Rainstorm

Ye Zhao climbed over mountains and crossed ridges, hiding as she went. Every so often, she had to stop and slash a few times, all while staying alert for danger around her. The delays had slowed her down, and she had not even covered a third of the distance out of the city.

So tired. Her feet were about to break.

Fortunately, she had the +4 Speed Ring. She could run more easily and quickly than before, but her Constitution had not improved. She was still as exhausted as ever.

The survivors hiding inside the buildings could only see the girl in black sprinting across the rooftops. By the time they tried to get a clearer look, she had already vanished.

"She's so fast. Is she someone with superpowers?"

"That's how it always is on TV. The zombie virus can awaken superpowers!"

"I'm so jealous..."

Ye Zhao could not hear what the others were saying. She was focused solely on getting on her way. But terrifyingly, the skies, which had been clear just moments ago, darkened in the blink of an eye. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and torrential rain came pouring down! It was even heavier than the rain on the day Yiping went to ask her father for money!

Just as Ye Zhao was worrying about what to do next, she suddenly heard gunshots nearby. Following the sound, she indeed found a group of people at a sixth-floor window, hurling lightning at the zombies gathering below. One of them kept firing a gun, shooting more than ten rounds in a row without reloading. It looked like an Infinite-Bullet Pistol?

Players?

With the rain coming down this hard, her plan to leave the city before dark was bound to fail. In that case, why not go take a look?

That was an Infinite-Bullet Pistol. Just thinking about it made her heart stir.

"This Elemental Card is incredible! It can actually shoot lightning! I can hit wherever I point, like it can read my mind!" At the window, He Fei excitedly flung a bolt of lightning downstairs. Watching the rain-soaked zombies collapse in a heap, he said, "Cool!"

He blew a whistle. "Too bad it can only fire a hundred bolts of lightning. It'd be great if it were permanent!"

"Use it sparingly. It's only the first day." Duan Chen pushed up his glasses as he stared at the zombies below.

He Fei was unconcerned. "What are you afraid of? We have food, we have powers, and this place is safe. Surviving ten or twenty days should be easy, right? I thought the Survival Game would be hard, but it's only so-so."

Sang Xiaoqi lay on the sofa, fiddling with her phone. "There's no internet either. We have no idea what's happening outside. Are we really going to stay like this for ten days?"

He Fei said, "By now, the whole world is probably in chaos. It's good enough if we can stay alive, and you still want internet?"

Sang Xiaoqi sighed faintly. "The people in this world are so pitiful. Their perfectly good home was destroyed for no reason at all."

He Fei said, "They're just game NPCs. Isn't your sympathy a little excessive? Don't drag me down if we go outside."

Sang Xiaoqi said, "Can you have a little conscience? This world feels real. It doesn't seem like some simple game at all."

The three of them were currently in an office building. Having all seen apocalypse movies, they knew that the most important things were food, medicine, and a safe base. So after arriving here, the first thing they did was go to the supermarket downstairs to buy supplies. The three met at the supermarket, and after the virus outbreak, they fled and took shelter together with several Natives in an office.

This floor was nearing the end of renovations, so there were usually hardly any people around. As long as they sealed off the stairwell and elevator, it would be safe. The group dismantled desks and used them to block the stairway entrance and elevator doors.

Compared with Duan Chen, He Fei, and Sang Xiaoqi's ease, the survivors outside the general manager's office looked far more panicked. They crowded around the windows, staring at the exploded, charred cars below and the walking zombies, their faces full of undisguised terror and confusion.

"How did this happen?"

"Is our world over?"

"Why are zombies, which only exist on TV, appearing in reality?"

"Wuwu, what are we supposed to do from now on..."

Among the crowd, a man standing with his head lowered suddenly twisted strangely a few times. Everyone, immersed in their fear, failed to notice anything unusual. When he lifted his head, his eyes were entirely white. He opened his mouth, pounced on the nearest man, and bit through his neck in one bite!

"Ah!!"

"Zombie!"

Hearing the commotion, Duan Chen and the others immediately came out. The three worked together to deal with the frenzied zombie.

Duan Chen snapped, "What's going on? Didn't I tell you to check each other?"

Besides the three Players—Duan Chen, He Fei, and Sang Xiaoqi—there were more than thirty Natives present. They had all seen zombie movies. After taking shelter here, the men and women had separately stripped for inspections. Anyone with wounds had been locked in separate rooms, while only the uninjured were allowed to gather freely in the hall. Who could have expected that one of them would turn into a zombie?!

The Natives were equally shocked. "We checked! There really weren't any wounds on them!"

He Fei said, "Then you definitely didn't check carefully enough. Even a wound where the skin's barely broken can't be ignored. Here's your chance: anyone with a wound, step forward!"

Naturally, no one stepped forward in a situation like this. Only when Duan Chen took out his gun did they move.

"Everyone line up. We're checking again."

"Throw the corpse downstairs."

This time, no one dared object.

Downstairs, in a barbershop that happened to overlook the Player team in the building opposite, Ye Zhao encountered more than a dozen survivors who had also taken shelter there as she climbed upstairs.

Half were barbershop staff, while the other half were customers or people who had fled there in a panic.

In the early stages of the outbreak, humanity had not yet completely faded, and the atmosphere was still fairly harmonious.

Ye Zhao crouched on the balcony, observing the zombies wandering below. Suddenly, several gunshots rang out from the building opposite. Before long, several corpses were thrown down. The wandering zombies rushed over at the sound, but scattered again when they saw their own kind.

She took out her binoculars and looked carefully. Through the pouring rain, she could vaguely make out that the corpses had pale bluish-white faces. They were zombies, but there was no blood or flesh in their mouths. They had likely been discovered as soon as they transformed.

The commotion in the building opposite threw the other survivors in the barbershop into a panic. They all rushed over to look. "Did... did they kill someone?"

Ye Zhao glanced at the survivors crowding onto the balcony and said, "Probably not. The people they threw down had already transformed."

"Transformed?" someone cried. "Like in those TV shows? Do you get infected if you're injured?"

"Perhaps."

"It's okay. We all stripped for inspections. We aren't hurt. We'll be fine!"

"It's so scary. Why? Why did this happen..."

That night was anything but peaceful. Gunshots rang out several times from the building opposite, followed by corpses being thrown downstairs.

Ye Zhao thought of the asymptomatic infected mentioned in the vision of the future. She could not help turning to look at the survivors sitting haphazardly all over the room, hoping they would not transform.

Ye Zhao did not dare truly fall asleep all night. Even with people taking turns standing watch, she could not let down her guard.