Immortal Mortal - Chapter 17: Falling Short

Perhaps it is the choice of fate. As a senior otaku, Qian Lingfeng got the “steel shell system”. However, when he swept the world with the system, became a local rich man, made all kinds of beautiful women, opened a harem, and realized the ultimate fantasy of thousands of otaku, he found that things seemed far from simple!
When the end comes, biochemical zombies suddenly come down, fierce beasts are in power, bloodthirsty zerg roam to kill the world, and human lives are comparable to dirt. Where will weak human beings go in this world? Is humanity going to be extinct? Or … can an otaku save the fate of the human race?

- Description from Novelupdates

I became the childhood friend of the protagonist in a novel. The childhood friend who died from taking drugs.

Yun is a novice MMO player who equipped only unpopular skills labelled as garbage. However, soon after the official launch of the game, the NPC stopped to sell Recovery Potion. Everyone finally started to notice the importance of Support Magic and Items. And that spells trouble for Yun as well as all the support-based players. They received orders for recovery potion from endless flood of players en masse, some more aggressive players even go as far as forcing the support players to be their personal craftsman. In order to prevent this from going out of hands, all the support players grouped together to form a community to keep things in order.

Can't a man maintain his dignity while preparing for the end of the world? Is that too much to ask?

The Tower was all I knew... all any of us knew, and just like that, it was gone. Monsters the likes of which I'd never seen ravaged the land of my ancestors. They burst through the outer walls and stormed the city. No one could have been ready for that. But now... Now I have a second chance.

After the collapse of the known world, I woke up to find myself on the First Floor of the Tower. I was young and healthy, 18 again, and sitting in the same classroom that marked the worst days of my life. Confused and excited, I accepted this gift, deciding to use my vast knowledge of the future to climb the Tower in preparation for the end of the world.

Maybe I'll help some folks along the way? Who knows. Survival comes first.

The clock is ticking, and I'm left with only a century to build a Deck powerful enough to survive the end. Things to do... What's first? I need Essence, and I need power. I'll have to climb the Tower to acquire both of these. Some of the zealots will try to stop me, need to look out for those. What if-

“Hey, kid! Hand over the pouch or-”

Stab

Sorry, where was I? Ah... there's a spot of blood on my suit. What a lousy morning.

In this world of blood and fantasy, century-old Rowan Wilder has to not only survive, but thrive as he powers his way to the top of the Tower. The Demonic Plague that has twisted the creatures on the upper Floors is the least of his worries. Cane in hand and Summons by his side, he'll have to tear his way through the monsters, as well as the humans who want to stop his ascent. Of course, he can maintain a sense of decorum while he faces these trials, right?