Chapter 36: Leveling Pressure
The danger level outside was far from as low as he had originally imagined.
However, judging from the zombie birds’ attack methods, their physical strength did not seem nearly as terrifying as human zombies.
Their ferocity was naturally extreme, but perhaps because their original bodies were too small, their strength had not increased dramatically after infection.
Unfortunately, because they always appeared in groups, this weakness became almost meaningless.
Instead, they were actually far more troublesome than ordinary zombies.
Creatures running on the ground would always struggle against enemies flying in the sky.
Fortunately, cities did not contain many birds to begin with.
Even if every bird transformed into a zombie, their numbers would still remain relatively low.
Otherwise, forget going outside to hunt zombies.
Everyone would be forced to hide indoors forever without any possibility of exploring outside.
Joo Joowon could not think of any reliable method to deal with the zombie birds around the apartment complex.
Those people earlier had screamed loudly enough to shake the heavens, yet they had only attracted this single flock of zombie birds.
That probably meant there were no other major dangers nearby.
Even so, just this one flock alone was enough to completely block humanity’s attempts to explore outside.
Birds possessed extremely sharp hearing.
Their bodies, feathers, and feet all contained sensory organs capable of detecting sound.
Even the slightest vibrations could be noticed by them.
Because of that, it was almost impossible for people to quietly sneak out of the apartment complex unnoticed.
And once someone became trapped within their encirclement, escaping would be difficult even with three heads and six arms.
After thinking it over repeatedly, Joo Joowon felt that the only possible method might be sacrificing someone to attract their attention away.
Zombies possessed no intelligence.
These zombie birds only attacked targets together under the leadership of their flock leader and did not compete with other zombies for prey.
Joo Joowon did not know whether this behavior resulted from some unspoken rule between different zombie species or from another reason entirely.
In any case, the zombie birds clearly did not steal prey from other zombies and instead hunted independently.
Aside from the leader bird, the remaining zombie birds were not much larger than ordinary birds in size.
Because of that, even if an entire flock surrounded one person, there was no need to worry about individual birds going hungry.
Perhaps that was also the reason they preferred hunting together instead of scattering separately.
However, once the leader eventually evolved to a higher level, things might no longer remain this way.
The stronger a creature became, the more energy it needed to consume every single day.
Most importantly, birds were capable of flying extremely high.
Joo Joowon lived on the eleventh floor and had already seen birds flying past his windows countless times before.
If one day those zombie birds actively flew through open windows to attack people inside their homes, then where would anyone even be able to hide anymore?
He needed to level up as quickly as possible.
The moment this thought surfaced in his mind, Joo Joowon subconsciously tightened his grip around the compound crossbow.
His proficiency with the weapon was indeed improving rapidly day by day.
However, asking him to kill flying zombie birds while moving around himself was still far too difficult.
Byeol might actually possess a chance of doing it.
The problem was that there was currently no known cure for zombie infection.
How could he possibly dare let Byeol risk something like that?
Joo Joowon reopened the apartment door and resumed hunting monsters.
By the time he killed the third zombie, a person wearing a motorcycle helmet arrived on the eighth floor.
The stranger did not attempt to approach or speak with Joo Joowon.
The instant the person saw him, they immediately turned around and left.
Most adults after the apocalypse maintained extremely cautious attitudes.
They would not casually approach strangers to chat or build relationships.
Likewise, they also had no interest in stealing kills or provoking conflicts with other people.
This caution came partly from the restraints of former laws and morality still lingering in people’s minds.
At the same time, nobody could confirm whether another player was stronger or weaker than themselves.
After all, players currently had no way of checking each other’s levels.
The stranger’s departure did not cause Joo Joowon to lower his guard at all.
Even while killing zombies, he subconsciously held back part of his strength in preparation for unexpected situations.
Fortunately, the other person truly seemed to have left.
Until Joo Joowon killed the fourth zombie and successfully leveled up, that individual never appeared again.
After the apocalypse, this had basically become the era of helmet wearers.
Just like robbers hiding their faces with stockings in the past, motorcycle helmets completely concealed people’s appearances.
Because of that, some individuals might no longer hesitate to commit evil acts.
After all, with a helmet covering their faces, even if somebody witnessed them doing something terrible, who could confidently prove afterward that the person beneath the helmet was really them?
After leveling up, Joo Joowon did not continue pressing forward recklessly.
Instead, he kicked the zombie corpse outside, shut the apartment door, and opened his personal status panel to inspect it.
The experience requirement for leveling had instantly jumped from twenty points to forty.
Although he had already expected this, the corner of Joo Joowon’s eye still twitched slightly.
At the current efficiency, even leveling up once every two days had already become impossible.
He genuinely could not imagine what things would look like later on.
And on top of that, job advancement only unlocked at Level 10.
With the current difficulty, was that not far too excessive?
Joo Joowon even began doubting his own previous assumptions.
Had he guessed wrong?
Perhaps job advancement did not unlock at Level 10 after all.
Maybe it unlocked at Level 5 instead.
After all, according to the current pattern, reaching Level 5 would already require eighty experience points.
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