Duan Minmin had been chatting privately with Liu Ruyan for quite a while. By the afternoon, they heard someone gently knock on the door.
Duan Minmin went to open it and saw Liu Ruyan and Chen Xiaoqi standing outside.
“So your dorm really wants to form a team and go out hunting zombies?” Liu Ruyan asked as soon as she entered, clearly eager to try.
Chen Xiaoqi clutched Liu Ruyan’s arm and asked timidly, “Aren’t you afraid of zombies? I saw online that if you encounter a horde, the survival rate is less than one in ten thousand.”
They all understood the risks of attacking zombies.
But waiting passively in the dorm was not an option either. They had to try to save themselves before disaster struck, instead of hiding and waiting to die.
As the weather grew increasingly harsh, all they could do was curse it a few times, but that would not change anything.
Liu Ruyan was naturally bold and strongly supported Duan Minmin’s idea of taking the initiative.
The two of them began sketching and designing.
Chen Xiaoqi, being timid, only joined in the discussion.
She mentioned how she had only taken one glance at the zombie in the darkness early yesterday morning, and after returning to the dorm, she had vomited for the entire morning. Just recalling its appearance and the foul stench in the air made her nauseous again.
“When I climbed down the rope yesterday, my whole body was shaking,” Chen Jianwei added.
Luo Mushi and Ying Ran both expressed the same sentiment.
That early morning encounter had indeed been a major step forward for them.
The zombie had been disgusting.
But it had also strengthened their courage.
Liu Ruyan had taken the lead, and now Duan Minmin also wanted to go out and fight zombies.
Soon, Duan Minmin brought over two pencil sketches to show them.
She had taken an elective in drawing for psychology, so while her drawings were not perfect, they were clear enough.
Duan Minmin and Liu Ruyan began explaining.
Liu Ruyan said this was a simple slingshot design based on mechanical principles. With a basic launching mechanism, it could fire projectiles.
If the projectile was sharp or dense enough and aimed correctly, it could potentially kill a zombie in one strike.
As she spoke, Duan Minmin took off the elastic band from her hair, stretched it between her thumb and index finger, then used it to shoot an eraser across the room, hitting the wall.
“But where are we supposed to find a slingshot and rubber bands strong enough for that range?” Chen Jianwei looked around the dorm. Anything remotely useful had already been cataloged by the game. Even unexpected items like drying poles had appeared in the [Armory]. There was nothing else they could use.
The hair ties they used daily could only do trivial things.
She recalled that the Lanzhou Garden supermarket downstairs used to sell such materials.
But it had already been closed. Even if they broke in from the back, they would not be able to access the storage room.
Duan Minmin remained calm and said there was no need to rush into making it now.
Once they accumulated enough points, they could buy materials through the game.
Materials in the [Market] were generally cheaper than finished weapons. If they could assemble their own weapons, the cost-performance ratio would likely be higher.
Duan Minmin and Liu Ruyan continued refining their slingshot design, adjusting angles and calculations.
Even if it was just theoretical discussion for now, they were taking it seriously.
They listed all the materials they might need.
Then they hung a strip of sticky notes on the wall, stood at a moderate distance, and began practicing their aim.
Using a pen holder as a substitute projectile, if they hit the sticky note, it would leave a small dent.
But without any training or technique, they relied purely on instinct to judge the arc.
The result once again proved that they were not good at sports.
In the end, even Duan Minmin felt defeated.
Ranged weapons were not something ordinary people could handle easily.
“It’s not that bad,” Liu Ruyan said while comparing angles with the pen holder. She believed that with enough practice, they could improve significantly, and there was no rush to fight zombies.
After all, this was not a shooting competition. In a competition, the target was a precise point, but for them, the target was an entire zombie head.
As long as they could destroy the head, it did not matter whether they struck the temple or the back of the skull.
Moreover, with the current cold weather, zombie movement should be limited. Not many zombies would reach Haishi University and wander all the way to Lanzhou Garden Building 2.
Before the snowline rose further, they could still use the dorm as a defensive base for hunting.
Around four in the afternoon, the dorm group finally notified everyone to prepare. The zombie virus research laboratory staff had arrived at Haishi University and were about to begin collecting blood samples.
The group chat immediately became restless again.
Xu Xuan from Room 520 tagged Auntie Lian and asked, “What if my blood test shows the zombie virus? Will I be sent straight to the crematorium? (scared) (crying)”
Qiu Xi from Room 121 replied, “That shouldn’t happen, right? (scared) (scared)”
A flood of fearful responses followed.
If the virus was detected in someone’s blood but they had not yet turned, was there any treatment that could remove it?
They knew that the [Market] in Farm Game sold zombie virus serum.
But the price was so high that even selling themselves might not be enough.
If there was no treatment, would infected individuals just wait to die?
Some might choose suicide, while others might lash out in desperation.
Liu Ruyan read through the rapidly updating messages and decided to leave with Chen Xiaoqi, saying they would talk again after the test results came out.
During this waiting period, everyone would be anxious and unable to focus on anything else.
After they left, Room 618 began preparing dinner.
It was the same as usual, plain porridge, paired with a newly opened can of dace fish.
The leftover fish was wrapped in plastic wrap and placed on the balcony.
With the outdoor temperature comparable to a freezer, they could use it as a natural refrigerator.
As she drank the hot porridge, Chen Jianwei felt something off.
The three of them, who were usually noisy, had suddenly fallen silent.
The only sounds in the room were chewing and swallowing.
The atmosphere made her uneasy.
Messages in the dorm group chat kept updating. Ever since Xu Xuan brought up that topic, everyone had been tense and fearful.
Soon, the topic shifted.
Dong Wenyu from Room 103 posted a photo, saying she saw drones hovering outside, seemingly scattering something, though she was not sure what.
[322 Qu Miao: I saw it too]
[322 Qu Miao: Are they spreading snow-melting agents?]
[108 Lin Hewan: Not sure, looks like white powder]
[519 Yan Ruyu: Probably snow-melting agents]
…
No one really understood how snow-melting agents worked. They could only hope they were effective.
Otherwise, if it snowed again tonight, the first floor might be completely buried.
Duan Minmin continued scrolling through the group chat.
Normally, they rarely spoke in large groups, preferring to observe silently.
By the time they finished dinner, Duan Minmin saw a message saying that the laboratory staff had entered the building.
They quickly cleared the table.
Half a pot of porridge was saved for breakfast, and the remaining fish was sealed and placed in the “natural freezer” on the balcony.
Since the outbreak, it had been four days since the dorm doors of Lanzhou Garden Building 2 had last been opened.
When the lab staff entered, there was not much noise outside.
Room 101 had been the former office of Dorm Manager Auntie, and Room 102 housed senior students. Blood collection began from Room 103.
After getting her blood drawn, Dong Wenyu immediately updated the group chat.
“The staff are pretty gentle when drawing blood,” she said, then hesitated before adding another message, “But when you open the door and see them, don’t be too surprised.”
They had not expected to be surprised.
But after seeing her warning, they became curious.
Were the lab staff… unusual in appearance?
Or dressed in some strange way?
The staff moved floor by floor. By the time they reached the sixth floor, it was nearly 9:30 at night.
That was already a fast pace, considering many rooms were unoccupied.
Seeing the updates in the group chat, they estimated it would still take some time. Duan Minmin and Luo Mushi quickly took hot showers and then sat on the electric blanket mat to wait.
Chen Jianwei counted time on her fingers.
Two hours until the next crop harvest in Farm Game.
Six hours until the one after that…
This was truly suffering.
It meant they had to wake up at three in the morning to harvest crops.
What kind of miserable life was this?
When they saw messages saying the staff had reached nearby rooms, Ying Ran quickly called Luo Mushi, who was still in the bathroom washing clothes.
Luo Mushi responded, washed her hands, turned off the tap, and came out.
Soon after, there was a knock on the door.
Duan Minmin went to open it.
Then she froze on the spot.