Demon Chapter

Chapter 3: Danger Is All Around

Looking at the zombie lying on the ground, Gavin Lin wiped the sweat from his forehead and then touched the spot where the zombie had struck him. He’d expected it to be broken, but surprisingly, it was fine.

That meant that when hit points were digitized, an attack only deducted the corresponding amount of health—it didn’t cause actual physical damage. Of course, if his health dropped to zero, he would still die.

It had been a close call just now. If the zombie had landed one more hit, he’d have been finished. Fortunately, his last strike had been lucky enough to kill the Level 6 zombie; otherwise, the outcome would have been uncertain.

Gavin checked his remaining health—11 points—and noticed it increased by 1 point after about ten seconds. Seeing this, he let out a sigh of relief. At this rate, as long as he waited a while, his health would return to full.

At that moment, Gavin recalled the attributes he’d deduced during the fight:

The Level 6 zombie has extremely high defense, with 80 to 110 hit points. It possesses great strength and agility, and feels no pain. Its weakness is its lack of cognitive ability—it acts purely on instinct. With my current capabilities, killing it was pure luck. Upon successful kill, the reward is 30 additional minutes of time, with no other drops.

These were the conclusions Gavin had drawn mid-battle.

Another realization dawned on him: from now on, he must avoid being detected by monsters at all costs. Eliminating even a single Level 6 zombie without taking damage was extremely difficult. Facing two would mean certain death—even attempting to flee risked attracting more monsters, leading inevitably to a dead end.

After a brief rest, Gavin cautiously scanned his surroundings. He then gathered the scattered coins near Wirt’s body and exchanged them for time, just as before.

He calculated that one coin equaled one minute. Wirt had dropped 320 coins, which translated to 5 hours and 20 minutes. Adding the 30-minute reward from killing the Level 6 zombie, Gavin’s remaining time increased from 2 hours to 7 hours and 50 minutes.

Though this seemed like a significant gain, it was still far from enough to level up to Level 1. At least, however, it extended his survival window.

Once everything was settled, Gavin dared not linger in the open any longer. Monsters lurked everywhere. Although the area outside the church was spacious, the lack of cover actually made it more dangerous. He intended to return to the room he’d occupied earlier to plan his next move—but when he peered through the window, he froze in shock.

Through the glass, he saw that the wooden door to the room and the front altar, both previously closed, had been opened. A zombie emitting a sickly green glow wandered inside, letting out low growls from time to time.

Gavin’s face went pale. He quickly crouched beneath the window, held his breath, and backed away several steps.

The green-glowing zombie inside was clearly a “Leader”-class monster—far stronger than the Level 6 zombie he’d just fought.

If discovered, it would be game over.

This twist caught Gavin completely off guard—and terrified him. Had he not left the room earlier to search for Wirt’s body, he might already have been found by that zombie.

Returning to the church was no longer an option. As he looked around, he spotted several distant figures approaching: humanoid monsters clad in black armor, shaped like women, each carrying a shield and a curved sword. Gavin immediately retreated into the corner of the wall, pressing himself into the shadows.

He recognized them—“Fallen Rogues,” another monster type from Diablo. They were clearly much harder to deal with than zombies.

Fortunately, they didn’t notice Gavin hiding in the shadows. By the time they passed, his entire body was drenched in cold sweat.

The situation was now extremely perilous. Gavin knew that if not for sheer luck, he would have been spotted by those patrolling monsters.

At this moment, he had nowhere to hide.

Monsters were everywhere, and patrols appeared unpredictably. He needed a solution—immediately—or death was inevitable.

Glancing down at his clothes, Gavin suddenly had an idea. He hurried back to Wirt’s corpse, where the zombie he’d just killed lay on the ground, its rotting flesh reeking and swarmed by buzzing flies.

Taking a deep breath, Gavin found a stone and smashed off one of the zombie’s sharp fangs.

The fang was razor-sharp—designed for tearing prey—and likely the hardest part of the zombie’s body. Holding it, Gavin began carefully slicing through the zombie’s rotten skin. He had to work quickly yet silently.

Two minutes later, he’d peeled off the entire skin. Though decayed and soft, it was utterly revolting.

Just then, his luck seemed to run out. A group of zombies approached from about a hundred meters away—at their pace, they’d arrive in under a minute.

Gavin knew he had to hurry.

Without hesitation, he stripped off all his clothes, tossed them aside, took a deep breath, and—fighting back nausea—slipped into the stinking, slime-covered zombie skin.

When the rotting hide covered his face, the stench nearly made him pass out. But Gavin didn’t falter. In less than thirty seconds, he’d wrapped the entire skin around his body. For any exposed patches, he even bit into the corpse and smeared globs of zombie fluid over them.

Words couldn’t describe how he felt. The skin was cold, slimy, rotting—and reeked beyond belief. It was anything but comfortable. But Gavin knew discomfort was preferable to death.

With no place to hide, disguising himself as a zombie was his only impromptu option.

It reminded him of when he’d assassinated Owen Xu—he’d once disguised himself as a police officer. But wearing a police uniform was a million times more bearable than this.

Now, from every angle, Gavin looked undeniably like a zombie. He tied Wirt’s leg around his waist, hunched his posture, forced himself to calm down, and slowly shuffled toward the approaching group.

All that remained was to rely on luck.

Based on his observations, low-level zombies lacked self-awareness. These mindless undead acted purely on instinct, had no vision, and identified their own kind solely through smell.

Of course, this was only a guess. If he was wrong, he’d be devoured alive.

As he drew closer, Gavin fully committed to the act—hunched, slow, shambling.

Five meters.

Three meters.

One meter.

The zombies showed no aggression. They clearly hadn’t sensed that the “comrade” walking among them was an imposter. Even when Gavin brushed shoulders with one as he passed, nothing happened.

This required extraordinary willpower and patience—qualities Gavin possessed.

The bumped zombie merely grunted in annoyance and kept walking. Gavin staggered toward an empty patch of ground, alone.

He knew he was safe—for now.

This foul, rotting skin was his lifeline. Disgusting as it was, he absolutely couldn’t remove it.

As he donned the zombie hide, another idea struck him—about rescuing Kane.

“Maybe I don’t need a high level, powerful skills, or strong gear to save Kane,” Gavin thought. “All I need is a little luck.”

His resolve hardened. He turned resolutely toward the chapel where Kane was imprisoned.

The chapel’s roof had long since collapsed, leaving only crumbling outer walls. This time, Gavin walked openly to the wall and peeked inside.

The interior teemed with all kinds of monsters. Clearly, without overwhelming combat power, rescuing Kane was impossible. Inside a cage, Kane sat listlessly, eyes half-closed. Despite the horde of terrifying creatures around him, he didn’t seem particularly afraid.

Just then, several zombies entered the chapel from outside. Gavin quickly followed them, slipping in unnoticed.

At that moment, Kane—who had kept his eyes tightly shut—slowly opened them and glanced at the zombie Gavin was impersonating. A flicker of surprise crossed his weathered face.