Nightmare Paradise : Starting as a Doctor

Chapter 08: Rich Rewards

Lynn slowly stood up and stepped over the pile of corpses blocking the doorway. Surveying the carnage around him.

"I can't stay here. More will come soon," he muttered.

Lynn quickly made his way down the hall, seeking temporary refuge in a nearby patient room. He closed the door behind him and collapsed into a chair with a deep sigh, taking a moment to catch his breath.

Reaching into his backpack, Lynn withdrew one of the water bottles. He twisted off the cap and took a long drink, feeling the cool liquid soothe his parched throat.

"I need to replenish my energy."

Next, he opened one of the cans of food, grimacing slightly at the nondescript beige mush inside. Still, it was better than nothing. He ate slowly, allowing his body time to recover between bites.

After finishing about half the can, Lynn set it aside, not wanting to overeat. He sat quietly for a while, focused on restoring his strength.

"It's only been half a day, but I've already faced countless near-death experiences." he reflected. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

He just needed to become stronger.

Lynn pulled out the handful of cores he had harvested from the zombies. 15 cores, pulsating with faint energy.

"Let's see...I've extracted 20 cores so far," he muttered to himself, "and I've already used 5 of them, which means I have 15 left."

His attention turned to examining his stats panel again, considering which attributes would benefit him most right now.

Attributes:
[Strength 5] [Dexterity 8] [ Constitution 6] [ Intelligence 6] [Perception 7]

What he needed most right now was to increase his strength and constitution.

In the last battle against the zombie crowd, he had exhausted his endurance while fending off more than a dozen enemies. And with enough strength, he could dispatch zombies with a single blow.

So, he decided to focus first on increasing his constitution, followed by strength.

"If I absorb all these, how much can I increase my attributes?". Lynn picked up one of the cores and began absorbing its energy, directing the flow into his body. He could feel the invigorating white energy course through him, energizing his cells. Focusing, he channeled it towards the parts of his body that govern endurance.

After rapidly consuming the first core, Lynn could feel an improvement but knew he needed more to adequately strengthen his constitution.

He grabbed another core and repeated the process. The energy suffused his muscles, bones, and organs, reinforcing his ability to withstand injury and fatigue.

Finally, after absorbing two cores, he heard the familiar notification sound.

[Ding!]

[+1 Constitution]

It seemed the higher his stats, the more energy was required to increase them further.

Lynn continued diligently, absorbing four more cores.

[Ding!]

[+1 Constitution]

Following this logic, he would likely need eight cores for the next constitution increase. For now, it was enough.

Lynn turned his focus to boosting his strength. With 9 cores left, he could raise it by +3 and still have some cores in reserve.

He repeated the process of guiding the energy into his body, this time directing it to the muscle fibers throughout his frame. Immediately he could feel the difference as his muscles expanded with newfound power.

[Ding!]

[+1 Strength]

[Ding!]

[+1 Strength]

[Ding!]

[+1 Strength]

Lynn quickly checked his stats:

[Player: Temporary Number F0001]
Class: [Doctor lv2] (4%)
Talent: [Gemini Soul]
Attributes:
[Strength 8] [Dexterity 8] [Constitution 8] [Intelligence 6] [Perception 7]
Class Skills: [Cell Proliferation]
General Skills: [Evaluation lv1]
Equipment: none
[Attribute Points: 1] [Skill Points: 1]

Lynn sighed with satisfaction as he saw his improved stats.

The next thing Lynn was most anticipating was the reward for completing the side mission to kill 15 zombies.

He quickly checked the [Missions] section of his panel. Next to the zombie hunt side mission, it now showed:

[Zombie Hunt]
[Side Mission: Kill 15 zombies, 15/15] (redeem the reward)

Seeing the option to redeem the reward, Lynn clicked on it without hesitation.

Suddenly he felt an influx of information flood his mind, though not as intensely as when he had received the [Evaluation] skill. This time it was simply a description of an item - the reward.

Before his eyes, an object materialized out of thin air. It was a sword with a jet-black handle and a blade that gleamed with a deep crimson hue even in the dim lighting.

Lynn reached out and wrapped his fingers around the hilt, lifting the sword slowly. It felt perfectly balanced in his hand.

Lynn's eyes shone as he admired the dark crimson blade. However, he wanted to verify the information given to him by the system with his Evaluation skill.

"Let's see what details my skill can provide." Focusing his mind, he used [Evaluation] on the sword.

[Zombie Slaying Sword]

[Grade: Uncommon]

[Evaluation: A sword forged with the sole purpose of eliminating zombies. When used against zombies it could cut through their flesh and bone with ease, as if slicing through butter.]

Lynn nodded, seeing that the information aligned with what he already knew about the sword's abilities against zombies. However, there was one key detail his skill didn't provide.

According to the information imprinted in his mind, the sword would function as a regular sharp sword against any other target that wasn't a zombie, which was a significant limitation.

However, given Lynn's current circumstances, where he is trapped in a hospital filled with zombies, the sword could still be considered a powerful weapon.

Additionally, Lynn noticed a new term that he wasn't familiar with: the grade of an object.

"Uncommon grade," Lynn muttered. "So there seems to be a ranking or tier system for items. This is the first weapon I've obtained with a listed grade."

He glanced over at his fire axe resting against the wall. "I guess ordinary items don't have a grade. Or maybe my skill is still low level."

For now, this sword would be a massive upgrade over his basic fire axe. Especially with its unique properties against the zombies.

"With this, I should be able to cut down zombies much faster," Lynn said with satisfaction.