“Is that all of them?” the police officer approached Mat shortly after he finished the job.

“For now, yeah,” Mat replied, turning around and ignoring the man.

‘There is no way I will waste my time talking with him right now,’ Mat thought, falling to his knees by Nadia’s side.

He then picked up her delicate fingers, only to feel just how hot she was.

“Are you here?” Mathew asked gently, reaching out and wiping the sweat off the girl’s forehead.

Her half-opened eyes appeared to be asleep as if she was no longer aware of her surroundings.

‘She is worse than it expected,’ Mathew thought, carefully inspecting Nadia’s face and eyes.

Without a hundred cores, Mat couldn’t summon a merchant. And even if he did, he would have no cores left for the medicine.

“Nadia,” Mathew brought his lips closer to the girl’s ear, gently pushing her hair out of the way as he whispered. “I need you to hold on for ten more minutes,” Mathew said before glancing over at the clock in the corner of his vision.

Only five minutes left before the first wave would truly begin.

“Hey, is that all? Or is something else going to happen?!” the officer from before shouted, forcing Mat out of his daze.

“In five minutes, a small percent of the population will turn into normal zombies,” Mat said before turning his eyes back to the girl.

“Nadia, I need you to promise me this,” Mathew then whispered right into the girl’s ear. “Promise me that you will hold on for ten more minutes,” he continued to press the girl.

“How could I refuse,” Nadia whispered, using as little air as she could to voice her words. “When you are asking so sweetly?” she muttered, moving her hand around in an attempt to find Mathew’s face.

‘She is losing her sight already?’ Mathew thought, his body tensing up.

The only reason why he tried so hard right now was to keep Nadia safe by his side. But as it turned out, no matter what he would do, it would be all pointless!

Because losing one’s sight, was the last symptom before one would turn.

‘I don’t give a fuck anymore,’ Mathew thought, bringing the girl closer in his arms.

“I promise,” Nadia muttered, clearly having trouble voicing her thoughts. “I will hold,” she added before suddenly sucking on the air as if she was drowning.

Mat couldn’t do anything but cuddle Nadia’s shaking body in his arms.

The clock reached zero.

The first wave started.

“Man, speak to me!” the police officer attempted to force Mat out of his daze but to no avail.

[System activated]

[Wives Leveling System Awakens]

[Pick Your Wife]

Three windows appeared one by one, right before Mat’s eyes.

He then looked around to check on the situation.

No police officer appeared to have any trouble, meaning none of them would turn during the first wave.

And that left Nadia in Mat’s arms.

“Nadia, do you hear me?” Mathew probed, once again clearing the girl’s forehead from sweat.

He then gulped down his saliva before leaning over the girl’s ear, as close as if he wanted to nibble on it.

“Nadia, will you be my wife?” Mathew asked.

But Nadia could no longer speak.

Then, her lips moved a little. No voice came from between them, but they clearly formed two different figures!

[Wife accepted] the System announced in its usual, cold voice.

And then, all the windows disappeared from Mat’s vision, forcefully returning him to reality.

‘

Mat’s eyes instantly moved down to the girl in his arms.

Nadia’s temperature fell down, signaling that the sudden appearance of the System worked.

‘Thank God,’ Math thought, feeling the stable rhythm in which the girl started to breathe.

Whatever his System did, it clearly worked.

‘But I doubt this will be all,’ Mat thought, caressing Nadia’s cheek for a while as he dealt with an overwhelming wave of relief.

‘She is so fragile,’ Mat thought, gently hugging the girl into his chest.

Normally she would be the one to protect him. Yet, right now, she felt like a small, little puppy when confined to Mat’s arms.

‘Whatever will happen from now on, I need to protect her,’ Mat thought to himself, resting his chin on the top of the girl’s head. Keeping her enclosed in his grasp like that was the only medicine for his anxiety-torn heart.

“Listen to me, you little fuck!” the officer finally couldn’t hold himself back anymore. He shouted so loud that Mathew had no other choice but to raise his head. “What the hell is going to happen next?!”

Now that his attention was back in reality, Mathew noticed the low, guttural sound coming from the staircase to their back.

The zombies were already nearing this place.

‘And she didn’t turn,’ Mathew thought, looking down at the girl in his arms.

She was sleeping, clearly exhausted to no end by the attack of the virus.

“I can’t stop yet,” Mathew told himself, laying the girl down on the floor. He then raised his eyes on the officer. “Right now, we need to obtain as many life cores as we can,” he said, gathering himself up and taking hold of his ax.

“Those stones you collected before?” the negotiator asked, leaning his head to the side while sending a glance towards the zombies approaching from the side.

“That’s right,” Mathew nodded his head, fixing his hold over his weapon. “For a hundred, we can summon a merchant. But we need a thousand to establish a fortress,” he said, taking a step towards the incoming wave.

Now that Nadia was relatively safe, Mathew no longer needed to hold back. Contrary to that, he had to secure his position as soon as possible.

Only by gaining access to a merchant and farming the cores could Mat hope to establish himself in this new, changed world.

‘Whatever it will take, I will do,’ Mat thought, locking his eyes on the nearest zombie. ‘No matter what, I will keep Nadia safe!’