Chapter 8: Recruiting a Beauty for Dormitory 200!

The person who jumped was Zhang Yan from the eighth floor. Before her death, she had cried out for help several times in the chatroom, but no one came to her aid. Her desperate leap did not evoke sympathy; instead, it was met with a barrage of insults. Some players were still out scavenging for resources, and her actions only endangered others.

Xu Lang remained silent.

Nearby, Cao Yaxuan was startled awake by the sound of the fall and the growls of zombies. After checking the chatroom, she told Xu Lang, “Xu Lang, Zhang Yan just jumped!”

“I know,” Xu Lang replied calmly.

Cao Yaxuan pressed her lips together. “Many people saw that my room number matches yours and are asking me what’s going on.”

“Say whatever you want,” Xu Lang muttered as he edited a message in the chatroom.

“Alright,” Cao Yaxuan nodded.

She refrained from revealing the deal she had with Xu Lang, only saying she had been in his room when the game began.

[User 200 Xu Lang: Buying a weapon, offering ten cups of pure water, totaling one liter.]

[User 24 Zhou Tao: Where did you get so much water? Don’t lie.]

[User 112 Li Ming: Wow, it's real! Xu Lang is on the auction house!]

[User 32 Ye Fan: Hidden talents, Lang!]

[User 24 Zhou Tao: No one’s trading with you now; weapons are the rarest resource. They’ll definitely be useful later. Anyone with weapons, I’ll trade supplies.]

Xu Lang truly did not want to speak in the chatroom, fearing such situations, but since no one was selling weapons on the trading platform, he had no choice but to call out here.

[User 200 Xu Lang: @Zhou Tao, say one more word and tomorrow when you go downstairs, I’ll be watching you like a hawk!]

Dormitory 24.

“Damn it! You really think the supplies I found won’t last till the end of the game?!” Zhou Tao’s face darkened as he pounded his fist on the bed.

At that moment, several friends sent him private messages — all low-level players who had scavenged with him today.

Unbeknownst to the higher-ranked players, these people had added each other as friends and developed a tacit understanding.

The private messages urged Zhou Tao not to lose his temper. They still wanted to enjoy the benefits. If the top players interfered, it would be like death.

“Collectively, we saved you!” Zhou Tao grumbled and chose to back down.

...

After dealing with Zhou Tao, Xu Lang turned his attention to friend requests.

Soon, one request caught his eye.

[User 12 Wang Zhiwei: I have a baseball bat. Want to trade?]

Xu Lang accepted the request, and Wang Zhiwei sent the item details.

...

[Baseball Bat]

[Type: Weapon]

[Level: 1]

[Damage: 8]

[Durability: 14/14]

[Breakdown yields: Birch wood x9]

[Upgrade requirement: 50 Nightmare Coins]

[Description: Thud, thud!]

...

[User 12 Wang Zhiwei: Weapons are rarer than food now, and this is a level 1 weapon, so I want two liters of water. That’s fair, right?]

[User 200 Xu Lang: You have a weapon now; finding resources tomorrow should be easier. Why trade it?]

[User 12 Wang Zhiwei: I just found this today. My girlfriend’s still on the eighth floor, and I want to send her some drinks. Also, since I’m giving this to you, you probably won’t give anything to people on the first or second floors, right?]

Wang Zhiwei cared for his girlfriend, but he wasn’t a naive fool; he understood that giving weapons to fellow players would increase competition.

[User 200 Xu Lang: Fine.]

[User 12 Wang Zhiwei: By the way, a tip for you: in this game, many resource points are guarded by large guilds. Ordinary people who get close just die. Even if you make it down, you won’t get the supplies.]

Xu Lang’s heart tightened for a moment but then returned to calm.

That information didn’t seem useful to him anyway.

After all, he just planned to lie low and develop steadily.

Still, just in case, Xu Lang prepared an extra cup of water.

The trade interface opened, and twenty-one stacked paper cups in his inventory disappeared, replaced by a baseball bat.

Xu Lang took out the bat, swung it a couple of times, then sent another message in the chatroom.

With safety assured, he could begin implementing the next step of his plan.

A dorm could have two tenants, after all!

[User 200 Xu Lang: Two liters of water. Room 200 is looking for a girl, and there’s one tenant spot open (image).]

[User 88 Cao Bin: Boss, enough with the acting.]

[User 112 Wu Leiting: Lang bro, Lang father, Lang lord, please support me!]

[User 89 Zhou Li: Xu Lang, where did you get so much water? Weren’t you with Cao Yaxuan?]

[User 9 Lin Han: Don’t care who he’s with. People like this can’t survive even if they’re with Wonder Woman!]

[User 48 Qin Yun: Why do people like him have such great resources?]

[User 78 Zhao Juan: Xu Lang, add me as a friend. I can’t come, but I can send you voice messages.]

[User 5 Zhu Yan: Brother, do you know how tough it is to find supplies outside? Don’t be foolish.]

[User 186 Wu Huihui: @Zhu Yan, are you calling your horse? Are you suppressing women?]

One stone stirred up a thousand waves.

Many usually quiet users bubbled up, flooding the chatroom with messages.

At the same time, countless people sent friend requests to Xu Lang.

...

Dormitory 5.

Zhu Yan’s face darkened as he was scolded.

...

Dormitory 1, Jin Xin laughed like a hog.

“Damn, there really is something that outrageous!” He grumbled to friends on the first and second floors about Xu Lang’s foolishness while replying to some messages from female students.

Several girls had already sent him private photos and called him “husband.”

Out of face, he gave them a little bit of supplies.

Of course, just a little.

But he saw his actions as noble rescue efforts, completely different from Xu Lang’s foolishness.

Even if he was lustful, he considered himself a more refined lecher.

Straight-up demanding women? Pfft, how crude!

That said, Liu Qianqian from the fourth floor wanted to be his girlfriend.

Was there any way to get her down?

Living alone in such a small dorm was lonely.

Isn’t that how most post-apocalyptic novels go?

Powerful, with women, killing or sleeping with whomever one pleases.

...

Xu Lang had hesitated to recruit a second girl out of fear she might bring some big, tough protector.

Now, with a weapon in hand, even if there was a protector, he felt less intimidated.

Taking some risks was worth it.

However, comfort level seemed tied to his evaluation of women.

For example, if Cao Yaxuan took off her stockings, the comfort level would drop; odors and dirt would also lower it.

“Xu Lang, what did you say in the chatroom? What do you mean by recruiting a girl?” Cao Yaxuan looked at him angrily.

Though they hadn’t known each other long, she had started to see him as a boyfriend.

Yet Xu Lang was doing something like this.

“You’re so cold,” she accused.

“What’s wrong with me?” Cao Yaxuan’s delicate body trembled with anger.

“Don’t you want to help your classmates? Can you bear to see them starve? How can your heart be so cruel?”

Cao Yaxuan’s smile vanished, replaced by a stern expression. “Xu Lang, don’t think I’m stuck with you!”

Xu Lang responded bluntly, “If you don’t want to stay, you can leave. But don’t think this is a society ruled by law—you won’t get half my property after you leave.”

Cao Yaxuan was important, but if she couldn’t tell priorities, her value had to be reassessed.

Hearing this, her expression stiffened, and she calmed down a bit.

“Come here, I’ll count to three!” Xu Lang put his hands on his hips. “Three... two...”

“Fine, I’m coming! Can’t you be nicer? Why so fierce?”