Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 93

Zhou Zhou finished reading the diary. It detailed how Du Jiexu had gone from fear to madness during the apocalypse, step by step mutating into her current state. In over a year, she had only written down about twenty entries, which, judging by the content, only recorded major events.

To Tang Yu’s surprise, Du Jiexu had been infected at the very beginning of the virus outbreak. Her body had produced antibodies, allowing her to maintain a human appearance. The bite wound Tang Yu inflicted had no effect on her. It was likely that her loss of emotional control caused the hormones in her body to accumulate to a breaking point, triggering her mutation into a Zombie King.

The diary recorded several key pieces of information. First, Du Jiexu possessed an innate ability to control zombies, using two mediums: a corrosive fluid and a serum.

The serum was extracted by Du Jiexu from her own body and used on her assistants. This zombie serum could awaken a person’s instincts, but zombies with brain damage had already lost basic emotional control and the ability to distinguish right from wrong, making them hardly human. Another effect of the serum was to strengthen the relationship of control between Du Jiexu and the zombies.

Second, Du Jiexu had performed brain development experiments on her assistants and herself, which was why they were so difficult to deal with. This left Zhou Zhou utterly astonished. Either Du Jiexu’s experimental surgery had reached a very high level of maturity before the virus outbreak, or she was simply a ruthless person with formidable professional skills.

Third, Du Jiexu and her zombie assistants had once been hunted by players. Consequently, she unilaterally classified these players as foreign parasites inhabiting human bodies, feeling no guilt whatsoever when killing them. She also didn’t stop the A and B-Class zombies from eating human organs; in her eyes, it was no different from humans eating chicken, duck, or fish.

Tang Yu didn’t know if Du Jiexu was brainwashing herself to survive her dark predicament or if she genuinely thought that way. When Tang Yu had met her, the woman’s mind was clearly stretched to its limit, not nearly as calm as she appeared, which was why she had been driven mad by just a few words from Xiao Qi.

As for the zombie control ability, the diary mentioned it was only effective on the mutated creatures and bl00d zombies within the park, not on ordinary zombies.

Tang Yu opened her panel and found that the new ability’s description matched this.

【Ability: Control.】

“This ability allows for the control of specific mutated zombies and creatures. With the use of a medium, a mental link can be established with the controlled subject, who will then develop an instinctual consciousness, enabling them to think and organize for battle. However, it should be noted that the controlled subject will only develop combat instincts, not emotions or reason.”

The description didn’t specify the medium or the scope of “specific mutated creatures,” but the answers to these could be found in Du Jiexu’s diary.

Tang Yu didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. The ability required a medium, meaning she couldn’t control the zombies outside that hadn’t been treated with the corrosive fluid.

Tang Yu updated her teammates, writing in the group chat: “I think I got a useless ability. I can’t just bring that highly acidic liquid back and soak every zombie I see, can I?”

“No, no, no.” Zhou Zhou flipped the notebook to a page filled with professional terms Tang Yu couldn’t understand.

“We can’t take the acidic liquid, but we can take the serum. She recorded the research method in her notebook, and I can give it a try.” Zhou Zhou was eager to try. This research result wouldn’t have earned Du Jiexu any points, but in Zhou Zhou’s hands, it could very well trigger a related quest.

Tang Yu understood now. That was why Zhou Zhou had moved Du Jiexu’s body; she probably wanted to conduct other research on it.

Zhou Zhou continued in the group chat: “Tang Yu should have a similar serum in her body, but your constitutions are different, so the results of my research might have different effects. I’ll have to examine it carefully back at camp to draw a conclusion. If I succeed, we can just inject every zombie we see and build a zombie army. How cool would that be.”

Tang Yu nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. The grand vision she painted was truly delightful.

“But we can’t use it on Jin Ye and Xiao Li. After all, you’re a Zombie King now. If we inject them, they’ll end up in the same awkward situation you were in, possibly losing their autonomy and falling under your control.”

As Zhou Zhou spoke, Tang Yu remembered. She opened her panel to check the settlement for the “Join the Zombie King’s Faction” quest. She hadn’t paid attention to anything besides the large text before.

It was marked with:

【Current Quest: B-Class Zombie King—Settled.】

【Sub-quest: Join B-Class Zombie King’s Faction (Completed)
——Kill B-Class Zombie King (Expired)】

【Reward Settlement as follows:】

【Congratulations, you have become the new Zombie King. Level: D-Class.】

“The leader of the Zombie King faction you joined has been killed. By order of succession, the title of Zombie King is inherited by the zombie who has gained free will. Level assessment: D-Class.”

“Due to your low level, no additional ability is awarded.”

Other settlement details:

1. Sub-quest points: 60.

2. Physical Strength increased to 290 (initial value was 20).

3. Health increased to 60 (initial value was 10).

4. Healing ability increased by 25%, Agility increased by 25%.

Tang Yu stared at the line, “Due to your low level, no additional ability is awarded,” not knowing whether to laugh or cry. How could there be level discrimination even among zombies?

Speaking of which…

Tang Yu looked up at Xiao Li and Zhou Zhou. “You two didn’t trigger a quest to kill a D-Class Zombie King, did you?”

Xiao Li burst out laughing and turned her face away. Zhou Zhou put on an exaggerated expression. “Ah, how did you know? I was planning to sneakily complete the quest when you weren’t looking.”

Tang Yu bared her teeth in a mock threat. “If you dare, I’ll haunt you even as a ghost.”

Jin Ye quickly interjected, “Right, Zhou Zhou doesn’t know about this yet. We need to fill her in. Tang Yu’s life is linked to the real world, so we can’t be careless.”

“Ah?” Zhou Zhou’s smile froze on her face, and for a moment, she didn’t know what expression to make.

She was very smart and easily guessed that Tang Yu’s identity was special. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t curious, but based on their interactions, Zhou Zhou didn’t think Tang Yu was the type to commit a crime. She wanted to ask, but the words were on the tip of her tongue, and she didn’t know where to begin.

Neither Tang Yu nor Jin Ye offered any further explanation, because they didn’t know how to explain it themselves. Tang Yu herself had no idea what crime she had committed.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhou didn’t press the issue. She put away the notebook and magazine, then glanced through the crack toward the laboratory outside. “Alright, we need to figure a way out of here. I want to take the equipment I swiped and Du Jiexu’s body with us. Is there a way?”

Tang Yu’s heart sank. Just as she’d thought, they were here to move equipment.

It wasn’t that there was no way, but the difficulty was immense. They still didn’t know how to break through the players’ encirclement to leave the restricted area.

Xiao Li joked, “How about we just hole up here for a few days? We can leave after everyone else has gone. What do you think of that plan?”

To everyone’s surprise, Tang Yu nodded. “Feasible.” If they were going to hide, they might as well commit to it.

There were probably twenty to thirty players left nearby. It would be impossible for them to conduct a perfectly thorough, grid-by-grid search of the entire park. Besides, Tang Yu could control the local zombies and create some diversions.

It wouldn’t be too late for them to leave after everyone had done a first pass and given up.

The supplies in their bags were enough to last for two days. The only downside to this plan was that if they hid for that long, Du Jiexu’s body would start to decompose.

Zhou Zhou sounded a little regretful. “Looks like we can’t take the body after all. It’s a good thing I took a bl00d sample when I moved her.”

Drawing a viable bl00d sample from a corpse was no easy task; it had to be done within half an hour to maintain its usability. This meant that after Tang Yu and the others left, Zhou Zhou hadn’t hidden for long before coming out to move the body. She was truly as bold as she was skilled.

Even though she was human, she had been clearly seen interacting with Tang Yu. If other players found her, she would be attacked just the same.

Just like Song Lengzhu.

Tang Yu’s thoughts naturally drifted to Song Lengzhu again. She had called her “little zombie” in front of everyone. How would the other players react to that?

Then Tang Yu felt she was worrying for nothing. Who was Song Lengzhu? It wasn’t the place of a mere D-Class Zombie King to worry about her.

The next time they met, they would probably be enemies again, right? Tang Yu once again recalled the way Song Lengzhu had looked at her.

She closed her eyes, feeling a wave of frustration.

So annoying. This stupid game. Why did she have to mutate now of all times? It was just creating trouble for her.

Was it targeting her?

Wait a minute. Targeting.

As she thought of this, an idea flashed through her mind like lightning. She suddenly remembered the last entry in Du Jiexu’s diary and hurriedly asked Zhou Zhou to take out the notebook again. It read:

“I woke up the day before yesterday to find my physical functions had improved significantly, and so had my assistants’. It’s as if our body stats were suddenly raised. Perhaps the virus in my body has mutated again. Speaking of which… a whole bunch of those parasitic humans have shown up in the park recently. I wonder what brought them here.”

A sudden mutation? The timing was too much of a coincidence.

For once, Tang Yu picked up on the subtlety. Du Jiexu’s physical abilities had been enhanced right when the forum post about the zombie trio appeared. If not for the diary, no one would have ever noticed this.

Thinking about it carefully, as a zombie, besides being able to level up and gain skills like a player, Tang Yu had an extremely fragile health bar, couldn’t view the server-wide forums, couldn’t communicate with people, had zombie features that appeared no matter how much she washed, and faced strict systems for adding allies and converting companions. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like the game was targeting her.

She hadn’t noticed before because she had been lucky, obtaining a weapon and then coincidentally gaining a replication ability, which allowed her to exploit loopholes and gain many skills. But as her understanding of the game grew, she pieced these details together and began to perceive something deeper.

The game held malice toward her.

This malice was very subtle. The game’s fundamental logic remained intact; only a few seemingly insignificant, minor mechanics placed restrictions on her. Yet these mechanics had genuinely put Tang Yu in peril.

If she hadn’t had a great teammate like Jin Ye to explain the game’s rules, or if her personality had been so poor that she couldn’t make close friends, or if she still hadn’t obtained an ability, her situation would have been extremely perilous.

Tang Yu silently closed the notebook and handed it back to Zhou Zhou. Perhaps the misleading posts on the forums had also been tampered with, intended to attract high-level players to come and besiege her.

Tang Yu finally began to grow wary of the game.

But Tang Yu also realized that the game had loopholes that could be exploited. For instance, Xiao Li’s earlier suggestion to tackle two quests simultaneously, and Zhou Zhou’s plan to mass-produce serum after urgently collecting Du Jiexu’s bl00d—these were all ways of deviating from the game’s intended path and exploiting logical flaws.

The rules were fixed, but people were not. The game couldn’t predict the path a rebellious player might take; it couldn’t control a person’s consciousness.

Tang Yu accepted her situation quickly. The light returned to her eyes. Rebellion was something she quite enjoyed.

As expected, no players returned to the underground laboratory for the time being. However, it wasn’t safe to stay there for long, so Tang Yu decided to move their hiding spot.

Behind the collapsed exhaust duct was a main ventilation control room that Tang Yu had glimpsed while escaping earlier. It was very inconspicuous. The four of them packed up and squeezed through the collapsed opening into the room.

They didn’t move Du Jiexu’s body again. If they could slip out of the restricted area soon and the body hadn’t started to decompose, it wouldn’t be too late to carry it out then.

Tang Yu stepped onto a ventilation control box in the room, pulled a large piece of rubble over, and used it to cover the opening for concealment.

It seemed to be broad daylight outside. About half an hour later, a series of footsteps suddenly echoed from above, crunching on the rubble. Then, five or six sets of footsteps headed into the laboratory.

Someone spoke from above. “Miss Song, you guessed wrong. They didn’t come back here.”

The voice was slightly familiar. After a moment’s thought, Tang Yu matched it to Li Luo.

Song Lengzhu had actually returned. Was it because she understood their group well, or was she just being cautious? Tang Yu felt a mix of emotions. She lightly climbed back onto the ventilation control box and lay there, listening to the conversation.

The stench of zombies and bl00d was thick in the air, so she wasn’t worried about being discovered.

Song Lengzhu didn’t reply.

Li Luo spoke again. “I’m a little curious. Why didn’t you hunt them down earlier? Is it really like the forums say, that the zombie is your subordinate?”

This time, Tang Yu heard Song Lengzhu’s voice. “Does it look that way?”

Her voice held a hint of mockery, the final syllable rising as if in a laugh. Unable to see her face, Tang Yu couldn’t discern Song Lengzhu’s emotions.

Jin Ye, Xiao Li, and Zhou Zhou also crept over, pressing against the wall to eavesdrop.

Li Luo answered honestly, “No, but you seem to care about her quite a bit. I can tell from your eyes.”

What was she talking about! Tang Yu complained internally. So much for being polite and well-bred. Why was Li Luo asking such nosy questions?

Tang Yu pricked up her ears.

“Not really. Who wouldn’t be concerned about a Zombie King?” This time, Song Lengzhu’s tone was flat and icy.

Tang Yu’s raised head drooped again. That was true. Who wouldn’t be concerned about a Zombie King? Song Lengzhu was no different from any other player.

“Then what will you do if the other players give you trouble later?” Li Luo asked. “Just so you know, I’m on your side. It’s been a pleasure working with you.”

Song Lengzhu replied quickly, “Let them. I don’t care.”

Immediately after, the five or six sets of footsteps turned back, and Xiao Qi’s voice rang out, “Captain Song, the little zombie really isn’t here.”

Tang Yu was taken aback. Xiao Qi was also calling her “little zombie,” just like Song Lengzhu. Who gave you permission to call me that!

“Just call her D-Zombie. Don’t give people random nicknames,” Song Lengzhu said at the opportune moment.

“Oh.” Xiao Qi sounded very displeased.

Wasn’t she just following her captain’s lead? Who started the nickname in the first place, and why wasn’t anyone else allowed to use it now? Then again, “D-Zombie” was also a nickname, wasn’t it?

Li Luo said, “Then let’s go check other places. You, go update the other players on the search.”

“Yes,” a male voice responded to Li Luo.

The scattered footsteps retreated from overhead. Tang Yu remained prone for a while longer before cautiously climbing down from the control box.

The players seemed to have started their search, and it just so happened that Li Luo and Song Lengzhu were responsible for this laboratory area.

Tang Yu felt inexplicably happy. This was great. They had dodged one search party.