Chapter 11: Meta
BANG!
The slender hand forcefully pushed the trunk door further open, bending it beyond its limit.
A moment later, the figure of a woman who had been lying inside the trunk of the BMW suddenly sat up, revealing her crimson red eyes.
She then lowered her slender legs onto the road and stood with a menacing smile.
She appeared to be around 17 years old, the same age as Liam, with a very pretty face and an attractive tall figure. She was wearing a light blue dress and high heels that looked luxurious, and her dark black hair gave her a mysterious look.
Her eyes clearly displayed human intelligence, but her skin was far too pale to belong to a human. Even a corpse wouldn’t have such pale skin.
Moreover, those cold red eyes were exactly what zombies had.
DING!
(Beta Zombie – Level 5!)
(Notification: Beta Zombies are a unique and rare type of zombie. They retain human-like intelligence and memories from when they were alive. However, they are driven by the instincts all zombies possess—the instinct to kill humans. Their strength is not always superior, but their intelligence gives them a significant advantage in combat.)
Liam received a notification from the System, finally learning what kind of zombie the woman was.
He couldn’t help but be shocked to learn that this zombie still retained her memories from when she was human.
However, those memories meant little if she was still ruled by zombie instincts.
At that moment, Liam saw the woman staring at the man who had started the BMW engine.
Pluff!
Suddenly, her crimson-colored nails extended, appearing as if made from steel.
Whoosh!
The woman lunged forward, slashing her extended claws at the man.
Her speed startled the man so much that he froze in panic.
Clang!
But instead of slashing the man, her claws struck a shield that suddenly appeared in front of him.
It was the same shield that Liam had.
Apparently, the man had one too. Though he survived, he was gasping for breath behind the shield, as if fully aware of how close he had been to death.
He would’ve died if he hadn’t deployed that shield in time.
The alarming part was that one of the woman’s crimson claws actually pierced through the shield.
The System said that Beta Zombies weren’t always stronger, but that applied within the category of unique zombies. Compared to regular zombies, Beta Zombies were definitely stronger.
And "not always stronger" didn’t mean "never"—some of them truly were more powerful.
The man quickly ran to Henry’s side, abandoning his shield like he no longer cared about it.
"Kill her, kill her!" the man shouted in panic.
"Calm down, idiot!" Henry snapped at him.
In his hand, a long silver spear appeared with a sharp tip. He immediately assumed a battle stance.
At the same time, the woman withdrew her claw from the shield, turning her gaze toward Henry and his spear.
But then, her eyes shifted to Liam.
She stared at his flaming dragon hand, which was too conspicuous to belong to a human.
"Boy, I’m going to take that hand of yours," she said coldly, her voice laced with a deadly aura, even though it sounded beautiful.
And she didn’t just talk—she charged straight at Liam.
Even wearing a dress and high heels, she moved like a huntress—fast and agile.
However, she didn’t realize that Liam had already anticipated her sudden attack.
Before she could reach him, Zombie Paul and the Husky lunged at her from the same side.
The woman didn’t know they were being controlled by Liam—she simply assumed they were random zombie and beast monsters in the area.
She was caught off guard and was tackled by both of them.
Despite being only one level higher, it didn’t matter. Being hit by two much larger creatures, she was sent flying into the wall of the building next to the convenience store.
Even the wall cracked from the impact.
Whoosh!
Liam didn’t stand idle. He charged toward the woman with his dragon fist ablaze.
He felt that if he struck with it now, it would cause an explosion.
Zombie Paul and the Husky cleared the path, allowing Liam to slam his dragon fist into the woman’s body.
His fist grew significantly in size, leaving little room for her to dodge.
BANG!
Boom!
Liam’s punch landed—and it did indeed explode like a grenade. Even Liam himself was engulfed in the blast, yet he remained unaffected. Not even his clothes were damaged.
But the wall behind the woman collapsed instantly.
ROAR!
Liam suddenly heard a low growl from within the explosion and saw five long red claws reaching for his neck.
The woman was trying to strike back in the midst of chaos, but that only gave Liam the chance to press his dragon fist harder into her, as he hadn’t retreated after the blow.
Perhaps she thought she could slice through his neck now.
And honestly, if Liam hadn’t pulled back in time, she probably would’ve succeeded.
But of course, it wasn’t going to be that easy.
Liam summoned his shield from his Inventory.
Clang!
Her claws slammed into the shield—one of them piercing through again.
"Damn it, this damn shield again!" the woman cursed, seething with anger.
Her attack had failed, and she was getting more and more cornered.
"Die!" Liam growled, pressing down even harder and unleashing another explosion from his dragon hand that began to tear through her flesh.
Since he had the opportunity to kill her, of course he would take it.
He couldn’t allow her retained human memories to cloud his judgment—not if she was controlled by zombie instincts.
The real danger was her intelligence. If she were given time to think, she would be far too dangerous.
Liam still couldn’t figure out why she was in the BMW trunk in the first place. Maybe she had been there as a human, fainted, and then woke up as a Beta Zombie.
If he killed her and resurrected her with his skill, he could simply ask.