Please Touch Me, Master

'Looks like I can't put this off any longer…'

Bi Chen sighed, slowly walking towards an eerie section of the large clearing he occupied. Ash was already dozens of meters from him, but he could still feel her expectant gaze on him.

'Her growth is good… Level 5 in only a few days.' A cold glint flashed in his eyes. 'I was right to leave her in that dangerous area so she could go through all of that on her own. I would have preferred it if she had lasted longer, but she must have encountered a lot of Abominations and couldn't go on.'

Only Bi Chen could use the System, and since he controlled Ash's Stat distribution, he could also monitor it. When her Integrity reached a dangerous level, he simply called her back to his side—a method he already knew he possessed.

He had also been distributing her Stats for her in the days that passed, which was why she had survived for so long despite the many dangers she found herself in.

'Level 5… just how many Rank 1 Abominations did she have to kill to get to that point?'

Based on Bi Chen's calculations, killing a single Rank 1 Abomination raised his own Level by one. Afterwards, he had to kill two Rank 1 Abominations to reach Level 3. For Level 4, he had to kill four, and for Level 5, he had to kill eight.

The numbers kept getting multiplied by two to reach the next point.

Sixteen for Level 6

Thirty-two for Level 7

Sixty-four for Level 8.

One hundred and twenty-eight for Level 9

… And a whooping two hundred and fifty-six for Level 10.

In total, he had killed over five hundred Rank 1 Abominations; five hundred and eleven, to be precise.

'I actually killed a lot more than that, but I died twice, so I had to restart the process…'

The important thing wasn't the number of Abominations he had killed, but the number Ash had to kill in order to reach Level 5. She was only Level 2 a few days ago, which meant she had gained three additional Levels in that time.

If it was him, he would have had to kill fourteen Abominations to achieve this.

But—

'Ash Levels Up slower than me. I noticed this when it took her killing two Rank 1 Abominations in order to reach Level 2. If it takes her double the effort to Level Up, then she would have had to kill four Rank 1 Abominations to reach Level 3, eight to reach Level 4, and sixteen to reach Level 5.'

That was a total of 28.

Ash actually killed twenty-eight Abominations in the span of a few days!

'Impressive… very impressive!' Bi Chen felt proud, and also satisfied that he chose the risky route in order to raise her battle strength very quickly. He would be needing her for upcoming projects, but since she was injured, she couldn't help him now.

No… even if she wasn't injured, he was determined to face this Rank 2 Abomination himself.

'I sacrificed a life so I could study the patterns of that beast, and I sacrificed another life to make sure my preparations were ample.' His thoughts were slow, but flowed nonetheless. 'It works best if I face this Rank 2 alone.'

Even if he could incorporate the aid of an ally, Bi Chen refused to.

'I will be fighting more Rank 2 Abominations as I enter deeper into the Labyrinth, and most of them won't be injured like this one. I'm Level 10 now, but that doesn't mean I'm actually as strong as, say, a Level 10 human.'

He wasn't.

The Race Compendium existed for a reason.

In this world, there Races were divided into hierarchies—from Strongest to Weakest.

Humans scored at Average, while Lesser Undead like Zombies were at the very bottom. They were the weakest. Hence, even a Level 10 Zombie was not as strong as a Level 10 human. In fact, lower Level humans who knew what they were doing could defeat Zombies at Level 10. It was the same way humans at Level 10 weren't a match for Races of a hierarchy—for example, Angels, Demons, or beings like Dragons.

In fact, a Level 1 Dragon could easily kill a Level 10 human. 

That was how unfair this world was.

Not only did Masters have an unfair advantage over Slaves, but depending on the Race one was born into, they could either have supreme power or immensely weak abilities.

Bi Chen understood all of this from the start. As a Zombie Slave, he had been placed in the worst possible situation, which was why he chose to take his own life without even making any efforts to climb to the top.

However, after noticing the perks of the Sovereign Undying Body, he decided to give survival a serious shot.

'Still… Level 10 is the barest minimum needed to face a Rank 2 Abomination, and this is taking the Average into consideration. In essence, Races like Humans, Elves, and Dwarves need to be at Level 10 to take down a Rank 2. As for those stronger, their requirements would be lower. 

For a Lesser Undead, the figures would naturally be higher.

'An average Zombie probably needs to be at Level 20, maybe even higher, to be able to defeat a Rank 2 Abomination…' Bi Chen sighed. 'Compared to that, I'm only at Level 10.'

Despite thinking this, he wasn't dejected.

After all, despite being a Lesser Undead, Bi Chen wasn't the same as other Zombies.

He had the Sovereign Undying Body and also had incredible intelligence—at least, compared to other Zombies. As a proficient gamer of "Please Touch Me, Master", he also had a breadth of knowledge that gave him an edge in this world.

In essence, he was a special case.

'Still, to be able to comfortably deal with a Rank 2, I would still need to be about Level 15 or higher. But, this Abomination has been injured, and I am also familiar with its moves, so that makes things easier.'

Also, Bi Chen had been planning this for quite some time, so he had hidden cards at his disposal. 

They were essential for his plan to work.

'With all of my preparations, I am ninety-nine percent sure I will win!' He clenched his fists in determination as he slowly descended using the path that led beneath the clearing's surface.

Success was practically guaranteed!

[STATUS WINDOW]

- Name: Nameless Zombie (Lvl: 10)

- Race: Lesser Undead

- Status: Slave (Alive, Fully Recovered)

- Integrity: 10

- Physique: 15

- Aptitude: 5 (100% Essence)

- S Points: 3

- Number of Vassals: 1

[Current System Evaluation]

You are a weak, pathetic little Zombie who has inherited the remaining embers of the Sovereign Undying Lord's power and awakened the Sovereign Undying Body. 

You are already growing stronger…

[End of Information]