By this time, it was already evening, and the sunset outside the window seeped through the gaps in the tattered curtains, imparting an indescribable serenity.
Su Changxing steadied himself and entered the room, which was chilling and suffused with a foul odor, making him feel a slight urge to vomit.
He stepped over a desiccated corpse and made his way down the hallway, stopping suddenly in front of the third room.
In the dim room, Su Changxing saw an array of supplies—various food, tools, and items—piled up, filling half the room. At a glance, it gave off a hamster-like sense of satisfaction.
So many supplies.
There are actually so many supplies here.
The painful scavenging experiences before had made him doubt his eyes, but after checking repeatedly, it wasn't a mistake.
This is going to be a grand harvest.
"This room is their storage room. All the supplies from the entire building were gathered here, meaning I've been running around for nothing before."
Su Changxing immediately noticed a blue sports backpack hanging on the wall. He took it down, shook off the dust; it was perfectly usable, just what he needed to replace the bag he was currently holding.
There was plenty of food in the storage room, including over ten cans of various foods, which Su Changxing crammed into the backpack all at once.
There were also lots of expired food that he planned to sell on the forum, which would earn him a considerable amount of Points.
"This hand axe is nice, although rusty, it's still usable."
Su Changxing regretfully looked at the rust-covered hand axe in his hand; if it were in good condition, it would be much more powerful. He conveniently placed the axe on the outside of the backpack, ready to use as needed.
There were also four or five boxes of matches; he tried them, and although somewhat damp, they were still able to light. He placed them in the outer compartment of the backpack.
In the corner was a coil of climbing rope, something that seemed like it would be very useful. Although somewhat heavy, Su Changxing decisively placed it in the inner compartment of the backpack.
"Is this medicine?"
In a trance, Su Changxing noticed two black glass medicine bottles behind the door; one was empty and the other was only half full. He picked them up to check.
Medicine Name: Blackman Neurotoxin
Effect: Causes temporary bodily paralysis; overdose can be fatal. Use cautiously.
Shelf Life: Two years
This must be the poison Wang Donglai used to kill others.
"So the question arises, does expired poison become more toxic or less so?"
Su Changxing hesitated for a moment and placed the neurotoxin in the inner compartment of the backpack.
In no time, Su Changxing had filled the enormous backpack to the brim, feeling like he had swapped a bird gun for a cannon and struck it rich overnight.
Luckily, he was strong enough now that carrying such a backpack didn't tire him.
With the backpack on, Su Changxing remembered he had a serious task to complete: to check Wang Donglai and the others' research results and find out the truth of the apocalyptic outbreak.
As for avoiding infection, Su Changxing no longer harbored any hope, since humanity in this world had failed to accomplish it, and he wasn't a researcher, nor did he possess relevant knowledge.
He could only hope the infection cycle exceeded thirty days, avoiding zombification symptoms before the game ended.
He proceeded along the hallway, reaching the third-to-last room, which was the data room. He opened the door and entered to find cabinets stacked with various files and documents.
A table covered in papers held a thick folder, on which a blue shield emblem was printed.
"Is this it?"
As Su Changxing reached for the folder, static crackled in his ears, causing his whole body to tense, and a chill came over him with a foreboding feeling; he immediately headed outside the room.
The static gradually intensified to a cacophony, akin to electrical pulses.
Instinctively, he looked toward the other side of the hallway, where a vague gray-white silhouette emerged step by step from the wall.
The room was dimly lit, and the gray-white figure appeared to glow slightly. As it moved, the space began to quiver inexplicably.
The phone in his left hand vibrated.
[Side Mission: You encountered an unknown entity.
1. Escape (10 Points)
2. Defy fate, kill it. (1000 Points, first kill receives unknown title)]
Originally, Su Changxing had considered trying to take a swing, but upon seeing the task reward, he abandoned any such thought.
In this world, there are no windfalls, the more substantial the reward, the greater the danger and difficulty.
With such a level of reward, forget it, survival is paramount; no amount of Points is worth one's life.
Su Changxing hesitated for less than a second before sprinting towards the door; it wasn't far, he could reach it in a full-speed run in over ten seconds.
After only a few steps, it felt like being hit by a car; he suddenly flew forward several meters and crashed heavily onto the ground.
The steel saber slipped from his hand, producing a crisp sound.
At this point, he couldn't bother with weapons; his internal organs had been severely damaged, sending sharp pain throughout his body. Seeing the bright door within reach, Su Changxing roared and immediately got up, again running forward at an even faster pace.
The static in his ears intensified into a piercing noise, seemingly ready to shatter his eardrums and burst his brain at any moment.
Ignoring everything else, Su Changxing focused on the direction of the door, taking two steps at a time, crossing several corpses, staggering yet rapidly passing through the door, and slamming it shut behind him.
The suffocating pressure instantly disappeared, and the piercing noise in his ears vanished too, the world returning to tranquility.
Su Changxing didn't stop running, fearful that thing was following him; he cautiously kept running down the stairs, the static occasionally returning, until it completely ceased after passing the eighth floor.
He sat on the floor of the first room on the seventh floor, panting heavily, still shaken, seeing his face streaked with blood reflected in the glass, with the blood continuing down to his neck.
"Almost died, thank goodness I ran quickly. What was that monster? Could it be some ghost or spirit? Isn't this supposed to be a sci-fi world?"
Su Changxing splashed half a bottle of water over his face to calm down. His hair became drenched, blood drizzling down with the water; his mind remained somewhat muddled, as if filled with lead.
Checking his condition revealed minor injuries but overall discomfort.
Name: Su Changxing
Power: 4 (stronger than the average human)
Speed: 3 (average human level)
Physique: 3 (average human level)
Spirit: 5－1 (temporarily decreased due to mental trauma)
Status: Injured, mild mental trauma.
Evaluation: I can only say if your Spiritual Power wasn't somewhat human-like, you'd definitely have died this time.
Mild mental trauma?
That suggests the creature excels at Spiritual Attacks, with the piercing noise likely being a sign of such an attack.
Su Changxing realized just how lucky he was this time; a bit less Spirit and he might have passed out.
"Damn, is this fortune or misfortune? Encountering a Level 100 Boss right at the Newbie Village."
Su Changxing could only helplessly complain; this is the real world, not a game, lacking balanced mechanics.
Some start facing hordes of Zombies, while others easily acquire an abundance of supplies.
Yet, Su Changxing felt extremely fortunate; he had managed to take a backpack of supplies right under such a monster's nose and escape successfully.
He should count as someone who initially faces hordes of Zombies and high-level monsters, yet despite great difficulty sits on abundant supplies.
Very unfortunate, but still with a pinch of good luck.