Re:The Worst System Leveling Turned Me Into A Zombie

Chapter 24: Forced Under

"What level are you now?" I ask Yin. She frowns, checking her HUD. Watching her back, I wait for her eyes to stop flitting about.

"Lvl. 16. But I'm not getting much experience anymore. Maybe the undead are getting too weak?" She loosens her katana in its sheath. "I've been killing them so easily with Ghostblade Asura. Who knew being a Hunter could be so easy?"

It's only easy because you got a ridiculously strong skill so early!

"Mmm I thought that might happen. The higher your level goes, the harder it becomes to increase it. This dungeon's creatures must not be giving enough experience. I suppose that's a good thing. It means you're pretty strong for this area." I explain and Yin seems a little disgruntled.

"The System is so stingy!" She complains. I raise an eyebrow. Checking the Hunter Counter which just refreshed, I work hard to keep the frown from my face.

1,050,001

People are dying quickly. The newbies are probably suffering the worst right now. Thrust into this strange world of Hunters that they don't understand, suddenly they are forced to confront undead and worse, System creatures they don't understand with no prior combat experience. We've passed several bodies already, though we've been avoiding big groups of people. Everyone's partying up to survive.

If my memory of prior dungeons is correct, then it's highly likely that there are several "super parties" now composed of hundreds of people traveling as a pack. With so many Hunters, they can definitely overwhelm many undead, however, their experience will be split between many people. Realistically only the ones who contribute the most will be able to level. Still, as someone who's only Lvl. 7, I'm probably too weak compared to everyone else.

"I suppose it's okay to level a bit now." Glancing at Yin, I tell her, "Let me have a couple. Also, put all your points into agility for now. As a swordswoman, you'll need to be fast."

"Okay." She observes me during the next fight. Not wanting to be shown up, I crack my neck and engage two Daemonic Hellspawn without waiting. My cleaver flashes, as I explode up the street. Stepping off a broken fire hydrant, I take to the skies. Two flailing tongues lash out at my ankles but I tuck my knees to pull them up.

*Twang*

*Twang*

While they're still preoccupied, I spin through the air and stomp on one's head. Its slimy jaws clamp shut on its own tongue as it gurgles angrily. Twisting, I smash my cleaver into the back of its neck, instantly disabling its central nervous system. Gurgles turn to garbled gasps as the Hellspawn goes limp. Ducking to my left, I hide behind its trembling body as the other Hellspawn shoots its tongue at me.

*Shlick*

The toad-like beast jumps over angrily as its tongue is repelled by its dead companion. That's a mistake. My cleaver has limited range. Coming closer is simply asking to die.

"Hah!" I leap up and over the dead Hellspawn's body and fall out of the sky before it can react. The big slimy eyes have just enough time to look up before I bury my blade in its eye.

"Riiiibbbb-!" The toad-like thing cries out as it keels over to one side. Ripping out my blade, I deliver a second strike to the weak-spot in the back of the neck to finish the job. Yin watches with an interested expression off to the side. This girl...she used to be impressed, why do I feel bad that she's not clapping?

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

My level rises swiftly to ten. In fact, the Hellspawns are so much higher level than me that I'm halfway to eleven. But I think this is about as far as I'm willing to go. The Gray is a terrifying creature. A few more levels won't make me that much stronger, but it could give Yin a real problem if she needs to deal with my zombie. Shaking the toad-slime off my butcher's blade, I stride back over to Yin. She notes my strained stride with a worried expression.