CRACK, CRASH~

A zombie pushed aside the covering from the broken window and jumped in.

Just as Finn Ford and Caleb Colby charged the zombie with their weapons, a clamor of crashing, banging, and cracking sounds came from the fifth floor.

Zachary Pierce quickly took a defensive position at the top of the stairs and said, "Yardley, be as careful as you can. We might not be able to watch out for you in a bit."

Faye Yardley hummed in acknowledgment. Looking at Gavin Donovan standing resolutely in front of her, she patted his shoulder. "Don’t worry, I’ll be fine."

The zombies that entered through the fifth-floor window tumbled a few times after hitting the ground, then staggered to their feet and began to roam around. Their movements were less agile than the one on the sixth floor.

This was good news for Faye Yardley and the others, as it suggested that fewer zombies would manage to get in from other places.

The number of incoming zombies began to increase, and some were already heading for the stairwell.

The sounds of battle from upstairs attracted the zombies, who tried to climb up. Perhaps their brains had truly degenerated; they didn’t even try to move the obstacles, instead climbing right on top of them in an attempt to get over.

They scrambled up only to slide back down, but eventually, the zombies began piling on top of each other, getting closer to the sixth floor. Faye Yardley also raised her long-bladed sword, taking a position at the turn of the stairs on the left.

Gavin Donovan took the front-left position, as he needed to protect Faye Yardley at close range, while Zachary Pierce stood to the right.

After all, even a wide stairwell had its limits.

A long spear struck like a viper, and each thrust extinguished a zombie’s soul fire.

To the right, Zachary Pierce had now drawn the Peerless Treasure Sword, lopping off zombie heads as if slicing through melons.

For a moment, Faye Yardley just stood there, gripping her long-bladed sword, unable to find an opening to attack.

Finally, an opportunity came when Gavin Donovan thrust his spear into a zombie’s eye socket, leaving him unable to deal with another that had just scrambled up from the left. Faye Yardley brought her sword down in a vicious chop, her strength so great that she split the zombie’s skull in two.

At that same moment, everyone heard a system notification: [Ding~ Squad zombie-killing mission activated. Round 1: Kill 50 zombies each to receive a temporary +1 to all four basic Attributes and one day’s worth of essential supplies. Round 2: Kill 500 zombies each to receive one random piece of personal equipment. Round 3: Kill 1,000 zombies each to receive one random permanent attribute point.]

Hearing the notification, their zombie-slaying movements paused for a split second.

Caleb Colby, who had just finished off the zombie that jumped in on the sixth floor, walked over from the nearby corridor and asked, "What happened? We killed so many zombies before, and none of them counted. Why did a zombie-killing mission suddenly activate now?"

Zachary Pierce answered, "Yardley just killed a zombie, and the system announced the mission’s start."

Caleb Colby was speechless.

"Donovan, switch places with Yardley," Zachary Pierce said, still fighting off zombies. "You and I will do our best to let one or two slip through the middle for Yardley to kill. Let her complete the first round. Once we’re done with our first round, Ford and Colby will take our spots. For now, Ford, Colby, you two guard our rear."

"Got it," came three voices in unison.

Whether it was the sounds of battle attracting them or not, a steady stream of zombies kept climbing from the fifth-floor landing up toward the sixth.

And so, having switched positions, Faye Yardley began her vigorous head-splitting.

Gavin Donovan reminded her, "You won’t last long like that, and it’s a waste of energy. It’s more efficient to aim for the neck than the head. Try to angle your blade slightly."

"Okay." Faye Yardley felt like all she was doing was trying to stand her ground and chop mindlessly. Zombie heads rolled to the floor, ironically becoming stepping stones for the zombies behind them.

"...Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty!" Faye Yardley counted to herself as she hacked away. Once she hit her mark, she announced, "I got fifty!"

All Attributes +1. Her body was instantly filled with strength, and her Spirit felt replenished.

While she was focused single-mindedly on killing zombies, she hadn’t realized the others had already rotated positions and begun their second round long ago.

It was a testament to the sheer number of zombies.

"Okay, fall back to the seventh floor. We can’t hold this position much longer."

Without a moment’s hesitation, Faye Yardley retreated up toward the seventh floor.

Although they said they couldn’t hold, the truth was that the growing pile of zombie corpses was also becoming an obstacle for the zombies behind them.

However, as they clambered over the corpses, they would dislodge the bodies and heads underneath, pulling them down and inadvertently clearing a path. This was how zombies were still able to get through.

Once everyone else had made it to the seventh floor through the gap left for them, Zachary Pierce backed up the stairs, Peerless Treasure Sword in hand.

Any zombies fast enough to set foot on the sixth floor became the first to die under his blade.

By the time Zachary Pierce had retreated to the seventh-floor landing, the zombies had begun their next assault on the stairs.

Caleb Colby took a swig of water and said, "These zombies look pretty agile, but they’re not very bright. They’re just throwing their lives away, one after another."

"They’re stupid, sure, but our mission needs them that way. If they were any smarter, we’d be the ones dying from exhaustion," Finn Ford retorted, leaning against the wall to rest.

Gavin Donovan said to Faye Yardley, "Boss, just keep doing what you were doing. You can leave the rest to me."

"Okay."

No one asked if Zachary Pierce was tired. After all, they weren’t tired, so Zachary Pierce, who had also just gotten a boost to his Attributes, definitely wouldn’t be.

Zachary Pierce gave a reminder, "Whoever’s on rotation, go check the situation at the Municipal Science and Technology Museum. We can handle these for now, but if all of them come at once, we’ll be overwhelmed, even if we can kill them."

"Roger that." Finn Ford walked directly into the nearest office on the north side.

Faye Yardley had no time to worry about any of that. Right now, she felt as if her very blood was boiling.

Her heartbeat had grown stronger and more powerful than before.

Her eyes fixed brightly on the zombies ahead, Faye Yardley began calculating the easiest angle from which to sever a neck.

Those around her naturally sensed the change in her aura.

Because of this, even Caleb Colby, who had secretly looked down on her the most, now felt a faint sense of admiration.

’She’s a natural-born fighter. If she’d joined the army in peacetime, she could have become an elite soldier.’

Licking her lips, Faye Yardley’s eyes now shone with a bloodthirsty light.

She held back from attacking the fastest one to climb up, letting it advance to the optimal distance she had calculated before swinging her blade down in an unhesitating diagonal slash. Just as the zombie’s claws were about to touch her, its head was already rolling on the ground.

It was as if this had sounded the battle horn for the seventh floor. Her long-bladed sword chopped and hacked, each swing becoming more and more decisive.

Her courage grew, and she allowed the zombies to get closer and closer before she struck.

However, the other four, while slaying zombies of their own, were constantly monitoring her. If too many zombies lunged for her, they would deal with them promptly.

The five of them didn’t know if it was just good luck, but they had only encountered ordinary zombies, so no one had been injured. Still, after maintaining such a high intensity of constant slaughter, it was impossible not to feel tired.

They were beginning to show signs of fatigue, but the zombies just kept coming.