[Picking the type of Undead you would like to be will greatly affect your evolution path. So please read each option carefully, as once you have chosen your evolution path, you can no longer revert this change.]

Reading the message was just making Zain think of the whole system even more so like a game. So far, his experience from gaming had helped him well with the system and surviving in the real world, but he also learnt that in real life, there were a lot of variables that one couldn’t control, which had put him in this type of situation in the first place.

‘Let’s see what you have for me.’ Zain thought.

[Aggro Path: The Undead that focuses on this path will concentrate mainly on themselves. It will increase the strength of the Undead through power, speed, resistance and more, with all things focusing on the Undead’s own body.

[These types of Undead are usually the most powerful in a one-on-one situation and are aggressive in nature]

Reading the system message, Zain realised that it wasn’t going to be as clear as he wanted it to be, and that was because this was just a path and not the evolutions themselves. At times, after building a character in a game, he would wish he had made it a different way.

In a game, one could reset their character so they could fix the mistakes they had done before, and he had done this many times, but there was no option to do that here.

‘Body improvements, from what I have seen, people like Buke and Clark should come under this. But do humans have this type of path as well?’ Zain thought._.

[Control Path: This Undead controls the might of other Undead to handle the situation. Its strength spreads to the ones that it controls. The user of this path must be able to keep his composure and have a clear and calm mind.]

The control path was interesting, making him wonder about the Stage 2 Zombie he had met. After Zain upgraded himself, would he also be a Stage 2 Zombie? The ability of the Spitter zombie he had fought with was similar to the Control path, and he knew how dangerous that could be.

[All-Rounder Path: This type of Undead doesn’t solely focus on oneself or those they control and turn. It’s a mixture of the two other paths. It’s neither strong in one department or weak in the other. It allows the user to mix their way to fight and survive.]

Those were all three of the different options that Zain could choose from, and he was sure, based on the description, that later on, he could further refine these options to suit his needs more, but the question was, what should he choose?

‘I know this is real life, but I have no experience of being in an apocalyptic situation before other than the games I have played. If it was a game, and it was my first run, then I would have picked the All-Rounder Path.

‘That way, I could see what I liked and didn’t like, and on the next run-through, chose one of the other options, but this isn’t a game, and I only get one choice.’

From his experience, the fastest role with one strong attribute usually won out in most situations. But, at the same time, he could try to make up for what he lacked by using his head. So he wanted to select either the Aggro or Control path, instead of their combination.

After thinking for a while, Zain finally came to a decision.

‘If I was a human trying to survive in this world, I would pick the Aggro path. So there’s no doubt I will pick the Aggro path if this situation arises in a game with a human character.

‘Making me the best I can be, but unfortunately, I’m not a human. I’m trying to live my life as a Zombie, and there’s Skittle too. I can’t let him remain like this forever. So the best choice that I have is… control.’

After selecting the option, a confirmation screen appeared in front of him, and with Zain having made his choice, he hit confirm and didn’t want to look back. In the next moment, a light appeared around his whole body for a few seconds and soon quickly disappeared.

It was strange because it was one of the first times that he felt a slight difference in his body, a feeling even. Earlier, he hadn’t felt anything except losing the sense of pain and urge to kill.

‘What is all of this? I can sense things straight away. I can smell better, all the different scents coming toward me. It looks like my vision veil has widened, and my hearing has also improved.’

When he clenched his fist, there seemed to be no change in his body strength-wise, so he threw a punch to test one more thing and found no change in his speed either. Rather, it was as if his perspective powers had increased overall.

[You have selected the Control Path]

[Your maximum Horde Size has expanded.]

[Horde: 1/15]

[Undead under your control can turn humans into Undead that will become part of your Horde. If there are no more slots remaining, they will just become regular Undead unless the leader wishes to make space by setting one of their own Undead in their control free]

‘I’m guessing this means, if Skittle bites a human, then it would become mine…but it makes me wonder if I can set Undead free, is there also a way I can get other Undeads to join my Horde, not just the humans I or my Undeads turn? Maybe what I did to Barbara would have worked now…and maybe I can obtain a Stage 2 Zombie in my Horde.’ Zain thought.

[1 Stat point has been given for each level up.]

[Strength: 0]

[Agility: 0]

[Intelligence: 0]

[Endurance: 0]

[You have two available stat points.]

[Please note, Although you have selected the Control path, your evolution will depend on how you decide to distribute your stats.]

There were no skills or anything special he could do like that of the Stage 2 Zombie, so perhaps he wasn’t at that level yet, and that’s what he needed to do, to level up so he could eventually evolve. To be honest, he was thankful because he didn’t want to turn into something as ugly as that. For now, looking like a human was to his advantage.

‘This whole thing is about surviving, so I know what I want.’

[Your endurance has increased by 2 points]

Immediately, he felt a strange tingling feeling all over his skin. He recalled how tough the Stage Two Zombie’s skin was. At least it means now, if an enemy stabs him, it wouldn’t hurt as much, and he would need less energy to heal himself..

[1/15 Horde]

“I won’t let the same situation happen again. Let’s go, Skittle.” Zain said as he opened the door for the room, and the two of them left the place.

*****

1200 Stones for 2 chapters for the WSA 2022 please!