Investing in My Harem in the Apocalypse Makes Me Stronger
Chapter 6: “If You’re Really Thankful, Kiss Me.”

Chapter 6: “If You’re Really Thankful, Kiss Me.”

Killing an enemy far above his Level had rewarded him with additional stats.

That meant hunting stronger enemies would give more benefit as it would give him additional stats that he could only get while leveling up.

While Cain was smiling happily, Ron slowly looked toward the hole in the training hall wall.

He looked at Cain.

Then he looked at the empty hand where his javelin had been.

Ron grabbed Cain’s clothes.

"You motherfucker!"

He shook him hard.

"Why the fuck did you throw away the only weapon I have?"

Cain’s head moved back and forth.

"How am I supposed to fight now?"

Ron continued shaking him.

"At this rate, I’m truly going to be killed by you instead of these zombies!"

"Stop shaking me."

"Fuck that!"

Ron pointed toward the hole.

"If I’m going down, we’re going down together. Watch me go after your ass the moment I become one of them!"

Cain coughed and pushed Ron’s hands away.

"How was I supposed to know the zombie was that weak?"

Ron became silent.

The seven students behind Elara also became silent.

Elara looked down at the Hardened Zombie she had been fighting with her life on the line.

Cain had destroyed its head with one throw.

Now he was claiming that it had been weak.

"If you want to blame someone, blame the zombie," Cain said. "Not me."

Ron stared at him.

"That is the worst excuse I have ever heard."

Cain ignored him and walked toward Elara.

Relief appeared in his eyes when he confirmed that her injury was not severe.

"Thank God you’re still safe."

Elara lowered her sword. She simply stared at him for a few moments.

Cain’s clothes were stained with blood. A dagger hung at his waist, while dark energy slowly faded from his arm.

He looked different from the Cain she had seen yesterday.

However, the irritating expression on his face was still the same.

Cain glanced toward the other students.

"Let’s get out of here and gather with the others."

He suddenly stopped when he noticed a green light flickered beside the Hardened Zombie’s corpse.

Cain immediately walked over.

A green orb rested near its shoulder.

His previous White Orb had contained an Unranked Dagger.

This one was clearly different.

[Green Orb: Contains one random Uncommon-rank item.]

Cain smiled in satisfaction.

Ron approached from behind.

"What is it?"

Cain turned his body, blocking Ron’s view.

"Fuck off."

"I only asked."

"You ask too many questions."

Cain crushed the orb.

Green light spread between his fingers, then black sword appeared in his hand.

The weapon was much heavier than the dagger he had obtained earlier.

Cain pulled the blade several centimeters from its sheath.

The metal was dark, but a faint silver line ran along its sharpened edge.

[Blacksteel Longsword (Uncommon-rank)]

[A well-balanced sword forged from refined blacksteel. It possesses greater durability and sharpness than Common-rank weapons.]

Cain fully unsheathed the sword.

He could feel that it was a good quality sword.

It was two full ranks above his Unranked Dagger, which explained the enormous difference in quality.

Ron’s eyes lit up.

"That sword should be mine."

Cain looked at him.

"What?"

"The orb dropped from something killed using my weapon."

"That doesn’t make it yours."

"It was my javelin!"

"It’s gone now."

Ron opened his mouth, but Cain lightly kicked him in the stomach. "Get the hell out of here!"

Ron stumbled backward and cursed, "You shameless bastard!"

A series of growls came from the path behind them.

The zombies they had avoided while running across the campus had followed their scent and noise.

More infected students appeared between the trees.

Several emerged from behind the athletic building.

There were more than twenty.

Ron looked toward them.

Cain’s eyes moved between the approaching zombies and the exhausted students behind Elara.

An idea entered his mind.

"Wait here. I have a plan." He stretched his neck.

Cain lowered his body and activated Ruin Dragon Force.

Dark energy covered his legs and right arm.

He rushed toward the zombies.

The first creature reached for him.

Cain swung the Blacksteel Longsword horizontally.

The blade passed through its waist, separating the upper half of its body from its legs.

The zombie fell, but its arms continued clawing at the ground.

Cain stepped past it.

The second lost both legs below the knees.

A diagonal slash cut through the next zombie’s waist.

Cain continued moving through the group.

His new sword cut far more cleanly than the dagger. With Ruin Dragon Force reinforcing the edge, bones and hardened muscles failed to slow it down.

He deliberately avoided their necks and skulls.

One by one, the zombies collapsed.

Within a short time, more than twenty infected students were crawling helplessly across the ground.

Cain returned to the group.

Only a small amount of blood covered the Blacksteel Longsword.

He flicked the blade toward the ground before sheathing it.

"Except for Ron and Elara, the rest of you finish them."

The students stared at the crawling zombies.

Cain pointed toward their heads.

"They cannot stand anymore. Use this chance to Level up."

Ron frowned. "Why are you excluding me?"

Ron wanted to complain more, but Cain cut him off as he removed the dagger from his waist and pushed it into Ron’s hand before explaining his intention to the others.

He explained that he had obtained additional stats when he killed the hardened zombie whose level was many times higher than him.

Thus, he planned to only kill those higher level zombies so that he could obtain more additional stats while he was at it.

Naturally he wouldn’t force anyone. If they believed they could kill zombies whose levels were many times above them, Cain told them feel free to follow his method.

The seven people behind Elara looked at each other and finally made up their minds as they quietly walked toward the disabled zombies.

Even in their current state, finishing a zombie required courage.

The first male student hesitated for several seconds before thrusting his sword through one creature’s eye.

A notification appeared in front of him.

His frightened expression was soon replaced by surprise.

The others quickly followed.

"Cain."

Elara’s voice came from beside him.

"Hmm?" Cain turned his head.

Elara smiled faintly.

"Thank you."

A notification appeared before Cain could respond.

[Eligible Investment Target detected.]

[Elara possesses sufficiently high Favorability toward the Host.]

[Ding! You have saved Elara from danger.]

[You have obtained Strength +3, Agility +6, Physique +2, Sense +3, Mana +1, and Magic +3.]

Cain’s eyes widened for a brief instant.

Energy poured throughout his body.

His Agility stat rose sharply, making his body feel lighter. His perception improved along with it, and the sounds around him became clearer.

He had received such a large reward simply for saving Elara.

The Investment Harem System was far more generous than he had expected.

Cain quickly composed himself before Elara noticed his reaction.

"Why are you acting so strange?" Cain chuckled. "You’re acting as if we aren’t close enough for me to save you."

"Why can’t you accept my thanks normally?" Elara snorted.

Cain leaned his head closer.

"If you’re really thankful, kiss me."

Elara’s face immediately changed.

"You!"

She thrust the sheathed fencing sword toward his chest.

Cain raised the Blacksteel Longsword and blocked it.

Clang!

"Wow... Be careful there, young lady." Cain smiled.

"You almost injured your benefactor."

Elara pulled her sword back. "You deserved it."

Ron rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, yeah.... Keep acting as if you own the world and everyone else is only renting space from you."

Before Ron could finish, Elara drew her fencing sword and thrust it toward him.

"Fuck!"

Ron jumped backward.

The sharp tip stopped where his stomach had been a moment earlier.

He looked at Elara in disbelief.

"Why the fuck did you attack me with the real blade?"

Ron pointed toward Cain as he continued, "You used the sheath on him!"

"You talk too much." Elara calmly returned the sword to its sheath.

"That doesn’t answer my question!"

Cain laughed.

The brief exchange eased some of the tension among the survivors.

Several students even smiled despite the corpses surrounding them.

One after another, the crawling zombies were killed.

When the final zombie died, another notification appeared.