3 Too Poor

At this moment, I was facing some zombies. Their speed was quite slow, and although they were fairly numerous, there were no more than five entering this building at the moment. I decided to fight; somehow, I knew I had no other option. I had to test how strong these things were.

With determination, I approached and swung my bat forcefully towards their heads. To my surprise, my enemy made no move to defend or dodge; they took my blow head-on. The zombie fell to the ground, but it didn't stop moving. I could see that I had inflicted damage, but it wasn't fatal. The few seconds of inaction cost me the chance to finish it off, as the other two zombies raised their hands, attempting to grab me, forcing me to jump back.

Noticing the sounds from outside, I knew that more zombies would arrive soon. I had a small window of time before I would be surrounded. I resolved to end this by moving slightly forward and striking the other two zombies similarly, with the intention of knocking them down and then finishing them off. It took me about three strikes to finish each one.

While dealing with these, I noticed something. Each time I killed a zombie, a small transparent blue light flew towards my bracelet. Apparently, there were still more things I didn't understand about it. However, now wasn't the time to examine it, so I decided to backtrack to the main hall.

On my way to the main hall, I noticed a few things. Although initially, I thought the zombies were heading towards the hall and that it might be their target, in reality, most of them weren't moving or were only moving in the direction of a person. I even noticed that some stopped moving when there was no one within their line of sight.

Secondly, despite the initial appearance of a large number, almost infinite, now that I looked at it with a slight calm, there weren't really that many, and it didn't feel like their numbers were still increasing.

I also noted that the students had finally started to organize themselves and defend more effectively. They were gathering in groups to eliminate their enemies and moving in the same direction as me.

The last thing that caught my attention was the large number of student corpses. With a quick glance, I estimated around 20,000 deaths – a grim scene considering whatever was happening had only just begun.

One group, composed of three boys and three girls, started to be surrounded by a group of zombies. They quickly began to panic, losing the chance to escape. Almost instinctively, I decided to get involved in the fight. If I acted quickly, I could save them without putting anyone else at risk.

"Focus on this side. You don't need to kill them; knocking them down is enough," I shouted, snapping them out of their panic. After a few seconds, they quickly began pushing the zombies with force, trying to knock them down. I took care of a couple with two quick strikes each and guided the students out of the encirclement.

"There aren't too many, so we can handle them. Aim for the head and make sure to finish off the ones that fall. Two strong hits should do it. Girls, work together."

We couldn't afford to be surrounded again, and it seemed like we needed to get rid of these zombies and address the infection zone issue as soon as possible.

The others listened to my orders, though they hesitated for a few seconds. I knew they were reluctant to associate with me because I had been a pariah not too long ago. It was foolish to worry about those things even in a life-or-death situation. Even worse, the apparent leader of the group didn't want to lose his position. Both of these concerns were ridiculous, so it was best to move on.

Finally, I reached the main hall. Upon entering the building, I immediately felt a change – a strange sensation difficult to describe, but it somehow felt like my energy was slowly returning. I noticed that the light on my bracelet changed from blue to green, which surprised me. I focused on it, trying to open the interface, and immediately realized that there were new features.

The main interface was a map that overlaid certain locations in my vision. However, I noticed there were other tabs, though they were blacked out and unknown to me. Without wasting time, I opened the store tab, and this time, the blue holographic color that covered my vision retreated and condensed into a blue screen in front of me. This screen moved along with me and displayed a wide variety of items.

Scrolling quickly, I figured out what was being sold in the store. The majority were combat-related items, primarily weapons and armor. Strangely, they were all melee weapons, with no sign of firearms or explosives. There were also other peculiar items, like health and stamina potions. The most unusual was a mana potion. Additionally, there were technique books and grimoires, which were significantly more expensive than the other items. While scanning for the most expensive items in the store, I found five items labeled as unique.

These unique items were priced astronomically compared to the cost of other items, and their names were even more outlandish. They were: Reinforced Body, Mystic Heart, Strategic Mind, Nature's Bond, and Sage's Eye. Their descriptions were completely bizarre. For example, Mystic Heart claimed to help create a second heart that would form its own mana networks. Given the many abilities and spells that used mana, this could be very useful. Wait a moment, if I couldn't use mana right now, that meant I needed this enhancement before purchasing the others.

In any case, all these items provided an incredible enhancement to the human body. Reinforced Body could even help you unlock your full potential and transcend human limitations. However, each of these unique enhancements cost one billion essence.

Looking at the top of the screen, I discovered my essence count: 37 points.

"I'm too poor."