Extracting the life cores from the zombies was pretty simple. With how only a heavy trauma to the head could put an end to them, picking up those small stones that would crystalize out in the center of their brain was a job anyone could do.

That is, as long as they wouldn’t cover everything with their vomit first, only to faint later.

“You shouldn’t measure everyone with your standards,” the police officer said, only to release an exhausted sigh a moment later.

Even only a bit over an hour had passed since the man appeared before Mat for the first time; the events that transpired were so rapid and engaging that the young man felt as if he had known the man for ages.

And here he was, schooling Mathew away after noticing just a small glance followed by a roll of Mat’s eyes.

“My standards are the world’s standards, now,” Mathew rebuked, only to straighten himself up and move over to another corpse.

Thankfully, the crystalization of life’s core within one’s brain was the first step of the zombie transformation. As such, even those that Mat finished before they could fully turn turned into a harvestable material for him.

Yet, while Mathew continued to look for any positives in the current situation, the few soldiers that helped him to gather the cores…

Their attention was fully focused on keeping themselves sane.

They were all veteran soldiers. They saw the true battle with their very own eyes.

But what was left in the main corridor of the second to last floor was far from anything they could experience on a modern battlefield. In the battle, they would rarely have to dig through the literal brains of the fallen.

“That doesn’t mean people will have an easy time adapting,” the officer countered, only to turn his face sideways to cast a glance upstairs.

“Why didn’t you help us earlier?!” one of the students cried out. From his point of view, Mathew couldn’t even tell who it was. “I almost died, you know?!”

Hearing the complaints, Mathew only rolled his eyes before returning to his job.

Dealing with the dissatisfied and distressed fellow students of his wasn’t his job.

“You should go and save the others now!” a new, feminine voice entered the cry.

“What the hell are you doing here?! Go and clean the school from those freaks!” someone else joined in as well.

‘They are refusing to accept the reality,’ Mathew thought, sending a sneaky glance over to the panicky group. ‘I didn’t really believe something like this could happen back when they described it to me,’ he recalled one of the stories he heard back at the fortress in the past.

Apparently, the main reason behind the fall of the first attempt at organized attempt was just that – people were too hesitant to do the one thing that could save them. Too stuck in the old world to accept the change and adapt to it.

It was something that Mathew only heard happened. But now, he was growing increasingly aware he would also be the one who would have to deal with this mess.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Mathew spat out. He stood up and looked around the place.

‘They might dislike it, but they are working like obedient little bees,’ he thought, nodding with satisfaction at the effort of the soldiers dedicated to the collection task.

It would be only a matter of a few minutes before they would be done with their task.

And that meant Mathew only had a few more minutes to regain control over the top floors of the school.

“Everyone shut the fuck up,” Mathew shouted as soon as he appeared on the stairs.

At first, his words only worked because his voice was loud and generally unexpected.

Then, the law enforcement looked over, ready to deal with another troublemaker… Only to relax and back up when they saw Mathew’s face.

Even if he wasn’t their leader, Mathew’s words already proved to be crucial to their survival.

No one said a word to explain Mathew’s importance to his fellow student. Yet, maybe it was due to the atmosphere that surrounded him or maybe his bloodthirsty rampage earlier, but not a single student dared to complain to him.

“First, let’s explain a few things,” Mathew stated as soon as he reached the end of the stairs. He put his legs parted wide and crossed his arms on his chest. “Loud noises attract zombies,” the young man threw out a pretty important piece of information as if it was nothing.

“As such, I advise you lot to shut the hell up,” Mathew added, reveling in the newfound position of power. “This is the land that I put a claim to,” the young man continued, caring not for how cringy and chunni his words could sound.

“What claim?” someone from the crowd asked, cleverly hiding behind the others just in case this question would bring forth a punishment.

“Here are the stones we gathered,” one of the soldiers from the floor below came up and passed a small bag into Mathew’s hands.

This particular soldier appeared to be too overwhelmed by the blood on his hands to care about Mathew’s little speech.

“Good job, soldier,” Mathew replied with the line he heard in some western movie. A small smile appeared on the corners of his lips.

Yet, instead of answering the question that the soldier stopped him from answering, Mathew grabbed the stones and poured them all directly on the floor.

‘Damn, it’s kinda exciting,’ the young man thought, staring at the pile of shiny life cores at his feet.

Mathew then brought his hand forward and hung it in the air, directly above the pile of cores.

“I, Mathew, son of Arthur, do hereby summon a claim merchant,” Mathew spoke.

Then, the combined shine of all the life cores suddenly multiplied, only to erect itself as a pillar of light, as high as the roof of the place. And just as rapidly as it appeared, the light condensed into an outline of an androgynous person.

When the radiance fully faded away, instead of the huge chunk of the stones Mathew gathered, there was a hooded figure standing in silence.

‘Good thing this formula worked,’ Mathew thought, swallowing his saliva.

This was truly a nerve-wracking moment. Depending on whether this formula would work or not, the future of all the people around him would change.

Thankfully, for the first time since the apocalypse started in Mathew’s previous life, he could claim to see a ray of hope.

‘Summoning a merchant is the one step I never reached back then,’ Mathew thought, moving back with his thoughts to the past now gone.

Their fortress gathered ninety-three life cores. A humble amount given the two weeks it took them… But as the apocalypse evolved, those who failed to stay on track would be left forever longing to catch up.

‘Once monsters started appearing, hunting expeditions were no longer possible,’ Mathew thought, raising his hand as he approached the hooded figure.

There was no face, no legs or hands. There wasn’t a body to that figure, just a dark shadow hidden within the confines of the floor-long, grey robe.

Mathew’s hand stopped just an inch away from the shadoww coiling underneath the robe.

He then turned his head around to where he left Nadia to rest.

‘I will heal you, you understand?’ Mathew thought, reaffirming himself in his determination.

He then moved his eyes to the side, to where all the saved schoolmates of his stood.

‘Right, I still didn’t answer their question,’ Mathew thought.

The edges of his mouth curled up, turning his lips into a small smile.

“As of now, I’m the lord of this merchant,” Mathew revealed, looking at his colleagues with a serious expression. “I’m also the only one capable of expanding on the merchant’s network of this area,” he added, sharing the info that he never got to confirm.

‘Let’s hope that no one tries to call this bluff,’ Mathew thought, only for his smile to turn slightly wicked. ‘Well, I shouldn’t worry too much. The chances of anyone being able to summon another merchant so soon…’

With each passing second, Mathew’s smile turned darker and darker.

But his strange position was quickly becoming uncomfortable.

“It’s better if you keep that in mind for the future,” Mathew threw at his colleagues before turning his eyes back towards the shadowy figure of the grey, claim merchant.

‘Now then, show me your wares!’ Mathew uttered a completely useless and unnecessary formula in his mind before reaching out and grasping at the darkness coiling underneath the merchant’s robe.