'Yes, this place will be fine.'

  After my first fight in this world, I found shelter from the daylight inside the rest of what I thought was a temple of some kind, judging by the symbols engraved on the walls. It wasn't that the sunlight affected me the same way as the other Undead, but I still found uncomfortable to stand in it. Probably, I was only relieved from the debuff to my Status, and not from the opposition that my kind harboured to it.

  Also, there was a bigger chance to meet adventurers during the day, so it wasn't a bad idea to stay hidden somewhere, waiting for the Sun (or whatever that flaming celestial body in the sky was called here) to set and recovering from the wounds received the night before.

  I was surprised to discover that a zombie was able to heal! Or, to be more precise, that my HP would slowly recover on their own, as the gash in my chest was still open. I'd have to find something to fix that, it would be quite the problem if I'd become a walking mess of holes and stitches.

  Surely enough, healing magic was a no-go, as it could only cause more damage to me. Some kind of necromantic spell should exist for such situations, otherwise, how did the necromancers repair their servants?

  Anyway, I put those thoughts aside and focused on the most important thing: the “Guide for Adventurers”!

  Such a lucky find! With this book, I could understand more about this world and learn how to survive. So, sitting down in the shadows, I started to read the first page:

  'Booooring! Let's skip to more interesting parts.'

  I flipped the page and went to the next subchapter, finding a brief explanation about Adventuring Guilds, that would be expanded in the next chapter.

  Skipping ahead of that, I found the next talking about the dangers of adventuring: traps, ambushes, monsters, criminals, etcetera. The list was going for a few more things, and it would be explained in another chapter.

  The first chapter was all basic knowledge I've already known by my previous life's pastimes. The second chapter was about Guilds, so I passed that entirely. I wasn't really interested in joining a Guild, and anyway, I would have to face some slight difficulties if I'd ever wish to join one

  The next chapter was about an adventurer's possible Jobs. That was something that interested me: knowing your enemy is half of the battle, as they say, and by understanding how they fought I could prepare my countermeasures. It wasn't necessary to deepen on the subject at the moment, so I just gave a quick read on their basic abilities and uses, keeping in mind to dedicate more time to these pages in future. There were also charts about the available career paths, how convenient!

  Then, a special note near the end caught my eye:

  'Now that's good news!'

  Monsters were able to get Jobs, same as the adventurers. That would give a nice advantage in a fight, combining the natural abilities of a creature with the ones learned by training. Shame that there weren't more details about that topic. I'd have to discover more about it the hard way.

  But that was for later, I had to read another chapter before the end of the day. It was the one that could contain precious information on this world, so it was better to study it attentively.

  And there it was! Second-to-last chapter, after the "Environments" and the "Dungeons" ones, the "Monsters and Races"!

  'Excellent! This will help me.'

  And then the text proceeded to talk about the animals; just a couple of sentences on how they were originally peaceful monsters that were domesticated centuries ago until they lost all their dangerous features and could be used for produces.

  At the end of the last paragraph, I found another special note:

  'So, even in this place, there is some kind of racism towards the more monster-like beings, huh?'

  Obviously, in the sub-chapter dedicate only to them, I found that almost all the monsters were described as some kind of plague, that it was to be destroyed on sight, with only a few exceptions. There were also beneficial monsters and neutral ones, those were to be left alone unless there was the necessity.

  Unfortunately, if I wanted to read more about the many kinds of monsters, I had to get my hands on the "Monsters's Encyclopedia"'s volumes, as stated by the book I was reading. A not-so-simple feat, as they were stored in the Guilds' archives.

  'I'll have to rely only on Identify for information, then.'

  Not that it was a bad thing, I would level up the skill quickly by using it often, but usually, it was better to have the data on your enemy BEFORE you meet them, not at the moment!

  Sighing with annoyance, I put away the Guide in my sack, and just laid there, reflecting on what happened in the last hours and what to do next.

  I was a zombie in a dungeon, I was sentient and I was strong. But what there was for me to do? I never had great goals in my life, I was a simple guy, living a normal and boring life. Even if I had a dream, that was meaningless now.

  In every story that I read with this kind of plot, the main character either always had something happening to them that made them want something or they already had some kind of plan. But in every story, they had a whole world to explore, while I was stuck here!

  I could exit from the dungeon, but then I would be targetted by everybody, especially with the face I had. Disguises could work only so far, and surely the amount that I would have to use will be very suspicious to see.

  If I wanted to go out, I had to evolve, hoping to become a more "human-like" Undead, and to do that I had to survive and grow stronger!

  'Alright! For the time being, I will focus myself on my growth. Once I'll have reached that point, I'm going to find a new objective!'

  I only had to wait until the evening, where I would be able to move out without discomfort from the light, then I could hunt down some lone adventurer to get more experience and level up. In the meanwhile, I could exercise myself, learning how to fight better with the sword and practising some fighting moves while wearing armour.

  "Ehi! Let's look in that ruin! It looks promising."

  "You told the same thing for that old crypt down the road, and we only found spiders and rats."

  "Oh, come on! This looks like a temple, and it's bigger. There must be something in there!"

  "... Alright. I'll trust your "instinct" one more time. But after this, no more dilly-dallying. We have a quest to finish and I don't want to stay in this creepy place any longer!"

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "Yay!"

  Two voices, the first female and the second male. They were coming closer to the building I chose as a temporary shelter and they clearly wanted to enter to explore it.

  From their tone, and the enthusiasm of the girl, they seemed to be rookies. Two youngsters that wanted to see the world and have adventures.

  How unfortunate that their dream brought them to this place because if they entered here, they would found me, and I'd have to attack them, to kill.

  I stood up, donned my helmet and grabbed my sword, ready to fight. I moved from my resting spot to stand behind a column near the doorway.

  'Looks like I'll have to do an early shift.'

  The sound of footsteps was closer and closer, I stood in wait, unmoving like only a dead could be. The door opened, a feminine figure entered, followed by a boy with a large backpack. As both of them went inside, I slowly moved behind them, my weapon hanging low, a strategy formed in my mind.

  'Nothing personal, kids. It's just the way it is.'

  Lifting the blade over my head, I struck the first blow, starting this encounter.

  The boy's scream echoing in the chamber as the sword cut his calves, the girl spinning on herself to see what was happening, only to find me jumping onto her, to strike again. No mercy allowed!