CHAPTER 35: AN OFFER

The middle-aged woman didn’t speak to Liam immediately. She first looked outside, making sure there were no zombies behind him.

Then, she pulled him into what turned out to be a private office.

She quickly closed the door and used the desk to barricade it.

Liam saw a plaque on the desk that read CEO, firmly attached to the surface.

"Ma’am, are you here alone?" Liam asked, wondering if she had been hiding in the office since the disaster began.

"Yes. Everyone else has left, and I got trapped in this building," the woman replied.

"Are you and the students from another area who came to this one?" she asked.

Naturally, she had noticed that Liam wasn’t alone—but he stood out the most, since he was riding a monster. That’s why she had called him over.

"Yes," Liam answered.

"You shouldn’t have come here. There are many undead, and killing them means nothing," the woman said.

"What exactly are they? Are they being controlled by something?" Liam asked in response.

"Yes. The Undead King—a terrifying monster that can’t be killed, but has extremely powerful magical energy. Since you’re already here, and I can see you’re very strong, can you help me?"

"Help you?" Liam raised an eyebrow at that.

He had come looking for information.

Of course, if she wanted to come with them to a safe place, he wouldn’t mind—but this seemed like a different kind of request, and Liam naturally felt a bit wary.

"I’ll pay you with 1,000 System Points," the woman added when Liam fell silent.

This time, Liam was stunned—thinking he might have misheard her.

This woman wasn’t powerless. Liam could sense a bit of strength from her, meaning she had probably killed some zombies or monsters herself.

But to pay him with 1,000 System Points?

It sounded absurd to him.

Even after constant fighting, he hadn’t yet gathered 1,000 System Points himself.

"Ma’am, are you joking?" Liam asked, his expression puzzled.

"My name is Selena. You can call me Lady Selena. I’ll transfer the 1K System Points right now if you agree," she replied.

"Are you curious how I have so many System Points?" she added.

"How did you get them, Lady Selena?" Liam asked right away.

He had initially assumed she was bluffing and planning to trick him after he helped her—but offering to pay upfront meant she wasn’t trying to scam him.

In fact, now he could be the one to trick her, but it seemed like 1,000 Points didn’t mean much to her.

"The System gave special privileges to wealthy people with net worths over 100 million dollars, granting them System Points for free based on their wealth. The more wealth they had, the more Points they received. Every 100 million dollars equals 1,000 System Points. A billionaire gets 10,000 Points, which they can use to buy anything from the System Store," Selena explained, leaving Liam stunned.

It was said that rich people always got preferential treatment—apparently, the mysterious System was no different.

Maybe 1K Points didn’t mean much to millionaires—but what about billionaires?

A single billionaire would get 10K Points. Five billion? 50K Points.

What couldn’t they buy with more than 10K Points?

Liam now looked at Selena more seriously. She was clearly a powerful executive—who knew how much she was worth?

"Don’t think of this as something that amazing. I received about 60K Points, but I already spent 50K on a single Tier-S Skill—the cheapest one. Tier-C and Tier-B Skills are pretty cheap, but even Tier-A Skills cost between 5K to 15K. Unless you have hundreds of billions in wealth, the rich don’t actually get that much benefit. And that’s if they don’t turn into zombies. The CEO next door, who was worth 10 billion dollars, turned into a zombie. He got nothing but madness," Selena continued as Liam stood there in disbelief.

And now, he was shocked by the price of just one Tier-S Skill. The items above 780 Points in his own System Store were locked, so he couldn’t even see prices for stronger items.

If the cheapest Tier-S Skill cost 50K Points, Liam figured he might never be able to afford one from the store.

And yet, this woman in front of him had more than $6 billion in wealth. Liam hadn’t expected to meet someone this rich. She was probably the wealthiest woman in the entire city—someone he would never have encountered in his old life.

But in this new era, her vast wealth was already meaningless.

"Lady Selena, what do you need help with?" Liam asked.

"Help me get back to my home," the woman answered.

"Where do you live?" Liam couldn’t help but ask.

"Sky Garden Complex, near the edge of the city," she replied.

"That’s really far," Liam said, hesitating after hearing that.

They were in the city center. Reaching the outskirts wouldn’t normally take too long—but with the current situation, Liam wasn’t sure what they would encounter along the way.

To get there, he would have to return to the school, pass the residential area behind it, then continue on—even passing his own home.

And right now, even leaving Business Street wasn’t easy.

"I’ll increase the payment if you think 1K isn’t enough," Selena said as Liam was still thinking.

"3K—do you agree?" Liam asked in return.

If that much was offered, he might consider it. With that many Points, he could strengthen himself significantly. Besides, this woman likely still had plenty of Points left. If she hadn’t bought anything besides skills, she could still have more than 10K.

Also, since she was already offering more, she was probably willing to pay even more. That initial 1K offer had clearly been an attempt to minimize what she had to give.

However, when she heard his request for 3K, her expression darkened slightly—though just for a moment.

"That’s too much... 2K. That’s more than enough," she said in a tone that sounded like she was trying hard to suppress her temper.

As a CEO, she was clearly used to giving orders—and Liam didn’t find her reaction strange. Still, she didn’t dare act that way toward him, because she needed his help.

It seemed she really did want to go back home.