Chapter 87: [Talent Skill: Tree Transformation Giant Ear Skill]
Drip, drop, drip, drop!!!
Watching Xia Shang walk towards him with a sinister grin, Cui Yongjae's emotions neared collapse. Gradually, his line of sight blurred, and deep, despairing blackness slowly encroached upon his pupils.
Accompanied by the sound of blood dripping onto the floor, a nosebleed gushed out like a broken thread, flowing past his chin and pooling into a dark red puddle on the ground.
"I want to live, I want to live..." he muttered incessantly.
"Very good, keep it up." Beneath his glasses, Xia Shang's eyes were cold. He raised his right arm, his five fingers transforming into grotesque tentacles that twisted and shot out. In an instant, they wrapped around Cui Yongjae's limbs. Crack, crack, as the sound of bone shattering echoed, Cui Yongjae's limbs were completely twisted off.
It's important to know that infected cannot transform into monsters in a short period. Based on the performance in the source material, the entire process generally takes about a week. Furthermore, after the mutation, there is the so-called Grey Zone, but the Grey Zone period is very brief, Xia Shang guessed it was only about an hour.
If significant damage is inflicted upon an infected during this period, their injuries are irreversible, meaning they cannot recover.
"Live well, don't die before you transform." Xia Shang retracted his tentacles, preparing to leave the Room.
During this time, Pyeon Sang-wook had been taking care of Cui Yongjae. As long as he didn't starve to death, that was enough. After all, the human body isn't as fragile as one might imagine, especially since Cui Yongjae was an infected on the verge of mutation. His inner desire alone was enough to support him.
......
Meanwhile, Cha Hyun-soo, who had just woken up, went to the computer and began searching for keywords related to fainting and nosebleeds. He didn't understand what was happening to him. But the only thing he could be sure of was that this was definitely an abnormal phenomenon, as he had never experienced this before.
At the same time, Lee Eun-hyuk was also searching for keywords online.
Soon, both of them simultaneously saw a post. The author of the post was named ke lu ke lu.
When Cha Hyun-soo clicked on the post, the first line of text immediately caught Cha Hyun-soo's attention.
"This is not a disease, but a curse!"
"The infected say they often have nosebleeds and auditory hallucinations... The reason cannot be determined... They don't belong here... They become desperate and twisted... I was also hunted by that thing, this is something humans cannot defeat. If you have symptoms, commit suicide early, because living will bring trouble.
But if you are determined to live to the end, there is one thing you must know, and that is..."
However, just as Cha Hyun-soo was about to scroll down, a prompt suddenly popped up on the computer screen saying the webpage could not be connected.
Cha Hyun-soo was dumbfounded. No matter how many times he clicked the refresh icon, the screen consistently showed a signal interruption.
Just then, the sound of him clicking the mouse attracted the monster with only half a head remaining. It turned out that the monster was not dead; instead, because half of its head was cut off while it was in the Grey Zone, it had developed a new ability.
Its skin had become incredibly rough, and its body was a size larger than before. The most prominent feature on its whole body was its pair of enormous, elf-like ears. Because it only had half a head, it couldn't see anything and could only rely on one large ear to identify directions by sound.
Watching the monster grope its way into his Room, Cha Hyun-soo was so scared he quickly covered his mouth, not daring to make a sound.
The monster with half a head walked around Cha Hyun-soo's Room once, then was suddenly attracted by a sound coming from next door.
"I can't see! I can't see!" The monster with half a head groped along the wall, slowly approaching Room 1419 not far away.
The moment it got close to Xia Shang's door, there was a bang. The door opened from the inside. Immediately after, a blade tentacle shot out like a whip, instantly piercing its chest and wrapping around its neck like a python, forcefully dragging it into the Room.
"Come in." Xia Shang swung his arm, slamming it hard against the wall.
The Giant Ear monster didn't give up. It stretched out its hands, intending to tear apart Xia Shang's tentacles.
"Seeking death!" In an instant, two slits suddenly opened beneath Xia Shang's eyes. Two incredibly agile eyeballs drilled out from within. As blue light flickered, two beams of blue lasers immediately shot through the air.
One could see that the Giant Ear monster's hands, hit by the beams, instantly burned with black smoke and turned crimson. At the same time, the Room quickly filled with the smell of flesh and blood being scorched.
After a few seconds, the Giant Ear monster continued to wail, its hands basically turned to charcoal.
"Before its head was cut off, it was just an ordinary monster. With its head cut off, it's actually become a bit interesting." The slits beneath Xia Shang's eyes slowly closed. He used his analysis ability again.
To prevent the Giant Ear monster from breaking free, Xia Shang specifically used his other hand to transform into a tentacle, pinning it to the wall.
Xia Shang slightly raised his head, watching the Giant Ear monster waving its limbs, patiently waiting for the analysis results. Just when he thought everything was secure, several wooden vines suddenly burst from the surface of the Giant Ear monster's arm, violently striking Xia Shang. Bang! The immense impact made it difficult for Xia Shang to resist; his entire back was embedded in the wall.
At the same time, the Giant Ear monster broke free from its restraints and fled outside in a panic.
"I almost forgot, you still have that move." In the dust, Xia Shang spread his arms, pressing against the surrounding walls to pull himself out.
Watching the Giant Ear monster's retreating figure, Xia Shang expressionlessly patted the dust off his body.
Carbon Superlattice gave him extremely strong defense. The opponent's attack alone was far from enough to break through his defense.
[Analysis Complete]
[Talent Skill: Tree Transformation Giant Ear Skill]
[Fusion Condition: Kill a complete form Giant Ear monster]
[After Fusion, the player will develop a desire to listen to all sounds. As more sounds are heard, the desire will be increasingly satisfied, and the player's physique will undergo mutation. While growing giant ears, the player's skin will become woody, and they will be able to manipulate flesh and blood to form vines, killing or trapping prey.
In addition, this talent has a certain growth potential. As long as the desire is satisfied by continuously hearing more sounds, the player's physique will continuously improve...]
"A boring ability." He had originally thought the Giant Ear monster's hearing had some Fusion value, but now it seemed the result left Xia Shang greatly disappointed.
The scene shifts to Cha Hyun-soo. At this moment, he heard sounds coming from the floor below him. When he poked his head out the window, he saw a man climbing down using a rope, while his children were trying to stop their father.
"Daddy, don't go, it's too dangerous."
"Xiu Ying, don't cry, your voice might attract monsters. You know Daddy used to be a special forces soldier, right?" The man's action this time was to go downstairs to seek help. In his opinion, there might be survivors outside, and perhaps even the army could be found.
However, the man didn't see a massive eyeball slowly appearing behind him.
Witnessing this scene, Cha Hyun-soo's pupils widened in shock. Watching the Big Eye monster continuously approach the man, Cha Hyun-soo gradually shouted loudly, "Get away! Quickly, get away!"
The man noticed something was wrong, so he turned his head to look behind him. He saw a massive eyeball at his feet. Such a horrifying sight scared him out of his wits, and he scrambled upwards in terror. However, he lost his grip, his body detached from the rope, and he ultimately fell to his death in front of Cha Hyun-soo.
Cha Hyun-soo frantically closed the window, squatted on the bed hugging his knees, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Listening to the two children's cries for help beside his ear, he struggled internally. If he didn't save them, they would surely die. But if he stepped out to save them, he would definitely be targeted by the monsters. The image of the man falling to his death repeatedly played in Cha Hyun-soo's mind. Intense fear, like a tide, washed over him.
Finally, his gaze became firm. Cha Hyun-soo picked up the computer screen from the desk. Seeing the monster attacking the two children, Cha Hyun-soo didn't hesitate to throw the computer screen in his hand, actively attracting the Big Eye monster's attention.
He succeeded. The Big Eye monster extended its neck and rushed into his Room, wrapping him up in coils. As the Big Eye monster tightened its grip, Cha Hyun-soo gradually felt suffocated. Just when he thought he was about to die, the Big Eye monster's pupils suddenly lost their light, and with the dissipation of its strength, it fell heavily to the ground.
Cha Hyun-soo gasped for breath. After seeing that the monster was no longer moving, he poked his head out the window again. Soon, he saw an uncle aiming a homemade weapon at him. It was then that he realized he was lucky to have received the uncle's help, otherwise, he would have died.
Afterward, the uncle, Han Du-sik, held up a sign telling him that monsters might be attracted by sound, and that those things wouldn't die; their recovery ability was very strong. To save the two children downstairs, Cha Hyun-soo had to go and meet up with him.
The uncle lived next door. Cha Hyun-soo pushed open the door and walked out.
This was the first time he had stepped out of his Room for someone else. The moment the door opened, the dawn light from outside illuminated his dim Room, seemingly symbolizing that Cha Hyun-soo had finally taken the initiative to walk out of his self-imposed cage.
"Why is there blood there?" He saw that the edge of Xia Shang's door had been smashed by something, and there were still bloodstains on the ground. Immediately, a terrifying thought arose in his mind, "Doctor Xia... he wasn't attacked by a monster too, was he?"
He gripped the steel pipe he had taken from a dustpan and quickly walked to Xia Shang's door. He glanced at the blood on the ground, then cautiously walked inside. "What... what happened here?"
The Room was in ruins, as if a demolition crew had just left. Suddenly, a sound came from the side. Cha Hyun-soo alertly raised the steel pipe, preparing for a sudden monster attack.
"Want some water?" It turned out to be Xia Shang walking out with a bottle of mineral water.
"No, I'm just glad you're okay. Speaking of which, what exactly happened here? How did it get like this?" Seeing that Xia Shang was safe and sound, Cha Hyun-soo breathed a sigh of relief. He looked around, unable to help but ask.
"Nothing much. A monster tried to attack me just now, but it didn't succeed and ran off. It was pretty close though, almost died." Xia Shang twisted open the cap of the mineral water bottle and said while drinking the water.
(End of Chapter)