Nuclei

In the Land of Trials, every living creature dropped strengthening orbs when killed, whether it be humans or beasts, but zombies did not drop these orbs as they were not living beings. 

However, killing zombies was not a waste of time because they carried valuable loot known as a nucleus within them.

The nuclei of zombies were divided into different kinds. Some could increase strength, some could increase agility, and so on.

Players could boost their stats up to ten points for each stat using them.

'The nucleus of a zombie is located inside their head.'

James used his dagger to slice open the head of the zombie he had just killed.

Inside, he found an ocean-blue crystal, half the size of a finger and hexagonally shaped.

This crystal was a type of nucleus known as an "Agility Nucleus."

He could absorb it to increase their agility.

The method of absorbing the nuclei of zombies was mentioned in the novel Tales of My Regressions. It could be absorbed by placing it against the skin.

James did just that.

He held the Agility Nucleus against his forearm, and it dissolved into his body, transferring its power to enhance his agility attributes.

[Agility +0.5]

'Now my agility is equal to my strength,' James grinned with a little bit of satisfaction before looking thoughtful.

'In this place, all the basic stats are important, but agility is the most important. I should focus on increasing it whenever I get the chance,' James decided before walking down the corridor.

Soon, he came across two more zombies. They hadn't noticed him yet as he was out of their line of sight.

Zombies were creatures that relied heavily on their sense of smell and hearing to detect prey. They were attracted to noise and the smell of fresh blood.

Of course, that's not to say that their eyes were just there for decoration. Although they couldn't see in the light of day or just bright areas in general, they could see in the dark. 

In the dark, they could search for prey with their vision too on top of their other senses. However, a person had to be in their line of sight. Otherwise, relying on their vision alone would not be enough for them to notice the living.

James wasn't in their line of sight, and he hadn't made any mistakes that would warrant their attention.

James's eyes narrowed as he looked at them with a gaze of scrutiny.

The pair of zombies were wearing similar headguards that thoroughly protected their heads but left their necks exposed. 

They were dressed in tattered school uniforms, which made James guess that they were high school students from Earth who were pulled into this twisted game some time ago, but it couldn't have been more than six months considering that the first mysterious disappearance on Earth happened half a year ago.

In this dark area, a normal person didn't have the ability to see, so although they were buff and wearing some protective gear, it was impossible for them to avoid falling victim to the zombies. They died to the zombies, or perhaps their bites, and became zombies themselves, doomed to haunt the living who found themselves in this accursed corridor.

James did not feel particularly saddened by the fate of the two high schoolers who were tossed into a world cruel beyond their imaginations. 

Firstly, they were strangers to him; secondly, he was fully aware of the nature of the Land of Trials—here, the weak either became strong or died; there was no middle ground. From the moment he realized that the world of the novel "Tales of My Regression" was becoming reality, he had braced himself for the inevitability of witnessing brutal and unsettling deaths of not only strangers but also people he might get to know and become close to in this place time and again.

The only way to survive such madness was to become steel-hearted.

He knew he could not afford to pity anyone; in this brutal realm, only the strong had the luxury to feel pity, and he was still at the bottom of the hierarchy.

He could only afford to be stoic 

Remaining composed and cool-headed at all times was essential for his survival; letting emotions overpower him could lead to fatal mistakes that could cost him his life.

Thus, the sight of the former students—now mindless zombies—only served as a stark reminder for James that a single misstep could result in his own demise, leaving him just another tragic figure wandering this cursed corridor.

This terrible thought was enough to reinforce his resolve to stay vigilant and stoic so that he could survive the challenges of the land of trials and eventually escape from here and return home. 

James thought, 'Their headguards look considerably thick. I might not be able to get them in one go with a simple thrust of my daggers to the back of their heads, and that would mean trouble for me. After all, these zombies perform erratic movements when they are close to a prey whose presence they are aware of. I should behead them first before dealing the decisive blow.' 

He cautiously and noiselessly crept up to their back before pulling out his daggers and swinging them at the same time in different directions.

His daggers sliced through the necks of the zombies at the same time, beheading them. Blood sprayed into the air and splashed onto the walls of the corridor that flanked James from both sides as the heads of the two zombies separated from the rest of their rotting bodies and fell to the floor of the corridor simultaneously.

Gah! Gah!

Even after being separated from their bodies, their heads still moved about, rolling towards James's legs with the aim of biting them. 

James's eyebrows drew together.

He couldn't help but recall that one of the times Melody faced death in this trial was at the hands of a zombie that only had its head left. 

These zombies were like cockroaches. They don't die easily. You had to be meticulous when dealing with them.

'Die. Just die.'

James bent forward and stabbed his daggers into their brains through the roof of their gaping mouths again and again, putting them out of their misery.

When they stopped moving, he confirmed they were really dead.

He quickly took off their headgear and sliced their heads open, collecting two nuclei.

One of the nuclei was yellow, and the other was blue. 

The yellow one could increase the strength of a player. As for the blue one, it was self-explanatory. 

He absorbed both of them.

A series of notifications popped up in his vision:

[You have absorbed an Agility Nucleus of a mortal-grade nightmares.]

[Your agility has increased by 1 point]

[You have absorbed an Energy Nucleus of a mortal-grade nightmare.]

[Your stamina has increased by 1 point.]

[Your stamina has reached 10 stat points. You can no longer increase it using the nuclei of zombies. However, the nuclei of mortal-grade nightmares will be effective in increasing your stamina stat.]