CHAPTER 2

A cold female voice said, "Has Du Xiao not returned yet?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Yu didn't have time to think about the mention of Du Xiao and quickly ran towards the building. She couldn't afford to suffer again after the previous incident.

The other zombies didn't follow Tang Yu's actions. Instead, they instinctively bared their fangs and growled as they lunged towards the humans they saw.

Bang bang! 

Two gunshots rang out, and two zombies quickly fell to the ground.

Tang Yu, who was running, glanced back and saw a pair of icy eyes staring at her. The gun was already aimed at her head, and behind the person stood three female team members.

"What the hell! Why are you shooting at me again?" Tang Yu howled and swiftly dove towards a trash can. However, she was a second too late, and a bullet hit her shoulder.

Tang Yu's movement faltered, but luckily the bullet wasn't lethal, and the pain wasn't too intense. She managed to crawl behind the trash can, using it as cover, and made her way into the adjacent building.

Encountering humans for the second time, Tang Yu was met with cold gun barrels. This gave her a preliminary understanding of her situation. These humans weren't afraid of zombies, on the contrary, they were calm and seemed to have developed a habit of attacking zombies on sight. Tang Yu felt a strange sensation—humans weren't the hunted prey in this world, the zombies were.

Gunshots from outside continued incessantly, mixed with the howls of Tang Yu's zombie companions. By the time Tang Yu climbed up to the second floor and peered down through the window's gap, only one zombie remained out of the initial ten.

The leader, a woman with a cold demeanor stood still, seemingly not having moved at all. The gun in her hand swiftly claimed the lives of several zombies. Tang Yu couldn't help but observe her.

The woman had a somewhat pale complexion and a thin face, but her eyes were sharp. Her chestnut-colored long hair was casually tied back with a hairband, and she wore loose black work clothes. Despite that, it was evident that this woman possessed a strong and agile physique, with considerable combat skills.

"In-game skins look so good, a big spender, huh?" Tang Yu silently mocked in her heart. Generally, the in-game avatar was identical to the player's real appearance, but Tang Yu didn't know that, considering her own avatar didn't resemble a human in any way.

Downstairs, the woman had already pressed the gun against Du Xiao's forehead. The two female team members beside her held Du Xiao's limbs, preventing him from moving. The woman spoke, "Since you've already turned into a zombie, I'll send you off."

"Captain Song..." one of the women hesitated and spoke up. "Although Du Xiao just joined our team, he has made some contributions. Why not spare him? There are so many zombies, one less won't make a difference."

"Bang!" Before the woman called Song finished speaking, she had already pulled the trigger.

"This..." Even her teammates were stunned in place.

"A soft heart won't let you survive until now." Song holstered her gun without saying another word.

Tang Yu cursed inwardly, "What a heartless woman! I lost my first little brother just like that!"

Just as she finished cursing, she felt the other person's gaze sweeping over. Tang Yu quickly crouched down in fear.

"Just now, there was still one zombie that slipped through the net. Go check it out." Team Song gave the order, and the footsteps of several people approached this way.

Tang Yu realized it wasn't good and hurriedly ran upstairs.

.....

[Oh my god, isn't that Song Lengzhu?] The viewers who had just entered the live broadcast room couldn't help but send barrage comments, and immediately, other barrage comments followed.

[Yes! It's her. Her team has always been active in the top ten rankings. No zombie can escape when they encounter them. However, one of her teammates just died.]

[This dumb zombie is in trouble. This live stream room can only survive for one more day, hahaha.]

[This is too difficult. What a hell-level scenario.]

[Great job on the title, streamer. It's hilarious.]

Xiaozhao quickly switched to the administrator account and was about to respond when she had a brilliant idea. She started a poll and pinned it in the live stream room.

"Do you think the dumb zombie can escape alive? Yes, no. Randomly pick one correct answer to win 5 star coins~"

Star coins on this planet were not only used for live stream rewards but also served as a currency in real life. Although 5 star coins weren't much, free stuff was always welcomed.

Because of this gimmick, coupled with Song Lengzhu's appearance, the viewers spread the word and invited their friends to vote, causing the live stream room's popularity to soar, instantly reaching ten thousand viewers.

In the poll, everyone chose "no," and the number of votes for "yes" was zero. After all, these viewers who frequented interstellar live streams had seen the top ten live broadcasts.

Xiaozhao happily watched the rapidly increasing viewer count and jumped up from her seat. She ruffled her colorful hair, thought for a moment, and used her own account to vote for the "yes" option, secretly praying for Tang Yu to survive. After all, she didn't want her live stream room to survive for only one day. It had just started gaining popularity.

.......

In stark contrast to the joyful atmosphere in the live stream room, Tang Yu was in a life-threatening situation. She hadn't forgotten the warning on the electronic screen at the beginning—life only had one chance, and she didn't want to die without remembering anything.

As she ran, she took the gun off her back, trying to figure out how to use it. After finally opening the magazine, she realized that she seemed to have... forgotten to take the bullets.

There was only one bullet left in the gun, the one Du Xiao hadn't had a chance to use, and it was still chambered. While Tang Yu was grateful she hadn't accidentally shot herself, she hurriedly climbed the stairs, the sound of her footsteps echoing in the unusually quiet stairwell.

Song Lengzhu and her group followed closely behind. With their agile steps, they covered two steps in three, swiftly climbing the stairs. They had been playing since the game was released, experiencing the difficult period of the virus outbreak and the struggle for survival. Now, they had survived for a year, and their bodies had become stronger. Tang Yu, who had just entered the game, couldn't escape from them. Soon, Song Lengzhu's footsteps, like a devil's, chased up to the floor where Tang Yu was.

Tang Yu pursed her lips, sweating profusely as she ran to the corner of the fifth floor. Just as she was about to continue running upstairs, she suddenly smelled a familiar putrid odor.

It was the stinky scent of her zombie companions!

Tang Yu felt relieved and stopped her upward sprint. Instead, she opened the fire door and swiftly entered the corridor on the fifth floor.

The aimless and idle zombies, who had been scratching at the doors for a long time, were taken aback when they saw Tang Yu enter. They made a move to attack, but then they realized that she seemed to be a zombie as well. They bypassed Tang Yu and rushed into the stairwell through the open fire door.

Tang Yu quickly made a plan. She grabbed a broken table nearby and wedged it against the fire door, keeping it open. This would allow her fellow zombies to hold off Song Lengzhu and her group while she herself turned and ran into an open room.

It was a single-person apartment, and the window glass was already shattered. After Tang Yu entered one of the rooms, she crouched by the window sill and looked down. Luckily, there was a drainage pipe next to the window, and directly below was a canopy. With the cushioning effect of the canopy, jumping down might cause injuries but not death.

Tang Yu looked around and swiftly pulled out a bedsheet, twisting it into a rope and tying it to the window sill. The length wasn't quite enough, so she grabbed another sheet and quickly twisted them together.

Gunshots occasionally echoed in the corridor, getting closer and closer. Tang Yu inwardly complained about how fast these people were. Why were her zombie companions so slow to attack? She hastened her actions.

A dark figure appeared at the door, and Tang Yu instinctively turned to look. Before she could react, a bullet whizzed past her face. Tang Yu cursed, "Heartless!" She picked up the gun on her back, aimed it at Song Lengzhu, and fired her last bullet.

Unfortunately, her marksmanship was terrible. The bullet missed Song Lengzhu's clothes by a wide margin. Tang Yu quickly discarded the gun, propped herself on the window sill, grabbed the bedsheets, and flipped herself out of the window. By the time Song Lengzhu reached the window and looked down, Tang Yu was already limping down from the canopy, quickly disappearing from sight.

"Huh?" Song Lengzhu couldn't help but whisper. "Strange, how could that zombie use a gun? Has it evolved?"

It seemed like it even howled something at her, but all Song Lengzhu heard were "wuwuwu" sounds.

Tang Yu had fractured her left shin.

She looked down at her walking posture and realized that she had truly become an odd kind of zombie. Tang Yu mournfully touched her face, fumbling her way into a nearby pharmacy. She found some leftover alcohol and iodine solution, not caring whether they would be effective or not. She poured them all over her wound after a dull pain, giving it some basic treatment. After a while, she found some plastic boards and used them to secure her injured leg with the help of the curtain fabric.

Zombies had a very dull sense of pain, but that didn't mean they couldn't feel it at all. Tang Yu didn't find any painkillers in the pharmacy, so she gritted her teeth and waited for the dull pain to subside.

Recalling Song Lengzhu, Tang Yu shivered inwardly. This woman was terrifying. Without wasting any words, she always acted so swiftly. Not only did she shoot Tang Yu, but she almost took her life.

The more Tang Yu thought about it, the angrier she became. She gritted her teeth in resentment. After tending to her injured leg, she struggled to treat the gunshot wound on her shoulder. After removing the bullet, Tang Yu stared at it for a moment and then placed it securely in the pocket of her utility pants.

She was a person who sought revenge. Regardless of which faction she was in, if she had a grudge, she would definitely settle it.

Tang Yu huddled in a corner of the pharmacy, ate something, and then lay down on the floor to sleep. It was unclear whether she was tired or had passed out from the pain.

......

While Tang Yu held a grudge against Song Lengzhu, the Star Live stream had exploded. The "first zombie to escape from Song Lengzhu's clutches" had sparked heated discussions. Half a million people flooded into the live stream, and Xiaozhao was grinning from ear to ear. She was the only one who received star coins, and she felt no guilt about "lining her own pockets." She rewarded herself with a five-star coin prize in her private account.

"Sister Tang, you are my goddess from now on." Xiaozhao rubbed her rainbow-colored caterpillar happily and eagerly read the discussions in the live chat.

The barrage was already buzzing with comments: 

[Oh my god, I can't believe Song Lengzhu encountered a setback in her life.]

[Her fans are furious and demanding to find this person's whereabouts.]

[Is this streamer a criminal? We should search for her in prison.]

[So she's a criminal! If she dies in the game, she's really dead.]

[No wonder her will to survive is so high. I'm in love.]

[Me too! Although her in-game appearance is quite scary, her real face is pretty, and her actions are very decisive.]

[A criminal, she should be killed quickly. How does she still have fans?]

[What are you talking about? According to the way we convict in Star, some people are truly guilty.]

[Guilty is guilty. Do we need your opinions on Star's verdict? Song Lengzhu should kill her off quickly.]

The discussion veered off into strange directions, as is common when people start discussing a topic. Whenever there is a discussion, conflicting viewpoints are inevitable.

Seeing that things were getting heated, Xiaozhao immediately posted an announcement: "When the score reaches one hundred points, the streamer will unlock new features. The current score of the streamer is: 10 points." She successfully diverted everyone's attention to a different topic.

[What kind of skill?]

[Speaking skills?] someone made a sarcastic comment, causing everyone to burst into laughter. But someone quickly noticed a loophole and raised a question in confusion.

[Why is the streamer only at 10 points? I remember killing a zombie gave 10 points, and there are other bonus points as well. Sister Song's score is already in the tens of thousands.]

[The streamer can't possibly go out and kill zombies. She herself is a zombie.]

[So, does that mean she can kill other players? Look, she assimilated another player, and now her score is 10 points.]

[That makes sense, it's indeed like that.]

However, Xiaozhao didn't post another announcement, leaving everyone to speculate on their own.

......

Tang Yu also received a score reminder. She had slept in the pharmacy overnight, and when she woke up, she accidentally touched her wrist, and with a beep, the electronic screen appeared before her eyes again. Tang Yu fumbled around and discovered that double-tapping her wrist could summon the electronic screen. The personal information section on it read: "Player: Tang Yu. Score: 10 points. Basic skills: Locked, unlock at 100 points."

The information wasn't extensive, but Tang Yu quickly understood the key points. Eliminating Du Xiao had earned her 10 points. If she wanted to survive, she needed to strengthen her body. To strengthen her body, she required a large number of points, and these points could be obtained by eliminating human players. As a result, she found herself completely opposed to human players.

Tang Yu sighed. If possible, she didn't want to be enemies with all human players. After all, it posed a significant threat to her survival. However, if she could overpower them, she was willing to earn more points to improve her situation.

The immediate task was to ensure the safety of her environment so that she would have enough time to recover from her injuries.

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