Chapter 14: Gaslighting

Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Gaslighting Curse this! "Roar!" Fester jumped off Blaze’s shoulder when he roared. Blaze shook his head and patted his shoulder again, and the zombie rat immediately climbed back. As for the reason for Blaze’s frustration... he couldn’t tame Amanda. No, it was more accurate to say he couldn’t resurrect her. It seemed lowly walkers didn’t have the ability to make more undead. That’s what the system told him. Necroseed, where do I get that? Like Necrolink, Necroseed was an ability Blaze could unlock down the road. It would allow him to turn fresh corpses into zombies, or evolve existing zombies into more powerful ones. That’s when he remembered that he woke up on the football field all alone. It was possible the zombies had dragged him there to be resurrected by some stronger lifeform. However, there was another thing bothering him. [The subject cannot tame creatures stronger than themselves.] Even her corpse is stronger than me!? "ROAR!?" Fester jumped off again and this time it didn’t climb up despite Blaze’s order. Their bond wasn’t strong enough yet for it to ignore constant jump scares. Blaze’s life would have been much easier if he had a chosen as his pet. He could only imagine how strong the zombie girl would be if he resurrected her. Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy to fool the system, and he would have to leave the girl’s corpse behind. Hm... what’s next? Blaze wondered. Now that his hunger was under control, walking around aimlessly would only increase it. Unfortunately, walking was all he had seen those zombies do. It’s no surprise they always attack humans at first sight. He needed to learn more about the undead. Just then, his eyes fell on his stomach, and then on the backpack the girl carried. Much to Fester’s confusion, Blaze dove headfirst into the backpack, looking for something. Found it! Blaze raised the first aid kit like it was his lifeline and immediately pulled out some bandages and a coil of suture. Fester kept staring at its horde master in confusion. The next moment, Blaze grabbed the rat and began using its sharp tail like a needle to poke holes in his skin around the gash. The good thing about being dead is you don’t have to care about hygiene. After five minutes, Blaze was done sewing and admired his handy work. It wasn’t neat or clean or even presentable, but it did the job. After doing a few jumping jacks, he let out a sigh of relief that he wouldn’t have to worry about his intestines falling out at random anymore. He was about to walk away when a notification appeared before him. [Quest: The Apex Predator (II).] [Type: Tutorial Chain Quest] [Task: Collect and consume 10 Zombie Nuclei from Walker-class undead.] [Progress: 0/10] [Reward: Evolution path unlocked.] Nuclei? What are those? [A nucleus is a crystalized organ that helps an undead evolve. It is located in the brain of the undead and regulates the basic functions of an undead.] Blaze tilted his head at that explanation. In simple words, a nucleus turned the dead into zombies. It was like a heart and the brain condensed into one. No wonder the zombies die when hit on the head. If a nucleus gets destroyed, so does the undead. Is that it? [Affirmative.] Blaze’s eye turned to the girl’s corpse again as a plan formed in his mind. It can be done with the right tools. Although Blaze had the theoretical knowledge to perform a transplant, he lacked in the practical department. Besides, he would have to learn more about the nucleus and its working to perform the surgery, even if he got the tools. The only silver lining was the fact that the girl was already dead. It wouldn’t matter even if the surgery failed he could keep trying over and over. But there was a bigger problem than that. How do I preserve her corpse? A corpse would naturally attract the zombies. If he just left her, not a single strand of her hair would be left behind. He needed something like a storage or sorts, a place where her body wouldn’t decay further. You can help me, right? [The request is denied. It is beyond the rules of the game.] Blaze didn’t let those words discourage him. Honestly, this game sucks ass. The humans made much better games than whatever shitty species you are. [The request is denied. It is beyond the rules of the game.] Is it beyond the rules of the game or simply beyond your capabilities? The screen went blank for a minute before a static sound filled his head. it felt like his head was about to burst open when a new screen appeared before him. [You’re playing with fire, Subject J#117.] It wasn’t blue like the one before, but a crimson one. Not only that, the tone of the message was also... personal. He had bypassed the system and was talking with the one in charge of it. Or so he thought. [Fortunately for you, we find your words intriguing. No mortal in 12 Zeno years has dared to gaslight the Collective.] Blaze remained quiet, not voluntarily, but the constant buzz in his head was getting louder and louder. [Consider this a reward and a warning. Do not challenge us again, or the result might be... catastrophic.] With that, the buzz and the screen both disappeared, leaving a splitting headache behind. Fuck... I’m a zombie. How can I suffer from headaches? Fester crawled to its master, wondering what was wrong with him. But Blaze wasn’t looking at the little critter. His gaze was fixed on the screen introducing the new function he unlocked. [New Function Unlocked: Corpse Vault.] +++ Corpse Vault (Level 1) Type: Utility function Description: A vault that allows the user to store a corpse in a sub-dimensional space, suspended in stasis. The flesh will not rot, mutate, or regenerate while stored within. Effects: • Storage limit: 1 corpse. • Valid targets: All dead organic creatures. Additional Features: • [Store]: Command used to store corpse(s) in the vault. The corpse must be within 3 meters of the subject. • [Retrieve]: Command used to retrieve corpse(s) in the vault to a targeted location within 3 meters from the subject. • [Inspect]: View corpse condition and time stored. Additional features unlock when the subject evolves. Restrictions: • Stored corpses cannot be consumed. It is a vault, not a lunchbox. Note: More features, slots, and abilities unlock as the subject evolves. +++ Blaze got up, pointed at the girl’s corpse, and yelled [Store] in his mind. A small hole appeared in front of the corpse before it got sucked inside like a black hole was feeding on it. That was quick. Now, [Inspect]! +++ [Stored Corpse Information] Subject ID: HV#019 Race: Human (Female—late teens) Status: Deceased Cause of Death: Blunt trauma, extensive flesh consumption (42% of body mass missing) [Corpse Condition:] Integrity: Partial Decay: Suspended Mutation Risk: Low (Subject too damaged for natural reanimation), Requires Elite Nucleus for restoration. Time since stored: 00:00:05 hours. +++ Hmm... this isn’t too bad. Although there were some restrictions, Blaze didn’t mind it since he got what he wanted. He walked up and grabbed the girl’s bat. Since he was too weak to fight as a zombie, he would fight as a human until he evolved and added a walker into his horde.