Chapter 34 Overall Rating Ranking: 1

What are we looking for?

Fu Qing felt that her conversation with Zhao Yunxiao not only failed to resolve her doubts, but also made the mystery even more complicated.

"That's all I know," Zhao Yunxiao said apologetically. "It seems I haven't been of much help."

Fu Qing pinched the bridge of her nose: "No, it's okay, I'll ask someone else later."

She still has a backup plan: drawing cards.

Zhao Yunxiao broadened her horizons; the living believers in this life had not yet revealed any flaws, but the "dead" could also speak.

When hiring teachers later, asking each one a question always yields more information.

You might even get incredibly lucky and pull a former zombie cultist directly from the gacha pool...

There are still many methods available, and the system's previous explanation made Fu Qing feel somewhat relieved.

She remembered Zhao Yunxiao's purpose for coming here: "You just mentioned the simulated combat pod?"

“Yes, I saw your message.” Zhao Yunxiao shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, his voice trailing off. “But I don’t seem to have any memories to input.”

Before going for his morning exercise this morning, Fu Qing did send a message to all the teachers, reminding them to go to the two rooms where the combat pods are located today.

This is related to the operating mechanism of the simulated combat pod.

In short, because this combat pod is inexpensive, its functionality is naturally not as advanced as a disposable holographic simulator that can simulate a wide variety of scenarios. Its built-in "chip" can only create some simple scenarios, such as an empty room with ten zombies as a "training ground," or a straight road with traffic jams and zombies running rampant on the roofs of vehicles.

For more complex scenarios, it cannot be simulated and additional "copy packs" must be purchased.

100 teaching points, including 50 random scenarios of varying difficulty.

When Fu Qing learned about this mechanism, he almost punched it.

To avoid being beaten up by the host, the system hastily offered a pretext: "Isn't this how you usually buy games? The console is the console, and the games have to be bought separately; otherwise, they wouldn't be so cheap—"

Fu Qing: Look at my fist and say it again?

The system, observing her expression, replied: "...Okay, there's another way."

The combat pod can access memories in a person's mind. You can manually import special segments that are thrilling and exciting enough. Since these events actually happened in reality, the scenes and characters are very realistic, making it a dungeon full of details.

[Of course, this only borrows events, scenes, and characters from your memories; it will not repeat your past experiences. Different choices made by the "players" in the combat pod within their memories may lead to different outcomes, but the training objective will still be achieved.]

Therefore, Fu Qing sent a message to all teachers, informing them to choose a recall-based introduction.

By choosing for yourself, you can avoid having too many allergic reactions or having memories you don't want others to know exposed.

She herself had also been there.

She has far more experience than others, and therefore, she has more memories to draw upon.

50 scenarios can save 100 teaching points, and Fu Qing is taking full advantage of this.

Compared to her, Zhao Yunxiao's experience was pitifully small. From the beginning of the virus outbreak, he was kept under strict protection in the institution. His daily routine consisted of fighting zombies under heavy protection, surrounded by several guns, with strict defenses. It was neither of any reference value nor challenging.

Even Grandma Liu managed to import a low-difficulty instance labeled "Dusk," "Daily Life Environment in the Neighborhood," and "Basic Zombie Attack," but all Zhao Yunxiao could think of was the snow-white walls of the laboratory.

After listening to his story, Fu Qing felt inexplicably sorry for him.

Of course, in the apocalypse, everyone is pitiful.

"Then forget it, I won't force you," Fu Qing said.

She had made up her mind: she would import the memories, and she would buy the 100-point dungeon pack.

Otherwise, if the combat pod only contains the teachers' memories, it might be a bit of a privacy breach. Adding more random instances would at least cover up the problem.

Zhao Yunxiao breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, I'll go import my memories of escaping from school... although they might overlap with yours."

He had already reviewed some of Fu Qing's imported memories and knew that they included a scene of "escaping from the university campus." He touched his nose and said awkwardly, "But the campus, uh, the terrain, is different... and one is a male dormitory, while the other is a female dormitory."

Fu Qing shrugged: "Sure. The more scenes, the better."

Zhao Yunxiao was already quite embarrassed, but upon hearing this, he felt as if he had received a pardon and quickly took his leave.

The moment he closed the door, he recalled the massive number of dungeon scenes that Fu Qing had just introduced, including scenes of being besieged by dozens of evolved zombies or escaping alone in the deep mountains at night... He was simply stunned by the quantity and difficulty.

Recalling his confident statement during the monthly exam that "Teacher Hao is more capable than the principal," Zhao Yunxiao covered his face.

"What do you mean by 'not recognizing a great person even when you have eyes'?"

Is it too late to take back what I said before?

*

After all the teachers finished reviewing the introduction, Fu Qing went to the simulated combat cabin training room and bought a dungeon pack.

[Memory instance generating...]

[Generation complete]

[The copy pack is loading...]

[Loading complete]

Training is now available using the [Combat Simulator]!

Before calling the students to practice, Fu Qing decided to try it out herself first.

As Fu Qing lay down inside the combat pod, the hatch closed automatically, and all she could see was pure blackness. She felt her body float up, her consciousness momentarily wavering, and when she regained consciousness, her senses had returned to her body.

She could clearly feel herself standing on a hard surface.

A system menu floats in front of you, with the words "Log in to personal account", "Select dungeon", "Continue dungeon", "Online", "Start recording", "Export recording", and "Leaderboard" displayed.

The system's boot process has always been good, and the menus are easy to understand.

Fu Qing clicked to select a dungeon, and the screen quickly switched to a dungeon page composed of a series of thumbnails. Some were family buildings under the setting sun, some were abandoned factories under the dark and windy night, some were cozy bedrooms bathed in the morning light, and some were camps with bonfires lit. The lookouts on the high towers could be vaguely seen.

Clicking on a dungeon will also show you detailed information, including tags such as scene, time, and number of players, the maximum number of players the dungeon can accommodate, and the classification of low, medium, and high difficulty.

You can choose yourself, or you can let the system select randomly.

Fu Qing touched the thumbnail with her finger, paused briefly, but did not press confirm.

She could guess who imported these memories from many of the tags.

Fu Qing suddenly wondered if the owners of the memories could play these instances and experience the memories that were gradually fading, or if they could use holographic simulation to see those who had parted ways or passed away again.

Unfortunately, the combat pod is designed for combat and only allows the selection of parts involving "crisis".

Grandma Liu and Bai Tang haven't seen their families since the zombie outbreak. According to Zhao Yunxiao, although his mother was brought into the base, she passed away from illness two years later and never faced any danger, so she couldn't be imported.

Fu Qing's family members had passed away long ago, which Hao Zhenye did not mention, but it also seems that he did not import similar content.

The possibility of reuniting with loved ones in the combat pod is eliminated, which is somewhat regrettable.

But then again, it's a good thing, at least they didn't experience those hellish days.

There are currently 81 dungeons, including 31 beginner difficulty dungeons, 35 intermediate difficulty dungeons, 12 advanced difficulty dungeons, and 3 hell difficulty dungeons.

The Hell difficulty level indicates a completion rate of less than 0.1%, which is a result calculated by the system.

In addition, the combat pod allows for recording the entire battle and exporting it to external devices such as wristbands for repeated viewing and review, making it incredibly high-tech.

After reviewing the overall functionality of the combat pod, Fu Qing was fairly satisfied.

She didn't log into her own account, but used an anonymous guest account instead, selected a random instance, and prepared to experience it for herself.

As the cheerful sound effects played and finally froze, Fu Qing saw a fleeting thumbnail.

The ivy climbed the old walls of the family compound. As dusk settled and a gentle evening breeze blew, it was a summer evening that seemed to be frozen in time.

In a flash, Fu Qing found herself in a dimly lit, narrow stairwell. The walls were covered with glue residue from small advertisements, and the peeling paint was mottled. The air was filled with the aroma of food and the smell of cooking oil.

A notification tone sounded in my ear.

[Weapons have been randomly assigned at the start of the game. Please make good use of the items at hand, familiarize yourself with the dungeon environment, and strive to survive.]

[Current dungeon difficulty: Beginner (estimated success rate <50%)]

[Completion Condition: Successfully escape the first wave of zombie attacks and return home (Incomplete)]

[Additional conditions: 1. Kill zombies, no limit on the number; 2. Rescue nearby residents, no limit on the number]

[Note: Completing additional conditions will improve your score. The score is determined by a combination of factors, including dungeon completion progress and completion time.]

Random weapon at the start?

Fu Qing looked down and realized she was holding a watering gourd ladle: "..."

Just then, an older woman in pajamas walked by and greeted her familiarly, "xxx, going to water the flowers again?"

"I heard things aren't very peaceful outside. There have been several murders. I just saw that Old Wang's grandson had a lot of blood on his clothes and rushed home. He wouldn't talk to me and I don't know what happened. You'd better not go out."

To protect personal privacy and enhance the player's sense of immersion, the system will blur or obscure some key information.

But in Fu Qing's ears, these words automatically formed the name Liu Yingchun.

There was no way around it; Grandma Liu's features were just too obvious. Besides her, who else would stubbornly go out to water the flowers when everything was in chaos outside?

She gave a vague reply.

The NPC auntie stopped chatting with her and let Fuqing go downstairs.

As they passed each other, Fu Qing suddenly caught a faint smell of blood.

She stopped in her tracks: "Are you injured?"

The aunt was surprised: "No... Oh, it's just a small cut, my cat bit me, it's nothing."

Seeing that she was still lucid, Fu Qing didn't say anything more: "Go home quickly and close the door."

The aunt chuckled: "You're quite serious today, I understand."

Fu Qing listened as she went upstairs step by step, and the metal security door slammed shut before she quickly went downstairs.

Turning a corner, she saw a pile of garbage left by residents. She placed the gourd ladle in her hand on a bundle of newspapers, bent down and picked up a piece of dark green beer bottle shard.

She happened to be wearing the gardening gloves that Grandma Liu often wore when tending to her flowers and plants. They were made of durable cotton yarn, so even if she held a shard of glass, she wouldn't get cut.

The fragments are about the size of a palm, with a sharp point on one side, making them extremely lethal, yet they can be hidden in the palm of your hand, making them sufficiently concealed.

—As soon as Fu Qing saw the scene refresh in the old-style residential area, he had already figured out his combat strategy for this time.

Once she was fully prepared, she strode downstairs.

It was the time when people were getting off work and leaving school, and downstairs were neighbors coming home late.

In the old-style residential area, most people know each other and will stop to greet each other when they meet, but there is a different emotion in the air at this moment.

Several elderly passersby stopped in front of the flower bed downstairs. One of them was surrounded in the center, and the volume of his old-fashioned mobile phone was turned up to the maximum, playing a short video.

"Family, I'm at the xx intersection right now. There's a group fight going on here, so please take a detour when you pass by. Oh my god, why is someone biting someone?"

"—Damn it, get away from me! Are you crazy?"

The person filming made a sound like their phone was hitting the microphone, followed by a scream.

The old man, wearing reading glasses, sighed, "Look, all afternoon, it's been like this video. I don't know what's wrong with this society."

"Things seem a bit unsettled. My daughter called and told me not to go out unnecessarily, saying there's some chaos outside," another elderly woman said. "But she couldn't explain it clearly on the phone; she hung up after only a few words. Could it be that war is about to break out?"

Fu Qing couldn't help but look at her.

The virus did not break out all at the same time across the country. In some remote areas with poor population mobility, it may take another day or two before chaos appears.

So even though the elderly woman's daughter realized something was wrong in the afternoon and called her mother, the mother, who didn't notice the changes around her and didn't know how to use a smartphone, still didn't take it seriously.

In the early stages of the virus outbreak, similar incidents occurred frequently. Some people ignored the advice, while others naively believed that things that happened online wouldn't happen to them in their daily lives, resulting in countless tragedies.

Several elderly people gathered together and chatted for a while, one of them holding a baby.

The baby in swaddling clothes flailed its arms and legs and cried loudly.

"Don't cry, my dear grandson, don't cry," the old man said, frantically trying to soothe him.

Fu Qing stepped forward: "Haven't you all seen the news? The government has issued a notice that a new type of virus is breaking out in various places, and the mortality rate is very high!"

She deliberately emphasized her words.

"xxx." Upon seeing her, the group greeted her first, then exclaimed in surprise, "Really?"

“How could this be fake? I just turned off the TV and came downstairs. I was afraid you didn’t hear me, so I quickly told you,” Fu Qing said, raising her voice again, “Hey you over there, did you hear me? Go home now! It’s best not to go out for the next few days.”

Before the zombies actually appear in the neighborhood, instead of risking their disbelief and going through the trouble of explaining, it's better to find a way to coax them back home first.

Several neighbors passing by nodded quickly and quickened their pace.

The others, who were clearly more familiar with Fu Qing, were still somewhat skeptical and wanted to press Fu Qing for more details.

But Fu Qing's tone was exceptionally firm.

"Why would I lie to you? The news says a lot of people have died."

"The virus spreads very quickly, similar to rabies, and if you get infected, it will go berserk and bite people!"

"If any family member has a wound, isolate them and let them rest. Hospitals will definitely be crowded these days, so don't go."

Even though the news hadn't even aired yet, even though isolation and rest were useless, even though rabies doesn't bite people, the elderly people felt dizzy and lightheaded after hearing her recount so many details.

Once panic sets in, there's no time to think things through.

If they can say so much, then there must really be a virus!

They exchanged a glance and quickly headed towards the entrance of the apartment building.

Just then, a person stumbled and walked over from not far away.

His hair was white, but his steps were larger than those of most elderly people. There was an indescribable disconnect in his joints when he moved, as if the tendons and bones connecting him had been broken, and only a strange force was supporting him to move forward.

Like a puppet being manipulated, Fu Qing recognized it with just a glance.

This is a common gait among zombies.

As he got older, his vocal cords loosened, and the roars he made sounded very slurred.

Several elderly people were about to enter the apartment building when the last person seemed to hear something and wanted to turn around.

To make her story more believable, Fu Qing deliberately imitated Grandma Liu's demeanor and posture. Now, as everyone turned around, her slow and deliberate movements suddenly changed. Noticing the old woman's turn, Fu Qing immediately stepped forward, blocking the zombie's neck with her left arm to stop it from biting. With her other hand, she reached behind the zombie's head and grabbed its hair. With a forceful pull, the zombie immediately tilted its head back, revealing its cloudy and unfocused eyes.

The muscles in his sagging face twisted into a fierce expression, as if he was about to instinctively open his mouth towards her.

Once he confirmed it was a zombie, Fu Qing didn't stop. He grabbed its chin, then pulled its head to the side with his hand, twisting it with a snap, and the cervical vertebrae broke.

The roar that hadn't been uttered dissipated in his chest.

In less than two seconds, the zombie's identity was checked, its neck snapped, and all the actions were completed silently.

The old man at the back turned around and only had time to see the zombie slump in Fu Qing's arms.

"What's wrong with Old Zhang?" He adjusted his reading glasses.

"It's nothing, he just bumped into something, I caught him." Fu Qing patted "Old Zhang" on the back and said in Grandma Liu's tone, as if nothing had happened, "You go up first."

The zombie with its broken neck was unable to move. It could only instinctively open its mouth slightly, making very faint sounds that went unnoticed.

As the old man turned around, Fu Qing flipped his hand, revealing a shard of a wine bottle, the sharp end piercing the zombie's eyeball.

The creature in my arms stopped moving, and I felt a damp sensation in my palm.

Fu Qing didn't even frown. He used the same motion as helping a drunk person to half-lift and half-carry the dead zombie into the shadows below the stairwell before letting go.

The zombie's heavy body fell to the ground, its weight relieved by Fu Qing, only causing a few specks of dust to rise.

She turned and closed the door of the apartment building.

When the door is opened from the outside, it must be pulled outwards. Zombies do not have the ability to pull doors; they only know how to push them forward. Therefore, she does not need to lock the door and does not need to worry about zombies running in.

This door was left for those who fled later.

Fu Qing's movements were so quick and effortless that by this time, the elderly people had only reached the corner on the second floor.

Fu Qing's tactic this time was to get more people home as quickly as possible without causing panic.

Once they got home and closed the door, their children would explain things to them.

If the elderly downstairs had noticed something amiss, Fu Qing probably wouldn't have been able to even kill the zombie Zhang.

They wouldn't believe the seriousness of the situation until it bit someone and its ferocity was unleashed.

But Fu Qing wasn't going to waste that time.

She quickened her pace to catch up with the group. One of them lived on the second floor and had already gone inside. The others were hunched over, supporting themselves with their legs, and using crutches, huffing and puffing as they climbed the stairs.

After walking a few steps, I have to stop and catch my breath, open my health cup, and take a sip of tea.

Fu Qing: "..."

Is this some kind of forced animation?

Even the most skilled players who can speedrun through the game have to stop and watch the story unfold.

Helpless, Fu Qing forced himself to stop, put his hands behind his back, and followed behind them, experiencing his old age in advance.

Suddenly, a strange noise came from beside my ear.

It was actually just a very slight creaking sound, but Fu Qing could almost instantly tell where the sound was coming from.

...the security door of that aunt's house before.

Her nerves tensed instantly. No longer pretending nothing had happened, she took three steps at a time and stepped past the elderly people who were lined up holding onto the railing as they went up the stairs.

Like a gust of wind, Fu Qing rode ahead of them, leaving them far behind.

She left everyone staring in disbelief at her swift, retreating figure.

After a while, one of the old ladies slapped her thigh.

"See? I told you that the health supplement I recommended to her last time worked!"

...

From the moment Fu Qing caught a faint smell of blood on her aunt, she sensed something was wrong.

It's already evening. I was bitten by a cat this afternoon and it made a cut. I went out for a walk, so why is it still bleeding after all this time?

If the aunt herself had a problem with blood clotting, she wouldn't be so nonchalant about it. So the most likely reason is that the cat has a problem.

The zombie virus does not only infect humans; a very small number of animals can also be infected and mutate.

Unlike humans, infected animals do not transmit the virus to other animals, and the virus dissipates naturally after death. Therefore, even when humans were nearly extinct, many animals maintained their original habits and lived leisurely lives. In fact, due to changes in their living environment, the absence of industrial pollution and human waste, they even thrived.

The only thing the infected animals have in common with human zombies is that they will exhibit strong aggression towards humans.

Humans bitten by them will also mutate.

At the same time, due to the differences between animals and humans in terms of physical strength, agility and other aspects, infected animal zombies are often more difficult to deal with than human zombies.

Once infected, they become intermediate to advanced level zombies.

Furthermore, because most people lack experience in dealing with animal zombies, they can easily suffer great losses if they are not careful.

Of course, Fu Qing is not in the category of "lack of experience".

She once stumbled into the territory of mutated wolves while searching for a field of medicinal herbs deep in the mountains, and was chased by five mutated wolves leading a pack of ordinary wolves for an entire night. After that, all the mutated animals suddenly became kind and friendly in her presence.

The cat was kept at home, and Fu Qing never thought of dealing with it.

She didn't hear the cat making any noise, which means the virus might still be in its incubation period. It's uncertain whether the bitten aunt or the cat will mutate into a zombie first.

So, according to Fu Qing's original plan, having the aunt close the door would temporarily eliminate this potential hazard and allow everyone to return home safely.

Who knew that in just three minutes, the door would be opened, just when everyone was crammed into the narrow hallway.

Fu Qing's forehead throbbed, feeling rather unlucky.

She quickly crossed the stairwell, and halfway there, she grabbed an empty wine bottle from the corner where the trash had been piled up.

Then, sure enough, I saw the aunt's figure on the fourth-floor platform.

The aunt's light and thin summer pajamas were stained red with blood. She staggered out of the house, her hands tightly covering her neck, but she still couldn't stop the blood from gushing out from between her fingers.

"Help...help..."

She opened her eyes wide in disbelief, seemingly unable to believe that disaster had befallen her.

With her trachea cut open, she quickly became unable to speak complete words, her eyes rolled back, and a monotonous, eerie "hoho" sound came from her throat.

Fu Qing glanced at her, his eyelids twitched slightly, and his gaze fell on the half-closed security door behind her.

A low growl came from inside the door, a sound that no ordinary house cat could make.

"What happened?"

Several elderly men and women downstairs asked, accompanied by the sound of footsteps going uphill.

As they turned the corner, they saw the woman lying on the ground and screamed.

The neighbor lady has stopped making a sound; only her limbs are convulsing instinctively.

His hands, which had been covering his throat, fell limply to his sides, revealing a horrifying wound.

After decades of living together, the neighbors who were just smiling and greeting each other in the hallway were now limp corpses. The immense fear and sense of unreality left these retired elderly people frozen in place.

Standing next to the deceased neighbor was another neighbor they knew well.

At this moment, "she" lowered her eyebrows and stood in the stairwell seemingly relaxed, but in reality, all her attention was focused on the half-open door, her eyes sharp, as if she would explode at any moment.

The fading sunlight outside the window flashed across her, and they seemed to see a vibrant soul emerging from beneath her aged body.

“You, you’re not her…” Grandma Liu’s old colleague murmured.

This is definitely not the kind of expression that Liu Yingchun would have.

Fu Qing glanced at her and made a shushing gesture.

It sounds slow to describe, but in reality, only a few seconds passed from when Fu Qing went upstairs to when everyone caught up. The cat was still wary outside the door and did not come out.

The mutated animals retained their primal instincts; when faced with fresh flesh and blood, their attention was easily drawn to the corpse. Moreover, Fu Qing was certain that he hadn't appeared in the cat's field of vision from the moment he entered the room until now.

The problem is easily solved because it doesn't know she exists.

Fu Qing discerned the sounds the mutated cat was making, and as it suddenly fell silent and prepared to charge, he darted onto the platform. A quick glance revealed the mutated orange cat inside the door, its eyes bloodshot, its muscles bulging, and its size comparable to a tiger.

It saw her too, and the fur on its back and tail stood on end, instinctively reminding it of the threat the human in front of it posed.

With a roar, both charged forward simultaneously. Fu Qing, who was prepared, burst out with a speed that was even faster than the mutated cat.

The bottle in her hand slammed heavily into the orange cat's face, shattering with a bang. Caught off guard, the cat hastily closed its eyes. Fu Qing tilted her head to avoid the shards flying towards her, her other hand already gripping the security door and slamming it shut. At the same time, she turned around and braced herself against the door with her shoulder, her feet on the ground to maximize friction.

She never intended to confront the mutant cat head-on; she just wanted to close the door.

In less than half a second, the orange cat inside the door had recovered from the impact of the bottle and was completely unharmed. It angrily charged at the obstacle in front of it.

A loud "bang!" sent chills down my spine. The door shook violently, as if a truck had crashed into it instead of an orange cat.

But Fu Qing managed to withstand it. Taking advantage of the orange cat's backward movement and exerting force again, he pushed the door shut and the latch clicked shut. The onlookers were already sweating profusely.

She stood up as if nothing had happened, her expression unchanged.

Like the mutated orange cat, Fu Qing was clean and unharmed.

Despite the stark difference in their physical attributes, this contest failed to inflict even the slightest wound on her.

The roar of a wild beast came from inside the door. Fu Qing glanced at the terrified crowd and said, "A small number of animals can be infected by the virus and are also aggressive. Be careful not to get bitten. Once infected, there is only death."

"Now, go upstairs quietly, go home, and close the doors and windows tightly. Do not open the door unless a family member knocks."

Everyone was still in shock and could only nod.

On their way home, they suddenly realized the perilous situation they had just escaped.

If a monster that big were to rush into the stairwell, I doubt anyone would survive...

When they realized what was happening, the elderly people were so frightened that they grabbed the handrails and patted their chests, nearly having a heart attack.

Once everyone has left, close the door and lock it from the inside.

Following the system prompts, Fu Qing returned to Grandma Liu's house. As she closed the door, a thought popped into her mind.

Among the elderly people downstairs just now, one was holding a baby who kept crying.

But from the moment she went upstairs, she never heard the baby cry again.

Fu Qing had a guess in his mind when the system popped up a notification.

["Instance 004" has been cleared!]

[Clearance time: 5 minutes 19 seconds]

Overall Rating: SSS (Impeccable performance!)

Current Dungeon Ranking: 1

[Overall Rating Rank: 1]