Inside the pitch-black room devoid of a single ray of light, Song Yu sat cross-legged on the concrete floor, vigorously rubbing two wooden sticks together in her hands.
The chorus of zombie roars rising and falling all around her failed to affect her mood in the slightest.
Besides, the room was too dark; she couldn’t see anything anyway.
Just listening to the sounds, Song Yu didn’t feel particularly scared.
The doors and windows were tightly blocked off with furniture and curtains, so even if Song Yu lit a fire inside the room, not a single trace of it would be noticeable from the outside.
I do not know how much time passed before the wooden stick in Song Yu’s hands finally coaxed a tiny spark to life on the wooden shavings.
She hurriedly placed the gathered straw on top to ignite it, then transferred the flame into the barbecue grill where firewood had already been prepared.
The rising firelight illuminated the entire room, which was piled high with the supplies Song Yu had gathered.
The system-generated supplies that could be found in this village were very few, but usable everyday items were in abundance.
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Especially things like wood.
Items stored inside backpack slots could be brought along to subsequent instances.
Since she couldn’t predict the difficulty and conditions of future instances, she had no choice but to stockpile as many diverse supplies as possible.
The firewood gradually began to burn, and Song Yu noticed the zombie roars growing closer and closer to her.
Gripping her crossbow tightly, she hurried over to the window, carefully lifting a corner of the curtain to peek outside.
The pitch-black sky had somehow spawned a cold crescent moon, casting its glow over the earth and revealing the outside scene in chilling, terrifying clarity.
The previously deserted village was now populated by numerous zombies. Compared to their daytime counterparts, the nighttime zombies were clearly much more active.
[Tier 1 Scrawny Zombie, HP: 47, Attack: 11…], [Tier 2 Berserk Zombie, HP: 165, Attack: 31…]
At night, the zombies’ health pools and attack power directly doubled!
The arrows Song Yu had on hand weren’t even enough to kill a single Tier 2 zombie, so she might as well rest properly and recover her stamina.
However, the moment Song Yu discovered that a nighttime buff called [Zombie Drop Rate Doubled] had appeared on her status panel, she instantly abandoned that thought.
Zombies = Mutated Blood = Supplies!
Carefully making her way to the roof, Song Yu rested her crossbow on the railing ledge and aimed at a zombie wandering near the main entrance.
That zombie was Tier 1, and the health pools of Tier 1 zombies basically all hovered below 50 points.
Nocking an arrow and pulling it to full draw, Song Yu closed one eye, sighted the crossbow at its head, and fired without hesitation!
Bullseye!
The zombie’s head was pierced clean through!
Its health bar plummeted by 30 points in a single flash!
A critical hit?
Song Yu opened the system panel to check and sure enough found the relevant record in the combat log.
Hitting a zombie’s head resulted in a critical attack damage multiplier with a guaranteed double effect.
A smile crept onto Song Yu’s face; this was definitely good news.
She immediately nocked a second arrow, which once again struck the zombie squarely between the eyes.
The zombie, its health bar completely emptied, vanished instantly from Song Yu’s field of vision as the system’s voice rang in her ear.
[Player has triggered the talent double drop.]
The zombie dissolved into 2 vials of blood that dropped to the ground.
If only that were a Tier 2 zombie.
Song Yu felt a twinge of regret.
However, Song Yu discovered a rather unfavorable detail.
When the zombie vanished, the arrow that struck it disappeared right along with it!
The arrows traded from the NPC merchant actually functioned as single-use consumables!
“…”
This was truly disheartening, though fortunately, the 6 arrows that came bundled with the crossbow could still be retrieved and reused.
The number of zombies in the village was quite substantial, roughly estimated at over 100, among which one zombie looked vastly different from the rest.
Song Yu had no intention of disturbing it; that guy looked extremely difficult to deal with.
It was a Tier 4 zombie with over 600 health points.
Meanwhile, Song Yu only had 8 arrows left in total, and no matter how she looked at it, there was no way she could kill it.
If a remote, uninhabited little village like hers harbored a Tier 4 zombie, she couldn’t even imagine how terrifying the zombies inside those massive urban structures must be.
Perhaps Tier 6? Tier 7?
Song Yu didn’t dwell on the matter for long, choosing instead to resume hunting the zombies patrolling around the building.
Nock the arrow, aim, release.
Then, taking advantage of the zombies’ failure to notice her, she slipped downstairs to retrieve all the exterior arrows and dropped loot. Her movement speed was twice what it used to be, so she didn’t need to worry about being detected by the zombies.
Song Yu swiftly cleared out all the zombies in the immediate vicinity of the house.
The haul totaled 7 vials of Tier 1 blood and 3 vials of Tier 2 blood.
The yields were exceptionally generous; Song Yu would be able to trade with Chen Su for at least 60 arrows tomorrow.
Even so, the arrows in Song Yu’s hands had been completely exhausted.
The default arrows belonging to the crossbow possessed durability; once that durability ran out, they vanished as well.
Song Yu had the mind to continue hunting zombies, but alas, she was out of arrows.
On second thought, this was only normal. If the arrows weren’t consumables, calculating at a rate of 1 vial of Tier 1 blood per 5 arrows, it wouldn’t be long before her backpack slots ran out of room entirely just for arrows.
Lacking arrows, Song Yu packed up and simply decided to turn in for the night.
The fire in the barbecue grill was about to burn out, so Song Yu buried potatoes and corn inside it, letting them roast slowly using the residual heat of the embers.
Before falling asleep, Song Yu checked the window to ensure the air was circulating properly, guaranteeing she wouldn’t succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Inside the room, Song Yu had long since arranged a comfortable, soft large bed.
Every item had been scavenged by Song Yu from the various houses.
The moment she lay down, it felt plush and cozy.
Song Yu drifted off to sleep in no time. After she fell asleep, a comfort buff that accelerated stamina recovery also appeared on her status panel.
Sleeping through the night without dreams, Song Yu rested extremely well.
At six o’clock the next morning, Song Yu woke up punctually from her slumber.
Despite a whole day of exhausting combat yesterday, her entire body felt exceptionally refreshed, completely devoid of any fatigue.
Only her stomach felt a little empty.
Song Yu rubbed her rumbling belly and checked her panel: the nighttime buff had vanished, replaced by new buffs.
[Comfortable (4 hours): Accelerates stamina recovery rate.], [Refreshed (4 hours): Reduces stamina consumption rate.]
In addition, two negative statuses—hunger and thirst—came attached.
The potatoes and corn left in the barbecue grill yesterday were just right for breakfast. Song Yu devoured 3 potatoes, 2 ears of corn, and 1 bottle of mineral water in one breath.
She finished it off by eating 3 berries as a finale. She had never had such a good appetite; her whole body felt healthier.
The corn tasted tender and sweet, the potatoes provided a strong sense of fullness, and the berries were sweet and tangy.
The two negative status effects disappeared, replaced by a new [Well-Fed and Hydrated] mood-restoring buff.
Song Yu tidied up the room and tucked away everything that needed concealing.
For instance, the barbecue grill—Song Yu certainly couldn’t carry that thing along with her, so she had to hide it.
After finishing all of this, Song Yu strapped on her backpack and crossbow, grabbed her dagger, securely fastened the courtyard gate, and mounted her bicycle to prepare for a new day of exploration.
Her very first stop had to be at the NPC merchant Chen Su’s location!
All of her merchandise had limited stock, but the total number of players across Yangliu City reached a full 100,000!