a step back. As a child, she had never liked heights. Not because she was afraid of falling, but because she knew exactly what happened when people did.

The gap between the two rooftops suddenly seemed much larger than before.

The neighboring building was only a few meters away, yet it felt as distant as the other side of the city.

A roar echoed somewhere across Manhattan, and the rooftop trembled beneath her feet.

Her eyes immediately sharpened.

"Boss..."

Leon was still out there, probably fighting.

The thought erased the hesitation in her heart. Cassie exhaled slowly, then took several steps backward.

Her muscles tightened, and her gaze locked onto the opposite rooftop.

’Don’t embarrass yourself.’

The next second, she sprinted forward, the edge of the rooftop rushing toward her.

Planting one foot on the railing, she launched herself into the air.

She cleared the gap in a heartbeat, and landed on the other rooftop with a roll.

She stood up quickly and dusted her clothes.

The rooftop door burst open, and a zombie rushed straight at her.

"Curses!"