Into the Zombie World

Morning came and Nile woke up, eventually.

He is leaning on Maximo's belly while sipping his hot coffee as he waits for the sun to rise.

The coffee came from the System Store and is priced at 3 Apocalypse Points for a cup. Nile decided to buy one. He had an abundant reserve of Apocalypse Points, anyway.

The coffee was heated when Nile obtained it. It has a sweet and bitter taste, much to Nile's satisfaction. Nile even thought that the coffee was specially made for him. Nile took a liking to the coffee with the brand 'Nesc' and decided to buy it again in the future.

Maximo is also savouring its own milk, Nile had also bought it from the System with 5 Apocalypse Points for a small bucket, just enough to satisfy Maximo's curiosity. Maximo enjoyed the hot milk like it was a sort of once in a lifetime delicacy.

According to the description stated by the System, both the coffee and milk had the function of satiating one's hunger. It will allow a person to not feel any hunger for at least a day. Of course, it only said 'not feel any hunger'. The person will still need to eat to obtain nutritions that is needed for the body.

The System had various kinds of consumable items that can restore or even temporarily increase a person's strength. In gaming terms, the System's consumables are like a different kind of potion.

For example, the Large Burger that cost 40 Apocalypse Points had the function of satiating one's hunger, healing serious wounds, as well as a temporary increase of 1.0 Constitution points in the duration of 5 minutes.

With Nile's current stock of Apocalypse Points, buying one will not be a problem. However, Nile will not buy one unless necessary. The coffee and the milk's price are within his acceptable range for his 'daily allowance.'.

Before, when Nile browsed through the items at the store, he did not check the consumables on the System Store thoroughly and only skimmed at the first items of the whole list before moving on. If Nile had known that this kind of item also exists in the store, he would surely use it in the fight against the straw-hat zombie. This kind of item is very popular as a lifesaver for the protagonist of the novel he liked.

An increase of 1.0 constitution during that time would surely be an enormous help for him. Although eating while in the midst of battle is dangerous, Nile thought that he could at least do it during the time when the straw-hat zombie was still preoccupied with Maximo.

But the problem lies on the Big Burger's cost, which is a whopping 40 Apocalypse Points, which in that time, is already half of his total Apocalypse Points. Also, buying one would not be worth it as the Level One° zombies only give him 5 Apocalypse Points if killed.

Still, Nile took note of this particular food, even if it cost a lot, if it could save his life, that alone would surpass the value of the Apocalypse Points spent for buying the food, it would be more than worth it.

Nile also took a note of the other items and imprinted their prices as well as their various uses in his memory.

When Nile was browsing through the various items listed in the store, Nile had stumbled upon an item that could make a wild animal become a loyal pet. This meant that the wild animal who had this item would be recognized as the host's pet by the System.

A pet is the closest companion of the Host, according to the System. Loyal and will not hesitate to offer one's life for the Host. Will prioritize the Host's life over its own. That was what the System described the pets for the hosts would be.

Nile bought the item with 50 Apocalypse Points from the System. Although it cost a lot, it was actually really worth it. Aside from the basic characteristics of pets mentioned by the System, it actually had other functions too.

It may seem that Nile did not trust Maximo's loyalty, it was actually the opposite. Although he only met Maximo yesterday, Nile knew that he would not shy away in a battle against any zombie, well, except for the numerous zombie pets. Nile knew that it was still early to make a conclusion, but he considered this as an investment and assurance.

"Hehehe... Now I can officially call Maximo my pet!" Nile said with a grin on his face under the mask.

With this item, Maximo will only be loyal to him. Although it may seem to be a way to restrict Maximo, it's actually not the case. Aside from not betraying Nile and the like, the item actually had another use. Such as, if Maximo had this item on him, Nile will be able to view Maximo's requirement for evolving. This way, if available in the System, Nile could buy the item needed for Maximo's next evolution. It was clear that Maximo also wanted to be stronger. Its hate and fear of the zombies are apparent.

The item could also automatically collect the Apocalypse Virus that Maximo had killed.

Nile took the item from the System Storage space and after showing it to Maximo whose eyes glistened upon seeing the item, Nile then equipped the item on the delighted carabao. Maximo did not know what the item would do. All Maximo knew is that as it was a metal, its taste must be quite wonderful. Right now, can Maximo still be called a herbivore? With its apparent love for metallic things, is calling Maximo as a metalvore wrong?

(A/N: I don't know if there is an appropriate term for it so I will stick to metalvore for now. If you have suggestions please say so in the comment section.)

[Earrings of Loyalty (Pet): Equip it on any animal and you would gain an eternal companion.]

After Nile pressed the 'equip' button on Maximo, the earrings of loyalty suddenly appeared in Maximo's nose. The two earrings acted as a nose piercing for Maximo. It was golden and had a metallic shone into it. The earrings are a small metal circle that has a hole in the middle, a toroid.

At first, Nile thought that after he pressed the 'equip' button that is pointing to Maximo and the Earrings of Loyalty inside, it would be pierced into the carabao's ears.

But contrary to his expectation, it was actually equipped on Maximo's nose, courtesy to the System. Nile noticed that Maximo seems to be much cooler now that it had a piercing. To be honest, Maximo looks savage and intimidating with the nose piercing on.

Maximo saw the earrings that suddenly appeared out of thin air earlier, piercing his nose. Maximo was startled at first, but he got used to it immediately. Nile thought that Maximo would rage or be in pain because of the piercing it took in the nose, but it looks like he was thinking too much. Maximo seems to not be bothered by the piercing at all. On the contrary, Maximo was even licking it in excitement.

Nile sighs a breath of relief after seeing that Maximo is fine. Although it was heartless for him to do it without Maximo's consent, Nile thought that at the end of the day, It was still for Maximo's benefit.

With Maximo being bound by the System now, it means that Maximo's path to becoming stronger is already set in stone. Although dying prematurely would be different.

Maximo is now twirling his tongue on the whole of the earrings. On its tail, Nile could see the sledgehammer being wagged by Maximo as if it were paper. Nile did not know why, but he could vaguely guess that Maximo did not let go of his hold on the sledgehammer since yesterday.

Anyway, as Maximo was already having fun, Nile decided to collect the reward from the Emergency Mission which the System issued in haste yesterday.

[Emergency Mission: Escape the current predicament. (COMPLETED).

Description: The zombie pets are getting stronger rather quickly. The mutated animals are further pushed back on their battle of attrition. The mutated animals had just begun evolving a few days ago and could not withstand the constant assault of the zombie pets. The mutated animals in the Village of Ulhi were starting to migrate to another area to preserve their kind. Zombie pets are on their tail chasing for their life.

A horde of mutated animals and zombie pets are coming in your way.

Objective: Survive. Run for your life. Move to the next Village. (Completed.)

Reward: Level One° Dual Wield Talent. Level One° Kriegsmesser of Agony. Receive?

Yes/No!]

Nile pressed the 'Yes' button and instantly, the Kriegsmesser of Agony was automatically stored in the System's storage space. While on the other hand, Nile's head is bombarded by the vast information that came from the Level One° Dual Wield Talent.

Nile already knew how to dual wield, even before he transmigrated here. A pencil in one hand and an eraser on the other. Is it not considered dual-wielding?

Nile knew that he was not in a game world where dual wielding would be restricted if he did not meet the requirement to be able to dual wield. Nile could even dual-wield the sledgehammer and the Katana of Liberation before. Still, he did not do it. Both weapons had a vast difference in terms of weight, Nile thought that it was a hassle, and besides, dual-wielding is more appropriate when fighting numerous enemies at the same time.

The Weapons Master Talent is a talent that covers almost all weapons available. But of course, in exchange for having an endless variety of weapon choices, Nile had only learnt of the basics of those weapons from the Weapons Master Talent itself. Still, Nile did not regret buying this Weapons Master Talent from the System. It was because of this talent that Nile's foundation on all the weapons is pretty solid.

The Dual Wield Talent is the same as the Weapons Master Talent, both talents covered most of the weapons available because of their broadness.

After digesting the information given by the Dual Wield Talent, Nile compared both talents and is now certain that the Dual Wield talent is stronger than the Weapons Master Talent.

The dual wield talent only scoops the topic of dual-wielding, unlike the weapons master talent that pretty much covered the basics for all the weapons in the world.

Although Nile already knew how to dual wield before, it was actually not as proficient to the one shown inside his head. But after digesting the knowledge, Nile is now pretty confident in fluently handling two weapons at the same time.