CHAPTER 8

[[ Notification: First human contact. Side quest triggered. ]]

[[ Quest information: Congratulations, host, on your first human contact. This human can be the first resident in the safe zone. Within the 24 hours, the host must bring the person to the safe zone and secure a safe zone residency agreement (temporary or permanent).

Quest requirement: 1 signed safe zone residency agreement (temporary or permanent)

Building rewards: None

Other rewards: 10 kilograms worth of fresh chicken meat ]]

Shen Tian wasn't able to pay attention to the triggered quest. Instead, he was more shocked shocked at what he saw in front of him.

Indeed, he has made his first contact with a human. The person in front of him was dirty with dried up blood and pieces of meat. Judging from the pattern of the smudge, it looked like the person smeared them on himself.

The dog beside Shen Tian whined pitifully and nudged at him. It felt as if the dog was pleading him to save its master.

"Don't worry, let me check on him first."

He was about to touch the person, but the dog placed its head in between his palm and the person's body. It whined a bit and turned its head. It picked up a piece of cloth from the side and placed it on top of the person's body, nudging a few times with its head before turning to him. It gestured this several times, making sure to look at Shen Tian every time.

"Do you mean for me to shake your master awake without touching his body directly?"

The dog whined as if in agreement.

[[ Notification: Please, host, be careful when touching the other party. The other party has smeared zombie blood and flesh on his clothes, perhaps to mask his scent from any lurking zombies. The cloth may have been arranged by the other party so that the dog can nudge him without getting accidentally infected with the zombie virus. ]]

"I see, this man is pretty smart, then."

Shen Tian didn't waste time and used the cloth to shake the other party awake. Just as he touched him, Shen Tian was shocked at the heat emitting from the other party's body. It looks like this man was suffering from a high fever!

"Hey, wake up!"

The man didn't wake up, though, so Shen Tian decided to give him a slap on the face. He took out a pair of clean gloves from his pocket as well as wet wipes. He wiped the other man's face clean before patting him on the face with just enough force.

The other party slowly stirred awake, squinting his eyes at the light. Seeing the blurred figure in front of him slowly taking on a more solid form, his eyes turned sharp and he tensed. He tried to move his hand to his right, trying to pick up the knife he had initially placed there for protection.

Before he can attack Shen Tian, though, he heard his dog whine from the side. Seeing his trusted companion with his guard down around the man in front of him, he slowly let go of his blood lust. However, he was still a bit wary of the other party.

"Who are you?", he asked with a weak voice.

"I'm Shen Tian and your dog lead me to you.", Shen Tian explained. He was a bit nervous earlier since the other party was emitting such bloodlust. He was even expecting to get attacked. He didn't know why the other party changed his mind, but that's to his benefit anyway. "You have quite a high fever."

"Yes, I'm sorry if my dog has bothered you.", the man politely said. "I'll be fine if I just rest a little bit."

"You won't be able to heal well if you stay here." Shen Tian replied. "I'm currently staying at a safe zone a bit farther from here. It's just me staying there, though. If you're okay with it, do you want to come to my base?"

The man look at Shen Tian with vigilance. In this world, being able to stay somewhere alone means that the person was quite strong. However, the stronger the person is, the more one should be vigilant against them because you won't know if they're an enemy or a friend.

He was about to decline Shen Tian's invitation, and it was then that the dog whined again. The man shifted his eyes toward his dog. His dog, which has been his companion since the start of the apocalypse, had a pretty strong survival instinct. It wouldn't have led this man to where he is if he can't be trusted.

Thinking of that, the man turned back to Shen Tian.

"I'd appreciate that, thank you.", the man agreed weakly.