Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 79

The three zombies on the other side of the wire mesh were still roaring. Xiao Li found it irritating; the zombies’ low growls were utterly unpleasant, like they had old phlegm stuck in their throats that they couldn’t cough out, making one feel nauseous just listening.

Through the wire mesh, Xiao Li aimed her gun at the center of the zombies’ throats, ending their clamor. The successive gunshots blended with the sounds of other players fighting zombies in the distance, so it wasn’t particularly conspicuous.

Tang Yu stared at the faint shadows in the park and said in a low voice, “She might have hidden in a building. Let’s go, we’ll follow her.” Tang Yu didn’t change her plan, still choosing to enter the restricted area overnight.

The wire mesh wasn’t electrified, which made things much easier. Startling Dragon effortlessly cut a fan-shaped opening in the mesh. The opening wasn’t large. Tang Yu pushed the wire mesh inward, revealing a small gap, and squeezed through.

When her feet touched the park’s soil, Tang Yu discovered that the ground, which should have been a lawn, was completely barren. It felt unusually wet and soft underfoot. Some water had accumulated on the ground—it was unclear whether it was rainwater or something else—and it emitted a pungent, foul odor.

After Zhou Zhou also squeezed through the wire mesh, Tang Yu bent the half-folded wire back to its original position. If the gap could be restored, it should be; it was best not to let the zombies from the park escape outside.

Many zombies roamed the park, but most didn’t actively attack Tang Yu. Although their mobility was greater than the zombies outside, they were still unconscious creatures, acting purely on instinct. Therefore, Tang Yu and Jin Ye were in slightly less danger. Zhou Zhou’s evasion was maxed out, so Tang Yu didn’t need to worry about her at all. In the group of four, the only one in real danger was Xiao Li.

The surrounding zombies smelled the scent of living people and gradually gathered around. Their bodies were a bloody, mangled mess, as if they had been corroded. Calling them “bl00d zombies” would be more fitting.

Tang Yu and Jin Ye protected Xiao Li in the middle, running toward the foremost building of the base while keeping an eye on their surroundings.

During their run, several bl00d zombies suddenly attacked, charging directly at Xiao Li on all fours like wild beasts. Xiao Li took a deep breath, and just as a bl00d zombie pounced, she thrust her dagger fiercely into its frontal bone.

The Azure Frost Dagger in her hand was much longer than a typical small dagger. Its sharp blade pierced straight through the bl00d zombie’s entire skull. Jin Ye, who was beside her, quickly lifted her foot and kicked the bl00d zombie’s shoulder blade. The zombie came off the blade and fell onto the park’s stone path.

Ever since Xiao Li had set her goal, her fighting spirit had been high, and she was much more proactive about earning points than before. The change in her mentality made her actions more decisive. She didn’t resist the kill opportunities provided by Jin Ye and Tang Yu. Now that she knew what she wanted and faced her weaknesses, her combat state had completely changed.

This one-hit kill gave Xiao Li confidence. The things Tang Yu had taught her in the camp were useful; her reaction speed was much better than before.

By now, the four of them were very close to the main building of the research base. They decided to use their guns as little as possible and didn’t turn on their camping lanterns. Gunshots in the park would be a direct announcement to other players that someone had broken into the restricted area at night. Bold players might follow them in, and Tang Yu had no desire to encounter other players so soon.

At this moment, Tang Yu hadn’t activated her foresight. The ability was too mentally draining, and she decided to use it sparingly unless it was an emergency. Her enhanced physical abilities were enough to handle most crises.

The main building of the research base was a five-story curved structure. The building was very long and bent backward, like a fan shielding the cluster of buildings behind it from the wind. In front of it stood a rectangular stone, engraved with the words 【South Province Bio-Medical Industrial Base】.

As the four passed the stone, they couldn’t help but look up. The protruding shadows on the stone were quite eye-catching. As they got closer, they realized they were several corpses. Judging from the dangling arms and clothing, they seemed to be recently deceased players.

These players certainly hadn’t climbed onto the stone themselves. Who would climb onto a stone just to die neatly in a row?

A strange feeling rose in Tang Yu’s heart. She pondered for a moment, then used her core strength, stepped on a groove in the stone, and climbed onto the two-person-high rock.

On top of the stone was a row of disemboweled corpses, laid out as if they were herbs being dried. Just as described by players on the forum, the abdomens and heart areas of these corpses were all empty, as if their flesh had been forcibly torn open. Fragmented organs and broken intestines were scattered all over the stone.

Smelling the scent of bl00d, Tang Yu’s own bl00d began to boil, but her mind felt nauseous and wanted to vomit. The heads of these corpses were perfectly preserved. From their expressions, it was clear they had died in extreme fear and pain. The black lines on their necks indicated they had been assimilated into zombies after death, but were quickly devoured.

Since entering the game, most zombie attacks had been suppressed by players. Tang Yu had rarely seen player corpses so mangled by zombie bites.

Moreover, these corpses were arranged so neatly and conspicuously, as if it were… a show of force.

When this term popped into her mind, Tang Yu was startled by her own thought. The more she thought, the more alarmed she became. Unthinking zombies wouldn’t do such a thing. The only one who could was the mysterious person from the fake zombie trio.

This stone was in a very conspicuous position. If the weather were good during the day, players at the main gate could see this stone through the wire mesh. The mysterious person wasn’t just provoking Tang Yu; she was also provoking other players.

But this raised many doubts for Tang Yu. If this mysterious person was also a player, to be so ruthless to her own kind, she must be someone with a strong, almost psychopathic mentality. From the reactions of players on the forum, this person’s abilities were not bad either. If she was really targeting Tang Yu and had a grudge against her, why would someone with both strength and a strong mentality go to such great lengths to frame her? Wouldn’t it be easier to just attack directly?

Tang Yu couldn’t figure it out.

She jumped down from the stone, explained the situation to her teammates, and the group walked toward the main building, full of suspicion.

The entrance to the main building was a huge glass door. The glass had long since shattered, scattered all over the stone steps. Stepping on it with the sole of a shoe produced a crunching sound. Behind the door, it was pitch black. The empty doorway was like a tiger’s mouth, wide open, waiting for the fearless to walk right in.

Tang Yu’s enhanced vision was greatly diminished in the absence of light. She could only vaguely make out that this was a very spacious hall. Four spiral pillars stood in the hall. Directly in front, there was a blurry, massive LED screen, with a reception desk below it. It seemed this so-called research base had often received outside visitors before it was abandoned; they had put a lot of effort into the facade.

The four held their weapons and stepped inside.

They were now indoors, with walls for cover, so they could use a little light. After all, moving in the dark was too terrifying. Xiao Li walked to a corner, took a small flashlight from the side of her backpack, and clicked the switch. The flashlight’s beam was small. The faint light dispelled the darkness in the corner, and the group could finally see the nearby furnishings.

The hall’s decor was grand, filled with the cool tones of metallic silver, giving it a very futuristic look. At the base of the spiral pillars were several stone pedestals with glass displays on top, but the glass was all shattered, and the items once placed in the grooves inside were gone.

Zhou Zhou and Tang Yu approached a display to take a look. An introduction was carved on the stone pedestal. Most were miniature models of biological experiment results or report displays, such as 【Regulation Mechanisms of Cell Vesicle Trafficking】 or 【Research on Neural Cell Signal Transduction Networks and Gene Expression Regulation】. In contrast, there were very few displays of results related to synthetic drugs.

The other three didn’t understand the difference. From the name, this base seemed to be for making medicine, but Zhou Zhou said it wasn’t. Zhou Zhou said, “This place leans more toward research on biological physiological mechanisms, not just a drug production base. Synthetic drugs are just a byproduct of the research.”

Tang Yu was speechless. It was true that different fields were worlds apart; she couldn’t understand the introductions at all.

Zhou Zhou was full of interest, but Tang Yu didn’t care. Whatever they researched here, she just wanted to find the mysterious person quickly.

Walking further in, the four found stairs and an elevator on the left and right sides. The elevator was surely abandoned, so Tang Yu led the group up the stairs.

Just as they passed the turn of the staircase, a sharp blade cut through the air. Tang Yu immediately raised Startling Dragon horizontally in front of her. The blade hummed as a rusty iron nail struck it and fell to the ground. The group quickly looked up the stairs. A black shadow flashed past the top of the stairs and quickly disappeared around a dark corner.

Tang Yu activated her instant movement ability and disappeared from her spot. When she reappeared, she was already in the second-floor corridor. Unfortunately, she was still a step too late. There was no black shadow in the corridor, only wandering zombies startled by her, looking over.

The one who attacked with a weapon was definitely human, even if it was just an iron nail. Their direction of investigation was correct; the mysterious person had indeed fled to the main building.

The second-floor corridor was very long, extending to the east and west. Many rooms lined both sides of the corridor. From the old signs on the doors, this floor was not a laboratory, but an administrative office area.

The four worked together to kill the zombies that attacked up close and explored deeper into the east corridor. The black shadow had disappeared in this direction.

Most of the doors on both sides remained tightly shut. The doorplates read “Assistant’s Office” or “Administration Department.” The aluminum doors were intact, with no signs of damage.

They hadn’t heard any sounds of doors opening or closing before, so they gave up searching the rooms with closed doors, stopping only when they saw a room with a doorplate that read “Reception Room.”

The door to the reception room was ajar. Looking through the crack, it was pitch black inside. Tang Yu pressed the hilt of her knife against the crack and pushed the door open very slowly.

One second, two seconds, three seconds passed. The door was pushed open. No creature suddenly jumped out to attack. After confirming no one was behind the door, Tang Yu and Jin Ye stepped inside.

The flashlight beam quickly landed on the sofa in the reception room. On it sat another player corpse with its organs dug out. The corpse was sitting upright, as if deliberately placed. The bloodstains on the sofa hadn’t coagulated yet, and the intestines were still slowly spilling out, seeming to still be writhing.

This person had been dead for no more than half an hour.

Tang Yu had seen a corpse in this state once before and wasn’t too shocked. But it was the first time the other three had seen such a sight. Xiao Li, in particular, was so scared her hand trembled, and the flashlight beam flickered across the reception room’s floor-to-ceiling window.

Coincidentally, Tang Yu was standing by the window. Her figure was illuminated by the light, leaving a clear shadow on the glass window. From the outside, it must have looked incredibly terrifying.

This reception room wasn’t particularly large. There were three sofas arranged together, a decorative file cabinet next to them, a poster introducing some achievement on the wall, and a tea station. Judging by the decor, it seemed to have been used to entertain high-level leaders.

At this moment, besides this fresh corpse, there were no other figures in the reception room. But there was another closed door on the right side of the reception room, which seemed to connect to another room.

Tang Yu pointed to Xiao Li’s flashlight and made a gesture to turn it off. There were glass windows everywhere, and the light could easily be seen by players outside. Xiao Li understood and gently pressed the flashlight switch.

Darkness quickly enveloped their vision again. This severely tested one’s psyche. In the dark, the fear of the unknown is magnified several times. Jin Ye and Tang Yu were more accustomed to this environment due to their physique, so the two of them took the lead, tiptoeing toward the door on the right.

Tang Yu stood with her side against the wall, cautiously turning the doorknob. The door opened a crack, then opened a little more due to inertia, but it soon hit a hard object and stopped opening.

Jin Ye, at her side, had no choice but to kick the door. The door was forced open by the powerful impact. The expected ambush didn’t happen. Instead, they heard the sound of an office chair’s wheels rolling. It turned out a chair had been blocking the door.

Just as Jin Ye breathed a sigh of relief, a silver glint flashed past her face. Then, a hand wearing a thick glove suddenly darted out from the side of the dark doorway, trying to grab Jin Ye’s throat.

Jin Ye reacted extremely quickly. Not caring if the opponent was human or zombie, she ducked to avoid the grab and crashed into the opponent. They only heard the sound of a chair sliding, mixed with a human’s muffled grunt.

Tang Yu quickly followed, but as soon as she took a step, another figure darted out from behind the door. A long, thin iron rod came straight down toward Tang Yu’s head.

What was going on? How were there two people?

Tang Yu had originally thought it was the mysterious person who couldn’t hold back and attacked Jin Ye. Now it seemed that wasn’t it at all. There were two people here using tools, or rather, more than two people.

Her guess was correct. There were far more than two people ambushing them here. The moment Jin Ye was attacked, Xiao Li, who was behind her, was about to turn on the flashlight. But before she could act, she was kicked in the stomach. The flashlight flew out of her hand, and then a curved blade descended from the air, aiming straight for the back of Xiao Li’s head.

Zhou Zhou also seemed to be pursued closely and forced into another room. The opponent couldn’t catch her but was sticking to her relentlessly. In an instant, the sound of office chair wheels echoed everywhere as everyone crashed the chairs into disarray.

Tang Yu clenched her jaw and said nothing. They had definitely run into players. A thought flashed through Tang Yu’s mind like lightning: she must not make a sound and expose her zombie identity.

In the darkness, the person she was facing seemed to have changed. What came at her was not an iron rod, but the tip of a blade.

Tang Yu couldn’t see the opponent’s face, only knew it was a living, breathing person. She reached out and grabbed the opponent’s wrist through their clothes. She wouldn’t show mercy to a player who wanted to take her life.

But Tang Yu underestimated the opponent’s strength. As soon as her hand touched the opponent’s wrist, the person slipped out of her grasp like a slippery fish. At the same time, they had the strength to launch a counterattack. With a ripping sound, a heavy object fell to the ground. They had cut the tool bag at Tang Yu’s waist, and her camping lantern and climbing pickaxe were now somewhere on the floor.

The enemy’s blade didn’t stop. Instead of retreating, it advanced, the tip instantly cutting through Tang Yu’s clothes and piercing the skin of her waist. Tang Yu only felt the cold metal cut a small gash in her flesh before it was withdrawn.

Tang Yu broke out in a cold sweat. After just a few exchanges, she determined that the opponent’s strength was superior to hers. She didn’t hold back anymore and quickly activated her foresight ability.

Her enhanced vision ability was replaced. Tang Yu could barely see anything. It was too dark. She could only feel the air currents being disturbed but couldn’t see anything at all.

Before the enemy’s next attack arrived, Tang Yu relied on foresight to dodge a stab aimed at her throat. She swept Startling Dragon around her, and as she retracted the blade, she lunged forward, pinning the person in front of her and pushing them onto a table.

Only then did Tang Yu realize there was a huge table here. Combined with the sound of so many office chair wheels, she deduced this was a conference room.

Tang Yu barely hesitated. She opened her mouth to bite. Her hands were pressing on the enemy’s forearms. She didn’t know what kind of clothes this person was wearing; the fabric was strangely thick. Her nails couldn’t tear through the clothing, so she had to use her teeth.

The bite was aimed roughly at the throat. But the opponent was no pushover. While being pinned by Tang Yu, they struggled fiercely. Tang Yu had to use all her strength to hold them down.

Noticing Tang Yu’s zombie-like behavior, the person lying on their back on the table suddenly freed their unarmed hand. They raised it and used their middle and index fingers to clamp Tang Yu’s entire chin, pushing it up forcefully.

Tang Yu felt a sharp pain in her jaw. This person was incredibly strong. And their hand was also wearing a very thick glove. Tang Yu couldn’t bite them at all. If this continued, her jaw would be shattered.

She had to give up the opportunity, releasing her hold on the enemy and switching back to attacking with Startling Dragon.

But the opponent reacted even faster than her. As soon as the enemy was free, they kicked Tang Yu in the stomach, sending her flying back half a meter. The force was so great that Tang Yu’s stomach churned.

Before she could straighten up, the cold tip of the blade followed. Tang Yu suddenly felt the blade tip seem to have grown several times larger. Almost at the same time she foresaw it, it stabbed fiercely toward her throat at an extremely fast speed.

It’s over. This player is so strong, their reaction speed is almost comparable to Song Lengzhu’s. I can’t beat them.

Tang Yu quickly deactivated her foresight ability and instantly moved to the side. This ability was linked to her vision. Her range of vision was limited now, so she could only move one step. Thanks to this step, the enemy’s cold blade tip only grazed her skin, not even drawing bl00d.

But Tang Yu still felt the chill of the weapon. Where the blade’s aura passed, goosebumps rose on her skin.

Tang Yu dodged several times in a row, but the opponent’s blade tip followed her movements like a phantom. If one strike missed, another followed. The relentless attacks gradually wore Tang Yu down.

Tang Yu steeled herself, gritted her teeth, and stopped dodging, raising her blade to meet the attack. I’ll cut off their weapon first.

Just as she swung her blade, she heard someone in the silent conference room suddenly mumble something vaguely. Then, Zhou Zhou shouted, “Stop fighting!”

The sudden shout made everyone in the room pause for a moment. The next second, a strong light suddenly illuminated, shining right on Tang Yu’s face. Her eyes couldn’t adjust to the light for a moment, feeling as if burned by the scorching sun, stinging and tearing up. Her head also felt dizzy as a reflex.

The moment she closed her eyes, Tang Yu subconsciously took a step back, then quickly forced her eyes open despite the pain. There was a deadly enemy standing right next to her.

Zhou Zhou moved the camping lantern. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know you were standing there.”

Tang Yu didn’t have time to be angry at Zhou Zhou for the friendly fire. She quickly looked at the person standing next to her.

The person beside her happened to look over at the same time. Both of them were stunned and froze on the spot.

On the way to the restricted area, Tang Yu had thought she might run into Song Lengzhu. After all, she already knew Song Lengzhu was in the restricted area. But she never expected they would meet this way and inexplicably get into a fight.

Song Lengzhu was wearing a strange outfit, like a wide waterproof suit used for fishing. The clothes seemed to be made of rubber, with excellent toughness, covering her entire body, leaving only her head exposed.

What the hell is this? No wonder I couldn’t scratch through it.

Her long hair was tied up in a bun at the back of her head. It was different from her usual style, making her look a bit more approachable. During the fight just now, some hair at her temples had come loose and stuck to her face, reducing some of her sharpness. There was also bl00d at the corner of her mouth; it was unclear if she was injured.

Tang Yu didn’t know what to say for a moment. They had just been fighting to the death. Now that the lights were on, they discovered they were acquaintances. At this moment, a faint trace of awkwardness hung in the air.

Looking at Jin Ye and Xiao Li, one was on the floor, the other on an office chair, still in a fighting posture with the twins. It looked like they had also been injured a bit. Everyone was a bit slow to react.

Whatever, it’s not like we haven’t fought before. Tang Yu pushed the awkward feeling aside and glared at Song Lengzhu. They were the ones who started it.

Song Lengzhu looked at Tang Yu, her gaze shifting to Tang Yu’s face.

Tang Yu’s cheeks were very red now, and the jawbone that Song Lengzhu had clamped even showed signs of bruising.

It was probably because Song Lengzhu’s physical fitness value was so high; her hand strength was just too great, capable of breaking bones.

Zhou Zhou and Xiao Qi were standing together holding the light. They had been the first to recognize each other’s identities.

Because Zhou Zhou was just too good at running—even after knocking over chairs and tables, she could still dodge quickly—it had made Xiao Qi suspicious. She couldn’t help but whisper to confirm, “Professor Zhou?” Among the people Xiao Qi knew, if Zhou Zhou claimed to be the best runner, no one would dare claim to be second.

Zhou Zhou immediately realized this was a reunion of “acquaintances” where tempers had flared. If she had spoken up a moment later, one of the acquaintances would have been killed.

Xiao Li got up from the floor. She didn’t give the twin who had pinned her down a pleasant look. The opponent’s combat power was far superior to hers. She had used all her strength just to avoid being killed. This also made her deeply realize the gap between herself and the experts, and she felt a bit dazed.

Jin Ye was much better off than Xiao Li. Although she also couldn’t beat the twins and had taken a beating, she had contact and cooperated with them during the Ghost Valley trip. The new and old grudges between them had been largely resolved. What remained was more the awkwardness of having fought by mistake.

Song Lengzhu looked at the lamp in Zhou Zhou’s hand and reminded her, “Professor Zhou, dim your lamp a bit. Don’t attract other things.”

Zhou Zhou was stunned. She looked around the conference room. The blackout blinds on the conference room’s glass windows were all down, so the light wasn’t leaking out. It shouldn’t attract players. Did Song Lengzhu’s words mean that zombies were also attracted to light?

Thinking about it, it made sense. A lit place would always become a target. Zhou Zhou still reached out and dimmed the camping lantern until only a faint halo of light, like candlelight, remained.

The doors on both sides of the conference room had been closed by the twins. Zhou Zhou pulled up a chair to sit down and catch her breath. At the same time, she knocked on the table, telling everyone to sit down. They had a bellyful of questions, and not clearing them up would be bad for everyone.

Zhou Zhou began to ask, “Miss Song, were you setting up an ambush here?”

Song Lengzhu quickly calmed her breathing and replied, “No, we were ambushed. We thought you were the zombie trio… I mean, the fake team.”

Hearing this, Tang Yu suddenly looked up. Song Lengzhu knew the name “zombie trio,” so it seemed she had also read the forum posts. But Xiao Li had observed that Song Lengzhu hadn’t responded at all to the slander thrown at her.

The two teams were now sitting opposite each other across the table. Song Lengzhu was sitting directly opposite Tang Yu. Meeting Tang Yu’s scrutinizing gaze, Song Lengzhu showed no extra emotion on her face.

What surprised Zhou Zhou was something else. “Miss Song, you knew they were fake? You’ve met them?”

Xiao Qi muttered, “More than just met. They played us for fools. We fought them twice, and we almost died at their hands.”

Song Lengzhu said calmly, “At first, I thought the three were you. It wasn’t until we met face-to-face that I knew they weren’t. That human, her skills are a hundred times better than the little girl in your team. Even the two zombies with her are extremely powerful, not someone you can compare to.”

Tang Yu, Jin Ye, and Xiao Li choked, their faces flushing red. Why did it feel like they were just subtly insulted?

Song Lengzhu didn’t give them a chance to react and continued, “Not only that, their team doesn’t just have three members. There are other zombie companions, but they often appear in a configuration of three. The last time they faced us, there were four of them. That’s why we didn’t identify you by your numbers just now.”

Zhou Zhou asked, “Are they players?”

“I don’t know, it’s hard to tell.” Song Lengzhu was uncharacteristically silent for a moment, then said, “But, the behavior of those zombies… it doesn’t seem to possess humanity.”

Tang Yu knew what Song Lengzhu meant by “humanity.”

Even a player with no moral bottom line who would cruelly kill humans wouldn’t go so far as to gnaw on human organs. This was not something a human would do.

At this point, Xiao Qi couldn’t help but interject, “They’re terrifying. Professor Zhou, did you see the corpse in the next room? They killed it right in front of us, just before you arrived.”

“What happened?”