Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars
Chapter 23: Pale Beldam

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Pale Beldam

The upper half of a young woman’s body rested at an angle on the nightstand. One side was connected to the long arm, the other to a normal human arm.

Its skin was a bloodless white, making it look almost like a plaster statue.

Countless soft, densely packed tentacles grew from an oval base, vaguely forming the shape of a head.

A vertical slit opened amidst the tentacles. The sonic wave attack from just moments ago must have come from it.

The monster’s slender neck was clearly shriveled. In stark contrast to the pale skin of its other parts, the area above its collarbones was a sickly yellow.

The attack had clearly taken a heavy toll on it.

’It shouldn’t be able to use that again for a while.’

The sharp pain on his tongue temporarily chased away the fog in his mind. Seizing the moment of clarity, Lin Fan thrust his spear under the long arm and twisted it forcefully!

He snared the monster’s long arm on the spear’s shaft, then, with all his might, slammed it against the side of the bed!

’I don’t know how long this pain-induced clarity will last!’

’The monster’s head is exposed, but it’s not like a human’s. It might not even be a vital spot!’

’If I can’t kill it in one shot, that arm will definitely run me through!’

He had the serpentine arm temporarily pinned down, but the moment he loosened his grip on the spear, the arm would break free, and he would be completely within its attack range.

So Lin Fan decisively gave up on attacking the monster’s main body. ’I have to take this arm off first!’

Without a moment’s hesitation, Lin Fan drew the bone cleaver from his apron pocket with his left hand and swung it at the middle of the arm!

A spray of foul blood erupted!

[-46]!

[727/869]

A stream of dark brown, foul blood gushed from the monster’s wounded arm!

Reeling from the pain, the monster began to struggle violently. But with the end of its long arm pinned against the bed by Lin Fan, no matter how much it thrashed, the spike on its appendage couldn’t reach him.

Its thrashing claws sent the pile of rotten flesh on the bed flying everywhere, but it still couldn’t break free in the slightest.

The monster’s struggles grew more powerful. Lin Fan decisively knelt on the spear shaft with one leg, pinning the arm down with his full weight before raising the cleaver for another strike!

Suddenly, his hand felt light. The blade had snapped against the creature’s bone, the broken piece flying off into the room!

Lin Fan stared at the hilt in his hand...

’Fuck!’

’I’m done for!’

Lin Fan’s mind went blank.

’The monster’s arm isn’t even severed, and my only weapon just broke!’

The monster’s pinned arm thrashed without pause. Under the strain of their struggle, the spear shaft in Lin Fan’s hands began to bend.

The monster’s sharp claws were about to reach him!

’If I don’t sever this arm and it breaks free, I’m dead!’

He subconsciously scanned his surroundings, searching for anything that could replace the cleaver—something thin, hard, and tough. Even a piece of scrap metal would do!

In his despair, his mind began to grow hazy again. Past experiences slowly drifted through his thoughts...

’Surgical tables... shadowless lamps...’

’The apocalypse... zombies... health bars... loot drops...’

An idea suddenly flashed through his mind, a lifeline to a drowning man.

’The backpack!’

’The storage space that exists in my consciousness!’

’The things I’d been ignoring, writing them off as useless materials!’

’There IS another blade!’

With a thought, a large blade, 40 centimeters long and 10 centimeters wide, appeared in Lin Fan’s hand!

It was one of the crafting materials: the Blade!

The Blade was just that—a blade with no hilt—but it would have to do for now!

The monster’s joint was already exposed!

Lin Fan gripped the dull spine of the Blade with his left hand, veins bulging on his arm!

Treating it like a chisel, he aimed for the gap in the monster’s joint and drove it in with force!

[-56]

[639/869]

Though the sharp spine of the blade cut into his palm, the force lodged the Blade firmly in the joint’s gap!

He hadn’t managed to sever the limb, but the monster’s movements were now severely hampered!

The sharp claws at its tip began to slow!

Lin Fan’s spirits lifted at the sight. ’It’s working!’

"Just... break!"

He roared, ignoring the searing pain in his hand, and slammed his left fist down on the spine of the Blade like a sledgehammer!

[-125]

[570/869]

The monster’s long arm snapped at the joint!

With his right hand, Lin Fan flicked the spear, sending the severed half of the arm flying!

The Blade certainly lived up to its name!

’Damn sharp!’

After shearing through the monster’s joint, its momentum carried it through the flesh, embedding half of the blade into the solid wood bed frame.

The severed part of the arm hit the floor, twisting back and forth. It lacked its former strength, and after a few twitches, it fell still, completely dead.

The monster seemed to feel the pain from its severed arm. Every tentacle on its anemone-like head writhed madly. The slit on its head gaped wide, revealing rows of circular teeth within, as if it were letting out a silent scream.

Though grievously wounded, the long arm was now free from its restraint. Without a moment’s pause, the stump swung violently at Lin Fan’s head, carrying a foul stench.

Having grievously wounded the monster, Lin Fan was running on pure adrenaline.

Seeing the attack coming, he immediately pulled back his spear and retreated out of the monster’s reach, getting splashed with foul blood from the stump.

Its attack having missed, the monster pulled its long arm back in a defensive posture.

Meanwhile, its shorter, normal arm was pushing against the corner of the nightstand, trying to leverage its body forward.

With its long arm severed, the monster was like a defanged viper, its attack range drastically reduced.

Lin Fan, now without reservation, picked up the steel pipe from the ground and strode forward.

The monster didn’t seem to realize its claws had been severed. It still thrust the stump of its arm forward, splattering black blood on the floor but failing to harm Lin Fan in the slightest.

Lin Fan, holding the steel pipe in a reverse grip with his left hand, pierced the stump of the monster’s long arm. With a second downward thrust, he drove the pipe through it, pinning the limb to the bed.

[-16]

The steel pipe pierced through the solid wood bed frame, pinning the arm securely.

Restrained once more, the monster began to struggle violently, shaking the entire solid wood bed.

But the monster wasn’t heavier than the solid wood bed. Its frantic struggles ended up pulling its own body, nightstand and all, crashing to the floor right at Lin Fan’s feet.

Lin Fan didn’t let the opportunity pass. Gripping the spear with both hands, he drove it down at an angle, plunging it right into the slit on the monster’s anemone-like head!

The surrounding tentacles wrapped frantically around the shaft, but they couldn’t slow the spear in the slightest!

With immense force, the spearhead plunged into the monster’s giant maw. The feedback through the shaft was soft, as if there was no skull or bone structure within.

The tentacles, however, grew even more frenzied! They suddenly shot out, whipping toward Lin Fan’s arms!

’Not a vital spot?’

But his mind was much clearer now. In an instant, he recalled the Mutant Dog he had dismembered earlier.

’The vital spot must be inside its body!’

Lin Fan decisively leaned forward. He leveled the spear with both hands, facing the oncoming tentacles, and put his entire body weight into one powerful thrust!

The tentacles coiled around his arm guards, trying to stop his advance. Splattering, slimy blood made the spear shaft almost slip from his grasp, but he held on for dear life.

Half the length of the spear plunged deep into the monster’s body, following the line of its neck.

Suddenly, he felt a jolt through the shaft, as if he had pierced through some kind of "shell"!

The tentacles instantly went limp, as if struck by lightning.

[-999]!

[0/869]

[Acquired: Diesel (Small) x2]

[Acquired: Gasoline (Small) x2]

[Acquired: Scrap Metal x2 (Crafting Material)]

[Acquired: steel wire x2 (Crafting Material)]

[Acquired: Screaming Potion (Small) x2]

[Screaming Potion (Small): Allows user to emit a sonic attack for ten minutes (causes severe vocal cord strain). (Can be consumed directly or injected). (Repeat use within 1 hour has no effect).]

[Acquired: Concealment Potion (Small) x2]

[Concealment Potion (Small): Reduces zombie perception of the user. Duration: 10 minutes. (Can be consumed directly or injected). (Repeat use within 1 hour has no effect).]

[Acquired: Hardening Potion (Small) x1]

[Hardening Potion (Small): Slightly increases the user’s physical toughness. Duration: 10 minutes. (Can be consumed directly or injected). (Repeat use within 1 hour has no effect).]

...

’It’s over...’

Luckily, the monster hadn’t managed to let out a second sonic attack before it died. If it had, he wasn’t sure he would have survived.

With the monster finally dead, Lin Fan suddenly felt a wave of dizziness. The vertigo he had forcefully suppressed came rushing back with a vengeance.

Without even getting a chance to look at the loot, he staggered to the door and opened it. Finally succumbing to the vertigo, his vision went black, and he collapsed...

...