When the 10:30 p.m. alarm rang, they returned to the [Farm] page. About five minutes later, the plants on the land turned into a harvestable state.
Duan Minmin, who reacted the fastest, immediately tapped the [Harvest] tool and collected the crops.
After harvesting, they planted a new batch of seeds.
[Congratulations to player Dawn for upgrading to a Level 3 Farm. You can now receive the following benefits]
1. Unlock one plot of land
2. Crop stealing range increased by 10 meters
3. Ability to purchase Level 3 seeds
They felt a wave of disappointment.
When the notification about reaching 90 experience points had appeared earlier, they had thought that reaching Level 3 at 100 experience points would grant some kind of special reward, like the [Beginner Gift Pack] or the [Bountiful Harvest Gift Pack].
But there was nothing.
When they had upgraded to Level 2, it had been the same three benefits, and now it was still the same.
With a bitter mood, they browsed through the Level 3 seeds in [Market] → [Seed Storage]. First, they purchased a kapok tree sapling from the market, then returned to the [Farm] and unlocked the fourth plot of land.
Unlocking the fourth plot required 10 points, double the cost of the third plot.
It seemed that the cost of unlocking land would continue to increase as they progressed. This game was really squeezing every bit out of its poor players.
They could only grit their teeth and unlock the fourth plot.
After planting the newly purchased kapok sapling, they were left with only 14 points again.
After all their effort, they had returned to the same state as the morning.
Duan Minmin studied the game seriously, then grinned and said to her roommates, “When we unlock all fifty plots in the future, we should plant roses on all of them. Just imagine how spectacular and beautiful that would be.”
Thinking about that scene, she felt as if flowers were blooming in her heart.
Ying Ran, who had a strong sense of order, also found the idea appealing.
As for Chen Jianwei and Luo Mushi, they felt it did not really matter what was planted.
But reaching fifty plots would probably take a very long time.
At least Farm Game gave them hope. As long as they had enough points, they could buy whatever they needed in the [Market]. If they needed something in the future, they now had a way to obtain it.
After harvesting the crops, they started discussing what games to play next.
Luo Mushi scrolled through the group chat on her phone and saw Feng Wei from Room 402 asking for medicine, as well as Auntie Lian’s reply.
“Do you think they have Farm Game?” Luo Mushi asked, turning back to her roommates.
They did not know how the “Farm Game” system worked.
Yesterday, the app had appeared on their phones out of nowhere, and they had entered the game by exploring it step by step.
If Room 402 had also been bound to the “Farm Game” system, Feng Wei would not need to anxiously search for medicine in the group chat.
Even if she lacked points, she could convert their dorm’s supplies into points and then exchange them for fever medicine in the [Market].
Ying Ran hugged her hot water bag and felt Luo Mushi’s idea was too naive.
“Go check the price of ibuprofen in the [Market].”
Luo Mushi followed her instructions and navigated to [Market] → [Supplies Market] → Medical Supplies, scrolling down to find ibuprofen sustained release capsules.
The exchange price for one capsule was 200 points.
That was equivalent to…
40 packs of instant noodles.
“Just kill me already!” Luo Mushi clutched her throat, looking utterly devastated.
In the apocalypse, medical resources were scarce, and in the [Market], medicine was generally far more expensive than food.
For ordinary people like them, simply surviving was already enough. Trying to take on more could easily backfire.
After a while, Auntie Lian tagged Feng Wei in the group chat again, saying that in ten minutes, the school would send a vehicle to take her roommate for treatment.
Feng Wei visibly relaxed and asked what she should prepare in advance.
But Auntie Lian did not respond further.
“I think outside is definitely more dangerous than inside the dorm,” Ying Ran said after refilling the hot water bag and returning. “Right now, as long as the dorm building stays closed and no one deliberately lets zombies in, it is temporarily safe. But outside, that is not guaranteed.”
Luo Mushi looked surprised. “No one would deliberately bring zombies inside… right?”
Chen Jianwei did not believe the dorm building would remain peaceful.
Even before all this, there had always been people making noise. Right now, everyone was just frightened by the sudden appearance of zombies, but after a few days, there would inevitably be people who stirred trouble.
Not everyone could accept staying in the dorm indefinitely, living day by day depending on supplies from the school.
As Duan Minmin had said, in apocalypse novels, people fell into two types: hoarders and knife wielders.
Hoarders, like Chen Jianwei, focused on stockpiling supplies.
Knife wielders were those who charged into the apocalypse with a kitchen knife in hand.
Although none of the four of them were knife wielders, in a whole dorm building, there would likely be a few bold individuals who would rather venture out than wait inside, hoping to survive by taking risks.
For people who only wanted to quietly survive, that would be a disaster.
Even setting aside those risk takers, conflicts within dorms were inevitable.
If someone lost their temper during an argument and decided to drag everyone down with them, that would be another disaster.
Chen Jianwei did not believe that a single iron door could hold off zombies for long if they entered the building.
Leaving one’s fate in the hands of others was not a reassuring feeling.
So whether by claiming illness or using other excuses, many people would still want to leave the dorm building.
In a disaster, surviving one more day or eating one more hot meal was already a luxury.
As they continued watching the group chat, they soon saw Feng Wei say that her roommate had been taken away for treatment.
Someone else asked Auntie Lian whether it was safe for sick students to go out, what would happen if they encountered zombies at the hospital, and whether hospitals were even open under current conditions.
Auntie Lian did not respond, likely busy with other matters.
After all, managing both Lanzhou Garden Building 2 and Building 3 was not an easy task.
But the topic of hospitals and zombies quickly sparked another flood of messages in the group chat.
“How about we sleep early? There is nothing much to do these days anyway, and it is so cold. Sleeping early will help us stay energized,” Duan Minmin said, putting away the Aeroplane Chess board and drinking a cup of hot water before rubbing her eyes.
Ying Ran followed her example, unplugging the charger and climbing into bed with her hot water bag.
Since Ying Ran was still on her period and feeling unwell, it was normal for her to sleep early.
But Duan Minmin was usually a night owl, and going to bed before midnight was rare for her.
Before she climbed up, Chen Jianwei reached out and touched her forehead.
No fever.
After the earlier discussion about seasonal illness, Chen Jianwei had been a little worried.
“I am not sick,” Duan Minmin laughed, swatting her hand away. She blew warm air into her hands, climbed up the ladder, and pulled her bed curtain closed.
Seeing that her roommates had gone to bed, Chen Jianwei also turned off the lights and climbed up, sitting in bed while scrolling through the group chat.
At night, strange situations were more likely to occur. The girl from Room 619 the previous night was an example.
Around midnight, she saw Room 811 complaining in the group chat that they could hear someone crying, asking nearby dorms not to scare people. One of their roommates was already frightened, thinking it was some supernatural event.
Soon, Room 810 explained that their roommate simply missed her family and that they were comforting her.
Not long after, Rooms 611, 405, 208, and 606 also reported hearing crying nearby.
In times like this, missing home and family was understandable. Xu Qiang from Room 606 politely asked if people could cry more quietly at night, as it was frightening and also made others feel homesick. Emotions could spread.
The disturbance gradually escalated, with people in the group chat beginning to vent about how much they missed home and complaining about the existence of zombies disrupting their peaceful lives.
The group chat remained noisy for most of the night, but the area around Room 618 was relatively quiet, which satisfied Chen Jianwei.
After watching the group chat until around 1 a.m., she prepared to place her phone by the bedside to charge and go to sleep.
But just before turning off the screen, she suddenly saw a new friend request pop up.
[Friend request from “Lanzhou Garden Building 2 group” member “619 Liu Huan”]
Liu Huan from Room 619?
Although their rooms were only separated by a wall, they had never interacted before.
Why would Liu Huan suddenly add her from the group chat?
Uncertain about her intentions, Chen Jianwei cautiously returned to the group chat and scrolled through the messages, but did not see anything from Liu Huan that night.
It felt strange.
Maybe she should pretend she had already gone to sleep and deal with it tomorrow.
Chen Jianwei hesitated for a long time, wavering back and forth, but eventually tapped [Accept].
[You are now friends with “619 Liu Huan”]
She saw the chat interface update, along with Liu Huan’s greeting.
[619 Liu Huan: Hello, I am Liu Huan]
Chen Jianwei had just typed out a reply but had not yet sent it when Liu Huan sent another message.
“Have you heard of Farm Game?”