Chapter 50: The Zombie's Fangs, the Black Zombie Essence, and the Intelligence Note
After just one round of killing, Wang Yazhi squeezed into the top ten on the leaderboard!
Before long, the names Tong Qi and Cao Yaxuan also appeared among the top ten!
Four from the same dorm in the top ten!
Dorm 200 was truly showing its strength now!
Inevitably, the monstrous resources on the entire floor were almost entirely consumed by these four.
For others to surpass them, they would have to take on at least a quarter of the zombies on the whole floor.
[ Dormitory Broadcast: Players on the tenth floor are clearing monsters at an accelerated pace. Monsters will be unable to enter the tenth floor in the second round. ]
“Damn, we killed too fast again! How’s Brother Lang supposed to lure the monsters now?” Cao Yaxuan said excitedly, even cursing a little.
“No, it’s killing too slowly. If I had personally taken out Liu Quan and the others earlier, by now zombies from the ninth floor would have started climbing up,” Xu Lang replied quietly.
Tong Qi gasped softly, “Wow, Brother Lang, that’s a dangerous thought!”
Though chatting, their looting speed did not falter at all; they soon collected all the dropped items and returned to their dorm.
Wang Yazhi took position at the entrance, and as the other three entered, he shut the door securely.
Their coordination was seamless!
By this point, after one round of gameplay, everyone had grasped how to support each other and fulfill their roles.
It was safe to say their progress was rapid.
The four sat together on the sofa, eagerly anticipating the loot review.
The three girls handed all their money to Xu Lang.
[ Assets: Copper Coins 24,892; Silver Coins 3; Gold Coins 0 ]
Xu Lang reported their holdings and clicked his tongue, “Tsk, these zombies don’t drop copper coins well, and no decent burial items either, considering they’re level two monsters.”
“Brother Lang, your mouth’s jinxing it! There really is a burial item!” Tong Qi smiled as she picked up a beautiful porcelain bowl.
[ Blue and White Porcelain Bowl ]
[ Type: Porcelain ]
[ Level: 0 ]
[ Durability: 3/3 ]
[ Can be dismantled into: Blue and White Porcelain Shards x3 ]
[ Upgrade condition: 10 Nightmare Coins ]
[ Description: A burial item for the dead; pretty but useless. Recommended to smash. ]
Xu Lang laughed, “Set it aside. At least it’s a vessel for holding things.”
Tong Qi nodded and casually placed the porcelain on the side.
Among the dropped items, such burial objects were quite common—akin to soul fragments dropped by vengeful spirits—mostly useless junk.
There were three items that truly caught Xu Lang’s attention.
[ Zombie Fang ]
[ Type: Item ]
[ Level: 2 ]
[ Effect (Death Aura): Place the fang in your mouth to gain some essence of the dead, causing ghosts and monsters to regard you as one of their own. ]
[ Durability: 5/5 ]
[ Can be dismantled into: Bone Powder x3 ]
[ Upgrade condition: 90 Nightmare Coins ]
[ Description: When I was young, I had a set of zombie teeth that even glowed. The girls were all scared of me! ]
...
[ Black Zombie Essence ]
[ Type: Blood ]
[ Level: 2 ]
[ Effect: Transform into a Black Zombie for 3 minutes—thick skull, iron brain, and tremendous strength. ]
[ Upgrade condition: 120 Nightmare Coins ]
[ Description: Eat me and every part of your body will harden—everywhere except for your spongy tissue and pituitary gland. ]
...
[ Intelligence Note ]
[ Type: Item ]
[ Content: The real monsters are hiding in the corridors. ]
[ Description: This kind of thing has no level, cannot be dismantled or upgraded; just read it and be done. ]
...
“Look at this intelligence note,” Xu Lang said, pulling out the paper.
“Could it be the one ringing the bell?” Wang Yazhi recalled the terrifying sound and shivered inwardly.
“Likely so,” Xu Lang nodded. “I thought there would be a wider variety of monsters this round, but it was only zombies.”
Earlier, he had expected the monsters in the second round to be more diverse, but that turned out to be wrong.
Tong Qi then spoke, “Are these zombies the so-called ‘hard monsters’ that old players talk about? Even though there’s only one type this round and no level three monsters, many players still died.”
Players’ definition of ‘hard monsters’ usually had two traits: strong at breaking doors and difficult to kill.
Zombies fit both criteria perfectly.
Xu Lang smiled faintly.
He was happy Tong Qi and the others were thinking independently.
After all, he was still a rookie sometimes short on ideas.
After some discussion, Cao Yaxuan suddenly exclaimed, “Xu Lang, so many people are tagging me!”
“Normal,” Xu Lang shrugged—he was used to being mentioned.
“Me too!” Tong Qi opened the chatroom, looking equally surprised.
Wang Yazhi was in the same situation.
The three girls were experiencing this for the first time, chattering excitedly.
Meanwhile, Xu Lang glanced over the trade network and saw someone selling glutinous rice for 400 copper coins, so he listed his own twenty portions at 399.
All twenty portions of glutinous rice sold off one after another.
Nearly 8,000 copper coins flowed in!
Xu Lang sighed inwardly—not that Zombie Brother was poor, but that Zombie Brother had turned his copper coins into glutinous rice!
Next, he bought up all the six-round bullets available on the market, ending up with 30,000 copper coins in hand.
“Never had such a perfect start before!”
Although sleep time was short this round, Xu Lang’s gains were plentiful, and the kills were satisfying.
After finishing all this, Xu Lang opened his private messages.
His inbox was flooded!
He had added almost every player from the first round, and now more than half of them had sent messages.
There was flattery, confusion, and shock!
Xu Lang skimmed through quickly, then opened a message from Xu Ruyan.
[ 180 Xu Ruyan: There’s a level three turret? How are you scoring points so fast? ]
[ 180 Xu Ruyan: The taller the tree, the more the wind attacks its branches. Tsk tsk, you better be careful not to reveal all your cards at once. Points are important, but life is more important! ]
Xu Ruyan’s message ended there, perhaps feeling awkward about talking one-sidedly.
Xu Lang’s first thought upon reading these messages was—Xu Ruyan sure talks a lot.
His second thought was...
Does she like me?
Xu Lang shook his head. The three great illusions of life are pure traps for suckers. Just because a pretty girl says a few more words doesn’t mean she likes you. If a voice message comes next, does that mean she wants to date you?
[ 200 Xu Lang: Thanks for your concern. Everything is fine here. ]
[ 180 Xu Ruyan: Thanks to you, I’ve dropped to fifth place. ]
Xu Lang was taken aback, then quickly checked the leaderboard and saw that although Xu Ruyan’s points had increased, her rank had dropped from third.
[ 200 Xu Lang: It’s what I should do. We’re all comrades. ]
[ 180 Xu Ruyan: Thank you!! ]
In Dorm 180, Xu Ruyan gritted her teeth.
For lazy players like Nie Xiaozhu, it was best if Xu Lang killed all the monsters in the corridor alone.
But for ambitious players like Xu Ruyan, Xu Lang’s actions were stealing monsters.
In the first round, vengeful spirits had low defense, and Xu Ruyan could kill them instantly. With Xu Lang around, she didn’t have to worry about the spirits’ aggro shifting, so she killed with great enthusiasm.
But this round, the zombies were too tough. No matter what she tried, she could only kill about a dozen.
[ 200 Xu Lang: Why don’t you go help on the ninth floor? ]
[ 180 Xu Ruyan: The big monster on the tenth floor is hiding near the left staircase. I can guess the ninth floor’s big monster is near the right side. If I go there now, what’s the difference from triggering the boss early? ]
[ 200 Xu Lang: Maybe you can pick up some leftovers. The boss is currently in a weakened state. ]
[ 180 Xu Ruyan: Why don’t you go then? ]
[ 200 Xu Lang: I’m not that kind of person. ]
“You’re not that kind of person?”
“Then I am!”
Sometimes, taking a big risk is necessary, but it’s not always the right time.
Like now, for instance.
Xu Ruyan was sure someone wouldn’t hold out and would sneak to other floors to lure ghosts.
Such tough and powerful monsters were a nightmare for players. Though their attack methods were simple—just battering down doors—who could withstand that?
It could be said that any dorm without level two attack facilities, even with level two doors, could not hold off an attack from more than five zombies.
Xu Ruyan didn’t wait long before obtaining the information she wanted.