Zombies were a favorite choice when it came to Halloween costumes.
Anyone was able to buy and wear a costume, but those who chose to be a zombie were dedicated, more than most. They had to spend hours doing their make-up, trying their best to make the whole thing look as realistic as possible.
Why? Because everybody knew deep down what the sight of rotting and mangled flesh on a walking corpse would arouse in the living, breathing people.
The sense of absolute fear and chilling terror.
And that was exactly what Somnu was currently experiencing in the face of those zombies.
Zombies which, unlike the ones from the movies or Halloween impersonations, had actual flies and worms eating through their mutilated patches of rotting skin. The stench accompanying them hit his nose like a rancid wave of decay that clung to the air like a living organism, contrasting the very anomaly that had created it.
Most of the zombies were wearing either tuxedos or dresses that had long since been covered and eaten away by the grotesque blend of bodily fluids.
Despite such creatures running at him, and despite the shaking of his small companion, Somnu stood his ground and faced the zombies head on.
“I can do this… I’m stronger now…” He muttered, closing his eyes and calming his breathing.
With clenched fists resisting his fidgeting nerves, he shot his sharp gaze with a new purple glow.
“!”
Piercing through their very being, the sight of their prey suddenly stopped the zombies in their tracks. For a brief second, the person in front of them wasn’t someone to be chased, no.
It was someone to be feared, perhaps a nightmare like them.
However, that feeling did not last long. It only took another moment before the charade of the purple gaze was broken like shattered glass disappearing into nothingness.
The stench of fear coming from the new prey must have been far more alluring than anything the zombies were witnessing with their eyes.
Not good! Somnu noticed the ineffectiveness of his skill, then quickly looked to his crow companion. “Fala! I need you to-?!”
Somnu’s pupils immediately constricted. Instead of the usually cocky crow that he had grown used to, Fala was in the process of eating her own rotting flesh.
“W-what…?! What the hell are you-?!”
Before he could finish his question, he finally noticed the sharp throbbing from his own face.
He hadn’t realized it, but the flesh on his skin was quickly deteriorating, and his hands, with a mind of their own, had been forcibly picking patches of them out, and close to bringing them to his mouth.
Crow-shit! When did I…?! Somnu had no time to panic and immediately went to work. I have to do something!
He had obviously figured that the zombies had some kind of effect on him and Fala, just like the Slowing Bunny had slowed him during his run. The closer the Zombies were getting, the stronger the need to eat his own rotting flesh became.
And the zombies were getting closer with every second, barely a few meters stood between Somnu and the first zombie.
The first thing Somnu did was cancel the [Crow’s Call] skill. Despite his panic, he did not want Fala to go through that horrible experience any longer.
Next, he activated [Straw Strike] and covered his hands and face with thick layers of straws, manipulating them to the best he can to keep his own hands away from his face.
“GROAHHH!”
By that point, the first zombie had dashed at him.
Activating [Rooted Vigil], he immediately noticed the heightened awareness the skill gave him. His entire body felt connected to the ground below.
“!”
The instant the zombie’s head entered his personal space, ready to take a bite of his neck, Somnu, in quick motion, swung his straw-covered fist and punched the Nightmare Creature right in the side of the skull, sending it pummeling across the nearby floor.
“Dammit!”
Even with his win, Somnu couldn’t celebrate. At least five more zombies were still running at him from the front, and two new ones from the back who most likely either heard the commotion or smelled the stench too.
“Bring it on, assholes!”
A moment later, Somnu had punched another zombie with his other fist. With every punch, he risked losing control of his hands, they wanted so badly to rip the skin off his own face and eat it. To make matters worse, underneath the layers of straws on his face, he could feel the flesh continue to rot and ooze as pus and blood ran down his throbbing lips.
He could taste it all, an overwhelming hunger for his own flesh growing within him.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
And yet, grinding his loosening teeth, he stood his ground.
I won’t run… Even if I die, I won’t run!
He repeated inwardly to himself, punching the third zombie in the nose.
“GROUGH!”
“AGH! Dammit! Get off me!”
Just then, one of the two zombies from behind jumped and bit him in the shoulder, digging its teeth into his flesh with all the might the walking, rotting corpse could muster.
Whether out of instinct or not, Somnu immediately manipulated the straws to shoot out a thick needle-like bullet from within his shoulder and into the zombie’s mouth. The projectile exited through the back of the Nightmare Creature’s head without having any effect, like a bullet going through paper.
“N-no…!”
Just when he realized his failure, the other zombies caught up.
Some dug into his legs, others into his torso.
Even his hands had gone back to claw at his own rotting skin.
The scarecrow tried to resist, but even with the use of his skills, enhanced reaction speed and general abilities, he couldn’t seem to be able to get them off. It almost felt like the half dozen zombies had the strength of twenty men in their prime.
Despite that, he kept [Rooted Vigil] active. He held out hope that as long as he stood his ground, he could still fight back, to survive somehow.
“I… can…”
However, it soon became clear he wouldn’t as the zombies took their first bites out of him and went back in for more. The pain of his flesh being ripped out sent jolts of pain throughout his entire body, like lightning striking him repeatedly.
Even so, Somnu kept on fighting back, throwing his arms around to stop them from digging into his own face, grabbing on any hair he could in the process and pulling on it, in part to keep resisting the clawing of his own flesh and in part to take the zombies off of him. He kept on trying and trying.
In that instance of being eaten alive, in that fruitless struggle, Somnu couldn’t help but question his decisions thus far.
I did my best, right…? I leveled up, learned what I could from what was given to me and used that knowledge the best I could to fight back…
The only reason I’m in this situation is because I was once again falsely relocated…
It’s only because I’m defective, because of those damned errors!
Screw you! What makes me defective, huh?!
You brought me to this place, to these horrible things eating me…
This isn’t my fault! It’s yours, whoever you are!
I don’t want to die, dammit… I still wanted to…
I wanted to change my life…
If I’m reborn, I’ll hunt whoever put me in this situation!
My anger will haunt you forever!
“!”
Just as he mindlessly looked forward while quickly losing all feeling in his body, a new System message popped up.
[Grudgekeeper is responding to your feelings.]
[Your grudge grows stronger.]
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
What is happening…?
For some reason, Somnu was hearing the same sounds, but he noticed that his hands had stopped clawing at his own face. The feeling in his body was returning, accompanied with a chilling pain all over. And yet, at the very least, it hadn’t been the feeling of being eaten alive anymore.
Looking down at his outfit, he saw multiple protrusion of teeth-like zippers munching on something.
“You’re kidding me…”
Looking around him, he saw the multiple headless corpses lying motionless on the ground.
“Did… did you bite their heads off… and eat them?” He questioned, not believing the conclusion he was coming to. “That’s… crazy…”
Before he could properly finish his thoughts, his body fell forward, over one of the headless, falling zombies, and hit the ground face first.
He could feel them. His entire body was covered in rotting flesh, pieces of his skin and muscles were bitten off, almost to the bone. He felt the piercing pain in his left leg, right thigh, around his left kidney, right shoulder and left bicep.
He couldn’t move an inch, he couldn’t scream or let out a sound.
Anyone in his position would have long since passed out from the shock alone, not considering the continuing blood loss or the intense agony devouring him from the inside.
However, [The Last Unrested] wouldn’t allow him the mercy of passing out. Somnu wasn’t allowed to sleep, to rest.
“!”
Just then, his body began to convulse uncontrollably. His breathing quickly drew heavier as a white and pink foam started leaking from his mouth, shocking him like a taser going off from the inside.
The sudden growing chill made it difficult to think.
Despite that, he activated [Crow’s Call] and summoned Fala again.
A moment later, his crow companion stepped out of the blurry black smoke, not a scratch on it.
“Ah…” He tried to speak, but couldn’t, his body still fidgeting and convulsing, the sharp pain unbearable.
I’m … glad at least… Fala is okay…
Sorry, I’m such… a bad friend…
His tearful eyes were quickly blurring, but he could briefly see it.
Fala hopping closer, a tear of her own falling down.
Seeing her master in that state, suffering unimaginable pain while she couldn’t do anything, it must have eaten at her.
The best she could do was offer her company, the very reason for her existence.
She got close and snuggled into her master’s white hair.
It made Somnu relax, however slightly. Someone was with him at the end, perhaps it wasn’t such a bad death after all.
At least, it wasn’t lonely…
“!”
And just then, Somnu was alerted.
[You have slain a Nightmare Creature!]
[You have slain…]
[You have obtained 8 Gray Terror Cores.]
[Note: Gray Terror Cores are worth 10 Transparent Cores each.]
[Current available Terror Cores in storage: 80 Terror Cores.]
[Would you like to consume available Terror Cores now?]
Damn… you…
Yes… consume all.
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