Dealing with the immediate crisis

Rrrip~

Lin Hao tore open a packet of Bang Bang Wa beef jerky, squeezed the spicy beef out, and stuffed it into his mouth. Its fiery fragrance and chewy texture quickly set his mouth watering.

He swallowed the entire packet in a few bites, refusing to waste even a drop of the chili oil in the wrapper. He squeezed it all into his mouth, then sucked on the packet twice.

"Every packet I eat is one less left."

After eating, Lin Hao wiped his mouth with his hand, leaving himself still slightly hungry.

He counted himself lucky. He had collected enough water and stockpiled some food. Most of the people who had run into trouble over the past few days had exhausted their food supplies.

In theory, the primeval forest surrounding them had plenty of food and water, but neither was easy to obtain for ordinary people accustomed to city life, people who had lost even the most basic farming skills.

After that simple energy boost, Lin Hao picked up his wooden ruler again. Holding a pot lid in his left hand like a shield, he resumed the daily training he had kept up over the past few days.

He did not expect any obvious improvement in his out-of-shape body in just a few days. His main goal was to get a feel for his attacks and build muscle memory.

The practice itself was monotonous. With the pot lid serving as a shield in his left hand, he lowered his center of gravity and kept his footing steady, repeatedly swinging the ruler in his right hand as he retreated.

The ruler whooshed through the air, accompanied by the scraping slide of his retreating feet, over and over.

For the first two days, people kept shouting back and forth, chatting. There was even a sense that everyone would work together to weather this storm. But once the madmen appeared, along with a few shit-stirrers, all that momentum collapsed...

Lin Hao kept swinging to build muscle memory, inwardly sighing.

When they had first fallen into this hellhole, everyone had called out from their windows. Some had even gone outside to try to gather everyone together.

Humans were social creatures, after all. In an environment like this, the thousands of people from the apartment building, mall, and residential complex would have been a considerable force if they banded together.

Everyone had offered ideas and discussed possible solutions.

But feeding those same thousands of people and dealing with their bodily needs was a major problem in itself. Everyone had different supplies and circumstances. With madmen appearing and wild beasts occasionally prowling out of the rainforest, the whole thing had soured.

Their makeshift organization had died in the womb before it was even formed.

Among the information [Earth Will] had dumped into their minds earlier was a warning that the Abyss environment would erode their sanity. Intelligent, spiritually aware beings could become infected by the Abyss and lose their reason if their emotions fluctuated too violently or negative feelings such as terror and despair grew too strong.

Negative emotions were unavoidable after suddenly falling into a deathtrap like this. Lin Hao had not felt that effect, since obtaining his equipment had greatly boosted his confidence, but the madmen appearing one after another had become an obstacle to people keeping in touch.

Everyone also kept noise to a minimum to avoid attracting the madmen's attention.

So far, the madmen seem a bit like zombies, but they're still alive, and they retain quite a few instincts. They can open doors, use tools, and even talk. It's actually hard to tell a madman from a normal person at a glance.

Whoosh, whoosh~

The ruler kept sweeping through the air. Once his arm began to ache again, Lin Hao stopped training for a short rest.

Earlier, people had discussed a plan through their windows: everyone would stay indoors and starve the madmen to death first.

Unfortunately, plenty of people had no supplies at home whatsoever. Some slipped outside only to be caught and eaten by the madmen, while others had their sanity eroded and joined their ranks.

And judging by what he could see in the residential complex, the madmen would eat their own kind when they became hungry enough. They were not picky at all. Anything edible went into their mouths!

It feels like the madmen might actually be better suited to this environment. For all we know, they'll still be alive after the rest of us starve to death...

Lin Hao went to the window for another look and sighed.

Seven "suns" of different sizes hung in the sky. Each was far dimmer than Earth's original sun, but together they still made the air hot and stifling.

There was no regular day-and-night cycle, either. When only two "suns" or fewer remained, it could be considered night. Once the number dropped below three, it was as if some switch had been flipped. The light abruptly faded, instantly turning the world cold and dim, until even a sky full of stars became visible.

At times, more than a dozen "suns" appeared, and the temperature rose accordingly. He relied entirely on the digital clock on his desk to tell the time.

Hazy mountain cliffs stood along the distant horizon. Two looked as though they had pierced straight through the vault of heaven. He had no idea how large they truly were.

Over the past few days, he had occasionally seen mountains fall from the horizon, or floating rocks and trees rise into the air. By comparison, the nearby rainforest was being remarkably accommodating.

That was probably what [Earth Will] had meant in its message about finding an area "suitable for survival" as best it could.

It also meant the vicinity had additional protection from [Earth Will]...

Through a vague, instinctive sense, he knew the Teleportation Point was below the apartment building. Someone in the second-floor gym seemed to have already tried it.

But they apparently lacked food. Using compound bows and the advantage of their position, they had seized the Teleportation Point. Risking the attention of the madmen, they had announced through a loudspeaker that anyone wishing to enter had to pay a toll in food or gold.

After someone had been shot with a compound bow, the people from the residential complex and mall stopped resisting and tacitly accepted the levy. People from both sides had started trying to enter, though the exact situation remained unclear.

He had not seen anyone return to the residential complex over the past few days. His viewing angle, however, made it impossible to tell whether anyone had returned to the apartment building's gym.

Relatively little time had passed, though. Taken as a whole, it seemed likely that no one had returned.

Still, a place Earth Will had specifically anchored ought to be better than this hellish environment...

"Ugh. Choosing this place because it was cheap really backfired..."

Watching another dozen or so people emerge together from the residential complex, carrying homemade weapons such as pipes, kitchen knives, and iron railing bars, then quickly cross the road to reach the Teleportation Point, Lin Hao felt a little envious.

The mall and residential complex next door both had fairly large open spaces. The madmen still obstructed them, and he could even see some running out of the complex, but there were always ways to go around them or isolate them.

They could also use their superior numbers to kill the few that ran outside, making it easier to discuss working together.

Although plenty of people remained trapped, many could still get out.

But

his own thirty-three-story commercial apartment building had become a veritable madmen's paradise. The rooms were somewhat nicer than residential apartments at the same price, but with four elevators and twenty-four units on every floor, waiting for an elevator at peak times could take half an hour.

A single madman blocking a stairwell could cut the residents off from one another completely. Nobody dared open their door first.

The owner of the apartment Lin Hao rented had chosen to let it out because it came with no school enrollment eligibility, involved long waits, and charged more expensive commercial electricity rates, among other reasons.

The twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth floors had even been converted into a small inn. Several small companies rented spaces downstairs as offices, and scattered short-term rentals were common too.

As for why Lin Hao had been practicing so hard in his room, it was because madmen were currently camping outside his door...

Bang, bang, bang~

The familiar knocking started, followed by a slightly hoarse, low voice from outside.

"Lin, open up. I'm so hungry."

"Yeah, yeah. Have a heart, Lin. I'll only take one bite."

Another voice followed, a woman's affectedly sweet tone. Although it sounded normal, it sent a chill down his spine.

These two could be considered Lin Hao's roommates. The apartment they rented had three bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, but they shared the living room, kitchen, and refrigerator. Open flames were prohibited in the kitchen, though induction cookers were allowed.

The two madmen were the couple living across from him. They had been agitated from the very beginning on the first day, and within half a day, they had gone mad and begun acting abnormally. Terrified, Lin Hao and his other roommate had fled into their respective rooms and remained there ever since.

"Open the door!"

"Are you deaf?!"

The knocking turned into pounding, but Lin Hao had already pushed his bed against the door. Loud as the impacts were, there was no sign of it giving way.

After a bout of violent battering, the noises outside his door gradually receded. The pair slowly moved to the other bedroom and began harassing its occupant.

"Xiao Wen, come out! I really want to bleep~ you!"

"Xiao Wen, big sis, I want a bite of the flesh on your chest..."

"..."

Lin Hao slowly exhaled, then began moving the bed away from the door. Sitting on the bed frame, he kneaded his right biceps to loosen it up.

I can't wait any longer. Today's the day...

Taking deep breaths to steady himself, Lin Hao closed his eyes, rested his mind, and waited.

About two hours passed. After several rounds of harassment, the activity in the living room finally quieted again.

Rustling and rubbing noises followed. A little later, utterly unrestrained sounds of sexual activity began drifting in, making Lin Hao open his eyes.

Yes, madmen were living people who had lost their reason and retained only their instincts. That included the instinct to reproduce-and it was even more intense!

Those blush-inducing noises had played out every day over the past few days. No wonder they were always hungry, even though there was still some food in the refrigerator.

"Lin! Lin, come out! Join us!"

"Lin~ Come here. Just let me take one bite. I promise I'll send you to heaven!"

Shrill panting and wanton cries reached him. At those words, Lin Hao stood, unlocked his bedroom door, turned the handle, and opened it.

"I'm coming..."

Lin Hao opened the door and strode quickly forward without averting his eyes from the obscene scene outside.

The two madmen had no reason, no thought. They did not know why Lin Hao had opened his door and come out, but that did nothing to hinder their instinctive response!

Without the slightest hesitation, confusion, or pause, the couple who had been writhing together sprang up like wild beasts!

Neither had a particularly strong physique, yet their reactions were incredibly fast.

The man, who had already been on top and was physically stronger, lunged in front of Lin Hao with his mouth open, his face twisted with greed and madness.

That crazed, distorted expression, the sticky strands of saliva in his open mouth, and his bloodshot, bloodthirsty eyes were enough to make an ordinary person lose their nerve.

But in the next instant...

Whoosh~

The wooden ruler whistled through the air and struck the head of the man who had lunged first.

The swing he had practiced for days came out like instinct, landing without the slightest flourish!

The seemingly flimsy wooden ruler hit his forehead with a sickening crunch of splitting bone.

The savage man did not even grunt. With his forehead caved in and his expression grotesquely distorted, he toppled sideways as though crushed by an immense force.

Just as he had practiced over the past few days, Lin Hao followed through by retreating, turning his attention to the woman lunging after him.

The woman reacted a beat slower, and her physique left her weaker than the man, but she snatched up a small fruit knife from the coffee table. Combined with her frenzy, that made her look even harder to handle!

Seeing the knife in her hand, Lin Hao felt a flicker of instinctive panic, but quickly suppressed it and stayed calm.

Taking advantage of the ruler's reach, he aimed at her knife-wielding right hand first, snapping an upward backhand strike into her wrist.

Crunch~

Another sound of cracking bone rang out. The fruit knife fell to the floor, instantly interrupting the woman's headlong lunge and leaving her visibly stalled.

The moment the knife fell, Lin Hao's courage surged. He released the wooden ruler, took a long step forward, clenched his right fist, and smashed it viciously into her face!

Splat~

A human fist weighed less than half a jin. With a six-jin iron pot covering his arm, the impact increased severalfold!

The woman's once-pretty face crumpled. Her shapely nose was completely flattened, her cheeks caved in, her teeth shattered, and her eyes bulged as her entire body slammed backward.

The impact also made Lin Hao pause briefly.

His equipment absorbed most of the force on his arm, but the recoil that remained throughout the rest of his body still brought him to a halt. He had struck too hard, and felt a little as though he were coming apart.

Fortunately, madmen were still "human"!

Even with their bestial nature unleashed, making them seem crazier and utterly heedless of consequences, neither of the two got back up after those consecutive strikes.

Keeping his guard up, Lin Hao retrieved the bloodstained wooden ruler. Looking at the two motionless corpses on the floor, he quickly stepped forward and struck each of their heads a few more times. Only then did the tension inside him finally ease.

The slight exhaustion that came as his adrenaline faded left his limbs feeling weak.

He had practiced those swings so many times, yet when he actually faced a moment of cri

sis, his mind still felt somewhat dazed.

Compared with that sensation, the discomfort of his first "kill" barely registered. Only the blood on his knuckles, the two bodies on the floor, and the smell of excrement in the living room made him feel slightly nauseated.

"Sure, there's no water to flush the toilet, but you can't just shit everywhere. Couldn't you dump it downstairs? That's disgusting..."

With a look of distaste, Lin Hao found a relatively clean section of curtain and wiped his hand. The filthy state of the living room struck him as thoroughly awful.

I'll gather the food left in my room and find a chance to move somewhere cleaner...