Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 15

“Huh? What?” Lu Lu was momentarily confused.

“Become a zombie. You can stay in the game and become a player zombie, just like them.” Xiao Li pointed at Jin Ye. “Just let one of them bite you. The only thing is, your points will be reset to zero.”

Jin Ye had explained the process of turning into a zombie to Xiao Li before, and Xiao Li had understood it perfectly.

“But won’t humans hunt you down if you become a zombie?”

“Aren’t you being persecuted by humans right now? Besides, once you’re a zombie, other zombies won’t bite you.” Xiao Li genuinely pitched the benefits of being a zombie, like a salesperson for zombie status.

“Then why haven’t you become one?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I can’t.”

Lu Lu mulled over her situation. Seeking refuge with the Tiger Leopard Camp was out of the question, and she didn’t want to just kick the bucket. Even though she had joined the game late, aside from reading some guides to learn the basic rules, she didn’t have any practical skills. After all, reading a guide and actually playing were two completely different things.

She was very tempted by Xiao Li’s suggestion and, at the same time, grew curious about life as a zombie.

She didn’t mind her points being reset to zero; she hadn’t earned a single one yet anyway.

Having made up her mind, she walked straight to Tang Yu and held her arm up to Tang Yu’s mouth. “Go ahead and bite.”

Tang Yu hadn’t expected Xiao Li to persuade Lu Lu so quickly. She pushed Lu Lu’s hand aside, then raised her claw and scratched Lu Lu’s arm.

Soon, Lu Lu’s eyes dimmed. In less than a minute, they returned to normal. She curiously examined her new zombie body. Her fair skin had taken on a purplish hue, and the veins beneath had become distinct black lines.

Now, Tang Yu had a grasp of the rules for zombie conversion.

Only being scratched or bitten by player zombies like Tang Yu and Jin Ye would trigger the option to remain in the game as a zombie. An attack from a regular zombie likely wouldn’t activate this mechanism; it would just turn the person into a mindless NPC.

If death was caused by external force or a gunshot without infection, all that remained in the game world was a corpse.

For now, only Tang Yu and Jin Ye had partially figured out these rules. But in the future, more and more players were bound to discover the pattern. It was hard for them to predict what kind of situation this would lead to.

Tang Yu said to Lu Lu, “We’re going to find the Zombie King next. You can’t protect yourself yet, so we can’t bring you along. When we have a less dangerous mission later, we’ll take you with us to earn points.” Her words were blunt. Her life was on the line, so she had to be clear with Lu Lu from the start.

Lu Lu knew she was a rookie, so she nodded frankly.

Tang Yu continued, “There will be many human players in Y-City soon, so it’s not a good place to hide. After we leave this group, go to the village in the mountains and wait for us. It’s safe there for now. As long as you avoid human players on the way, you should be fine.”

“That’s great.” Lu Lu was delighted. The arrangement couldn’t be more perfect for her.

“I’m Tang Yu, and she’s Jin Ye. We’re partners from now on.” She opened the game’s ally function and added Lu Lu.

“Tang Jie,” Lu Lu called out sweetly.

Tang Yu was thrilled: Finally, an obedient follower!

The four of them straightened Brother Hu’s corpse, dressed him, and wiped away the water, disguising him as if he were resting in case one of his men suddenly entered.

Jin Ye managed to pry open the storage locker, took out supplies and weapons, and handed them to the others. Not in a hurry to leave, the four of them gathered to one side to regain their strength.

While they waited, Lu Lu and Jin Ye started chatting about things outside the game. Tang Yu listened in. Seeing that Lu Lu seemed to have grown up in a warm, small family, was young, and had a simple mind, Tang Yu had an idea and began asking about the basic situation of the star region.

Lu Lu was quite enthusiastic and didn’t give Tang Yu’s identity much thought. Jin Ye, however, had already guessed who Tang Yu was, so when the topic of space came up, she deliberately elaborated on the situation in the fringe star regions.

This star region contained 900 planets of varying sizes, more than half of which were uninhabited or barren planets that were too small. Fewer than 90 planets were inhabited by humans.

All planets were under the jurisdiction of the capital planet’s central government. Eighty-five percent of the entire star region’s population lived on the capital planet, leading to its high prosperity, while planets farther away were more primitive and underdeveloped. Travel between planets was possible, but subject to corresponding entry regulations.

The people on the fringe planets made a living by producing food and hunting interstellar monsters. They usually had little contact with the capital planet. Some were interstellar refugees who had drifted from other star regions, while others were ancient Earth humans who had been left behind by the times, unable to adapt to technological development. These people put down roots on the fringe planets, multiplying for generations and maintaining a state of low productivity.

Tang Yu nodded thoughtfully. Combining this with Jin Ye’s specific explanations, she was about seventy or eighty percent sure of her own origins. She was skilled with cold weapons and could identify crops at a glance; she was undoubtedly from a fringe star region. As for why she had ended up in the game, neither Jin Ye nor Lu Lu could give her an answer.

Do I have a family? Friends? Do they know about my situation? Tang Yu couldn’t help but wonder, but the thoughts were fleeting. She shook her head. Whatever. I just need to focus on the task at hand.

The light filtering through the exhaust fan gradually dimmed, signaling the approach of dusk. The underlings resting in the gas station’s main hall finally grew impatient and knocked on the door.

“Brother Hu? When are we moving out?” someone asked in a loud voice.

“Your boss said we move at nightfall,” Xiao Li yelled back. Then, the four of them worked together to move the storage locker, creating a small opening.

Tang Yu propped up Brother Hu from the left and right, holding him so he was just barely standing. Xiao Li placed her own baseball cap on Brother Hu’s head, hiding his face, which was contorted from suffocation. Lu Lu stood behind Brother Hu with her head bowed.

The group walked out.

The men in the main hall were stunned for a moment. Brother Hu looked as if he had his arms around Tang Yu and Jin Ye, one on each side. Though his posture was strange, it never occurred to any of them that he might be dead.

After all, Brother Hu was exceptionally gifted. They didn’t believe their boss could be taken out so silently.

As the only human among the four, Xiao Li naturally became the spokesperson. “Brother Hu says he’s feeling tired and sleepy. You guys go get the truck. He’ll ride in the back with us.”

One of the men looked worried. “Not feeling well? Will tonight’s operation be alright?”

Another man beside him slapped him on the back. “He’s not tired,” he said in a low voice. “Brother Hu is just lost in his pile of beauties.”

Xiao Li forced a smile. “It’s nothing. He’ll take action when the time comes.”

When the truck pulled up, Xiao Li had the men look away again. The four of them then worked together to haul Brother Hu onto the truck, dumping him in a corner near the cab. They sat in a circle to hide his body.

Taking advantage of the moment, Tang Yu sent Lu Lu away. She had already explained the route back to the village to Lu Lu and now urged her to leave quickly.

By the time the men returned, Lu Lu was gone from the truck.

Lu Lu’s former teammate, the man with the braid, asked Xiao Li, confused, “Why is it just you all? Where’s my teammate?”

Xiao Li said teasingly, “Oh, so you remember she’s your teammate? She was disobedient, so Brother Hu sent her packing. She probably won’t survive the night.”

The men roared with laughter. Since it was Brother Hu’s order, they didn’t care where Lu Lu had gone.

Some grew suspicious, but Brother Hu was typically moody and unpredictable, acting erratically. He’d blow a subordinate’s head off with a single shot if he was displeased. Not daring to cause trouble, they clung to the idea of self-preservation, ignored the slight oddity, and quickly boarded the truck.

Brother Hu had apparently already laid out the mission objective before they entered the city. The man driving didn’t disturb him, and the truck proceeded toward the city center as planned.

The sky quickly darkened. Y-City at night was completely different from during the day. Tall, dilapidated buildings vanished into the gloom, like abyssal monsters with gaping maws waiting for people to walk into their trap. Countless dangers lurked in the darkness. The gurgling sound of swallowing echoed intermittently, and the stench of rot grew ever stronger.

A camping lantern hung from the truck bed’s railing, casting a warm yellow glow on everyone’s faces. The men from the Tiger Leopard Camp were eager to go, their faces full of excitement.

To these veteran players, the zombies weren’t a source of fear, but a source of points.

When the first zombie lunged at them, Tang Yu immediately sensed something was wrong. Normally, a zombie’s mobility increased by ten percent at night. But the zombies they were facing now were at least twice as strong, a completely different state from the ones that had attacked during the day.

Gunshots and explosions shattered the silence of Y-City. The men burned through bullets and explosive rounds as if they were free. Every bullet precisely struck a zombie’s spine, while others were direct headshots.

Not a single bullet was wasted on the body; they were clearly experienced in fighting zombies.

Jin Ye pulled Xiao Li behind her. The zombies climbing the truck’s railings showed no aggression toward them, but they kept their eyes fixed hungrily on Xiao Li.

Amid this confrontation, the truck drove on for another ten minutes before screeching to a halt in the middle of the road.

The man in the driver’s cab yelled, “Brother Hu, we can’t move! It’s nothing but zombies up ahead.”

At his shout, everyone clambered onto the railings to look ahead. Curious, Tang Yu also stepped onto the railing and peered over the cab toward the front.

Within the beams of the two headlights was a dense, black mass of zombies. It looked as if every zombie in the city had gathered there. The light illuminated their withered faces, making them look terrifyingly savage.

Strangely, however, they didn’t charge. They stood in neat rows, like a military formation, as if awaiting their leader’s command.

Hiss. Tang Yu drew in a sharp breath and pulled back. It was too bizarre; the sight made her scalp crawl.

Someone on the truck shouted excitedly, “There it is! The Zombie King’s army!”

Someone fired the first shot. The driver turned the truck to give those in the back a better line of fire. One of the men yelled excitedly at Tang Yu’s group, “Quick! Kill them for points while they’re not moving! Once the Zombie King makes its move, there won’t be any scraps left for us!”

They seemed to have scouted this place before and knew the Zombie King’s habits.

Tang Yu didn’t move, nor did her companions. Lu Lu’s three original rookie teammates, however, began firing in a panic.

When the man saw he couldn’t get Tang Yu to act, he muttered, “Scared stiff already? Women are useless.”

Tang Yu rolled her eyes, wanting to stab him.

In a few moments, a row of zombies in front of them had fallen, but the rest still didn’t move.

A bad feeling grew inside Tang Yu. It was like the calm before a storm—the more peaceful it seemed, the more unpredictable the hidden danger.

The muscular men on the truck were already in a killing frenzy. Seeing that the zombies hadn’t moved, one of the bolder ones even jumped off the truck and tossed a grenade into the horde.

The explosion sent up a burst of flames. Some distant zombies were set ablaze by the sparks, illuminating the scene farther away.

By the light of the fire, Tang Yu’s sharp eyes spotted several other trucks parked on the far side of the zombie formation.

Someone had already beaten them here.

But that group wasn’t on a killing spree like the members of the Tiger Leopard Camp. They were waiting in silence. Even after seeing a new team arrive, they neither offered help nor initiated a confrontation.

Tang Yu secretly pointed out the situation to her companions, signaling for everyone to abandon the truck and run the moment things went south.