Chapter Sixteen - 'Are You Asleep?

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"Boom——!"

The roller shutter was pulled down before their eyes; the middle-aged man straightened himself, still with a lingering sense of dread in his eyes.

"Why are you out on the streets at this time? Lucky I found you," the middle-aged man said to Yuanyuan and Su Ming'an, who had just been dragged in, before wiping sweat from his forehead, "You might as well stay in my little supermarket for now; with the roller shutter, it should be relatively safe."

In the corner, several people crouched, nibbling on bread, indistinguishable as to whether any Players were among them. Su Ming'an was somewhat bewildered to realize he had been mistaken by the kindly owner as an ordinary person right in front of the door.

"Wuu wuu wuu... What is going on... what on earth is happening..." the girl with a shoulder bag cried, her body curled up as she clutched her head, "How could this happen to me... Everything was normal just now..."

"Like the apocalypse written in novels... Could it be? How could this..." The eyes of a young man in a suit were expressionless as his legs trembled.

"Bang!"

Su Ming'an suddenly kicked out.

An old man in the corner, whose grey-white eyeballs had suddenly appeared as he was about to morph into a zombie, was sent tumbling with that kick. Following that, Su Ming'an's steel pipe was swiftly stabbed into the man's head—

[——HP-600! (Fatal injury, piercing wound!)]

"Ahh——!" The girl retreated in fright as the putrid black blood was splattered everywhere; a few droplets landed right by her feet.

The steel pipe hit the ground with a clang; six people remained inside amidst a sudden silence.

Outside, the screams and growls were like a concerto heralding the apocalypse.

"It's a misunderstanding; we don't need protection. We're leaving now," Su Ming'an turned to look at Yuanyuan.

Yuanyuan suddenly gave him a look.

Su Ming'an understood tacitly.

... There was something valuable here.

"Thank you..."

However, in the next moment, the girl with the shoulder bag suddenly squeezed past Yuanyuan and stuck close to Su Ming'an, her eyes earnestly looking at her savior, "I am Qi Shuang, thank you for saving my life."

Su Ming'an instinctively stepped back seven-tenths of a meter.

The girl didn't receive a response, her face showing a trace of embarrassment, but the way she looked at him, as if she'd found a protector, was too obvious to ignore.

"... What should we do now, just wait here...?" The last silent woman seemed somewhat distraught; she had just stepped out to buy soy sauce, who would have thought she'd encounter such an ordeal.

"This place is very safe for now; there's food and drink." The owner suppressed the irritation inside him, "It shouldn't escalate too far; the government will come to help us. Certainly can't get out now... Young man, I can see you're skilled, but the situation is unclear, so let's sit tight for now," he said, his gaze on Su Ming'an overly eager, as if he had never considered letting him leave.

Su Ming'an's eyes deepened slightly, and a smile gradually spread across his face, "Sure."

As his words settled, the room suddenly fell into a peculiar silence.

The wailing from outside had diminished, only the unrelenting growls of zombies remained.

The most bustling city streets had also fallen the fastest.

"I have a few utility rooms; you can sleep separately." Breaking the silence, the owner led them to several partitioned utility rooms inside the supermarket, which also contained long tables and small beds. Though cramped, there was still enough space for one person to sleep.

Su Ming'an picked a room as instructed but was secretly manipulating his Cloning to check the outside.

The streets were completely overrun, patrolled only by wandering zombies, those clustered were feasting on corpses, and wherever human voices appeared, a horde of zombies would rush toward the sound like hungry wolves on the hunt, leaving behind only bloodstains.

Su Ming'an had his Cloning quickly move away from the center towards the outskirts; he had to Perfect Pass, seeking clues in dangerous places akin to laboratories, hospitals.

As he ran, a soft knocking suddenly came from outside the storage room. Opening the door, a clever little head poked in.

Qi Shuang's beautiful face was now beaming sweetly, seemingly devoid of the fear that had paled her earlier in the day.

"The boss is cooking noodles; do you want to try some?"

Su Ming'an raised the chocolate in his hand, indicating that it was enough for him.

"It's fine, don't be shy; we're in this together." Qi Shuang took his arm and pulled him out.

Next to the shelves stocked with supplies, a small space was cleared; the owner was cooking noodles in a small pot, wafting a tantalizing aroma.

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The lady on the side was also squatting on the ground, driven by hunger, and started gobbling down the food as soon as it was ready.

Yuanyuan was also squatting nearby, clutching a bag of potato chips, silently watching Su Ming'an getting dragged along by Qi Shuang.

Her gaze casually flitted across the area where the two of them were connected, laden with profound meaning.

Soggy sounds of eating were intermittent. Qi Shuang handed him the bowl of noodles she had prepared with earnestness in her eyes.

Su Ming'an didn't actually need to eat. His digitized body only differentiated between Health Points and Mana Points. There might be hidden Physical Strength, but it could be replenished with high-calorie food without the need for regular meals three times a day, which wouldn't be convenient for completing tasks.

But Su Ming'an still downed the bowl of noodles.

[Physical Strength has been fully restored]

"You can choose something to eat, we have a lot," the owner was quite generous, opening up rows of food shelves completely to the few customers. After picking some high-calorie food, Su Ming'an suddenly noticed a labelless bottle in the corner near the owner's counter that looked a bit like insecticide.

He squatted down, his gaze grew more intense, but suddenly the owner's voice came from behind him.

It was sudden, and the voice seemed oddly sinister:

"—What are you looking at?"

Su Ming'an stood up, revealing the bag of chocolates under him, and swiftly picked it up: "I dropped something."

"Oh." The owner's face regained its friendliness, as if nothing had happened: "Take whatever you want, take whatever you want, we have plenty, hehe..."

Su Ming'an decided to let the bottle be for now and was about to return to his room when he grabbed Yuanyuan's wrist.

There was clearly a red spot still there.

—Logically, Yuanyuan should have already transformed into a zombie by now; today was the fifth day, the very day she had died.

Why hasn't she had an outbreak yet?

It was after entering the archives that black spots began to appear on Yuanyuan. So... could this have something to do with Duoduo herself?

He pondered as he let go of her hand, observing her calm and unruffled expression.

"It's okay," Yuanyuan said to him: "...if I die now, it doesn't matter."

"Don't say such things," Su Ming'an told her: "Death itself is a terrifying thing, I don't want you to always face it."

"Hmm." Yuanyuan didn't argue.

Su Ming'an went back to his room along the corridor.

Since some time had passed since the daytime events, the number of deceased players had increased significantly, bringing in a large influx of new viewers who were unaware of the earlier incidents.

The online viewers numbered about a few hundred, and although many were drawn in by the title, it also meant there were not many players left alive.

"Knock knock knock."

Su Ming'an suddenly heard knocking at the door.

"Are you asleep, big brother Su?"

A sweet girlish voice whispered, instantly causing the chat feed to buzz with excitement: [It's not human, we died so quickly, and this B can sleep and eat, and he even has a girl!]

Once Su Ming'an confirmed the voice at the door wasn't Yuanyuan's, he chose to remain silent.

"Aww... Are you asleep?" The girl's voice at the door sounded a bit playful.

Su Ming'an put the chocolate back into his backpack slot and closed his eyes.

Presumably, the girl would take the hint and know better than to bother someone.

"Then I'm... coming in?"

Unexpectedly, the laughing voice outside gradually made its way into the room.

"Creak—" with a noise, the perfectly locked storage room door was inexplicably pushed open.

…

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