<h4>Chapter 7: First kill</h4>


    Alice just looked at him deeply without saying anything.


    Professor Nina walked right in front of him and apologetically said, "Sorry, Luke, I didn''t believe you earlier. I even thought you… you were…" She couldn''t continue and her eyes reddened. It seemed like she was about to cry.


    Seeing this, Luke hurriedly said, "Hey, it''s alright professor. If someone had told me that suddenly, I wouldn''t have believed them either." He knew she was shocked and her emotions were in turmoil because of the sudden change.


    "Hm. Thank you."


    "Hey, Luke. What… what are we going to do now? If everything you said is true and people turn into violent, human eating zombies, how are we going to survive?" Ben asked in a little shaky voice. He was terrified. His hands and legs were shaking, even though he was trying to control them.


    Professor Nina and Alice also focused their gazes on him, wanting to hear he had in mind.


    "Our priority right now is to evolve. Only by constantly evolving will we have strength to ovee the zombies, the mutated beasts that should start popping up in a day or two, and the Rulers who will do their best to either kill us or enve us."


    Luke clenched his fists tightly. Because he was weak in his past life, he was enved by the Rulers'' goons. This time, he won''t let anything like that to happen and to do that, he needed to go out and start his evolution journey right this instant.


    "How would we evolve? By killing zombies just like you told your father?" Alice asked.


    Luke nodded, "Yes. But be careful not to get scratched or bit before you are level 5 or you will turn into them. Oh yeah, professor, where is your club?"


    "Oh, that wooden bat. I left it where I was hiding. I thought it was store property." Professor Nina answered.


    "Go now and bring it with you. Only by using it to kill the zombies can we start evolving." Luke said and then added with a smile, "Of course, we can do it bare handed too, but I don''t think this is doable with our current capabilities."


    "I-I''ll go take it back." Professor Nina said and hurriedly ran toward the corner where she was hiding before.


    "Ahh!"


    Just then, they heard the store owner''s horror filled cry.


    Whoosh!


    Luke immediately dashed out, with Alice heeling him.


    The store owner was crouching behind the counter. Her face was pale.


    "What happened?" Luke asked.


    "T-They killed that kid and a-ate him." She said, pointing out of the shop.


    Luke and Alice nced out and witnessed a horrifying scene.


    A middle-aged man and woman were eating a kid who looked no more than 10-year-old.


    Alice turned her head around, her brows knitted together as she asked, "Are they zombies?"


    "Yes." Luke nodded before walking to the store''s ss door and looked around.


    He nced at Alice and said, "Let''s go. We''ll take one each. Remember to bash their heads thoroughly." Saying this, he didn''t wait for her to respond, opened the door and walked out.


    Alice nibbled her delicate lips, hesitating. But when she thought he might not be able to take both the zombies out by himself, she hardened her resolve and also walked out.


    Grawr! Slurp! Slurp!


    Both of them stood ten meters behind the zombies who were having their meal without care.


    Luke took a deep breath and tightened his grip on his club. After signaling Alice to move along, he dashed toward the zombie duo at his top speed. Alice also didn''t hesitate and moved alongside him.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Grawr!


    Sensing their presence, the zombies growled and stopped eating. They then stood up and turned around to face them.


    Unfortunately, their movements were too stiff and sluggish. By the time they turned around, Luke had appeared next to the male zombie and mmed his club on his head with all his might.


    Bang! Crack!


    The zombie''s skull cracked and its brain juices oozed out.


    Grawr!


    Unfortunately for Luke, it wasn''t enough to kill the zombie yet. It growled and grabbed at Luke''s face.


    ''Damn. It wasn''t enough to kill it.'' He cursed in his mind before he dodged zombie''s w and circled behind it. He then raised his club high in the air and ruthlessly smashed it on its head once again.


    Bang!


    St!


    Thud!


    Since the zombie''s skull was already damaged, upon being struck on the same spot, itpletely broke apart and its brain matter sshed all over. It then dropped to the ground, dead.


    Phew!


    Luke sighed in relief. Only now he noticed his hands were shaking. But it was normal, since he never fought a single zombie in his past life.


    Just then, a white orb shot out of the dead zombie''s body and entered his body.


    [The evolution requirements have been fulfilled. You can ess your current status now.]


    [Luke Greyson


    Level: 0


    Race: Human


    ss: None


    Title: None


    Strength: 7 (10) / Agility 8 (10) / Health: 10 (10) / Stamina: 6 (10) / Mana: 30 (0) / INT: 100 (10)]


    [You gain level 1 zombie''s soul power. Strength +1, Mana +1]


    [You have reached level 1. You receive two status points to distribute freely.]


    ''Wow! So, it''s like this.'' Luke eximed in surprise when he heard the announcements and saw his status window. In hisst life, he only heard that when you kill a person, you''ll acquire their soul power and your evolution will start. You''ll also receive a status window to see and adjust your attributes.


    ''Other things are understandable, but howe my Mana and Intelligence are so high?'' He thought, amazed.


    ''Could it be because these two are rted to a person''s soul and mine is stronger thanks to my reincarnation?'' He wondered. A momentter, he became ecstatic, ''This makes things a little easier.''


    Grawr! Grawr!


    While he was immersed in his thoughts, he heard the other zombie growl.


    When looked in its direction, he saw Alice struggling to kill it. ''She hasn''t killed it yet?''


    After he watched for a while, he understood. It wasn''t that she couldn''t kill it given her strength; she was just being hesitant.


    He sighed in disappointment. He then moved behind the zombie and smashed his club on its head.


    Bang! Bang!


    Since he knew one strike couldn''t kill it, he immediately struck once more.


    Thud!


    The zombie dropped lifelessly to the ground, dead.


    Then a white orb shot out of its body and entered him.


    [You gain level 1 zombie''s soul power. Stamina +1 Agility +1]


    Alice froze for a moment and then opened her mouth to thank him, but Luke spoke first, his voice cold. "This isn''t the world you knew anymore and these things aren''t people, they are your enemies. If you hesitate to kill your enemies even for a second, you''ll die. Worse, your teammates will also suffer."


    "I know it''s difficult to kill for the first time, but you don''t have any other choice here. It''s either they die or you die. It''ll be good for you if you realise this as soon as possible."


    Finish saying this, he walked toward the store.