She lay on the bed like a corpse for nearly ten minutes before hunger finally woke Mu Shan.
Fuel consumption for a hundred kilometers: one bowl of instant noodles.
She began sorting through the spoils from her half-day outing, first laying out the sun-dried bedsheet, quilt, and pillow. She did not throw away the windshield from the original electric scooter; after cutting it, it could serve as a mattress.
She placed the small round table and small armchair by the bedside, where they could double as a nightstand or dining table without taking up much space.
She stored the sewing kit and scissors in a canvas schoolbag and hung it on the wall.
She took out one set of toiletries to place temporarily in the bathroom; the rest was too small, so she packed it all into an empty suitcase, stacked on top of the cardboard box.
The cases of bottled drinking water were easy to store, but she first wiped the outer plastic film with a rag. The full cases of water occupied the triangular space under the stairs.
There were more than thirty buckets of instant noodles, all braised beef flavor. She stacked the instant noodles with a bag of rice and five boxes of assorted grain gift packs against the wall at the foot of the bed.
She had scavenged twenty electric kettles; Mu Shan kept one for herself and prepared to trade the rest, storing them with the water for now.
The most abundant remaining supplies were laundry detergent and liquid; lacking storage cabinets, she temporarily stacked them in the corner by the bathroom wall.
The water dispenser picked up from the bank had to be placed near an outlet. Mu Shan sat on a small stool, waiting for it to boil water.
With the water dispenser, her water source problem was greatly resolved; she could even boil tap water to drink.
The hotel’s electric kettle had questionable hygiene, and without a water heater yet, she planned to use it for washing water.
The cooking problem remained unsolved. She now had a small flat pot but no induction cooker or gas stove; raw rice could not be handled, and she certainly could not cook it in an electric kettle.
But everything would get better.
Mu Shan opened a bucket of instant noodles. With a “hua la—”, hot water poured over the seasoning, instantly releasing the aroma of carbs and oil.
She stretched lazily. With the first batch of supplies, she had temporarily solved the drinking water and shelter issues; this small basement finally resembled a home.
While slurping the instant noodles, Mu Shan opened her attribute panel.
【Cannon Fodder Player 537099】
ID: Mu Shan
Age: 22
Profession: Collector [Click to view details]
Skills: Hoarding Addiction I, Hoarding Addiction II, Trash Sorting [Click to view details]
Status: Sick, Fatigued
Life: 11
Defense: 5
Strength: 7
Mental: 25
Agility: 7
Gold Coins: 15
Instance Count: 1】
She had now barely escaped the “starvation” warning line. Mu Shan began considering the basement’s security.
She really wanted a peephole to see outside but hesitated whether to upgrade the wooden door first.
After much consideration, Mu Shan chose to upgrade the entrance door.
【The rotten cellar wooden door upgraded to—a sturdy basement iron door】
There came a “ping ling pang lang” of hammering sounds, the lights dimmed briefly, and when Mu Shan looked again, the small wooden door at the top of the stairs had transformed into a sturdier, more sealed iron door.
She touched it; it felt cold, not very thick, but the sense of security surged immediately.
Mu Shan nodded in satisfaction.
Her system gold coin balance dropped back to zero.
She sat on the small armchair, scrutinizing her home inch by inch.
The basic safe house lacked too many things. She needed a kitchen, better ventilation, air conditioning, a water heater, wardrobe and storage cabinets; she also needed a sunroom.
She had to earn gold coins quickly to upgrade the bunker.
Moreover, she had no spare clothes or emergency medicine…
The recently eased sense of crisis washed over her again.
After finishing lunch, Mu Shan lay on the bed for a nap. When she woke, she felt much more energetic; the [Fatigued] status had disappeared.
When heading out, her goal was clear: find wearable clothes and shoes.
After two days of combat, her original pink loungewear had turned gray, and she was reluctant to remove the cardboard bound to her arms—that was her “beginner gear,” carrying a bit of luck value.
She picked up the axe, took a bottle of water, and followed her skill’s senses toward the destination.
At the entrance of an old neighborhood, she spotted a dry cleaner’s. The shoe rack at the door had been knocked over, the glass door smashed open; clearly, survivors had looted it.
The zombie shop owner, still wearing an apron, was stuck behind the counter and could not get out; for some reason, the looters had not dealt with it.
Mu Shan raised her axe and dispatched it cleanly.
【Gold Coins +1】
Dry cleaners mostly stocked winter clothing, with occasional expensive furs.
Mu Shan took a padded jacket, a down jacket, and a rabbit fur vest in her size, all dark colors.
She also grabbed a men’s XXL leather jacket to use as protective gear; the leather was waterproof and stain-resistant, easy to wipe clean.
She picked three pairs of sneakers and boots in different styles. For safety, she also took a pair of snow boots one size larger.
Unfortunately, no pants in the shop; she had to keep wearing her dirty ones.
Before leaving, Mu Shan glanced back at the ransacked dry cleaner’s and simply packed all the remaining clothes on the racks, forming 【Mixed Men’s and Women’s Clothes x50】 occupying one backpack slot.
When she had time, she would check the trading market to see if other players needed them.
Mu Shan had far exceeded her scavenging quota for the day, with bountiful gains. Seeing the sky darkening and distant clouds blackening, she sensed rain coming.
She mounted her bike and left.
The residential area nearby had been densely populated originally, but few zombies wandered outside; they had likely been cleared by someone.
After crossing two streets, behind a gym, Mu Shan spotted another player’s safe house.
The player ID was Xu Eryue. Like hers, it had no sunroom, but a large tire pressed above the basement entrance, with roadblocks arranged triangularly around it.
A sign stuck there read: “House Owner Bites—Keep Away!”
Mu Shan almost laughed; she wondered if the sign was more warning or joke.
She did not linger. Sensing no one in the basement, she planned to leave.
But after two steps, Mu Shan suddenly felt something.
She turned back; a gust of wind brought a rustling sound.
As if something had weathered, turning to sand.
Mu Shan frowned, scanning around; no zombie movements.
What was it?
…
Looking up inadvertently, she seemed to see something and froze in place.
【Xu Eryue’s Safe House (Deceased)】
This line of yellow system text gradually turned snow-white, then fully dissipated into the air.
The weathering sound she heard was the entrance door and all furniture and supplies inside the safe house rapidly vanishing after the house owner’s death, turning to yellow sand.
Mu Shan could not afford to dwell; she dashed across the street to the roadblocks.
Beneath the heavy stones was just a patch of cement ground—no basement entrance.
The sign that had seemed humorous moments ago now carried absurd, eerie irony.
Two seconds ago, the house owner lived; two seconds later, turned to ash.
Mu Shan stepped back two paces, her spine chilling.
[‘Dying here means really dying.’]
She had not even seen the house owner’s body, nor heard any system prompt.
Silently, she witnessed a player’s safe house vanish.
“Graa—” A pitch-black crow flew overhead, perching on a dilapidated windowsill.
A drop of cold water fell on her cheek. It was raining.
The sky had darkened terribly. An ominous premonition hung over Mu Shan; she wanted to return to the park immediately.
She turned, pedaled off, but after a few steps, felt the resistance wrong and nearly fell.
The bicycle tire had been punctured by a nail!
Of all times…
The rain grew heavier, spotting the cement road. A few zombies approached the sound. Mu Shan wiped water from her face and sprinted toward the street corner.
Before she could exit the block, a black car barreled sideways, “bang—” crashing hard into a lamppost, blocking her path.
Mu Shan frowned at the car, its front half crumpled, white smoke billowing from under the hood.
Two men and a woman scrambled out. The yellow-haired man in the passenger seat grabbed his backpack from the back, cursing the chubby driver.
“Are your freaking eyes broken? You aimed right for the pole! Don’t you know how hard it is to find a drivable car now?!
“I don’t know; I was clearly aiming for open ground.”
“Now tell us what to do! Stuck here, we’re all done for!”
As the two men argued, the woman covered her ears, eyes terrified as she looked around. “Keep it down, keep it down…”
Mu Shan ignored the three. She circled the intersection’s tangled wrecked vehicles, seeking a gap to squeeze through.
Then, from the street shadows emerged a young man in a wrinkled black suit, clutching a briefcase.
“Um, hello? Excuse me, is this some film studio? I saw a bunch of extras earlier. Are you filming a zombie movie?”
Everyone froze.
After a moment’s silence, the yellow-haired man cursed again. “Are you a freaking idiot?!”
By then, Mu Shan had left the car crash intersection.
Finding no passage, she planned to climb over the chain of rear-ended cars.
Some cars still trapped zombies inside; Mu Shan moved awkwardly, wary of hands reaching from windows.
She had just crossed two cars when the blood-red countdown overhead froze and flashed rapidly.
【Remaining Instance Survival Time: 00:03 (Locked)】
Before she could react, the woman behind screamed. “What’s happening? Why only three seconds left?!”
The yellow-haired man’s face paled. He glanced at the suited newbie nearby and Mu Shan, now some distance away, and shouted.
“Hey, what’s your profession!”
Mu Shan glanced back, said nothing.
The young man nearby spoke softly. “Huh? My profession is English translator; I just passed the professional level 8…”
【Cannon Fodder Player 651111
ID: Zhang Haiyang
Profession: Office Rookie】
Mu Shan said gravely, “I’m support.”
The yellow-haired man swore and kicked the nearby lamppost hard. “Damn! What use are supports now? We need offensive attack skills!”
By then, the rain poured harder; the four were half-soaked.
Though still just past three in the afternoon, the pitch-black sky made the road barely visible.
The chubby man, cold and tense, chattered his teeth. “Bro Huang, this place feels off… Let’s run!”
The yellow-haired man pulled a large machete from his backpack and grinned eerily. “You think running away is that easy?”
Mu Shan sensed something wrong in his words.
She did not look back, pushing full speed to escape the crash area.
Once her feet hit solid ground, a system reward refreshed before her eyes.
【Player Unlocked Achievement: Good Things Come in Pairs
Encountered two death crises in one day
Life +10
Mental +1
“This luck is unmatched.”】