Chapter 6

Jilermo shouted at Kirk, "Let's go, you damn prophet! You've done your best, and I thank you! Don't stay here to die!"

Kirk began to waver, but he had no choice now. The zombies were also gathering in large numbers at the back door. He exchanged a look with Mori, who nodded. Kirk shouted, "We'll go together, we're willing to fight to the death!" He stabbed a zombie's throat, his fingers cut by the sharp blade, and blood flowed freely.

His strength was still too weak. At night, the zombies' strength should have reached 8-9 points, comparable to Mori's, which was more than three times Kirk's. In close combat, Kirk was completely overpowered. He glanced at the battle log and saw that the zombies could deal overwhelming damage to him!

To be reduced to this as the protagonist, Kirk was speechless.

Jilermo seemed to have prepared in advance and organized people to pull down the first wall, trapping many zombies under the collapsed wall. However, this was just a drop in the bucket. The defenders, losing their advantageous position, were forced to retreat to the second line of defense in the courtyard.

Suddenly, Kirk remembered something, "Jilermo, do you have any gasoline here?"

Jilermo was taken aback but quickly organized people to bring all the gasoline and flammable materials. Kirk didn't hesitate, snatched the gasoline can, and wildly splashed it around the courtyard. Then he grabbed a lighter and threw it into the yard.

A huge flame shot up into the sky. In the dead of night, the bloodlust of the zombies drove them to charge in even more crazily, despite their fear of light and fire. One after another, they were reduced to ashes in the inferno!

Everyone desperately threw all flammable materials into the fire to prolong the burning time.

A skeletal hand reached out from the flames, grabbing for the little girl. "Snap!" The skeletal hand was cut in two, and Mori, expressionless, retracted his blade.

The little girl said in a sweet voice, "Thank you, Uncle, you're a good person."

Mori's face turned pale, clearly thinking he should be a terrifying person who could stop children from crying, but now he had become the little girl's nanny, babysitter, and bodyguard.

Kirk was both amused and exasperated, but he had already received a notification. His idea had contributed to the kills! That meant he was getting rich! Kirk looked at the battle log excitedly.

However, Kirk found that the space wouldn't let him take shortcuts. The death reward for each zombie was now discounted, with five burned zombies providing only one survival point, reducing the reward to 10% of the original. But because of their large numbers, Kirk still earned about 100 points, which was still a good profit.

Half an hour later, the fire was dying down, and the zombies were gradually approaching. Gunfire echoed through the dark sky again.

Another half hour of intense fighting, and by 1:00 AM, the nursing home's defenses could no longer hold.

More zombies were still pouring in, an endless sea of them.

Ammunition was almost depleted. Everyone retreated to the third line of defense—the lobby. The steel door had been forced open by the zombies, and people were now lined up, using sharp iron rods and knives to stab the zombies' heads, eyes, and mouths.

Mori said expressionlessly, "I told you, you would eventually get us killed."

Kirk pulled a steel pipe out of a zombie's head and said with a bitter smile, "Brother, can you say something more auspicious? You're a jinx."

Green was already panting, "We've killed so many, it's worth it."

Mori shook his head, "They are endless, killing them is pointless."

Kirk thought to himself, "Of course it's pointless for you, but not for me. Unfortunately, I don't know how to get everyone out of here."

At that moment, a nurse ran in, shouting with joy that several large vehicles had arrived at the back door, including reinforced buses. Everyone was being evacuated.

Green laughed, "Rick and the others finally came to support us. I've already sent a radio signal to inform them of our situation."

Mori's face was dark. But Kirk was overjoyed because he received a message from the space: "Contractor 4444, you have completed the hidden side quest—The Fall of the Nursing Home. Due to your justice, courage, and wisdom, you prevented the deaths of 82 humans, affecting the subsequent plot. Reward: 2% plot deviation. Considering this hidden side quest is the first to be completed by a contractor, the reward is increased by 100%. As a new recruit, your reward is increased by 50%. The plot difficulty coefficient (night battle, new recruit C-level difficulty) increases the reward by 50%. You will receive a 300% reward. Please choose 2 rewards from the following:

A. Strength +3 (originally +1, the following are the original rewards, no repetition)

B. Agility +3 (+1)

C. Stamina +3 (+1)

D. Intelligence +3 (+1)

E. Wisdom +3 (+1)

F. Charisma +3 (+1)

G. A bottle of high-protein potassium injection, restoring 100% stamina and energy.

Without a doubt, these basic attribute boosts were very valuable. Kirk later learned that in the space, tasks that directly rewarded basic attributes were very rare. Even if some hidden tasks did, the maximum was +1. If not for the various coincidences and his choices aligning with the main plot, he would not have received such a generous reward.

Kirk thought long and hard and ultimately chose Strength and Stamina.

The main theme of the space is survival, as can be inferred from its name, "Arena" (English phonetic translation, meaning arena or coliseum). Survivors are the winners. The main task for new recruits was to survive for seven days, a serious warning to new recruits. Stamina is the foundation of survival; without it, nothing else matters. Kirk had been on the brink of death several times due to the zombie horde. If not for the protection of Mori, Green, Jilermo, and the doctors and nurses, he would not have survived such intense battles. So, this opportunity was invaluable, and even mountains of gold and silver could not replace the chance to survive. Choosing +3 Stamina was a no-brainer. At the same time, he decided to strengthen his training at home.

+3 Strength was chosen because ordinary zombies had dealt overwhelming damage to him, deeply affecting him. Since zombie battles often involved close combat, each time he was overwhelmed, his survival was at risk. With the boost, Kirk's strength reached 7 points. While he couldn't uproot willows, he would no longer be easily crushed by ordinary zombies.

In addition, Kirk received a new title, "Fire Chief."

[Fire Chief]: Black Iron Level Title. Automatically obtained by saving more than 50 humans in this task. Effects: 30% increase in rewards for completing rescue tasks, automatic gain of human faction character goodwill (ignores whether equipped), +2 charisma check when interacting with humans while equipped.

Upon checking, since he had saved so many humans at once, the next level, Bronze Title [Firefighter]—saving 20 humans—was automatically completed. The next step to complete the Silver Title [Firemaniac]—saving 100 humans—was 82/100, almost complete.

As for the other Black Iron Title [Zombie Hunter], Kirk had completed it due to his brutal killing and burning of zombies.

[Zombie Hunter]: Black Iron Level Title. Obtained by killing more than 500 zombies. Effects: 10% increased damage to zombies. Negative effect:优先吸引丧尸注意，请谨慎行事。

下一级别，白银称号【丧尸猎王】，要求杀1000个丧尸，目前进度661/1000。

杀了一晚上丧尸，即使由于他在安全的地方使用火力武器击杀导致掉落几率降低，但由于他是首次试炼且综合评价较低，居然也拿到了7把白色钥匙。开了以后，没有开出什么武器装备来，就是一些生存点、一些技能潜能点。目前，柯克已经攒了2000个生存点和2点技能潜能点了。

按照空间的查询结果，技能潜能点可以用来升级技能等级，具体需要的点数因级别和技能等级而不同。另外，柯克还查询得知，空间的奖励发放还包括“基本属性点”，可以用来提升基本属性，可惜这次没有得到。

这时，柯克看到一个黑色卷发、中等身材、眼光精悍的中年男人走了过来，周围簇拥着一大群人，柯克知道正主瑞克到了。

瑞克与莫里一见面，就是火星撞地球般的眼神碰撞！

莫里大笑着：“瑞克警长，看到我还活着是不是很惊讶啊？”

瑞克抿抿嘴，平静地对视莫里：“我和达里尔、TDOG一起回去找过你。”

莫里看向一旁的另一个精壮男人，那男人手持一个钨合金钢的十字弩，平静中蕴含着力量和危险，点了点头。

莫里摇了摇头：“那又怎么样？找过又很快离开了！我的右手没有了！”

瑞克怒道：“莫里，你才是麻烦制造者，你自己应该承担起那次事件的责任。你要是不找大家的麻烦，大家为什么离开你!”

柯克正要说话，居然对面有一个女子张口了：“瑞克，冷静点！”瑞克竟然真得住嘴了。柯克看去，这个女人居然不是瑞克的妻子劳瑞，而是一头黑色短发，精明强干的中国女人，看上去倒像是某个大公司的HR总监。

柯克向后退了半步，冷静旁观起来。

这个队伍比预想中的要大，对面的TDOG、安达利亚、劳瑞、瑞恩等主要人物都来了。更让柯克吃惊的是，他们的身边，都站着一个明显面生的非剧情人物。看衣着打扮，看气质行事，总是给柯克一种熟悉的感觉。

联想到之前的空间提示，柯克恍然大悟：“老子并不是唯一来到这里试炼的新手啊。看来每一个新手都被安排到剧情人物身边做徒弟或跟班之类。”

这时候，一个黄发小青年发现了对面成群的丧尸被门挡住成了活靶子，马上怪叫一声，拉开枪栓，跑了过去，杀丧尸刷积分。

他的行为很快被其他试炼者开始模仿，一时间，枪声大作。

剧情人物们纷纷皱起眉头。那个短发女人也是喝止不住，脸色铁青。

“走吧！”瑞克手一挥，团队开始撤出。莫里不想跟上，不过他兄弟达里尔不干，死拉活拽，莫里也没有更好的脱身之策，被达里尔和柯克弄到车上。

汽车要走，几个试炼契约者却一直没有返回。瑞克皱着眉头猛摁喇叭。也就是他好脾气一些，如果是肖恩这样暴脾气猛人，早就摇摇头开车跑路，把这群无组织无纪律的散兵游勇扔在这里喂丧尸了。

这时，黄毛带头小青年才一身腐肉污血地走了回来。他响亮地吹了一声口哨，炫耀地拉了一下枪栓。“哇喔，酷！我第一个完成了【丧尸猎手】称号！”

几个其他男人女人也是呼呼喝喝地炫耀着自己的成绩和收获。柯克冷眼旁观，那个短发女人按捺不住心中的怒气，大声叱道：“黄毛！我们说好了，要听从命令，统一行动，你为什么不听指挥？”

黄毛一脸彷徨，“你什么时候规定不准打丧尸了？我怎么不知道？”言毕，他偷瞟了一眼短发女郎饱满的胸脯。几个男女一起放声大笑。

短发女人气得胸脯急速起伏，眼睛一转看到了躲在角落里的柯克，丹凤眼上下打量了一番，嘴角里泛出一丝微笑。“这位小兄弟，你在莫里身边呆了不短时间，这次战斗也出了不少力吧？”

柯克做出一副天然呆的表情，笑道：“力气我倒是有一把，丧尸太危险，我又比较笨手笨脚，还好莫里只让我给他上子弹。”

几道鄙视目光投过来，这已经是第二天了，进来的新手们已经逐渐适应了战斗的节奏，开始逐渐活跃起来，黄毛都杀了100多丧尸了，其他人也都各有表现。现在这个新来的菜鸟说他主要是上子弹的。女人虽然还有所怀疑，但是她也精于世故，相人无数，看到柯克一副老实**丝的样子，也不像有特殊才能的人。本想追问跟着莫里捞到什么好处，也就懒得问了，笑笑过去。

柯克却跟旁边的一个小胖子找到了共同语言，两个人都是宅男，几句话就套到了近乎。小胖明显是一进来就与团队汇合，没见过什么大风浪，心性单纯，被柯克几句有的没的就套出了词。

原来，空间竟然一次性投入了十几名新进试炼者进入这个场景，并且将他们通过各种剧情，分派给了每一个剧情人物，每人都分别救了一个契约者。比如，这个小胖就在被丧尸吃掉之前，遇上了剧情胖纸TDOG。两个胖子，一大一小，一白一黑，相得益彰。再比如那个短发女人叫马睿祺，一直跟着瑞克。不知是口才过人还是什么厉害，这女人居然跟瑞克打得火热，捞了不少好处。那个黄毛则是跟了桀骜不驯的肖恩。肖恩是瑞克的好朋友、好同事，也是一名训练有素的警察，战力很强。不过他嫉妒瑞克，垂涎瑞克的老婆劳瑞，人性又比较自私，只顾自身安危。终于，肖恩走向了人性扭曲、杀友夺妻的反面，不过出师未捷，惨死在瑞克手里。

劳瑞身边是一个叫莎莉的欧美金发女人。两个人应该很有共同语言，走得很近。莎莉与马睿祺两个男女猪脚身边的女人一直不合，明争暗斗。

黑人“刀女”身边有一个干干瘦瘦清秀的日本男孩，有点像日本动漫里的森兰丸，小受那种，也背着一把大太刀，比他人还高。他介绍自己也是喜爱动漫和COSPLAY，让大家就称他为森兰丸。这小子眼神挺阳光，却总是有些闪烁。柯克瞄了瞄他右手上手指关节，脸色一变。这小子如果真是一个新人，那他原来肯定练过刀剑。因为他的手指指节宽大，有茧，那是长期练习剑道留下的。格林那边也有一个韩国男孩迎了上来，两个人开始一通“思密达”韩语交流起来。这个韩国男孩比较帅，应该整过，个人实力还不知道。

如此推测，那大反派菲利普身边是不是也应该有一个契约者存在呢？如果那样，对于故事的走向和具体的细节，菲利普那边应该是一清二楚。那针对剧情团队的袭击会不会提前到来呢？

这边的团队新人垃圾又分裂，潜在的敌人又把情况摸得清清楚楚，前途多舛啊。柯克心中暗暗道。

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