Crystal core

A couple had previously resided in the apartment next to his.

The zombie he had just dispatched was barely recognizable as having worn a skirt.

The entity inside, however, had been gnawed into a bloody, unrecognizable mess.

Chi Bai had no desire to scrutinize it further.

He cast a cursory glance, noting that the only useful item in the entire room was the metal baseball bat clutched in the corpse’s hand.

His cleaver, sullied with the zombie’s blood and flesh, was something his fastidious nature now rejected.

This household clearly did not cook; there wasn’t even a kitchen knife to be found.

Silently, Chi Bai murmured his apologies for the intrusion, then pulled the metal baseball bat from the corpse’s grip.

It felt remarkably well-balanced in his grip.

Just as he eliminated the third zombie, a ‘Ding—’ sounded in his mind.

Assuming there were no further immediate threats, Chi Bai opened his screen.

He noticed a pulsating red badge on the ‘Tasks’ section, prompting him to tap it for details.

Perhaps because he had begun executing the task, a progress bar had appeared beneath it, currently displaying 30% completion.

Chi Bai felt a slight headache brewing.

Killing three zombies only yielded 30% progress; did that mean there were still seven zombies lurking in the building?

That was utterly infuriating.

Exiting the task interface, Chi Bai recalled seeing a flashing red badge on his ‘Inventory’ as well.

Upon opening it, he found only eight slots remaining, one of which glowed yellow.

He tapped it, and a pop-up window appeared, titled ‘Novice Gift Pack’.

Below, it read: [You’ve done exceptionally well, achieving a triple kill on your first mission.

As a reward, you receive one Level 1 Attribute-less Zombie Core.]

Below that was an item resembling a transparent crystal, titled ‘Attribute-less Core, Level 1’.

The pop-up vanished automatically ten seconds after Chi Bai opened it, leaving only a single colorless, transparent core in his twelfth inventory slot.

Unsure of its purpose, Chi Bai’s thoughts stirred, and he retrieved the core from his inventory.

It weighed roughly as much as an egg, and something within it seemed to flow, much like the liquid in a flowing glitter phone case.

Before Chi Bai could examine it closely, another pop-up appeared before his eyes.

[Absorb Core?]

[Yes] [No]

Chi Bai was no fool; he hadn’t read web novels for nothing.

This was undoubtedly for upgrading.

Protagonists usually absorbed zombie cores to level up, which typically provided some boost to their abilities, and higher-level cores could even significantly advance their powers.

With that thought, Chi Bai tapped ‘Yes’.

Instantly, the core in his hand transformed into a stream of light and entered his body.

Then… nothing more happened.

Chi Bai: ‘??? Is that it?’

He checked himself, unwilling to give up, but nothing had changed.

He glanced at his inventory again; the core was gone.

Pondering for a moment, he clicked on his personal information.

Sure enough, he saw a change in the ‘Abilities’ row, as this screen was the only place his abilities were mentioned.

It had previously displayed ‘Nature-type – Lightning (Level 1)’.

Now, a level bar had been added to the end.

Name: Chi Bai

Gender: Male

Age: 25

Current Location: China Greater Region, Guangdong Province, S City, XX District

Awakened Ability: Nature-type – Lightning

[· LEVEL 1 ║★★★★★★☆☆☆☆║ 60%]