Apocalypse King: Recruiting S-Tier Beauties With My Ruler System-Chapter 19: Rank 3 Unlocked!

The moment I reached the garden, my mood started to recover. Honestly, I just wanted to thrash around, fight, and get rid of this dirty feeling.

As luck would have it...

The undead came to serve themselves on a platter for me.

Groan...

The guttural noise slithered from beyond the walls. Hoarse, wet, suffocated, as though they gargled on their own blood. Some wails held a shrill pitch—like infants whining in the dark.

At least ten. Maybe more.

But that didn't matter.

Not yet.

With a deep breath, I felt a sense of release. I rolled my shoulders to prepare for the coming fight, and my fingers tingled while grasping the black spear.

A clear image appeared in my mind.

The zombies, delighted to find a new meal, start to move happily.

Click!

My thumb unlatched the gate, the cold steel biting against my palm.

A destructive impulse throbbed in the back of my mind.

A burning anger, clawing at my ribs like something feral, eager to burst free. It lingered, simmering, threatening to consume me.

The gate squeaked open.

Visit ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience.

And I smiled.

The first zombie was a rotting mess with a stupid expression. It leaned to the side, swaying because of a broken leg, unaware of me. The monster's lips peeled back in revealing sharp, broken teeth, inhuman and too jagged.

Its breath smelled like fermented blood and wet decay.

I didn't give it time to react.

Crack!

My fist drove into its temple. Bone crunched. Its head whipped sideways, body stumbling as the force of my blow sent it staggering.

Another one lunged.

I pivoted, twisting my body, and slammed my knee into its gut. Something inside ruptured with a sickening pop. The impact sent it reeling, but I didn't let up.

A quick step forward—heel raised—then I stomped down.

Squelch.

Its skull caved in beneath my foot, brains and fluid splattering across the dirt.

But I wasn't done.

Not nearly.

The others had noticed me now. Their vacant eyes snapped to my moving form, jaws quivering as they groaned louder, more desperate.

"Come on." I rolled my shoulders, feeling the tension loosen. "Let's play."

The first wave rushed in.

One. Two. Three.

The closest lunged at me, arms outstretched, fingers curling like talons.

I sidestepped, caught its wrist, and yanked. The momentum sent it spinning, and I used its own weight to slam it headfirst into the garden wall.

Crunch!

It slid to the ground, twitching.

Another staggered toward me—a woman, half her face missing, one eyeball dangling loosely by a cord of flesh.

I ducked under her swipe, seized the back of her skull, and drove it down—smashing her face straight into my knee.

Her teeth shattered like glass. A gurgled shriek escaped her broken mouth, but I twisted my grip and threw her aside, sending her lifeless body into the dirt.

More were coming.

Blood pounded in my ears, adrenaline surging.

My body felt light. Too light.

Almost as if I wasn't even tired.

That thought barely had time to settle before the next zombie reached me.

This one was faster.

It lurched forward—I barely had time to react.

A blur of movement, rotten fingers closing in—

My fist shot out.

Boom!

A direct blow to its chest sent it stumbling backwards before it slammed to the ground.

I blinked.

'What the hell...?'

I'd hit people before—but never like this.

[Tutorial Hint: The rush in your body was a side effect of ranking up!]

[You have Reached Rank 3!]

A grin spread across my face.

Well.

That explains a lot.

"Let's finish this."

With my mind clearer, no longer filled with those messy emotions, I noticed everything seemed a little clearer, my hearing, sight and sadly, even my sense of smell.

Grasping my spear, I faced the zombies rushing at me with a faint smile.

Even though the zombies became easier to fight, I still didn't become complacent like earlier stepping back. I used the garden gate to keep the zombies from attacking one or two at a time.

Seven remained.

I swallowed my thoughts and thrust my spear...

***

A while passed—the fight didn't take long, but maybe pushing myself to a constant level of concentration caused my spirit to deplete.

I probably needed some rest.

"Let's head to the pawnshop..."

To keep myself focused, I needed to speak out loud.

The last hour I spent killing zombies until even my hands became numb.

I needed a break, but out in the open, this would be impossible; the pawnshop wasn't far, only a few hundred metres. If I could get there, then I might just have a place to rest. Mu Qinglan and the others would be waiting for me there.

I gripped the black spear tightly in my hands and stroked the smooth surface.

It felt heavier now. Not physically—just the weight of it. Of what I'd done. Of what I'd have to keep doing.

Shaking the thought away, I tightened my grip and turned toward the street.

The city was silent.

Too silent.

The occasional groans still drifted from alleyways, but something about the air felt wrong.

Like something was watching me.

I stepped onto the cracked pavement and scanned the surrounding abandoned cars and darkened buildings. The pawnshop was less than two hundred metres away. I could easily make it.

A low growl rumbled from the shadows.

Not human.

Not undead.

Something else.

I stopped walking, prepared for anything.

I saw a flicker of movement in the corner of my vision

To my left, a narrow alley, swallowed in darkness. Something shifted. A shape. Low to the ground. Feline. But a little familiar, but before I could check...

In a single motion—

It pounced.