Chapter 23: Game Over, the Dormitory Building’s “Mad King”

Bang!

Before Zhou Tao could even get close, Xu Lang fired his gun.

It was clean, swift, and devoid of any hesitation. In his nightmares, when facing those butchers, he always preferred to turn the tables while they were still gloating; he certainly didn't want to fall victim to such a thing himself. If someone needed to be killed, he would kill them. Even if there were lingering grievances, he could just use Cao Yaxuan and the others to farm some Nightmare Coins, and those grievances would vanish!

Based on the intelligence gathered, the zombies had already been wiped out. Xu Lang had no other urgent tasks for the moment, so he crouched down, tilted his head, and began looting the items while keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings.

"It would be nice if Tong Qi and the others were here," Xu Lang mused to himself. "They could cover my position so I wouldn't have to worry about a second shooter."

He paused for a moment. *Wait, isn't that just using them as human shields?*

*Hiss... I seem to be a bit shameless.*

His backpack was already full. After picking up the items dropped from Zhou Tao’s pack, he proceeded to scavenge the rest of his belongings. Come to think of it, players were sometimes quite similar to monsters. Upon death, all items in their backpacks were dropped, and the killer was granted a thirty-second priority window to loot them.

Suddenly, Xu Lang’s movements froze. He looked to his left and raised his pistol.

"Don't shoot! It’s me, Huang Hao!" The figure quickly emerged from behind cover, hands raised.

"Oh, it's you. I thought you were a zombie," Xu Lang said with a smile.

Huang Hao approached, his features becoming clear. He swallowed hard and asked, "Xu Lang, I heard gunshots just now. Did you kill Zhou Tao?"

Xu Lang glanced at the bloody hole in Zhou Tao’s head and chuckled. "Yeah, he tried to ambush me, so I killed him first."

"Good riddance! I knew he wasn't a good person!" Huang Hao laughed. "I’m his roommate. Brother Lang, could you give me the key to Dorm 24?"

"No." Xu Lang shook his head and turned back to continue looting Zhou Tao.

However, just as he bent down, his pistol dropped to the ground!

The sycophantic smile on Huang Hao’s face vanished instantly. He lunged forward, closing the distance to within two meters of Xu Lang in a flash.

*Thump!*

Xu Lang spun around, a baseball bat appearing out of nowhere, and swung it backhand against Huang Hao’s forehead. Huang Hao collapsed instantly, his skull visibly caved in.

"Anyone who kicks my door dies."

Saving a bullet made Xu Lang feel quite satisfied. He went back to looting. Zhou Tao didn't have much—just a few cans of food and a field hockey stick. Huang Hao was even more pathetically poor; the three items in his backpack were all food, and he only carried a small dagger on him.

Xu Lang strapped the field hockey stick to his back, adjusted his baseball cap, and continued toward the gymnasium. No one had ever said that resource points wouldn't refresh during the night! It was just that no one had ever come here at night before.

Upon entering the gymnasium, Xu Lang searched around and actually found something.

[Club 3]
[Type: Playing Card]
[Grade: Unknown]
[Description: Cannot be dismantled... no idea what this is for.]

Xu Lang tucked the card into his inner pocket. Anyone who had played games knew that such unknown items always had value as collectibles, and the lack of upgrade requirements was practically a red flag shouting that there was more to it than met the eye.

After clearing the gymnasium, Xu Lang headed straight for the nearest infirmary. Along the way, he frequently checked the chat room to keep track of other players' movements. The news of the "Big Zombie’s" death had already spread, and thanks to the leaderboard, everyone knew Xu Lang was responsible. The entire public channel was currently flooded with "@Xu Lang" tags.

Xu Lang remained unmoved, his gun held firmly in his hand as he ran at a steady pace. The other players hadn't yet reacted, and the ground was littered with free supplies—it would be a waste not to pick them up.

Soon, Xu Lang reached the infirmary, where he ran into a "celebrity" of sorts. Seeing Xu Lang, Zhang Dahu gulped and instinctively hid a medical kit behind his back. Noticing Zhang Dahu was there, Xu Lang’s eyes flickered, but he didn't stop, hurrying off to the next resource point without delay. Zhang Dahu let out a sigh of relief and quickly fled the infirmary as well; it wouldn't be long before this place became a danger zone.

Next, Xu Lang visited the equipment room and the cafeteria, finding a Grade 2 item in each.

[Instant Sirloin Steak]
[Type: Food]
[Grade: 2]
[Satiety: 100]
[Effect: Rapidly restores energy]
[Upgrade Condition: 40 Nightmare Coins]
[Description: I am a delicious steak.]

...

[Alloy Combat Knife]
[Type: Melee Weapon]
[Grade: 2]
[Damage: 30]
[Durability: 25/25]
[Dismantle for: Alloy x10]
[Upgrade Condition: 150 Nightmare Coins]
[Description: Although I have no special effects, you should be able to tell how durable I am just by looking at my stats.]

A baseball bat’s durability was only 14, so 25 for the alloy knife was indeed very durable. As he passed the equipment room entrance, Xu Lang saw a zombie with its legs severed that hadn't quite died yet. He drew his new combat knife, placed the blade against its neck, and pressed down.

The zombie’s head fell off immediately!

"So sharp!" Xu Lang nodded with satisfaction.

Just then, the dormitory broadcast echoed throughout the building.

[Dormitory Broadcast: All monsters have been eliminated. This round of the game has ended early!]
[Congratulations to everyone for surviving the first Dorm Survival game!]
[The second round of the game will begin in 7 days and 14 hours!]
[In three minutes, the leaderboard rewards will be distributed one by one!]

[Leaderboard—]
[Xu Lang: 201]
[Zhang Dahu: 100]
[Wang Ao: 98]
[...]

[This dormitory building is an "Original Building." Thanks to your heroic efforts, it has been unlocked. The building has been granted the title—Mad King!]
[You are all "Mad King Cycle 1" players!]
[To celebrate the unlocking of the building, a super gift package will be dropped below the dormitory when the first rays of sunlight shine in. Stay tuned!]
[The Mall and the Blood Mist exploration mode will also be available at that time. Stay tuned!]

The voice from the broadcast sounded vaguely impassioned, as if the unlocking of the building were a momentous occasion. Xu Lang was deeply intrigued by the "unlocking" concept, but for now, getting back to his room was the priority.

With a pile of loot on his person and the top-ranked gift package waiting for him back at the dorm, it felt like holding a hand of "Bountiful Harvest" cards in a game—the urge to see what he would pull was almost unbearable.