008, level up!

Her physical stamina was no different from when she first awakened in her previous life—only 20 points! She couldn’t even activate Skill 2: Extraction once! Not to mention that her talent stipulated: after using Skill 2: Extraction, she must use Skill 3: Reward on her servant! Skill 3: Reward also required 100 stamina points to activate!

In other words, to extract a servant’s talent, skill, constitution, or attribute once, Qi Ran would have to expend at least 200 stamina points! Though an SSS-level talent was excellent, it was incredibly draining on her stamina!

Qi Ran felt a twinge of regret in her heart. But soon, she brimmed with determination. Such a godlike skill was far too precious to waste and gather dust! She must level up as quickly as possible! As long as her level rose and her stamina increased accordingly, she would be able to use Skill 2: Extraction and Skill 3: Reward!

While Qi Ran was checking her personal attribute panel, the impassioned electronic voice sounded again:

[Detected: The servant is currently 2.7 kilometers from the young mistress. The young mistress may choose:

1. Command the servant to stay and await orders!

2. Command the servant to rush over for close protection!]

[Friendly reminder: As the young mistress’s position changes, the coverage radius within one hundred kilometers will also change, and the contracted servant will be adjusted accordingly. Please consider all factors comprehensively and choose the safest and most reliable servant protection method!]

Huh!

With a series of such gentle reminders, Qi Ran couldn’t help but feel slightly overwhelmed by the attention. In her previous life, this impassioned electronic voice only sounded when she killed enough zombies to level up; it never patiently explained things to her like this. It even kindly reminded her to carefully consider all factors to select the safest way to have her servant protect her!

In her former life, Qi Ran’s awakened talent was not particularly outstanding. Yet she ranked 356th on the Blue Star leaderboard. Having often faced death and escaped by the skin of her teeth, her combat awareness was extraordinarily sharp. Therefore, these thoughtful reminders from the electronic voice made sense.

After some reflection, Qi Ran quickly understood: Although she had now awakened a top-tier talent, her combat methods were still too limited—practically nonexistent. If she encountered zombies, she could only rely on a kitchen knife and a hockey stick, not much different than before her awakening!

From the virtual panel, Qi Ran could clearly see that her stamina was only 20 and her strength a mere 17. Her combat power rating was zero stars! Meanwhile, her contracted servant had 50 stamina, 52 strength, and a combat power rating of zero stars, but at the top tier.

Although Qi Ran was curious to test whether a newly spawned level 0 zombie with zero mental power could recognize her as its master, it was more important to improve her strength under the current circumstances. She urgently needed to head to the commercial street to slaughter zombies!

She sped off in her car. As she moved, her position would inevitably change, and correspondingly, the search range of Skill 1: Contract would also shift. It was possible that during her movement, a stronger creature might appear and immediately replace the zombie servant she was currently contracting!

If Qi Ran chose to command the zombie servant to protect her closely, she wasn’t yet sure whether a zombie servant with zero mental power could truly recognize her as its master during the contract. But once the contract ended and the servant changed, the former zombie servant would instinctively be drawn by flesh and blood and immediately turn to attack her!

To be cautious, after some consideration, Qi Ran chose option 1: command the servant to stay and await orders. She wanted to try option 2—ordering the servant to rush over for close protection—because she suspected the distance at which the zombie servant stayed close could be controlled by the young mistress.

If that were true...

Qi Ran noted the zombie servant’s agility was 8, while hers was 12. By maintaining an appropriate distance, she could have the zombie servant lead the way and absorb damage, yet when the contract changed and became invalid, she could use her superior agility to quickly put distance between herself and the dangerous former servant.

However, this idea flashed only briefly in Qi Ran’s mind. Her current priority was to get to the commercial street and slaughter as many zombies as possible within the next three days before her next awakening opportunity to increase her strength. It was unwise to complicate matters.

Therefore, Qi Ran simply let the zombie servant stay put and started the car, rushing toward the bustling commercial street. The time was now 15:25, roughly 35 minutes before Lan Yin Bridge would be bombed in her previous life.

It took about eight minutes to drive from her residential area to Lan Yin Bridge, cross it, and reach the other side. Qi Ran pressed the accelerator hard and sped along. Power had to increase! She was determined to cut off Qi Sheng’s chance to awaken his talent this time around—this ungrateful wretch from her former life. She absolutely had to reach the other side before the bridge exploded!

As Qi Ran raced forward, the mechanical electronic voice in her mind did not cease:

[Beep beep beep beep! Beep beep beep beep!]

[Detected: Tester successfully slaughtered 203 zombies! Enough energy gained to level up!]

[Host may choose:

1. Level up!

2. Maintain current level!]

[Reminder: Upon leveling up, health, stamina, strength, agility, and mental power will all increase by a certain amount! Exhausted stamina will be restored!]

[Please make a choice within ten seconds whether to level up!]

[If no choice is made within the time limit, the guide will automatically select option 1, level up!]

[Countdown begins: Ten! Nine! Eight! ...]

Without hesitation, Qi Ran immediately chose option 1: level up!

The impassioned electronic voice began announcing a series of rewards. The broadcast was somewhat delayed, as slaughtering 203 zombies had taken place inside the supermarket. After exiting, Qi Ran was already struggling to lift her arm—an obvious sign of exhaustion. But at the time, she cared little.

She remembered that in her former life, she always leveled up after killing 200 zombies. Upon leveling up, her depleted stamina would be restored. Using the stamina recovery gained from leveling up during battle was a bug she had mastered perfectly after countless close calls.

Thus, Qi Ran had a deep impression of the stamina restoration that came with leveling up.

Now, as she was about to face her next battle, she would naturally take the opportunity to recover her stamina.

Almost the moment she made her choice, the impassioned electronic voice sounded again!