"Superman..." The entire room was dumbfounded, watching as Su Jin scrambled up from the floor.
Though he looked disheveled, the maneuver he had just pulled off was utterly astonishing, no different from special effects in a movie.
It had been a simple set of moves, but the lightness, the hang time, the speed, and the seamless fluidity were simply not something a human being should possess.
Su Jin stood up, crouched, and leapt, touching the ceiling with ease.
Then he stood in place, sinking into thought.
Experiencing such a miraculous change in his body, it was impossible not to feel ecstatic, but the underlying worry in his heart was just as great.
After all, he had absorbed something from inside a zombie's body into his own. Even if nothing felt wrong right now, there was no telling whether abnormal changes would manifest down the line.
Yet under the present circumstances, there seemed to be no point in voicing his concerns.
Sun Ya stepped forward, excitedly feeling Su Jin's body. "Superpowers! This is a superpower! Have you evolved?"
Even the habitually quiet Wei De looked visibly invigorated.
After being suppressed by dread for so many days, especially when Su Jin was unconscious, their nerves had been strung to the absolute limit.
Now it seemed... far from being a bad thing, this was a tremendous stroke of fortune.
Su Jin clenched his fists and rolled his shoulders slightly. "I'm not entirely sure what's going on either... but my body doesn't feel uncomfortable at all. In fact, it's gotten much stronger."
"As the old saying goes, within seven paces of a venomous snake lies the antidote. Looking at it now, the zombies are a crisis, but they're also the opportunity to solve it."
"Makes sense, that makes total sense..." Sun Ya nodded repeatedly, completely past the point of staying calm.
Although he had always maintained rational thinking, that very reason had been constantly reminding him that the collapse of the nation was near-certain proof that the existing system could not handle this sudden catastrophe.
For a hastily cobbled together, ragtag little group, merely surviving was extraordinarily difficult.
Now, a turning point had appeared!
A singular crisis... had yielded a singular solution! Perhaps nature truly was balancing the scales.
"The space in here is too cramped. I'll go outside to test it. Wait here for me," Su Jin said, then turned and headed straight downstairs.
As he descended the stairs, he continued to feel out the novel sensations arising in his body.
He could tell his speed and agility had skyrocketed!
With just a slight exertion, he could burst across a substantial distance.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he decided to try it.
Standing at the third-floor stair landing, Su Jin pushed off with one foot, darting toward the landing below.
Before even touching down, he kicked off the wall, twisted in midair, and leapt directly down to the second floor!
The moment he landed, he felt not the slightest discomfort.
It felt no different from casually jumping down a couple of steps under normal circumstances.
Glancing back up the stairwell, Su Jin suppressed his exhilaration and continued downward.
So there really were treasures inside zombies. Crystals became flesh bulbs—different form, same concept.
Reaching the entrance door on the first floor, Su Jin halted.
He stretched his body slightly and noticed something strange.
His body had suddenly become even lighter, even more supple...
When he had stepped out of the room earlier, his body had felt slightly heavier, though the sensation hadn't been obvious.
Yet upon reaching the ground floor, his body began undergoing a noticeable shift again.
Over these few minutes, the only variable had been the light.
The room had been dimmer than the stairwell, and the first-floor hallway was the darkest of all.
Was it because of the light? Or was his body still mid-transformation?
Overthinking was useless. Su Jin pushed open the door and stepped out!
The morning sun was rising, bathing everything in light.
The grounds outside the residential complex were already blanketed in morning light.
Before he had even fully stepped through the doorway, Su Jin's expression changed dramatically.
His previously light body felt as if it had been filled with lead... that earlier sensation was completely gone.
He took two steps to gauge it; he had merely reverted to the state of an ordinary person, with no actual deterioration.
It was just that the contrast with the prior weightlessness was stark.
Walking to the center of the open ground, Su Jin looked up toward the building.
Several heads were clustered before a window, watching him.
"How is it, Director?" Fu Hu shouted.
The sunlight hit his face at a slant, making Su Jin squint.
His body was still growing heavier, though within a manageable range; aside from that, nothing felt wrong.
Right at that moment, an exclamation echoed from upstairs. Fu Qingdai pointed toward the flank.
"Watch out! A cat!!"
Su Jin whipped his head around. A feral cat had already leaped out from the bushes, lunging ferociously.
Man and cat were barely two meters apart.
Without time to think, Su Jin whipped his leg up in a volley kick!
His shin struck straight into the lower half of the zombie cat's body.
Pus, blood, and visceral fragments sprayed from the cat corpse's mouth and rear as it spun whirring away like an oversized bamboo copter, splattering Su Jin from head to toe with foul gore.
"Holy shit! Shut the door quickly!" Sun Ya shouted back over his shoulder, then leaned against the balcony ledge, craning his neck and roaring, "Don't come back up yet! Wait in the stairwell for observation!"
Su Jin dry-heaved, spitting frantically.
Under the sunlight, his strength surged exponentially!
Yet he had barely acquired superpowers before getting doused in zombie blood.
It's fine... it's fine. Maybe his unique condition made him immune to infection now.
Running back into the stairwell, Su Jin crouched in a corner on the first floor, pale-faced as he monitored for any changes.
An hour later, Fu Qingdai's voice drifted down from up the stairwell.
"Brother, are you there?"
"I'm here. Fine so far."
During the wait, Su Jin had regained his composure. Aside from the rank stench all over him, his body felt completely normal.
"Got it. Are you hungry? Are you cold?"
"Don't worry about me. Report my condition to Elder Sun first."
Fu Qingdai didn't reply, but a minute later, Sun Ya's voice rang out.
"Xiao Li, aren't you cold at all?"
"Not cold in the least."
Su Jin looked down at himself.
In his excitement right after gaining his ability, he had gone outside wearing only a long-sleeved shirt.
Neither he nor anyone else had noticed at the time.
Although the outside temperature was gradually warming up, it was still around twenty to thirty degrees below zero.
Yet he felt not even slightly chilly; his physical constitution had indeed changed substantially.
"It's been an hour. You got covered in quite a lot of blood earlier, and based on our observations with the mice, some abnormal symptoms should have shown by now. Given your unique condition, it seems very likely you're immune to infection. Tonight, go wait on the fourth floor for a day. Once we're sure there's no problem, you can come back tomorrow. A full day and night should settle the matter either way. Water, food, and clothes have all been set out for you in the room."
"Thanks! Stay safe and keep your guard up."
Acknowledging the instructions, Su Jin stood up.
He crouched and jumped, bounding up more than a dozen steps in a single leap.
The next day, the sun shone bright and clear.
Su Jin stood bare-chested before the window, looking up at the sun.
He had slept only three hours that night, but he was brimming with energy.
He could now confirm that contact with zombie bodily fluids would not infect him.
Moreover, after a day of experimentation, he had gained an initial grasp and understanding of his current abilities.
Light was the vital factor governing his powers.
His speed and strength shifted continuously according to the intensity of light—a strength type by day, a speed type by night.
The brighter the light, the more comprehensively his physical defense and recovery speed were amplified; his burst speed was also rapid, but it came with severe stamina drain.
The dimmer the light, the more comprehensively his agility and sustained speed were enhanced, though his power and recovery were average, granting him great endurance.
This transformation of abilities was simply too fantastical. After pondering it for several hours, he completely gave up on deciphering the underlying principles.
Basking in the sunlight, Su Jin felt the immense power within his muscles until a knock sounded at the door.
Chapter 34