AW? Chapter 04 (Patreon)

There were four zombies in the kitchen area of the hotel. I smashed their skulls in surprise at how easy it was becoming. The monkey wrench felt as light as a wooden mop handle as I had to hold back my strength otherwise risk bursting the source in their chest. I was already three times stronger than I was earlier. I hadn’t noticed the changes yet but everything was rapidly changing on me.

Twenty pounds of weight was burned off as my height increased by two inches. The power from the source alters my body to use the power more effectively. I was actually more than three times stronger because it was based on what I was before the alterations. A short overweight body was the base and slowly it was becoming taller and more muscular. My body was different, closer to thirty or forty percent stronger than before.

With the 3.2 modifier on all my stats, I was closer to five times as strong as I was when I woke up and would only increase as time went on and the power altered my body to contain it better. I was already strong, as fat as I was I was a roofer before becoming an office worker. I could lift two hundred pounds on my back and carry it up a ladder over and over again over the course of a day.

Carrying six hundred pounds on my back was not only possible but wouldn’t even be that difficult for me. I stored the food that would spoil quickly in the storage while finding a cart to push the bags of rice, beans, and potatoes as I kept killing zombies. I didn’t feel safe taking the elevator so instead I hid the food inside the women's bathroom stall.

I made my way up to the third floor. This was a smaller hotel, only having eight floors and I happened to be on the lowest one possible. I began systematically clearing the rooms again. Zombie couple. Zombie couple. Zombie family I lock back up. An actual human who yells for me to go away. Zombie couple. Four zombies in a room. Zombie couple. Single zombie. I reached 4.5 stats and could now notice the difference.

My body's height was about four inches taller. I went from 5"6' to 6" and 250 pounds to 200. I punched a hole into the door and I could tell I was more than five times stronger than I was when I woke up. If I were to jump I’d smash off the ceiling and I was beyond anything a human could ever be. Even now I could feel my body changing.

 I worked my way through the rest of the rooms and hit the first problem. At five times my stats I got a congratulations from the system.

Congratulations!

You’re the first person to reach the first stat cap in the world!

Rewarded Overachiever title.

Can only have one title active at a time.

Awarded storage source!

Awarded magic source!

Awarded reflex source!

Awarded two random sources!

A bunch of sources fell on the ground in front of me and I ate them the second I could.

Storage source obtained! 5 cubic feet altered to 10 cubic feet.

Magic source obtained! Regenerate, Firebolt, and Mage armor spells gained.

Reflex source obtained! Upgraded reflexes to be twice as fast.

I sucked on the two random sources but after not absorbing them I knew it was impossible for me to gain more effects at the moment. I clicked on stats and looked at the changes before selecting the overachiever title.

Title: Overachiever- Increases ZKP gained from killing zombies.

Strength: 5

Agility: 5

Endurance: 5

Intellect: 5

Charisma: 1.75

My charisma had improved which made sense. I was much taller and skinnier than before bringing me closer to the size most women would prefer. I put the pieces together that ZKP is probably the currency for the store. It was pointless now but I knew in my heart it would become important. The more I had when it became available the better off I’d be.

I was just scanning through my stats when I heard someone yell from the elevator. “Hey! Give me that pipe thingy!” The man was dragging a woman behind him. Mascara streaking her cheeks. I was about to start walking towards him to ‘separate’ the two by bashing his head in I noticed the gun in his hand. He briskly walked towards me while dragging the woman by her hair.

Well, I guess he asked for it. I flung it as hard in his direction as I possibly could. Now, the monkey wrench was about twenty pounds. It was fairly heavy and would hurt someone if it struck them. That was before someone five times stronger than a normal human tossed it. He wasn’t prepared at all, not even getting the gun up in time before the wrench hit him.

I was aiming for center mass but I wasn’t used to throwing things like this. Instead catching him in the legs. His entire body was flung in the air as his legs crumpled like paper. His body flipped in the air from the blow before he landed hard on the ground and began screaming. “AHHHHH! MY LEGS! AHHH!” I couldn’t help but laugh at how hilarious I found the situation.

He was going to rob me at gunpoint an-. FUCK he still has the gun! I charged towards him as he fired shots at me. As if in slow motion he missed as I dodged the bullets. The woman beside him screamed like a banshee which was enough for him to remember her. As if to spite her he turned and shot her in the head. I almost stopped from shock but it was a life and death fight now.

Closing the remaining distance before he could aim at me again I kneed him in the head. Even still that didn’t kill him. Like a crippled animal, he began wailing in pain as my blow caved in his skull. Out of anger, I punched him two more times until he stopped screaming. I stripped him and another man who didn’t want me to come in peaked out. I yelled at him. “Oh, you hear a gun going off and come looking now? Get back inside fuckface or you’ll hear more gunshots!”

The guy only had two magazines on him and had emptied most of the clip he had in. I replaced the almost empty clip with a fresh magazine and stored it and the clips. The woman was carrying a briefcase and it was loaded with cash and other weapons. Knives some clothes and the things a businessman might bring on their trip. The knives were out of place and I couldn’t figure out where they came from but the man came from higher up in the building.

He might have robbed people on his way out of the building.