Chapter 118: The Pay-to-Win Blind Man and the Seriously Gaming Wen Xishu

Although it is called a team game, it is completely different from what Wen Xishu expected.

This game is more like putting many people into a massive battlefield, then letting everyone rely on their own abilities, giving them a certain amount of time to grind for stats and items.

In the end, one savior will be chosen from the eight people.

Of course, the game has not yet shown a tendency for bunker players to confront each other.

"If... if from the beginning, all eight people had not chosen pay-to-win classes, but instead chose ordinary classes, then the game would have a normal style."

"But now, the game's style seems to have turned into several different games. This city feels like it is constantly changing, starting to randomly generate tasks according to the desires in people's hearts."

"But the true essence of the game... should be the non-pay-to-win options."

Wen Xishu actually isn't sure either.

There is one point that he feels made what the blind man said quite chilling. What is the reason... that led to him having no concept of assets?

Why is he unable to trigger pay-to-win content?

These questions didn't confuse Wen Xishu for too long; since he can't pay to win anyway, he can only choose to accept the status quo.

He begins to pay attention to the blind man.

If there is anything else that makes him feel that the eight people are not yet enemies in the game...

That would probably be this chat system.

Messages sent by everyone can be seen by others. If the eight people end up fighting...

This chat system will likely turn into a "lie spreader."

What Wen Xishu is concerned about is the blind man's survival status.

Currently, it shows that the blind man is alive.

……

……

The blind man is indeed alive.

As another non-pay-to-win player, the blind man's thoughts are very simple: I am here to seek death.

Why should I pay to win? Everything in the game is fake; after death, everything returns to nothingness.

He begins to walk outward continuously. The experience of a man blind for many years allows him not to walk in a disheveled manner.

He just walks relatively slowly and does not deliberately hide his own sounds.

He walks in the direction Wen Xun mentioned; at first it was fine, but gradually, the blind man feels that something is not quite right.

The newbie village... have all the zombies been slaughtered by Wen Xun?

The blind man's ears are still very sharp, and he soon hears a burst of crying. It is a woman squatting in a corner crying.

She is wearing a white dress and emitting an extremely dangerous aura.

The blind man's first reaction... why is there crying here? Is it a task?

Sorry, I don't do tasks, I just want to die. But perhaps I can go ask this crying woman, ask her how I can get out of this place without zombies.

Thus, the blind man walks toward the super zombie ranked sixth in combat power in this game.

The zombie's hair is very long, and under the long hair, something terrifying is squirming.

Its scientific name is Witch, a super mutant with abilities stronger than most zombies.

The blind man follows the crying to the side of the Witch.

"Sorry, excuse me, can you lead me out of here?"

The crying stops abruptly.

The blind man feels the silence; he thinks the other party should have heard him.

At this moment, the blind man smells a stench and the smell of rot.

"This school... why would they throw rotten meat here?"

The blind man does not say this out loud, because he immediately realizes... a woman crying naturally means this woman is hurting inside.

The stench of rotten meat, the sad crying.

He understands; this woman is crying for a dead friend or someone else she had some kind of bond with.

This might be part of a task.

"I'm sorry, did your loved one die here? Do you need a revenge service? Just lead me out, and I'll go fight those zombies to the death."

The blind man only wants to die now, to die in the Tower of Deception.

In the real world, he can even imagine that if he died in the bunker, he would still be mocked. Those hateful people would surely celebrate his death while showing expressions of disgust, feeling that his dying in the bunker was an annoyance to them.

The blind man also hates those people in the bunker, so he chooses to die in the Tower of Deception.

The blind man says:

"Can you take me away from the school? I know you might have some commissions, but take me away from the school first."

What the blind man doesn't know is that at this moment, the Witch's rotten face is almost pressed against his, sizing him up.

The blind man only feels that the smell of rot is getting closer, but since he is asking for a favor, he does not show any expression of disgust or frown, but instead says extremely sincerely:

"I only hope to be able to leave here."

Silence, absolute silence; for some reason, the Witch does not attack the blind man.

It just keeps sensing and observing. If anyone saw this scene, they would definitely think the blind man was a goner.

But the blind man just doesn't die; the Witch seems to have malfunctioned and simply won't attack.

The blind man, who has no desire to live, suddenly feels a bit distressed.

"Could it be that I must complete that damn task! Could it be that I can't even manage to die!"

"I don't want to kill myself! Is it even difficult for me to be killed by a monster!"

His emotions suddenly collapse, and years of grievances erupt at this moment:

"I just want to die! What did I do wrong? Why can't I die! Why do I have to passively accept the sacrifices you think you're making just because you think I must live!"

"Have you ever treated me like a human? Have you ever truly respected me? I have never once craved your care, but all my upbringing tells me I should be grateful to you! But why, why is that!"

He roars it out almost hysterically.

The blind man is definitely the first person to ever roar at a Witch like this. But the Witch cannot speak; she only emits sharp cries.

And at this moment, even the crying stops; it just silently sizes this person up, and before long... the Witch directly ignores the blind man.

It actually squats back in its previous position and continues to cry in a low voice.

After his emotional outburst, the blind man also feels suddenly exhausted. His profession is a war correspondent. No pay-to-win, no various fortuitous encounters, and no full-level human panel brought by the Tower-slaughtering of Wen Xishu...

He soon begins to feel thirsty and hungry.

The woman's crying comes to his ears, and he finally has no other choice:

"Fine, fine, stop crying! For God's sake, stop crying, tell me what your task is! I'll do it, I'll do it, okay!"

No response, still only crying.

At this moment, the blind man, who is relatively sensitive, feels discriminated against.

His emotions collapse again, and he begins to wail loudly. He has endured years of grievances; every time he cried, the response he got was:

"Isn't it tiring for us to take care of you? Why are you still dissatisfied?"

But why should I be satisfied, why do you think I need to be taken care of by you? At this moment, the blind man only feels that even this game is bullying him.

His crying interweaves with the Witch's crying, the male and female voices mixing, rising and falling, incomparably sorrowful. It also causes the horror index of this school to rise by several levels at once.

After all, a male witch is an existence that none of the survivors have ever seen.

……

……

If Wen Xishu knew the blind man's situation, he would likely perceive some of the game designer's concepts.

But from Wen Xishu's perspective, he doesn't know what the blind man triggered. He just thinks the blind man probably hasn't taken any action.

"He should have been staying in that first room the whole time. Otherwise, he would have died as soon as he went out. Although I lured away quite a few zombies, there were still plenty left."

Wen Xishu thinks it over and feels that there is only this one reason why the blind man could survive.

At this time, Wen Xishu has followed the compass's guidance and arrived at a residential complex.

This place is called Violet Garden. It is a seven-year-old housing development, and because it is close to the city center, there are many tenants here.

The population density here is very high, and the complex is built quite large; it is considered a design that finds tranquility amidst the noise.

Wen Xishu enters the complex without much effort.

There is a Witch in the corner of the west gate of the complex, so for safety, he goes to the east gate.

There are only two zombies wearing security uniforms at the east gate; because they haven't eaten meat for too long, the two originally fat security guards now have their bones exposed.

Wen Xishu easily bypasses them, and along the way, he avoids several zombie Shiba Inus, zombie bears, and zombie orange cats.

If it weren't for the fact that these former pets were slow-moving due to missing limbs or extreme hunger... Wen Xishu would really have a hard time dealing with them.

This Violet Garden has a total of thirty-one buildings; one can imagine how huge this complex is. The complex is rated at the three-skull level.

It's not that the complex hides any terrifying monsters, but mainly because of the sheer quantity. The zombie density in the complex is very high.

If there were something like a radar red-dot scanner, one could see dense red dots, which would likely overlap to form a solid surface.

However, these zombies are rarely seen outside; the most malicious part of the entire complex's design is that although there are many zombies, most of them are hidden inside the residences.

Elevator shafts, residences, hallways... all hide a number of zombies far exceeding the players' expectations.

Conversely, outside the complex, the zombies are not exactly few, but they are not an unsolvable amount either.

They are often distributed by area, with a dozen or so zombies hidden in one area.

"This complex looks quiet on the surface, with only a few or a dozen zombies occasionally wandering around with the pace of an old man; this speed is truly slow."

"It doesn't look like it has the level of three skulls at all. But this kind of setting often means that the enemies will gather in large numbers in places that players might overlook or will inevitably pass through."

Wen Xishu silently noted the distribution of the zombies. He discovered a pavilion where the zombies were arranged in an interesting formation, with a chess table set up inside.

Viewed from above, these zombies gave the impression of being in an ambush on all sides, leaving one surrounded and vulnerable from both front and back.

But the movement speed of these zombies was too slow; it seemed this formation design was entirely meaningless.

Wen Xishu’s attention quickly shifted elsewhere. Of course, he did not rashly go to explore the residential area. It was not because he had sensed the large number of zombies hidden here.

It was because he had a Luo Pan.

Although the game restricted his attributes, the abilities of his items could still help Wen Xishu cheat on a small scale.

At the same time, there were some stacked villas in the residential complex, located in the front row near the river. Not many people bought these floor plans, but Wen Xishu was ultimately guided by the Luo Pan to the front of one of these villas.

"Besides, the other villas have no defensive fortifications, but this villa has a fence made of barbed wire."

"It seems this is the mission area."

Wen Xishu wondered how he should sneak in, but just at that moment, the villa door suddenly opened, and a man’s deep voice came from within:

"You... are you a living person or a zombie?"

"A living person, a living person, a genuine living person."

Wen Xishu raised his hands to show he had no ill intent. At the same time, a prompt appeared in his mind.

【Please select the mission you wish to accept.】

【Mission One: The Power of Love.】

【Mission Two: The Giant Python in the Cave.】

Just like last time, there was no mission description and no reward preview.

It stood to reason that, just like last time, without the ability to pay-to-win, choosing wrong meant death, or a fate worse than death.

Wen Xishu could only rely on his gut to choose. His first reaction... was still to choose Mission One, The Power of Love.

"Last time the two missions were 'Family Reunion' and 'Toiling and Running About.' Literally, I chose 'Family Reunion.' This option seemed warm on the surface, but in reality, it was telling you that without a family reunion, a family reunion in the apocalypse is just dying together..."

"Then, following this logic, I should choose The Power of Love; in any case, it definitely won't mean what it says literally."

"But what does 'The Giant Python in the Cave' mean?"

Wen Xishu did not choose The Giant Python in the Cave because he instinctively thought of the literal meaning. Could it be that some kind of giant mutated python existed nearby?

He did not really want to deal with that kind of creature, because he did not want the game's style to be led astray.

Thus, Wen Xishu chose The Power of Love. But he felt something was wrong.

Generally speaking, there really isn't much fresh content in zombie movies; the only thing more formulaic than web novels is apocalypse survival movies.

He truly did not expect that he would encounter a mission with a title he couldn't understand in an apocalypse survival game.

"Throw away your weapon. Otherwise, you cannot enter here."

Wen Xishu obediently threw away the steel pipe. This was an item he had acquired not long ago.

As for his own starting items, they did not seem to be within the game's considerations.

Wen Xishu said:

"I haven't been bitten, I am very healthy, I came here by accident, I got separated from my partner, could you give me some water and food?"

Wen Xishu directly placed himself in the position of "I am a lamb."

The owner of the villa looked around, and after confirming no one was there, he immediately became friendly:

"You are lucky to have met me in this place full of zombies. Come in quickly."

Although he said that, the villa owner kept a gun in his hand the whole time. Wen Xishu did not mind and quickly walked into the villa.

"What is your name?"

"Wen Xishu, thank heavens, I finally found a place with living people."

"Alright, poor child, my name is Duan Donghuo. My mom hoped I would be a fire in the winter, able to warm others when they are at their coldest. Wen Xishu, you are very lucky, you met me. Come, come in and have something to drink."

Duan Donghuo was about forty years old, very tall and big, smoking a very thick cigarette, and sporting a thick, bushy beard. An exclamation mark hovered over his head.

Clearly, this was the NPC related to the mission.

When Wen Xishu entered the house, Duan Donghuo picked up the steel pipe Wen Xishu had thrown on the ground.

Now, Duan Donghuo had both a melee weapon and a ranged weapon.

"Thank you so much, I haven't had a good sleep in a while, and I am very hungry and thirsty, sorry to trouble you." Wen Xishu said very cooperatively.

He seemed to be the NPC with the standard lines.

Instead, Duan Donghuo was more like a player:

"Don't be afraid, since you came here and met me, as long as you follow the rules here, you can live very well. It's the apocalypse, we humans should help each other."

"Come, follow me. I haven't had guests here for a while, but I always fantasized about guests coming. It's a pity you aren't a chick."

After Duan Donghuo finished speaking, he laughed "hahaha" a few times.

Next, he first took Wen Xishu to the second floor; the guest room on the second floor was kept very clean.

Then he took Wen Xishu to the recreation room. Yes, even in the apocalypse, there were places sufficient for entertainment.

This was also the most valuable part of this villa—

There was a pool table in this room, but it looked like it hadn't been touched for a long time.

At the same time, there were several bookshelves, though the books inside hadn't been flipped through much either.

The most entertaining part of the recreation room... was the TV and the game console.

"I copied quite a few apocalypse movies, and also adult movies from Japan."

One could imagine Duan Donghuo in his recreation room, feeling the human apocalypse while watching Japanese movies.

This was very reasonable. Wen Xishu noticed that there were even playback records on the TV, and the letters at the beginning of the serial numbers were of the NTR series.

It was evident that Duan Donghuo really liked that kind of "yellow-haired" perspective, the kind of Japanese videos where someone violates another person's wife.

Additionally, there was actually a walkie-talkie in the recreation room. It seemed Duan Donghuo had built a radio station himself in order to find survivors.

Wen Xishu silently noted this information and followed Duan Donghuo to the third floor of the villa.

The third floor had three rooms and a terrace. One of the rooms was a study, one room was locked with chains, and another room was a storage room.

That room locked with chains gave Wen Xishu a hint of some clues.

He seemed to understand the routine of this mission, but he did not say anything.

Duan Donghuo led Wen Xishu to the storage room:

"Wen Xishu, take whatever you want to eat, there is food everywhere here. I'll go heat up a cup of water for you."

Duan Donghuo was very enthusiastic, but he didn't leave; instead, he waited to see Wen Xishu's reaction.

Wen Xishu was long used to this, but he still gave a very exaggerated reaction. He felt Nisen and Xiaojin were good materials for him to imitate:

"Wow, bro, you actually have so much food stored in your storage room? This is simply shocking; the food you have here is comparable to a shelter."

In the storage room, it was all food: instant noodles, compressed biscuits, pre-made meal packs... packed to the brim, all stored in freezers.

This food was enough for Duan Donghuo to eat for a very, very long time.

Duan Donghuo was very satisfied with Wen Xishu's reaction:

"After eating it for a long time... you might find it unappetizing, but at least they can ensure I survive. I am actually an apocalypse story enthusiast. I previously participated in free fighting and won a fighting championship, and I also won an Olympic shooting championship. After making some money, I became afraid of death."

"I just thought, I have to hoard some things with this money. Things that can keep me from starving for a long time."

"Plus, I like apocalypse survival games, and I always fantasized that my shooting skills and fighting skills would allow me to carve out a bloody path in the apocalypse and find all kinds of supplies."

"However... I really didn't expect the apocalypse to actually come. This often makes me feel like the world revolves around me."

Wen Xishu said:

"You certainly have great foresight... now you might be considered one of the wealthiest people in the world."

This was not just polite talk. At a time like this, if there were a circulating market like in novels, Duan Donghuo would definitely be the kind of "cool" protagonist who could trade supplies for a girl's chastity.

"Reborn: I Hoard Supplies in the Apocalypse," just thinking about it feels great.

Duan Donghuo said in a low voice:

"Eh, everything has lost its meaning. For a while, I even had thoughts of suicide, but it's a pity you aren't a chick. I am now willing to trade half of my supplies for a chick. Enough talk, I'll go boil some water for you to drink."

Wen Xishu took a few packs of compressed biscuits, letting his hunger level drop directly to 0.

Then Duan Donghuo invited Wen Xishu to go down and sit for a while.

"Wen Xishu, come down and drink some water."

Water is the easiest thing to drug; Wen Xishu also noticed the irrationality of hoarding supplies but not water.

At the same time, the other party had mentioned drinking water three or four times from the very beginning.

"Not fresh. In a situation where there is no shortage of water and food, in an apocalypse full of schemes... the only thing I have that is worth the other party being so ingratiating is my flesh."

"Zombies don't eat food, they only eat human flesh. The other room on the third floor is locked with chains; if I haven't guessed wrong, inside should be his beloved friends and family who have already turned into zombies."

"Treating a person to a meal, then sending them on their way, sending them to the zombie's room to feed the zombie. In the loneliness of the apocalypse, the only solace is that beloved friend or family member, now turned into a zombie, that one keeps. It is the switch that opens the memories."

This story is indeed not fresh; almost all zombie movies use this routine: humans capturing humans to feed zombies. If the player knows the script in advance... then logically, there are many ways to break the situation.

For example, a direct sneak attack. But Wen Xishu knew very well that this method had been anticipated by the game designer.

First, the opponent is a free-fighting champion, so he can be seen as a max-level human in the game.

Second, the opponent is also an Olympic shooting champion, and he has a gun in his hand.

This setting is likely to prevent those who can guess the plot from forcibly attacking Duan Donghuo.

Duan Donghuo's attributes can be said to be heaven-defying, with ranged damage and melee damage maxed out. If one were to really attack forcibly... the game would likely end right here.

However, Wen Xishu is different from a regular player.

If his attributes weren't restricted, Wen Xishu could directly use a "Limit Kick" to resolve the battle.

Actually, even now, Wen Xishu felt he could do it. Instantly take out the "Murderous Soccer Ball" from his inventory, use his god-like ball skills, combined with a "Limit Kick," and end the battle with one kick...

Wen Xishu was 80% sure he could do it.

But he did not do so.

"I feel now that this game is alive; it seems to be waiting for someone who truly understands it."

"Rather than someone who uses microtransactions to change its original content. Of course, this game is absolutely lethal. Making the wrong choice will very likely lead to death."

"But there must be more than one correct option. Duan Donghuo’s settings should be such that they cannot be broken through by a player using brute force..."

"Then, as a member of the 'majority,' what should I do?"

At this moment, Duan Donghuo held a bowl of water in his hands, a friendly smile on his face, the water in the bowl steaming.

Seeing that Wen Xishu did not respond, he spoke again:

"Come down and have some water; you look very thirsty."

Wen Xishu took the cup, thought silently about his strategy, and then put on a sorrowful expression.

Duan Donghuo urged:

"Drink it, why aren't you drinking?"

Wen Xishu sighed:

"It’s so good... I can’t imagine being able to drink a cup of water in such a comfortable environment. Do you know, my girlfriend and I shared half a bottle of water for three days."

"She is so beautiful. The apocalypse came so suddenly; neither of us was prepared. I miss her so much. The nights are so cold, and she was wearing torn silk stockings. I don't know if she can find a warm place to rest."

Wen Xishu spoke with deep sorrow.

But to Duan Donghuo’s ears, it immediately triggered an excited reaction: a woman, beautiful, silk stockings, battle-damaged version!

Honestly, he had never lacked women, but he had always been single. These were not mutually exclusive.

After the apocalypse broke out, what he craved most now was someone to talk to.

Of course, the prerequisite was that it had to be a woman. As a combat expert and a shooting expert, Duan Donghuo’s physical fitness was undoubtedly powerful.

At the age when he was most capable, being unable to do anything, combined with suppressed desires, had caused him to become twisted.

Wen Xishu actually knew this; he could guess it from those films.

Human desire can never be satisfied.

For most survivors, the greatest desire in the apocalypse is water and food.

Once these two are sufficient, the saying "full and warm, one thinks of procreation" naturally follows.

This is the nature of living beings: craving evolution in dangerous environments and craving reproduction in safe ones.

Wen Xishu continued:

"We used to say... if only we had a cup of hot water, we would do anything. But now, I can drink hot water, yet my girlfriend is..."

Do anything.

The wicked fire of winter in Duan Donghuo’s heart burned brighter and brighter. He even felt he had entered the zone.

His mind was filled with such images—

"My lady, you wouldn't want your husband to die of thirst, would you?"

So, Duan Donghuo suddenly took the cup from Wen Xishu’s hand and casually poured it out:

"Hahahaha, don't mind it. I just wanted to tell you that I have as much water as you want here."

"Where is your lover now? Let’s go save her. What does she look like? Do you have a photo?"

Wen Xishu said:

"She used to be a model. Sorry, I left in a hurry and didn't bring her photo, but I know where she is."

"We got lost at a hotel building outside the residential complex. Because we had no food or water at the time, we had no choice but to go out and explore."

"But we got lost right here in this complex. This complex is too big."

Upon hearing "model," Duan Donghuo became even more eager:

"That’s great... oh no, I mean, this complex is indeed very large, but as long as she is inside, I still have a way to find her."

Every reaction of Duan Donghuo was observed by Wen Xishu.

This was a guy whose desires were suppressed to the extreme. He knew that from the movies in the second-floor room.

"Shall we go find her then?"

"What is your girlfriend’s name?"

Wen Xishu:

"I usually call her Xiaohua, and she calls me A-Shu."

Duan Donghuo was extremely excited, already thinking about knocking Wen Xishu unconscious, tying him up, and finally, in front of Wen Xishu, watching him shake his head frantically while making muffled sounds, while he himself engaged in certain physically and mentally beneficial activities with Xiaohua.

The feeling of a movie coming to life made him feel as if there was a fire burning in his gut.

Lust is a blade hanging over one's head.

Next, at Wen Xishu’s suggestion, Duan Donghuo actually gave Wen Xishu a dagger.

Duan Donghuo himself tucked a pistol into his waistband, held a shotgun, put on thick, foul-smelling makeshift armor, and went out with Wen Xishu.

During this process, Wen Xishu led Duan Donghuo to the place he had observed earlier, where a dozen zombies were walking slowly.

To kill these slow-moving zombies, as long as one has a weapon, even a member of the "majority" can do it.

To gain Duan Donghuo’s trust, Wen Xishu voluntarily exposed his back to him and, several times, actively blocked in front of Duan Donghuo to kill zombies himself.

There was no danger anyway; Wen Xishu had noticed earlier that these zombies, like elderly people, moved very slowly.

So he acted very heroically. Because of this, after some maneuvering, Wen Xishu led Duan Donghuo to a pavilion in the complex.

On the pavilion sat a chessboard with an endgame; the way to solve it was to sacrifice pieces first, feign weakness to the enemy, and then, after guiding the enemy to move their chariots and horses, attack them frantically to win in one stroke.

The distribution of zombies around the pavilion looked as if they were ambushing someone.

Wen Xishu naturally remembered this place; he immediately realized that everything was like this:

"She should be hiding nearby, but there are too many zombies here... she might have hidden herself."

Duan Donghuo then suggested:

"Then let’s kill the surrounding zombies first."

Wen Xishu’s initiative and hard work gave Duan Donghuo a very good impression. Therefore, Duan Donghuo believed more and more that Wen Xishu had truly lost his girlfriend here.

When the two arrived near the pavilion, those zombies, who seemed to be in an ambush from all sides, rushed toward Wen Xishu and Duan Donghuo.

Saying "rushed"... it was probably just a bit faster than a slow walk. The zombies here that had explosive sprinting abilities were mostly hidden in the houses. If one explored the houses, they would feel malice comparable to that of Hidetaka Miyazaki.

But the zombies outside the houses were actually very weak, all feeling like the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled.

At first, Wen Xishu was still wondering why it was designed this way.

This zombie positioning was meant to make the player feel surrounded. But the slow movement speed of the zombies made this ambush ineffective.

Now Wen Xishu understood; it was to encourage the player to lure Duan Donghuo to this place.

When Duan Donghuo and Wen Xishu were surrounded, Duan Donghuo said:

"I’ll take care of the ones in front, you take care of the ones behind. Don't be afraid, these zombies aren't strong; the strong ones are all in the houses. You performed well just now; with your skills, the zombies behind shouldn't be a problem!"

Wen Xishu nodded; you are actually quite a nice guy, telling me such important information.

Although Wen Xishu had guessed that the three skulls of the complex likely meant the greatest danger was hidden in the houses.

But now, Wen Xishu had turned his guess into certainty.

Thus, when Duan Donghuo turned around to deal with the zombies, Wen Xishu performed a righteous backstab.

Whether a fighting champion or a shooting champion, with their back exposed and no precautions, it is difficult to fend off a dagger.

When the dagger pierced straight into the back of Duan Donghuo’s head...

In Duan Donghuo’s mind, he was still thinking about paid content.

Wen Xishu said:

"Lust is a blade hanging over one's head; I chose to stick it into your head, isn't that fitting? The power of love is truly immense."

Duan Donghuo could no longer respond to Wen Xishu.

At this moment, his consciousness seemed to have been chopped in half by that knife.

Duan Donghuo fell to the ground and died.

The surrounding zombies slowly crawled up. Wen Xishu took Duan Donghuo’s keys and two guns, ignoring the zombies that pounced to eat Duan Donghuo.

When he returned to the villa full of supplies with the pistol, shotgun, steel pipe, and dagger, a new prompt appeared in his mind.

[Once you possess the trait of hypocrisy and cunning, you can disguise yourself as the weak, deceive others into trusting you, and occupy the nest. But then again, they died in their own desires, which is not unjust. So you have understood the second thing, which is that you must hide your own desires. Congratulations, you have completed the challenge of the second level. You have completed the level almost perfectly according to the designer's intent, and you have proven that you possess the essential qualities for survival in the apocalypse. Please keep it up; I hope to invite you to the Realm of Truth.]

[Obtained mission rewards: Zombie Perception, Combat Techniques, Shooting Techniques.]

Wen Xishu’s title also changed from "A Part of the People Who Can Resist Thirst and Hunger" to "A Small Part of Combat-Type Zombie Hunters Who Can Resist Thirst and Hunger."

A part of the people became a small part of the people. Wen Xishu’s rarity evolved once again.

And what surprised Wen Xishu the most was that the gun in his hand seemed to have lost its weight.

Wen Xishu had a feeling that perhaps if he fired now, the recoil would be negligible.

Additionally, he felt as if he had instantly mastered many combat techniques such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, Wing Chun, and Muay Thai.

"I wonder if these techniques can be brought out of the instance?"

The Savior Creation Plan must actually create something, right?

Wen Xishu felt that the rewards for this mission were very high, much higher than the first novice mission.

It wasn't because of the mission difficulty; he noticed the wording in the prompt—completed the level almost perfectly according to the designer's intent.

This meant that if one completed the game mission in a "non-microtransaction profession" way, and tried as much as possible not to use cheat-like attributes...

Then one would likely receive extra rewards.

This time, Wen Xishu found that the hints were actually quite obvious.

"The complex has three skulls, but there aren't many monsters, which means the monsters might be hidden in the houses."

"At the same time, the monsters outside the residential complex were designed to be too weak. There is a malice in inducing players to explore the residences."

"But it also hinted to the player that these zombies might not be there to provide difficulty at all, but rather have another purpose."

"Finally, the desires of Duan Donghuo are quite obvious. Using Duan Donghuo's desires to lure Duan Donghuo out to kill zombies..."

"Everything actually had clues. If I had gone for a limit-break kick right from the start, combined with Killer Soccer to take Duan Donghuo's life... perhaps I wouldn't have obtained the combat techniques and shooting techniques, right?"

Wen Xishu did not pay much attention to it; after all, he had achieved the best result.

He decisively came to the room on the third floor and opened the chain using the key he had fished out from Duan Donghuo.

Then he opened the door lock.

A nauseating stench of rot wafted over. Everything was just as Wen Xishu had guessed.

Duan Donghuo had hidden a zombie.

But the zombie was not Duan Donghuo's lover; the title "The Power of Love" was telling the player to use "romance" to induce Duan Donghuo.

But the zombie Duan Donghuo hid in the third-floor room was his mother.

This zombie had actually been fed very well, almost retaining the appearance she had when she was human.

It was evident that Duan Donghuo had killed quite a few people to feed his mother.

The zombie's mouth was gagged, unable to make a sound, and her hands and feet were also bound by chains.

There were several metal buckets around, and inside the buckets were bones—human bones. Beside them was a table, and on the table was a diary.

Wen Xishu flipped through it casually; it was mostly Duan Donghuo's longing and guilt toward his mother.

Wen Xishu thought it was reasonable enough; you never know which side a person will present to you.

In the eyes of Duan Donghuo's mother, Duan Donghuo must have been a very filial and sensible child. Although his mother no longer had the human ability to observe and think.

Wen Xishu continued to flip through the diary and discovered the clue for Task Two—The Giant Python in the Cave.

He suddenly felt... that he had been contaminated.

The diary wrote:

"I no longer count on any lone woman coming to this complex... I really want to put my giant python into the hole, regardless of whether it's a man or a woman."

Wen Xishu had to be glad... that he did not choose Task Two.

"If I had chosen it, would it have forced a drop in my intelligence to make me drink that cup of water? If I really had drunk it... I probably wouldn't die, but the game would present even darker content, telling the player the consequences of easily trusting others in the apocalypse."

"This game designer is still a bit too ruthless."

Wen Xishu never expected that he had actually been naive, thinking that The Giant Python in the Cave was some kind of mission involving hunting wild mutant animals.

He shook his head and quickly focused his attention back on the game itself:

"The most critical thing now is to find the invitation letter. As it seems now, all the players who spend money have no way to find the invitation letter."

"The next task might provide an opportunity to find the invitation letter. Because the prompt said it hopes to invite me to the Realm of Truth. Is this perhaps hinting at the invitation letter?"

Combining the experience of climbing the Jack's Ghost Tower for the first time, the more the Tower Climber and the Ghost Tower boss overlap in their intentions in certain areas, the more they can resonate and reach a tacit understanding... and the easier it is to obtain the invitation letter.

Therefore, Wen Xishu guessed that perhaps if the third task is completed without spending money, it might be possible to obtain the invitation letter.

And the third task also appeared very quickly.

When Wen Xishu was full of food and drink, and after he had reunited Duan Donghuo with his mother, he immediately came to the second floor.

Of course, he wasn't here to watch an NTR video, but from the very beginning, Wen Xishu had realized that he had entered a chain of tasks.

Generally speaking, game designers will not let players stay in a comfortable environment for too long.

Wen Xishu had previously seen the radio station set up by Duan Donghuo.

At this moment, an exclamation mark symbol had already appeared on the radio station.

This meant that he would soon receive information to start the next leg of the journey.

And just before Wen Xishu was about to trigger the task, he saw a message in his field of vision.

[Tam: Who among you has asset value? Lend me some! This 6480 asset value pack—if I pay for it, I'll be the savior! I've bet all my assets into it; once I get back, I'll pay you all back! I'm about to dominate this world!]

Wen Xishu did not know what the situation was on Tam's side, but it was clear that the first person to be harmed by the forced-spending tactic had appeared.

"How long has it been... this person has already started spending on four-digit cheat items."

Per request, updating the love diary. Let's talk about what happened in August; I went to meet her dad. Her dad had always thought I was a scammer. Then, my girlfriend explained a lot, but he still didn't believe it... he just kept feeling like some "yellow-haired" guy had abducted his daughter. How did he finally believe it? It was at the dinner table, drinking together. After I finished a round, I started getting dizzy and made quite a few mistakes at the table, including but not limited to staying seated while the elders stood to toast... I won't go into details, but in short, her dad suddenly felt at ease. After returning to the room, he told me he could see it now; he said that regarding the stuff at the dinner table, I really didn't know anything at all, and I truly seemed like someone who writes novels. Yeah, and then that hurdle was passed. There's actually nothing good to write about recently; it's all very mundane stuff. The only thing worth mentioning is that after writing day and night, my status has become higher. She's even afraid of disturbing me, hahaha, speaking in soft whispers, having lost the temper of a Sichuan-Chongqing Tyrannosaurus. I'll update again if there's anything interesting later.

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(End of this chapter)