Chapter 55 Not yet fully grown to its "complete form"...
After discovering that there were records for more than just dungeon 004, Lu Dongyu finally opened a dungeon that she had been running for several weeks with trepidation.
Copy No. 061.
She had never been able to clear this dungeon, and her best result was still a bit short of clearing it. When her stubborn temper flared up, Lu Dongyu stubbornly kept playing it for several weeks, but her performance became more and more unstable.
She wasted so much time but still couldn't beat the game, which made her both angry and helpless, and it was almost becoming a knot in her heart.
The worst part is that, perhaps because of its high difficulty, even the forums couldn't find any guides for dungeon 061. The search results were all people like her who were stuck asking for ways to clear the dungeon.
Who would have thought that just as Lu Dongyu was about to give up, the principal updated the historical image database function.
Perhaps this is a turning point?
Once the page finished loading, Lu Dongyu's heart started pounding after just one glance.
It actually exists!
Seeing the words "Anonymous Tourist," Lu Dongyu took a deep breath, moved her stiff fingers, and then carefully selected the "Escort" function in the replay.
[Loading the copy...]
[Enter the instance]
The blurry vision gradually cleared, and what appeared before Lu Dongyu was a scene she had experienced more than a dozen times and was all too familiar with.
The dungeon time tracking begins from this moment.
She didn't have time to think about anything else; she first turned her head and looked around.
The escort function should start as soon as you enter the dungeon, so the headmistress...
The thought flashed through Lu Dongyu's mind, and she froze.
Without needing to think any further, she had already seen the principal.
Not far away, under a tree, "Fu Qing" stood there. She was not a physical entity, but a pale blue phantom. Some of the sunlight filtering through the treetops shone through her body. She raised her hand and examined her luminous palm.
A gentle breeze blows, and time seems to stand still for a moment, pulling us back to an extremely distant era.
A person from the past is standing in front of her.
At the same time that Lu Dongyu saw the principal, the principal also saw her.
Fu Qing strode towards her without hesitation, which made Lu Dongyu, who was not prepared, let out an "uh" and became very nervous.
Fu Qing in instance 061 is much younger than the current principal, looking no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, and slightly thinner. He also has short hair, but the length and style are slightly different. It's unclear whether the haircutting technique is not skilled enough or if it's too much trouble, but the back of his head was simply shaved flat with clippers, revealing the hair roots that have grown for a while and have become fluffy and seem to feel very good to the touch.
Beneath the messy, ill-cut bangs, her eyes were clean and clear, with a distinct black and white.
She sized up Lu Dongyu, her gaze filled with both wariness and curiosity.
—He is a principal who has not yet grown to his "complete form".
Lu Dongyu drew a conclusion.
"you……"
"Were you waiting for me?"
Lu Dongyu was interrupted by Fu Qing, who paused for a moment before asking, "How did you know?"
"Don't you know? There's an exclamation mark above your head." It's big, golden, and visible from a distance.
Fu Qing found it amusing, so she smiled and teased, "Once you see it, it's hard not to strike up a conversation, isn't it?"
Lu Dongyu was stunned by the smile and couldn't react for a moment.
The principal... smiled.
Lu Dongyu recalled the time setting of this instance—the zombie virus had just broken out a month ago, and nearly 90% of the population had died, but there were still a large number of survivors gathered in various shelters. When searching for supplies on the street, one could see flashing figures behind the tightly closed windows of residential buildings and office buildings.
The city still retained its vitality, and although the survivors were fearful, their overall emotions remained relatively stable. Although the power had been cut off, the water supply system was not completely paralyzed, and essential resources for survival were still being supplied. Every few days, the military would airdrop supplies, and the daily shortwave broadcasts were positive and uplifting, all of which greatly calmed the survivors' emotions.
They still hold onto hope that the virus will eventually be overcome and that their old lives will return.
They don't know what the future holds.
The principal didn't know either.
Now she looks no different from an ordinary college student, unaware of what the next five years will bring. She is increasingly silenced by the growing number of deaths, and anyone who sees her will instinctively feel awe.
"..." Lu Dongyu lowered her head and blinked quickly, hiding the emotions that suddenly welled up in her heart, so as not to let Fu Qing notice anything unusual.
Before she could explain the exclamation mark, Fu Qing shrugged again: "But judging from the situation, I'm the NPC, right?"
She waved her hand, staring at the digitized body with considerable curiosity.
"So, what should we do?" NPC Fu Qing asked dutifully.
The "Companion" feature essentially provides players with a teammate whose intelligence, experience, physical abilities, and skill levels are equivalent to those of the player who successfully completed the game. It also simulates the thought process of the successful player. However, unlike the replay feature, the companion feature doesn't directly play the completed game footage; players need to communicate with their new teammate.
Lu Dongyu suppressed the slight excitement that had been building since she met Fu Qing and said seriously, "I want to go to the city's central hospital."
Fu Qing raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Why?"
The mission requirement for instance 061 is for players to go to the pharmacy in the city center hospital, retrieve several specific medications stored there, including antibiotics, alcohol, bandages, antihypertensive drugs, and painkillers, and successfully smuggle them out of the hospital.
However, Fu Qing couldn't see the mission panel, and Lu Dongyu couldn't explain that this was just a game, so she had to bite the bullet and make up a reason: "I have a family member with high blood pressure who needs antihypertensive drugs. The small clinics around here have all been looted, so I thought I'd try my luck there."
“The city’s central hospital is the largest tertiary hospital in the city. It also received the most patients at the beginning of the outbreak. There are a lot of medical staff and patients there. Now it’s almost surrounded by infected people. No one has dared to go there. Even if they did, the central hospital has so many medicines in stock, they probably couldn’t take them all… I was just thinking that there should still be some medical supplies left over there.”
While Lu Dongyu was speaking, Fu Qing just listened quietly.
The city's central hospital, including its inpatient wards, had at least several thousand infected people gathered there. Lu Dongyu knew that her thoughts were crazy by ordinary people, and as she spoke, she gradually became guilty.
She looked at Fu Qing nervously.
But the latter neither expressed any surprise or opposition, nor did he mock her for overestimating herself. After listening, he simply nodded calmly: "Reasonable."
She then asked, "So what's your plan?"
In her shock, Lu Dongyu forgot that the person standing in front of her was the principal and blurted out, "You... just agreed like that?"
"Why not agree? It would be good for me too." Fu Qing looked pleased. "I've been thinking about going to the city's central hospital for a while now. Since you think so too, and it seems you've already made some good plans, why don't you say so, and we can discuss it together?"
"If successful, the supplies found will be divided equally."
Lu Dongyu: "..."
She was a little dumbfounded.
I almost forgot, this was originally the principal's memory.
Those crazy tasks and goals that she considered impossible to achieve, the principal actually put into practice in reality, and succeeded on the first try.
Lu Dongyu touched the tip of his nose dejectedly, took out the mission items provided by the system from his pocket, spread them out, and finally got into the zone.
"I have a floor plan of the city's central hospital here. The pharmacy is located here. You see..."
*
The two quickly devised a battle strategy.
Lu Dongyu explained her previous battle strategies, intending to get the principal to correct them. Fu Qing did not disappoint her; looking at the map, he pointed out several potential problems.
"According to the blueprints, this should be an electric door. The hospital's power supply has been cut off for a long time. If this door was open when the power was on, it probably wouldn't have the blocking effect you expected."
"Conversely, if it's off, we have to avoid it when we're escaping, lest we get trapped."
"...If the angle of this window is right, it may be able to see this corridor, so we need to be careful when we pass by."
"And here..."
Lu Dongyu gradually became stunned as she listened.
She reflected on her past failures and realized that the vast majority of them matched the problems the principal had pointed out.
No wonder that once, when she passed through that corridor without making a sound, the zombie next door suddenly started roaring, attracting all the zombies and causing the mission to fail.
The reason was actually this inconspicuous window!
And that electric door did indeed block her way on one occasion, preventing her from escaping the zombies' pursuit.
A single floor plan revealed so many problems, and Fu Qing had already avoided countless potential deaths during the preparation stage.
...Is this what a real big shot is like?
Lu Dongyu was filled with admiration: "You're amazing!"
"No, I only offered a few suggestions," Fu Qing said sincerely. "You're really amazing to come up with such a comprehensive plan."
Under the admiring gaze of the young principal, Lu Dongyu blushed.
She was too embarrassed to say that all of this was actually taught by the principal and teachers.
"Let's hurry up... it'll be dark soon." Lu Dongyu rolled up the map.
"Hmm." Fu Qing stood up.
The player spawn point in this instance is a construction site near the city center hospital. The virus outbreak had just started, and the workers had all fled, so you won't encounter zombies right in front of you as soon as you land.
When the two were making their plans, they randomly found a tent on the construction site to stay in. This tent was probably originally intended for the workers to rest at noon, and it contained items such as a microwave oven, a kettle, and a water dispenser. However, the water bottle on the water dispenser had been moved away early in the morning, and messy footprints remained on the ground.
As Fu Qing was about to leave the tent, he suddenly turned around and stopped near a long table in the corner.
Lu Dongyu turned around, puzzled: "What's wrong?"
Fu Qing didn't answer immediately. He bent down and picked up an empty gas canister from under the table, weighing it in his hand. "There should have been several portable gas stoves here, but they were taken away by people who came in and looted the place."
If she hadn't accidentally caught a glimpse of a silver reflection in the dark corner under the table, she probably would have missed it too.
Upon entering and seeing the microwave, the two initially thought this was just a place for workers to take a short break, heat up their lunchboxes, or cook instant noodles. However, it turned out that the important stove had been taken away, leaving only the microwave, kettle, and other items that were useless after the power outage, which led to their misjudgment.
"The presence of a portable gas stove means that someone will cook here."
When Fu Qing finished speaking, Lu Dongyu finally understood.
She looked around and followed the train of thought: "Judging from the footprints on the ground, they were walking in a hurry. There are also two overturned chairs here—they may have run into another group of people, or encountered zombies."
"In the chaos, they may not have looted everything; they might have forgotten to take some things with them."
For example, knives, which are essential for cooking.
"Hmm." Fu Qing smiled. "Perhaps we should change our plan to go find the scalpel first."
Apart from a floor plan of the city's central hospital, the system did not provide any additional tools, so Lu Dongyu had to find the tools to kill the zombies on-site each time.
Although she had played the game many times, the situation she faced each time she entered the hospital was not the same. Sometimes, even though she had memorized the location of the instrument cabinet where the scalpel blades were stored, she would encounter a zombie that suddenly wandered over halfway and had to change her route and find a new storage location for the blades elsewhere.
Even if you know the trick to clearing a high-difficulty dungeon, it's incredibly difficult to replicate it.
It should be noted that instance 061 has a hidden time limit; there are currently less than two hours until dark, and they must leave the hospital before then.
The hospital in the darkness will become a playground for zombies, and it will be almost impossible for humans to deal with a large number of zombies in such a complex and dark building.
Based on Lu Dongyu's experience, finding a weapon must be completed within forty minutes to leave enough time to get to the pharmacy.
When formulating the plan, she even emphasized this point repeatedly to the headmaster, however—
However, five minutes later, the two found two fruit knives under the fallen cabinet and in the gap between the chairs.
Wipe away the surface dust, and the blade is as clean as new, even more convenient to handle than a thin scalpel.
Lu Dongyu stared blankly at the fruit knife in her hand.
One of the biggest challenges of this mission—finding the weapons—was solved so easily?
They haven't even arrived at the hospital yet!
The time budget was forty minutes, but it only took five minutes.
Why couldn't I find that gas canister in the previous dungeons?
No, that's not right.
Lu Dongyu knows herself too well. Even if she found the gas canister, she would likely treat it as trash, glance at it, and leave without giving it a second thought. She certainly wouldn't be like the young principal, immediately connecting it to the presence of kitchen utensils.
Lu Dongyu could only put away her knife in shame.
Fu Qing tested the sharpness of the blade with her fingertip, then twirled it with satisfaction and tilted her head.
Let's go.
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