Ch 11: Opening a Survival School Before the Zombie Outbreak

When Bai Tang appeared, her body was still wrapped in a faint glow.

But that holy radiance only lasted for a brief second. Once it faded, she quickly reverted to the shut-in geek with a faint aura of death clinging to her whole body.

Bai Tang looked around in confusion and opened her mouth—

“Where the hell did you drag me to?”

Fu Qing: “……”

Same familiar formula, same startling way of speaking. One look was enough to confirm it was the same person.

Who would have thought the system’s recruitment function would pull someone who had already died in the previous world.

Fu Qing felt dazed for a moment.

In the silence, Bai Tang had already noticed her. “Oh, it’s you.”

She took two seconds to look her over, then frowned. “You look a bit different.”

Fu Qing hummed. “After all, it’s been four years since we last met.”

“Four years?” Bai Tang was lost. “Didn’t we just part half a year ago?”

Fu Qing realized that Bai Tang must have died about half a year after they separated. After that, her time had stopped at that point, until Fu Qing “summoned” her through the system.

She knitted her brows and explained the situation to Bai Tang.

“…So I want you to help me teach.”

Bai Tang was completely stunned.

Fu Qing patiently waited for her to process it, only to see her lips trembling, her face full of accusation. “I died perfectly fine, and you dragged me back to be a corporate slave!”

Fu Qing: “……”

Bai Tang was filled with righteous indignation. “Even my mom couldn’t convince me to go get a job! And before you left, I even gave you the scallions I grew myself!”

Fu Qing: “……”

For the first time in a long while, Fu Qing felt a stab of guilt.

She silently asked in her mind, “System, if a staff member refuses employment, can the 10 points I spent be refunded?”

The system replied: 【No, but you may refuse the employee’s refusal request.】

Hearing that refunds were impossible, Fu Qing’s guilt vanished instantly.

She asked again, “Then what are teaching points used for as salary?”

In other words, was it possible to keep Bai Tang by raising her pay?

Maybe because she was an N-card, her monthly salary was only 1 point, which was absurdly low. Rather than wasting the 10 points outright, it might be better to double her salary to keep her.

The system replied: 【Staff may use teaching points to exchange for off-campus time. 1 teaching point = 1 hour. During this time, they may move freely outside the campus. Once the points are used up, they will be automatically recalled to the school.】

Bai Tang really didn’t look like someone who could be tempted by going out. No wonder her expected salary was so low.

The system continued: 【Staff summoned are not existences that belong to this world. Their only connection to the current world is this school. Under normal circumstances, they are forbidden from leaving the school grounds.】

【If Bai Tang refuses employment, she will return to her original world.】

Just like when Fu Qing herself had nearly refused the system’s task.

And returning to the original world meant death.

Fu Qing frowned, then calmly cut off Bai Tang’s nonstop complaints. “Stay on as a teacher. I’ll outfit your dorm with a top-spec computer with a drawing tablet, plus the full red-blue-green console set. You’ll also get the complete collection of the Detective Conan manga and a 10,000 yuan top-up card for the Steam platform.”

“If your teaching performance is good, you’ll get a game cartridge as a reward every month. You can choose whatever you like.”

Bai Tang: “……”

Bai Tang was so moved she nearly burst into tears. She grabbed Fu Qing’s hand. “You’re far too kind. Deal.”

*

All the things Fu Qing promised Bai Tang added up to tens of thousands. Even for someone holding an inheritance, that wasn’t a trivial amount. But Bai Tang had once saved her life.

And she’d even given her bean sprouts and scallions she’d grown herself.

For such a great kindness, Fu Qing had no way to repay it, so the only thing she could do was hire her and let her continue being a happy shut-in in her spare time.

The two quickly reached an agreement. Bai Tang’s work attitude became extremely proactive, and she rubbed her hands together eagerly. “So what do you think I can do? I actually once dreamed of graduating and staying at school as a dorm supervisor auntie, but the competition was too fierce. I got eliminated in the first round of interviews…”

Fu Qing looked at her personal profile.

Combat skill and intelligence gathering at C were easy to understand. She didn’t have high expectations for a shut-in’s physical condition, and staying cooped up at home would naturally mean poor intel.

Intelligence at A was within the normal-to-above-average range. Stupid people didn’t last long in the apocalypse. Bai Tang might have survived thanks to supplies, but being able to hold onto them was also a skill. When Fu Qing had been fleeing, she’d glimpsed the state of that apartment building. There had clearly been more than one conflict inside. Many doors stood wide open, blood everywhere, yet Bai Tang had managed to live there safely. That alone said a lot.

The most eye-catching part of her panel was still the “Survival Skills” category.

S-rank. Considering Bai Tang’s terrible combat ability and physique, this absurdly high rating must have been stacked purely through stockpiling skills.

Fu Qing had an idea. She opened the new course creation page and quickly typed—

【Course Information】
Name: Fundamentals of Stockpiling (Required)
Location: Teaching Building One, Room 101
Instructor: Bai Tang

“Stockpiling?” At the same time, Bai Tang received the notification. “This even needs to be taught?”

She looked genuinely surprised. “I thought you were going to have me teach drawing… but I guess that makes sense. Art students really don’t have much of a market in the apocalypse.”

Fu Qing deeply felt that Bai Tang’s optimistic mindset, and her ability to carry a conversation all by herself through nonstop self-talk, were also key reasons she had managed to survive alone in the apocalypse for so long.

With manpower in short supply, no skill could be wasted. Fu Qing pointed out, “When you prepare your lessons later, remember to include all that.”

Bai Tang: “…I’m starting to worry about this school’s future.”

In the end, after consulting Bai Tang herself, the teaching time was set for the afternoons and evenings.

【New course has been added to the course selection backend.】

Bai Tang received a white wristband issued by the system. Through the wristband, teachers could assign homework, check grades, set exam content, and so on.

Corresponding to the pale green “Student Forum,” the white wristband allowed access to a pale pink “Teacher Forum.” The two were not interconnected, and Fu Qing was the administrator of both.

Although the anonymous forum was built by the system, it had originally been Fu Qing’s idea.

Students needed a place to communicate and discuss. Rather than letting them form countless unofficial group chats, it was better to gather all those discussions in one place. Right under Fu Qing’s nose, managed by her, it would also minimize unexpected incidents she might otherwise miss.

Of course, students would definitely still form private groups. In the past, even a six-person dorm could have more than a dozen group chats. Completely stopping that was impossible, and Fu Qing had no intention of trying.

But the problem with group chats was that information didn’t flow easily between them. When something big really happened, everyone would still come back to this anonymous forum where everyone was present.

With the system’s technical support, even if the internet or power were cut in the future, the wristbands and forums would still function, allowing information exchange. This would become one of the students’ greatest aids.

…Even though right now the forum was still full of wailing and crying.

Fu Qing glanced at the forum with mixed feelings, then exited and handed Bai Tang the key to the staff dormitory. “Room 102, next door to mine. Remember to prepare your lessons, and keep it down when you play games at night.”

“Got it.” Bai Tang rolled away cheerfully.

After seeing her off, Fu Qing clicked recruitment again.

This time, the résumé she received was still an N. The abilities were very mediocre, wavering between B and C, with nothing outstanding, yet the expected salary was very high, a full 10 teaching points per month.

Fu Qing held the résumé but didn’t act, instead quickly clicking recruitment once more.

On the third draw, she finally obtained an R.

The moment she saw the result, Fu Qing let out a sigh of relief.

Although she didn’t know how many N cards there were in total, the draw rates must have been adjusted by the system. Otherwise, with a total world population of eight billion, wouldn’t the chance of drawing an SSR be only nine in eight billion?

Now that an R card appeared after just three draws, with only 900 total in existence, at least it showed the probability wasn’t low.

She also noticed that all three people drawn so far were from China.

Whether that was because china had a larger population, increasing the odds, or because the system was doing some black-box manipulation, she didn’t know.

Either way, it was a good thing, saving the trouble of language barriers.

With that rough conclusion, Fu Qing canceled the employment of the second N card.

A monthly salary of 10 points, 120 teaching points a year, was enough for her to buy another small plot of land.

Better short-term pain than long-term pain. Wasting these 10 points now was better than, in the future, being forced by tight finances to personally send someone who had already been “revived” back again.

With 20 points left, Fu Qing continued drawing.

The third R card turned out to be a bald middle-aged man around forty, with a twisted long scar running across his face, giving him a vicious, intimidating appearance.

Hao Zhenye.

Intelligence B+, combat skill S-, survival skills A, intelligence gathering A.

Expected salary: 10 teaching points per month.

The fourth card was still an N. When Fu Qing saw the photo, she couldn’t help the corner of her mouth twitch.

The photo showed a white-haired elderly woman.

Liu Yingchun.

Intelligence A-, combat skill C-, survival skills A+, intelligence gathering C-.

Expected salary: 2 points per month.

“I know times are tough right now…” The two thin A4 sheets trembled in Fu Qing’s hands. “But making a seventy-two-year-old find reemployment doesn’t seem very humane, does it?”

And… Bai Tang was at least a bright young girl, yet she had the same combat skill rating as a seventy-two-year-old elder?

There were too many things to complain about. Fu Qing didn’t even know where to start.

The system said: 【Employee selection is not affected by age or gender. Anyone has a chance to be selected. For unwanted employees, you may redraw.】

“Forget it, only 2 points of salary. Keep her.” Three people would be just enough to fill the remaining three courses, and Fu Qing could continue lying flat. Thinking of this, she perked up. “What’s with this A+ survival skill? Was the grandma special forces when she was young?”

The system replied: 【No such experience is listed on the résumé.】

Fu Qing scrolled down the résumé and saw a line under past experience: After retirement, devoted twenty years to farming research. Won first place for several consecutive years in the residential community’s “Let’s Farm, Auntie!” competition.

Fu Qing: “……”

Looks like Grandma Liu’s talent was allocated to farming.

After some thought, Fu Qing chose to hire them and immediately created new courses:

【Course Information】
Name: College Physical Education (Required)
Location: Sports Field
Instructor: Hao Zhenye

【Course Information】
Name: Advanced Practical Combat Techniques (Elective)
Location: Sports Field
Instructor: Hao Zhenye

【Course Information】
Name: Crop Cultivation Science (Elective)
Location: Teaching Building One, Room 102
Instructor: Liu Yingchun

Elective courses had fewer students, so assigning Grandma Liu there wouldn’t be too exhausting.

As for Uncle Hao, he was in his prime, an R card, and earned far more than the two women. Naturally, the capable should do more. One elective and one required course, one person completing two quotas. Looking at that 10-point salary, Fu Qing finally felt a little less heartache.

With four courses created, the task was complete, and 100 points were obtained.

The account balance was 110 teaching points, of which Fu Qing exchanged 100 points for 【Small Experimental Field】. Since they were opening a vegetable-growing course, farmland was essential. Moreover, for the future shelter plans, farmland itself was a necessary facility.

After purchasing the experimental field, Fu Qing opened the map under system guidance, dragging the field’s thumbnail across the campus map.

Valid placement areas showed green. Buildings, lakes, and wooded areas showed red, meaning existing structures would need to be demolished first.

Looking at this familiar construction interface, Fu Qing finally felt a bit of the simulation management game vibe.

Before this, the game had felt more like an idle game watching little figures fight zombies.

What surprised Fu Qing most was that the 【Small Experimental Field】 could actually be placed on the western plain that originally didn’t belong to the campus, effectively expanding the school’s area.

She tried dragging the field to the edge of the plain near the riverbank and found it worked as well. After construction, the system would automatically extend the surrounding wall to enclose the new campus area.

If placed there, Fangzhou University’s area could almost double.

Free land!

Before Fu Qing could celebrate, she realized the problem.

After expanding the area, although the wall would be extended, the system only provided ordinary brick walls plastered with cement.

The school was a densely populated area. Over time, zombies in the surroundings would gradually gather, and brick walls would eventually be breached. To truly keep zombies out, either the walls had to be upgraded or traps had to be dug, and the cost of both depended on the length of the perimeter.

A larger campus meant a more comfortable living experience, but also increased risk. Trade-offs had to be made to ensure every inch of land in the shelter was used effectively.

The management game suddenly turned into a tower defense game.

In the end, Fu Qing placed the 【Small Experimental Field】 right next to the western side of the school, with a side gate through the sports field leading to it.

The area expanded a little, but not too much.

She planned to divide the main campus where teachers and students lived from the farmland into two separate zones in the future, building separate walls. The former would be turned into an impregnable shelter, while the latter, due to its large area, could have slightly weaker defenses, though ordinary brick walls still wouldn’t be enough.

After construction, the corresponding area on the map was stamped with a red “Under Construction” mark.

【Notice: Construction will be completed in approximately 8 hours】

Fu Qing returned to the recruitment page, holding her last 10 teaching points, and clicked draw again.

Although the task was complete, the current course lineup still hadn’t met Fu Qing’s expectations.

If she couldn’t find a suitable candidate, she would have to grit her teeth and teach the final course herself.

【Course Information】
Name: Zombie Classification and Trait Analysis (Required)
Location: Teaching Building One, Room 103
Instructor: Pending

……

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated. Understanding zombies was the foundation of survival in the apocalypse. Back then, humanity had suffered countless losses and paid in blood because they didn’t understand zombie traits.

It could be said that this hard-won knowledge about zombies, built on countless lives, was the most valuable information Fu Qing brought back with her rebirth.

The importance of stockpiling, farming, and even practical combat courses all ranked below it.

A white light flashed by. Perhaps it was an illusion, but this time the résumé seemed to descend more slowly.

Like a deliberately elongated slow-motion shot, the white sheet drifted down with a sense of ceremony and landed in Fu Qing’s hands.

【A new applicant has arrived!】
Attribute: SR
Expected salary: 0 teaching points/month

Fu Qing blinked. “……?”

What was this?

Had the heavens finally taken pity on her and given her a long-overdue beginner’s bonus?

₊˚.🎧📓✩