Becoming a Monster-Chapter 70: Coincidence?

As Noah traveled, his mind buzzed with thoughts of his recent gains. He eagerly anticipated consuming all the cores he had obtained. If he hadn’t been pressed for time, he would have indulged in them immediately, but beating the darkness was more important. Reflecting on his recent looting, he realized he had come across some items of little use to him—a mace and a helmet, both of which he opted not to keep. However, amidst the less useful items, he discovered a scroll and a potion unlike any he had encountered before taking away his attention from the scroll from which he already had a plethora of skills. Housed in a small tube, the potion emitted a faint, ethereal glow, its light blue liquid shimmering with otherworldly energy.

Though Noah lacked the analysis skill, his familiarity with gaming and fantasy literature allowed him to make an educated guess about the potion’s properties. It had to be a potion to restore mana, that, and the gold alone was enough to consider the chest contents satisfactory.

Mana had proven to be a persistent challenge for Noah. Despite his expectations that high magic stats would naturally correlate with improved mana recovery, he found this wasn’t the case. Recalling snippets from his vast collection of books, he remembered that resting or sleeping often facilitated mana regeneration. However, in his current predicament, being constantly on the move and facing relentless threats from monsters left him with little opportunity for rest. A monster wouldn’t give him time to rest to rebuild his mana, making the value of the potion worth a lot more to a loner like him.

Minutes went by before he finally could make out the dorm. A smile of relief showed on his face at the thought of being able to relax for a moment. Having stamina that could regenerate didn’t help him carry around a heavy sword as much as he thought it would. At this thought, he looked towards Fenrir in regret.

’If I didn’t need you to fight, then I could’ve rode you here instead.’

Noah sighed heavily, feeling the tension in his temples from the recent headaches that had plagued him on the way. Frustrated by the burden of his sword, he contemplated abusing his skill to exchange states with Fenrir. The idea was to constantly receive some of Fenrir’s strength, which would make the journey easier as it didn’t cost mana or stamina. However, his plan didn’t go as smoothly as he had hoped.

The skill remained in effect as long as Noah maintained his concentration, but he quickly discovered why it wasn’t as broken as he had believed. The pain in his head started subtly, initially dismissed as nothing to worry about. However, when he found himself dropping his sword to clutch his head, he realized something was seriously wrong. The lapse in concentration caused the skill to cancel, and the pain began to recede, that’s when he began to realize the consequences of his actions.

The experience was agonizing, one that further depressed Noah’s mood as he continued to walk towards the dorm. His sulken gaze carried a heavy sense of self depreciation as he painfully reflected on his weakness. Gradually, his reflection caused him to become aware of his own self loathing, shifting his depressing mood into one of vexation. His body figured from his agitation, his eyes instinctively pandered around his surroundings, looking for an outlet. He was almost towards the dorm, not forgetting the reason he chose the place as his destination.

"I’ve been doing nothing but being carried lately, at least I can take out my frustrations on these guys." he muttered to himself, pleased to see that there were quite a bit of zombies left in the vicinity. From the front of the dorm alone, there were about thirty zombies. He hoped that there would be a lot more when he reached the middle of the courtyard, considering the fact that when he had jumped out from his dorm window, there were still many zombies trapped on the base floor.

He prepared himself to initiate the fight, but the current scene left him confused. Before he realized it, he was rushing the current zombies in anger.

His fingers clenched tightly around the hilt of his sword, his muscles spasming under its weight as he roared "Those are mine!" He screamed with a hint of possessiveness. The zombies in the vicinity were eating the corpses scattered on the ground, but what triggered him was when he noticed the zombies aiming for the hearts specifically, exactly where the mana cores were located.

He quickly used his skill to exchange strength from Fenrir and rushed to the first zombie feeding.

Swoosh!*

Though unnecessary, Noah swung the sword with all his might, as if aiming for a home run. The blade cleanly sliced through the zombie’s face diagonally, causing it to split apart. The force of Noah’s swing sent him spinning in a circle before he regained his balance, but his rage remained unabated. Without hesitation, he moved to the next zombie to vent his frustrations, this time holding back his strength slightly.

"You damn zombies! You were supposed to be attracted to brains!" His eyes stared widely at the corpses nearby, his expression one full of disbelief, realizing that almost all of the hearts were missing. He clutched his own heart as if he was in pain, water began to build in his eyes from the nonexistent rain.

"Fenrir! Arachne! Sniff* Kill them all! Ahhh!"

On the verge of tears, Noah’s mind was so distraught that he didn’t notice the track star zombies like before were among the feeding horde. But that’s what Arachne was for, while Fenrir was quick to go on a killing spree. Although Arachne was driven by the temptation of food, Noah’s safety prioritized her most basic need. It was Noah that allowed her to always have a full stomach. It was Noah who had given her a sense of purpose, fueling her desire to become the queen of all spiders. With her growing attachment to Noah, she instinctively reacted to ensure his safety, putting herself between him and any potential threats. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

She saw the threats approaching Noah and knew he was still somewhat vulnerable, so she chose to go after the main threats first, prioritizing his safety above all else. In her concern, she momentarily overlooked Noah’s innate skill that was nearly invincible against lesser-evolved zombies. Yet, even had she been aware, her commitment to his protection would have remained the same.

Two sprinters that Arachne couldn’t reach quickly enough had already closed in on Noah. Just before they were able to enter his proximity, history repeated itself; their movements halted without any forewarning, making them appear as frozen statues while time around them continued.

That slight pause was enough for Noah to effortlessly dispatch them. With a powerful yet clumsy upward swing, his sword cleaved through the first zombie, slicing it cleanly in half from bottom to top. Without missing a beat, he pivoted towards the second assailant, using his current momentum to bring his weapon crashing down with enough force to split it in two.

In his emotional state, Noah had forgotten to hold back his strength, causing the sword to cut through the ground before finally stopping when almost half the blade was submerged.

Luckily, the quality of the sword was greatly superior to the weapons he had used before, allowing Noah to retrieve it easily. It had been a while since Noah had been able to let loose, and killing the zombies helped stabilize his emotions.

As he observed Arachne and Fenrir finishing up, his gaze lingered on the coreless zombies once again, causing him to agitatedly clench his fist before forcing himself to relax, yet his expression remained in a pensive state. Before, he wasn’t in the right state of mind to process the zombie’s reasoning behind their actions, but now he processed everything, he began to have a bad premonition.

"I can get mana and level up my skills from those cores, so that should mean they should be able to as well, right? But I also need to upgrade my skills using those stones...chest don’t drop for zombies, and using the shop shouldn’t be possible...right?" As his thoughts reached this point, he began to ponder how the zombies were able to progress so quickly, even though the number of people they killed didn’t match the speed of their leveling.

"!"

"Wait....Could it be....Are the cores the reason they are growing so fast?? If that’s the case, then..."

Suddenly, a chilling growl interrupted him, his fear that he came to the realization of came true.

"No, no, no, no, NO!....This isn’t happening right now...there’s no way a cliche like this can happen for real! I didn’t even finish what I was going to say!"

The current situation pushed Noah dangerously close to hysteria. It felt like one of those moments in a story where a character’s words would trigger a series of red flags.

The earlier growl, reminiscent of the Zombie King’s menacing presence, reverberated with an unnerving intensity. While lacking the regal dominance of the King’s roar, its pressure was undeniable, leaving Noah’s senses reeling. His gaze snapped towards the dormitory, honing in on the left wing reserved for lower-classmen.

The sound was subtle, but he could hear it, footsteps were slowly approaching, the sound was confusing him with each step. The footsteps sounded as if they were slowed deliberately, as if the creature was approaching in no hurry at all, but that’s what caused the confusion.

As the footsteps drew nearer, each sound seemed to echo louder, creating an illusion of the creature traversing vast distances with every step.

Other than the zombie approaching, Noah didn’t hear anything else, only the zombie’s slow measured steps filled the silence, serving to amplify the suspense hanging thick in the air. He was torn between the urge to investigate and the dread of what he might find around the corner.

Boom!

"Fuck me sideways...." Noah muttered, his jaw slack with disbelief as he finally laid eyes on the source of the sounds. At first, it was only a massive hand, but even that was enough to leave him speechless.

At first, it was just a hand, a hand so colossal that it dwarfed even Fenrir’s massive palms. Noah’s mind struggled to comprehend the sheer scale of it; just Fenrir’s paw alone could easily envelop his entire upper body, including his arms.

But what truly sent a chill down Noah’s spine was the realization that this hand belonged to something far larger as it hovered ominously before him. Even then, that wasn’t the issue that he found the most alarming!

"Tha-Thats the second floor...." Noah stammered, his voice barely above a whisper.

The sight of the giant pale hand, its dark veins mirroring his own, sent a chill of dread coursing through Noah as he realized the extent of its reach. However, his brief moment of apprehension was swiftly overshadowed as the rest of the creature materialized before him.

With a gulp, Noah audibly swallowed as he beheld the monstrous entity in its entirety. The creature’s lack of eyes and its unnatural head structure only added to the horror of its appearance. Its face seemed to consist of two layers: the inner layer dominated by a gaping mouth filled with teeth as long as Noah’s head, each one razor-sharp and designed for tearing rather than chewing, while the outer layer appeared to be little more than flabby skin.

The sheer size of the creature was staggering, easily surpassing Fenrir in size. Towering over fifteen feet tall, it loomed menacingly, its arms stretching out to match the length of its massive body. Noah’s gaze fell upon its hands, nearly touching the ground, but that can also be attributed to the fact that its knees seemed to be bent.

Noah dazzlingly looked towards the monster, his eyes having yet to blink from not being able to believe his "luck".

He wouldn’t lie if he said that he wanted to test out how strong he was against such a creature, but he wanted it to be on his terms.

Plop*

With an unnatural calmness, Noah slung his bag off his shoulder and began to advance towards the zombie, its grotesque form seemingly fixated on them despite lacking any discernible eyes.

On cue, Arachne and Fenrir positioned themselves in front of him, both were highly aware of the zombie’s strength.

’Well this doesn’t seem like something I could avoid forever.’ Noah thought, lifting his head to look towards the sky.

"No matter what happens, I’ve enjoyed myself. This day has been more fulfilling for me than my entire life..." He soon laid his eyes on the creature before him. The apprehension in his heart slowly transformed to something more, an intangible resolve to never back down, even in the face of death.

"But I want to continue to enjoy it, I won’t let any person, monster or god take that away from me!"

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