TWD: Saving Merle First - Chapter 81: Time to Level Up 2 (Patreon)

Wade rubbed his face with both hands, looking completely unbothered.

“Daryl, Ryan, I need you two to make a trip over there and see how many of those drums are usable... Actually, forget that. Bring back anything that still seals properly. Even if we can’t store grain in them, we can always use them for gasoline or diesel.”

As for whether any chemical residue inside might cause problems for an internal combustion engine later, that wasn’t much of a concern.

They had a top-notch mechanic back at camp.

Daryl and Ryan silently nodded.

With one major problem taken care of, Hershel gathered the women in camp, along with Otis and Jimmy, and headed elsewhere to start clearing out an area where they could dry the grain.

After all, Wade had never said they were only harvesting their own fields.

Considering how big an operation he was organizing, was there any chance he hadn’t already set his sights on the surrounding farms?

Better to prepare early.

Otherwise, if they harvested all that wheat only to have nowhere to dry it and ended up letting it rot, even God wouldn’t forgive them.

Abraham watched Wade, who seemed full of energy as he organized everything, and fell silent.

At first, he had thought Wade was simply the leader of a survivor camp.

Now, though, he looked more like someone trying to build a utopia.

Too bad they weren’t heading in the same direction.

Once Abraham helped out for a while longer and repaid what he owed them, he would take Eugene and continue toward Washington.

What he didn’t know was that Eugene’s head was currently filled with one thought.

How could he come up with a better excuse to stay here?

The place was safe.

There was plenty of food.

He didn’t have to constantly worry about walkers attacking.

And best of all, he lived right next door to Rosita.

This place was practically heaven!

Why else did anyone think he had suddenly started speaking up during meetings, offering suggestions, and trying to make himself useful?

Unfortunately, his suggestion hadn’t been adopted.

Rosita stood nearby wearing a sun hat, staring intently at Wade.

No one knew what she was thinking.

After briefly discussing things with Rick, Wade handed the remaining work over to Rick and Shane.

Then he grabbed his weapons, started the pickup, and drove toward another small town.

What was he going there for?

What else?!

He had already eaten dinner.

He had already eaten lunch.

Naturally, it was time to continue the great leveling-up campaign!

There was only one objective for the afternoon.

Walkers had to die.

Finding fuel drums and grain-storage barrels?

That was just something he could do along the way.

The moment Wade drove into the town to the east, he shut off the engine, pulled out the key, slipped it into his pocket, and smoothly chambered a round.

Speedrun mode activated.

First, he pulled out his handgun and casually fired two shots to attract the nearby walkers.

Then he began picking them off with precise shots.

Thanks to the suppressor, the noise was greatly reduced.

The gunshots were still audible, but they weren’t loud enough to bring an entire horde crashing down on him every time he fired.

One 5.56 round after another left the muzzle, accurately punching through the skulls of every walker in sight.

His Experience Points began climbing rapidly.

[Killed 1 Walker, Gained 1 Experience Point]

[Killed 1 Walker, Gained 1 Experience Point]

[Killed 1 Walker, Gained 1 Experience Point]

The System notifications rang out one after another.

Cold bullets were being converted into hot Experience Points.

It wasn’t until Wade had switched to his sixth magazine that the notifications finally changed.

One bullet left the barrel and shattered another walker’s skull.

[Killed 1 Walker, Gained 1 Experience Point]

[Current Experience Points maxed out. Gained 1 Attribute Point]

[Congratulations, Host, on completing the achievement [Slay a Thousand Walkers]. Reward: 1 System Storage Space Expansion Voucher. Automatically used]

Wade let out a long breath.

Now that felt good.

He had known there would be another reward after reaching this level.

The first time had been [First Blood].

That had rewarded him with one cubic meter of Storage Space, which he filled with food, water, and a small amount of weaponry.

The second had been [Defeating 100 Enemies].

His Storage Space expanded to eight cubic meters, giving him enough room to store more weapons and crop seeds.

And now, after using this expansion voucher, the Storage Space had jumped all the way to sixty-four cubic meters.

That was a massive increase.

He could finally start stuffing more things inside again.

If only he could find an armory someday.

Then he could fill the whole thing with rocket launchers, grenades, explosives, and whatever else he could get his hands on.

After that, he’d just need to find a massive horde of walkers and blast his way straight through another level.

Wade happily imagined that beautiful future as he emptied the remainder of his magazine, then entered a nearby house.

A walker inside staggered toward him.

Before it even reached Wade, it managed to trip over a table and some chairs and collapsed onto the floor.

Wade suppressed a laugh, drew his Bowie knife, and drove it into the back of the walker’s skull.

He gave the blade a slight twist, pulled it free, wiped it clean, and returned it to its sheath.

Then he shut the door, sat down in a chair, and leisurely began reloading his magazines.

There was no helping it.

His M4 was still a real modern firearm.

It didn’t come with infinite ammo.

Once the magazine was empty, somebody still had to refill it.

Wade didn’t particularly mind, though.

For him, reloading was also a chance to sit down, relax, and catch his breath.

While he was at it, he put his newly earned Attribute Point into Perception.

[Perception: 6 → 7]

Click.

The moment a round slid into the magazine, Wade paused.

For some reason, the sound seemed louder than before.

No.

Not louder.

Clearer.

Compared to before, he could now pick up subtle details in his surroundings much more easily.

It would also be easier to notice enemies hiding out of sight.

Tsk.

If he had this level of Perception when they fought the Volatiles, maybe he would have noticed that leader’s attack sooner and blown its damn head apart before it ever got close.

Still, better late than never.

It was just...

Wade glanced at his Experience Points.

[0/500]

He sighed.

“This leveling thing is still way too hard. I’ve actually got to burn through another two batches of ammo.”

The thought made Wade laugh at himself.

Back when he was rapid-firing his Recurve Bow, a whole round would only earn him a little over seventy Experience Points.

His arms would ache like hell afterward, and he even had to rely on Attribute Points to ease the strain.

And now he was complaining?

He really had gotten spoiled.

Click.

Once the final round was loaded, Wade chambered his weapon and stepped back outside.

Break time was over.

Round two.