Extra Chapter

Side Story:

[Game and Professional Tournament Settings] (For those interested)

Exam scores (level total score) are out of 100 points, with each subsequent level exam increasing by 100 points. The maximum score is 700 points. A higher exam score means a higher starting level and, with some luck, the acquisition of combo skills. Every 20 levels, players can take the exam for free once; without reaching the required level, further upgrades are not possible.

[Level Exam Rules: All equipment and skill bonuses to the three primary stats, as well as the base stats, are cleared, leaving only 1 point each for strength, speed, and defense, and 3 points for health. This applies to every class exam. Only weapon skills, personal skills, player passive skills, and all techniques can be used. The basic exam has 10 zombies; with each level increase, 10 more are added, up to 70 zombies at max level. Passing requires killing 80% of the zombies, with each zombie worth 10 points.]

Every 10 levels, players can learn one active skill (passive skills and techniques are not included). Throughout their lifetime, they can only learn 6 personal active skills and 2 passive skills. Techniques and equipment skills can be learned without limit. (Reward Palace ignores level restrictions, but there is a possibility of not being able to learn or master an item. All items obtained from the Reward Palace can only be used once and are non-transferable.)

Weapon, equipment, item, and crafting book grades: White, Green, Yellow, Blue, Cyan, Purple, Orange, Red, Rainbow, Void. [10 grades in total] Ungraded items fall between all these grades. The highest is comparable to Void grade, the lowest is inferior to White grade.

Personal skills and pet grades: White, Blue, Purple, Orange, Red, Rainbow, Void. [Maximum level is 5, requiring proficiency. For now, Spritelings are not considered pets; pet skills do not require proficiency.]

Technique and Crafter grades: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, Master, Professional, Zombie Hunter. Technique levels (each level adds one point to all three stats): Level 1 through Level 10. [For identical or different weapon techniques, only the highest level is counted, but more techniques mean more bonuses.]

Regarding pets: Pets have unlimited health and cannot be killed. The base damage of pet skills is determined by the owner's stats. Players may carry up to five pets.

(Zombies), wild monsters, and NPC levels: 1st-9th Tier [Common State], 2nd-3rd Level [Soldier State], 4th-5th Level [Warrior State], 6th-7th Level [Lieutenant State], 8th Level [General State], 9th Level [King State], 10th Level [Emperor State].

[Each has: Half-tier, First-tier, Second-tier, Third-tier, and Peak level.]

Zombies are divided as follows: 1st-9th Tier [Minor Zombies], 2nd-7th Level [Leader Zombies], 8th-10th Level [BOSS Zombies].

Player power rankings: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, Master, Professional, Zombie Hunter. (Corresponding to each realm)

Each stat point in the game world represents ten thousand tons. Having one point of strength means ten thousand tons—a feat only possible after successfully escaping the apocalypse.

Player levels (the final number in brackets represents the highest achievable power, requiring an exam to progress): Beginner (0-20), Intermediate (21-40), Advanced (41-60), Expert (61-80), Master (81-100), Professional (101-120), Zombie Hunter (121-150). The maximum level is 150.

Human data in the game consists of three stats: Strength, Speed, and Defense. Damage and attack power are the average of strength and speed. Player health is the sum of all three stats. Weapons primarily add active skills (weapon skills; at least Cyan-grade or higher compared to the player's initial White-grade weapon), armor adds defense, pants add speed, belts add strength, and techniques enhance all three stats. (Void-grade equipment always adds equipment skills regardless of the type; each grade above White adds an extra stat point, with Void-grade adding an extra 10 points for a total of 20.) Perfect exam scores grant an additional 10 stat points.

Current ratios: Warrior (Physical): 820, Mage (Magical): 820, Gunner (Physical): 910, Assassin (Physical): 640, Berserker Shield (Mixed Damage): 109 (Protagonist 555), Paladin (Magical): 037. (Ratios are multiplied by the level total score and are independent of exam scores.)

Game Modes: In Solo Mode, except for pet eggs and crafting books, all other items, equipment, skills, and techniques can be obtained and used immediately. Foreign pets and all exchangeable items (excluding the backpack) cannot enter Solo Mode. Free Mode matches Solo Mode in power; everything can be obtained. Team Mode is similar to Professional Tournament mode—prohibited items cannot be used, but otherwise, it is nearly identical in terms of power.

[Professional Tournament is distinct; it is independent of outside power.] Only resurrection coins, forcibly dropped items, all crafting books, unlearned skill and technique books, unequipped gear and weapons, and all pet eggs—collectively referred to as items that must be dropped upon death—are forbidden. Personal information, exchange items, and pets are not restricted!

Professional Tournament class stats cannot be altered:

Warrior: Strength 80, Speed 20, Defense 1, Health 100, Attack Power 50.
Mage: Strength 80, Speed 20, Defense 1, Health 100, Attack Power 50.
Gunner: Strength 90, Speed 10, Defense 1, Health 100, Attack Power 50.
Assassin: Strength 60, Speed 40, Defense 1, Health 100, Attack Power 50.
Berserker Shield: Strength 10, Speed 1, Defense 90, Health 100, Attack Power 5.
Paladin: Strength 1, Speed 30, Defense 70, Health 100, Attack Power 15.
Protagonist: Strength 50, Speed 50, Defense 50, Health 150, Attack Power 50.

Attributes and styles of various zombies differ, but strength, speed, and defense match their realm. Health and attack power are fixed values, disregarding the average of strength and speed as attack power. Minor zombies have 35 attack power and 175 health, meaning Berserker Shield and Paladin are not overly threatened by swarms of minor zombies. Leader zombies have 100 attack power and 600 health. BOSS zombies have 300 attack power and 2100 health. Both zombies and players possess skills; one side has quantity, the other variety—a bit like guerrilla warfare.

Author’s Note:

Since the climax involves a zombie outbreak, the Professional Tournament simulates the counteroffensive of human survivors after the outbreak—I also call it the Hero Tournament. The level exam simulates solo escape, with the first step being self-rescue upon encountering zombies. In other novels, the zombification rate is often 80% or higher; out of a million people, at least 800,000 become zombies.

As for timid humans, I simply wrote them off as dead...

My zombification rate is lower, barely reaching 40%. The first beginner exam takes place in a dark room, simulating self-rescue in a confined space, with a five-meter-high platform as a wardrobe, and so on. The second exam location is the wilderness, with other locations including cities, ships, forests, and mountains. For example, if a plane crashes in one of these areas, survivors are severely injured afterward. That's why I changed it so that a single zombie scratch means the player is finished.

{This chapter is not today's update; it was just copied over from Chapter 33!!!!!!}