Dominion of the Virus King!

[Let's end this year with a bang! 🎉 For every 1 review, I'll upload 1 chapter!

The extra chapters, along with the regular daily uploads, will kick off at the start of 2025!

P.S.: For those interested only.]

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Novak's gaze remained calm. 

At this moment, however, few dared to truly look at the young man they had once overlooked.

Though, of course, there were exceptions.

For instance, the girls with eager, burning eyes.

The girls present were either the privileged second generation of the rich or the girlfriends of such individuals. Naturally, their looks were striking—most could be considered campus beauties, even the stars of their respective departments.

Although Novak had long grown accustomed to seeing beauty at Ocean Blue Villa, he couldn't help but steal a few more glances.

One girl in particular, delicate like a lotus, caught his attention. Her gentle presence stood out, even to someone as used to charm as Novak. For a brief moment, his eyes brightened.

But just as quickly, that light faded, unnoticed by anyone except the girls.

With a slight smile, Novak turned to Gehn, who had spoken, and asked, "Ghen? Zamu? What are you doing here?!"

There were three people in the dormitory, but Novak pointedly ignored the embarrassed Lig standing off to the side. No one seemed to mind.

Gehn, full of excitement, answered: "Didn't I tell you? We followed Brother Dung and Brother Nost here to play cards, but then the apocalypse happened, and we got trapped. It's you, how did you get so strong?"

The question made everyone's eyes light up as they turned to Novak with anticipation.

The intimidating display of power from earlier now seemed to fade in their minds as they suddenly remembered: this person was their classmate!

If Novak could become this powerful, couldn't they too? After all, they were all talented students, and Novak had once been just an ordinary guy.

Who would refuse the chance to go from ordinary to extraordinary?

Novak glanced at Dung and Nost who Zamu was talking about, smirking. "What else can I do? Didn't you see? Just go out, kill zombies, and level up, like an online game."

Everyone exchanged looks.

Dung, the leader, rubbed his hands together nervously. "Novak, is that how you got stronger?"

Novak smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

The excitement in the boys' eyes grew—it was far more thrilling than playing cards!

But no one noticed the indifference and mockery in Novak's gaze.

After hearing Novak's confirmation, someone exclaimed, "Then let's go out and try! There's so many of us—surely we can handle a zombie!"

The excitement was contagious. Gehn, however, glanced at Novak with a hint of hesitation. Something didn't seem right. Wasn't Novak just like them before?

"Novak, then you..."

Novak smiled gently. "I just want to find a place to rest. I can't go with you, but don't worry, mutated zombies like the one earlier are rare."

Even Gehn couldn't help but feel a little awkward, his thoughts revealed before he had even voiced them.

With that, Novak stood and, under the complex gazes of the group, casually picked a room and walked in.

Dung frowned slightly, glancing at Zamu and Gehn before suggesting, "Zamu, Gehn, think you can convince Brother Novak to help us? Maybe he could share some gear or skills?"

The two exchanged looks before following Novak into the bedroom.

Novak wasn't surprised by their reaction. After closing the door, he smiled. "I wasn't lying. You guys could have gone out to level up long ago. But if you want to be like me, it's going to take a lot of effort."

Zamu and Gehn scratched their heads. "We believed you, but how did you get stronger so fast?"

"You've seen the forum, right? There are early awakeners. I'm also one of them. And since you're my roommates, I won't let you die."

Novak didn't like wasting time with words. Without hesitation, he pulled out a large amount of gear from his backpack.

Over ten pieces of equipment, including two vials of virus serum, lay before them. The gear was from low-level zombies, nothing valuable to him or anyone in the elite 001 chat group.

It wasn't even worth the postage.

But for Gehn and Zamu, this equipment would double their stats, making it much easier to deal with low-level zombies.

The two stared at the gear, their eyes burning with excitement.

Novak spoke again. "But let me be clear. I'm giving these things to you two. After that, I don't care what you do with them. Just remember—out there, in the apocalypse, you only have one life. You know better than I do who you can trust. Your own strength is the only thing you can rely on."

He gestured to the two small vials. "These are virus serums, a—life-saving–item. You should know it's importance."

The two fell silent in thought, while Novak lay down on the bed, closing his eyes.

He had done more than enough. Before the apocalypse, Gehn and Zamu had been polite and friendly, often thinking of him when they had something good. This was his way of repaying that kindness.

To Novak, these things meant little. Offering a bit of help, experiencing the sensation of giving to others in the midst of constant killing—it was, in a way, a distraction from the harshness of the apocalypse.

For him, perhaps this was merely a pastime.

After receiving the equipment, Gehn and Zamu packed it away in their bags and walked out the door.

"Well? How did it go?" Dung and the others hurried forward, eager for an update.

Before the apocalypse, to put it bluntly, Gehn, Zamu, and Lig were little more than errand boys for Dung and his crowd. They were subservient, barely more than lackeys.

But now, everything had changed.

Out of nowhere, these two guys' roommate had turned out to be a powerful boss! Who could've expected that? It left the group baffled and forced to reassess their hierarchy.

Now, they had to treat Gehn and Zamu like they were the bosses.

Gehn and Zamu exchanged glances, both silently acknowledging the same choice. Gehn sighed and said, "Brother Dung, Novak did lend us the equipment, but he made it clear—it's for us alone. We can't share it with anyone else, or..."

Zamu picked up where he left off, "Or the equipment will be taken back immediately."

Dung's expression shifted slightly, but he quickly forced a smile, glancing at their newly outfitted shoulders. "That's fine. Now that you two are leading the team, we've got nothing to worry about!"

"Right, in that case, let's head out!" Gehn replied with a smile, taking charge of the conversation.

In just a few minutes, Novak's brief appearance had drastically altered the group's dynamics.

After a bit of preparation, more than a dozen people exited the hotel suite, leaving only a few girls behind in the room.

The girls exchanged glances before one of them spoke up. "Brother Novak is incredible! If only Barq were as impressive as him."

The speaker was Julia Roberts, the campus beauty of De M-anila University's School of Foreign Languages and the girlfriend of Barq, one of the wealthier second-generation students, ranking just below Dung.

The other girls around her exchanged subtle glances, inwardly groaning, 'Here we go again, with her fawning over the next big thing.'

But none of them showed their thoughts on their faces. Instead, they nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, with a boyfriend like that, we wouldn't have to worry about anything!"

"Did you see Brother Novak looking at us earlier? It was kind of intimidating!"

At this remark, the small group of girls fell into silence, eyeing each other. Julia was quick to jump in again.

"Brother Novak came back to rest so quickly—could he have been injured earlier? How about I grab the first aid kit and check on him? We wouldn't want anything to happen..."

All the girls, including the senior Andrea, stared in disbelief as they watched her sashay her way toward the room, clearly in a hurry to beat anyone else to the punch.

But as time passed and Julia didn't reappear, the remaining girls exchanged knowing looks.

It seemed Novak wasn't just a hero of the apocalypse—he had inherited the legacy of a certain legendary charm as well.