Ming Sulin stepped into the hallway—only for the world to tilt beneath her feet. The dizziness slammed her like a wave, black spots blotting her vision. She staggered, reaching for the wall, but gravity won. The floor rushed up—
—and she woke in the middle of chaos.
"Look out!" a voice shouted.
Screams and commotion crashed over her.
Ming Sūlín's eyes snapped open to see Gregory swinging wildly at zombies pouring through the shattered kitchen window.
"Ahhhh!" Henry screamed.
Henry was there too, but too close to the breach—teeth tore into his arm, shoulder, side.
"Help!! Mom!!! Please!! Get them off me!! Get them off me!! NOOOOO!!!" he fought, thrashing, but it was already too late—the zombies began pulling him through the window.
"Henry!"
Gregory grabbed his leg, Tally and Margaret pulling from behind, but the boy was already half through the window.
The zombies yanked harder, snarling, and with one final jerk, Henry was gone.
The room fell into a cold silence for a moment.
"Noooooo!!! Aghhhhh!!"
Ming Sūlín flinched, hearing his screams die off. She patted her racing heart, hoping she'd never witness such an excruciating death again—even during the safety period.
Everyone else was completely shook.
"Damn tough luck," Ming Sūlín thought silently. She couldn't say anything. She had to play the part—sympathetic or silent—but inside, a small, ironic amusement lingered.
He had been feasting on Tally's face just yesterday morning—and now it wasn't fun when it was happening to him.
Hehe.
"KMhmhm," Ming Sūlín bowed her head, coughing to block the laugh that wanted to escape. She recovered quickly, facing everyone.
"Let's board up the windows and set a plan," she suggested softly, wanting to move things forward. She still needed to find a chance to explore the forest and complete the objectives assigned by the dungeon.
Ming Sūlín crouched beside her parents, checking their breathing and bandages. "We can't just stay here," she said quietly, shifting fully into her dungeon persona. "There might be other survivors—or at least someone else trapped somewhere. We need to check carefully, but we can't risk staying put."
Gregory rubbed his temples, exhausted, worry evident in his furrowed brow. "The forest is crawling with them… zombie hounds, those things. I don't know if we can get out alive, Amy," he admitted, using her dungeon identity. His voice trembled slightly, betraying the concern he tried to mask.
Margaret, her leg now wrapped and her fever somewhat reduced, nodded weakly. "If we don't try, no one else has a chance. Maybe there are other resource points… maybe someone left supplies." Her voice was faint but resolute, echoing the determination Ming Sūlín already felt.
Ming Sūlín placed a hand over each of theirs. "We'll be careful. I'll scout first, map what we find, and then we can decide together. No one else is alive in this dungeon—at least not that we know—but every minute counts. Seven days… one hour in real time. We can do this if we stay smart."
The forest outside the cabin loomed dark and tangled, shadows twisting between gnarled trees and thick undergrowth.
Ming Sūlín knew that each step could be fatal if she wasn't careful.
There were no other players left, no hints, no guidance—everything she found would be by her own eyes, her own instincts. Time pressed against her like a physical weight; every minute in the dungeon counted toward the seven-day survival limit, each one a twenty-five-minute segment of reality. Hesitation could cost her life, or worse, the chance to finish all objectives.
She adjusted her backpack, feeling the reassuring weight of canned food, water, and first aid supplies. Hidden resource points could appear anywhere: beneath a fallen log, behind a crumbling stone wall, or inside a hollow tree trunk.
Some might even contain traps or remnants of previous players, the unlucky ones who had come before her. Ming sulin heart raced, but excitement mingled with the fear. She alone had to locate these points, gather supplies, and remain alive long enough to finish the dungeon's tasks.
Moving carefully, she traced a path along the lake's edge before heading into the forest proper.
The cries of distant creatures echoed faintly, some human, some disturbingly not.
Zombies and hounds patrolled silently, their feral noses twitching, alert to any movement.
If she could spot them first, she might slip past—or set a distraction and flee. But every encounter carried risk; a single bite could end everything in seconds. Each step, each decision, demanded her full attention.
After a cautious hour—or what the dungeon counted as a day—she stumbled across the first hidden resource point.
Partially buried under leaf litter, a weathered wooden crate awaited, untouched yet ominously silent. Inside, she found a medkit with fresh bandages, a few bottles of disinfectant, and a small cache of ammunition.
Ming sulin smiled briefly, noting the critical boost to her survival chances. She carefully replaced the lid, not wanting to draw the attention of any wandering zombie hounds, and tucked the crate's contents securely into her pack.
Ming Sūlín took a deep breath and moved toward the cluster of zombies lingering near the thick undergrowth. She slashed through the first few shamblers, keeping her movements tight and economical.
[You have killed x5 zombie | 5 kill points | 25 XP]
[Loot: 3 silver, 67 copper coins]
[You sustained -2 HP of damage]
A sudden growl drew her eyes upward. A zombie hound barreled down the path, teeth bared. She dodged its first swipe, rolling beneath the snapping jaws before plunging her tactical knife into its skull.
[You have killed x1 zombie hound | 3 kill points | 30 XP]
[Loot: 1 meat chunk, 1 tattered leather collar]
[You sustained -7 HP of damage]
The forest seemed alive with shadows now, the air thick with the scent of decay and rot. Ming Sūlín spotted a lone figure moving differently from the shamblers—a yellow-grade zombie, the unmistakable aura of an unfortunate soul lingering around it. Her pulse quickened.
The zombie's eyes locked on her, whispering a fragment of memory she barely recognized. It lunged with surprising speed, swinging a rusted blade from the scavenged ruins of its past life. She sidestepped, countered with her fillet knife, and slashed downward in a clean arc.
[You have killed x1 Yellow-Grade Zombie (unfortunate soul player Lian Qiu) | 5 kill points | 90 EXP]
[Loot: x3 damaged slave chains (dazed obedience), x1 yellow-grade medical herb (restores 80 HP), x1 player identity card, 2 silver, 723 copper coins]
[Unfortunate Soul Count: 3 / 30 You receive 25 points]
A loud crash sounded from behind a fallen tree. Another special zombie—this one male—charged with brute force. She ducked under a wild swing, rolling over the corpse of a smaller zombie to land in striking range. A flick of her dagger to the heart, a swift spin, and the head followed.
[You have killed x1 Yellow-Grade Zombie (unfortunate soul player Tao Ren) | 5 kill points | 90 EXP]
[Loot: x1 broken yellow-grade spear, x2 yellow-grade healing roots, x1 jade bracelet, x1 player identity card, 1 gold, 3 silver, 495 copper coins]
[Unfortunate Soul freed 4 / 30 You receive 25 points]
Her pack now bulging with loot, Ming Sūlín paused to take stock. Several regular zombies had crept back, drawn by the noise. She quickly dispatched them with Triple Dagger Attack, feeling the satisfying impact of perfect coordination between skill and instinct.
[You have killed x6 zombie | 6 kill points | 30 XP]
[Loot: 1 silver, 341 copper coins]
[You sustained -5 HP of damage]
Finally, the forest seemed momentarily quiet. Ming Sūlín wiped the sweat from her brow, checking her health. A quick snack from her inventory restored her vitality:
[+50 HP restored]
Ahead, a faint shimmer of light indicated a hidden resource cache, partially concealed by a collapsed wall. She approached carefully, wary of potential traps or lingering hounds. Unlocking it with her hidden keys, she revealed a treasure trove of supplies—some yellow-grade items clearly left by previous players.
[You have accessed hidden resource cache! | +15 EXP]
[Loot auto-added: x6 canned food, x3 yellow-grade tactical medkits, x1 yellow-grade fish skin storage pouch (10 slots—5 available), x2 yellow-grade repair kits, 1 gold, 6 silver, 879 copper coins]
Ming Sūlín exhaled, feeling the weight of the accumulated loot and the burden of survival.
The unfortunate souls had left their mark—both in items and in the silent story of the dungeon's deadly nature. She adjusted her pack, readying herself for the next push into the forest, knowing that more challenges—and more yellow-grade unfortunate souls—would not be far off.