Chapter 14: Snatching the Prize from the Tiger’s Claw

The player who was killed by Song Yu and Xiao Hei didn’t leave behind much inheritance, mainly because his backpack had very few slots.

There were three backpack slots in total, containing three bottles of mineral water, two rolls of disinfectant bandages, and one cup of yellow herbal potion that could restore 10% stamina.

Song Yu had abundant supplies herself, so she didn’t pay much attention to the player’s belongings. Her focus was on the player’s talent.

[Locksmith: 30% chance to unlock A-level locks, 1% chance to unlock B-level locks.]

The Locksmith talent seemed quite useful.

However, Song Yu had been in the game for three days and had searched many places but hadn’t encountered anything locked yet.

Without hesitation, Song Yu immediately used the talent card.

She glanced at Xiao Hei lying beside her. If she found a suitable talent card, she could give it to Xiao Hei as well.

Song Yu still didn’t know what talents Xiao Hei had. She hoped the Beast Tamer would surprise her.

Night had fallen, and Song Yu and Xiao Hei were nestled on the second floor of a two-story shop.

This was the only relatively intact building nearby, offering some defense.

After organizing her newly acquired supplies, Song Yu placed her gun in the first backpack slot to ensure she could access it immediately.

Because of her actions during the day, tonight was particularly lively.

Many players and NPCs couldn’t sleep, clutching weapons with wide eyes, fearing zombies would break through the gates.

Yet Song Yu, after sharing a nutritious meal and a bottle of mineral water with Xiao Hei, was sleeping soundly.

They had eaten the same for lunch.

Still, neither Song Yu nor Xiao Hei slept deeply.

High-level zombies were active and dangerous.

The cold night breeze carried gunfire and zombie howls. Song Yu wrapped herself tightly in her blanket and closed her eyes.

Xiao Hei slept on the mattress, enjoying a blanket of his own, living better than most players.

Although this life was a bit thrilling, it wasn’t bad at all.

...

On the fourth day in the game, Song Yu woke up promptly at six.

She got up, and Xiao Hei followed suit.

Concerned about hygiene and health, Song Yu was now meticulous about washing her face and brushing her teeth.

Without a toothbrush or toothpaste, she picked fresh twigs outside, dipped them in salt, and even cleaned Xiao Hei’s teeth.

For breakfast, each of them had a box of instant noodles and a self-heating hot pot, fully replenishing their hunger and hydration.

...

It had to be said, eating instant noodles and self-heating hot pots was a bit costly.

They used up two bottles of mineral water, but the hydration gain was minimal. Song Yu and Xiao Hei opened another bottle to fully restore their hydration.

Refreshed, Song Yu slung on her backpack, grabbed her nail gun, and set off with Xiao Hei.

There weren’t many zombies around the shop, probably because Jiang Zhou and his group had drawn them away.

Song Yu quickly took down all the zombies downstairs with her nail gun.

She was currently on the outskirts of the old city, near the city’s edge, still quite far from the Beast Tamer’s area in the new city.

At her current pace and the density of zombies, it would take about three days to get there.

Quite a long time...

The shortest path had the densest zombies, so she didn’t want to risk it.

Fewer zombies meant fewer humans and fewer resources.

If only she had a new vehicle, like the heavy motorcycle Chen Su rode.

Her battered bicycle had no defense and no speed.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to specifically search for vehicles.

Her immediate priority was to find the Beast Tamer, then look for a vehicle.

In fact, among the NPCs marked by the Watchers organization, there was a vehicle dealer named Fa Qing, who reportedly had a huge fleet.

The prices were exorbitant, and gasoline was even more expensive.

Vehicles required gasoline, which was scarce. Suddenly, Song Yu thought maybe her bicycle wasn’t so bad after all.

Just one person’s worth of fuel per hundred kilometers.

With a clear goal and sufficient supplies, Song Yu didn’t waste time searching buildings unless she had a strong feeling about a particular one and marked it specially.

The richer the supplies, the more and tougher the zombies. This wasn’t an exaggeration.

Numerous high-level zombies still lurked in several large supermarkets in the new city and the wholesale market in the old city, none of which had been cleared.

Song Yu and Xiao Hei set out on their journey to find the Beast Tamer, carefully avoiding dense zombie clusters and places with many players.

Zombies traveled in packs, and players did too. Song Yu wanted to avoid direct confrontations with large groups of players.

Her strength wasn’t enough.

Every day at three in the afternoon, she would start searching for a shelter to spend the night.

Clearing zombies inside and around the shelter also took considerable time.

Time passed quickly as Song Yu steadily approached the Beast Tamer’s active area.

...

On the fifth day in the game, luck struck big—Xiao Hei found a lone third-tier zombie.

It was a windfall; a third-tier zombie was worth 200 RMB.

A bit cheap, but better than Song Yu’s day job; she earned less than 100 RMB a day.

During the day, a lone third-tier zombie had about 300 HP, which Song Yu’s nail gun and crossbow could handle.

With Xiao Hei’s distracting maneuvers, Song Yu seized opportunities to shoot nails into the massive zombie’s body.

Just as she was about to deliver the final blow, a sharp sound pierced the air nearby!

Xiao Hei immediately threw Song Yu to the ground and glared fiercely at several suddenly appearing figures.

Song Yu quickly covered Xiao Hei’s eyes and got to her feet.

“Sorry, sorry, are you okay?”

“We’ve been chasing that zombie for a long time, so we got a bit excited and didn’t notice anyone else nearby.”

“Really sorry.”

Though apologizing, their tone lacked any real remorse; it was sarcastic.

Chasing that zombie for a long time was basically accusing Song Yu of stealing their loot.

But when Song Yu encountered that zombie, it was still at full health.

She suppressed her anger and forced a smile, though it was strained.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a player pick up some mutated blood from the ground — scoundrels!

A bunch of scoundrels!

“It’s fine.”

“Since you’ve already killed the zombie, I’ll be on my way.”

Song Yu was already calculating how to kill this group of players. They were not the skinny monkeys she’d met before.

Though they seemed unarmed, their combat strength was clearly far beyond those skinny monkeys.

They were tough opponents.

Even with her gun, Song Yu was at a disadvantage against their numbers and strength.

She swallowed her frustration for now, but if anyone picked up the mutated blood next, her murderous intent would flare up again.

“Hey, this dog’s fat enough for several meals, huh?”