Ch 3: Opening a Survival School Before the Zombie Outbreak

Song Rushuang blinked twice and forced out a heartfelt, “Holy crap!”

This kind of high-end technology, just casually installed on student watches?

She had underestimated them. Her school really was the best!

All those years of grinding herself to exhaustion for twelve straight years, finally squeezing her way in here, totally worth it—

Song Rushuang pressed the side button on the watch again, and the interface snapped shut.

She took a deep breath, as if she could smell that so-called freedom every one of her elementary, middle, and high school teachers had talked about.

“Once you get to college, do whatever you want.”

“Play games, date, read novels, binge shows, nobody’s going to stop you.”

Enduring humiliation and carrying the burden for twelve years, this was the moment when all those promises were supposed to come true.

Rubbing her hands together, eyes shining, Song Rushuang dragged her heavy suitcase straight toward Dormitory Building No. 1.

*

Fangzhou University had three dormitory buildings in total, numbered 1, 2, and 3, which were the women’s dorm, men’s dorm, and faculty dorm respectively. The bathhouse was located on the east side of Dormitory No. 1.

The campus wasn’t large. The delivery station, cafeteria, and shops were all clustered in the same area. You could walk a full loop in ten minutes, which was convenient.

Song Rushuang quickly found her dorm. Two roommates had already arrived in the four-person room. After exchanging greetings, the girls quickly warmed up to each other, put away their luggage, and agreed to go downstairs together to buy daily necessities like kettles and toothbrushes.

On the way, the three, still not very familiar with one another, naturally steered the conversation toward the school.

At one moment they complained about how they hadn’t expected to live on the 11th floor of a twelve-story dorm building. Morning 8 a.m. classes during elevator rush hour would definitely be a pain. Still, dorm number 1111 was pretty cool. Then they prayed that the cafeteria food would be decent. Otherwise, they’d have to rely on online snack orders to survive between meals…

Eventually, the topic shifted to the special watch.

“You already put yours on? I haven’t worn mine yet.”

The dorm used a loft-bed-with-desk-underneath layout. The girl in the bed next to Song Rushuang was named Zhang Han. She had large, pitch-black eyes that blinked brightly, lively like a little deer. She grabbed Song Rushuang’s wrist to inspect the watch, then showed the brand-new electronic watch on her own wrist.

“Here, my parents gave this to me as a reward after the national exam. I’ve only worn it for two months. No way I’m willing to switch.”

“But the school said we have to wear their watch on campus,” another girl said softly.

She slept diagonally across from Song Rushuang. Her name was Shen Qingqing, gentle and delicate, with a refined air.

“Maybe it’s some kind of new tech. Like when you go to the cafeteria, get water, or take a shower, you don’t need a card. Just swipe the watch. Or attendance is taken through the watch in class, something like that.” Song Rushuang had watched tons of short videos before coming and already had a mental image of college life. Now she let her imagination run. “That’s still better than downloading a bunch of random apps on your phone.”

Zhang Han shrugged it off. “Eh, we’ll deal with it when the time comes.”

The three weren’t that close yet, so Song Rushuang didn’t press the issue further.

Honestly speaking, she actually thought the school-issued watch was way cooler than Zhang Han’s latest-model fruit-brand smartwatch.

—Three-dimensional holographic projection, biometric detection. Was that something ordinary watches on the market could do?

Song Rushuang changed the subject. “But did you notice? After the watch turns on, there’s a page that shows points and a school-wide ranking.”

Shen Qingqing nodded immediately. “I saw it.”

Then she frowned slightly. “But why is it school-wide ranking? Shouldn’t it be ranked by major?”

Song Rushuang paused. She really had overlooked that point.

“And what are points for? How do you get them? None of that was explained.” Shen Qingqing’s voice was quiet, but her thinking was very clear. “They only said rankings would update after the first assessment, but they didn’t say when the assessment is, or what it’s about. They’re not going to start exams as soon as school starts, right? This isn’t high school…”

She raised a whole string of questions, none of which had answers.

Listening to the scattered conversations of other students passing by, it seemed many of them shared the same confusion.

Zhang Han had only taken a photo of the watch and posted it to her feed after receiving it, and hadn’t touched it since. Now she looked completely lost. “What are you guys talking about? What assessment, points, rankings…”

Her high school reflexes hadn’t faded yet. The moment she heard the word “exam,” she got nervous.

Before she could finish speaking, a “buzz—” sounded overhead.

The sudden buzzing was rough and ear-splitting. The noisy road fell silent for a moment as everyone looked up in unison.

Several campus broadcast speakers hung on both sides of the road, hidden among dense tree branches. At this moment, two loud “bang bang” sounds came from them, as if someone had tapped the microphone, preparing to speak.

Song Rushuang unconsciously held her breath.

It seemed the speakers were finally adjusted properly. Before speaking, the person on the broadcast made a casual filler sound, something like “eh,” relaxed to the extreme, and only then spoke at an unhurried pace.

【Hello everyone. This is the first campus broadcast. Welcome to Fangzhou University, and happy first day of school.】

After finishing that slightly perfunctory line, she continued:

【As of 3:07 p.m. on August 25, Year 9999, excluding three students who requested leave in advance for various reasons and were unable to arrive on time, all 2,400 freshmen of Fangzhou University, Class of 9999, have successfully completed registration.】

【We are very pleased that everyone followed the requirements stated in the admission notice and arrived on time, which makes the upcoming activity arrangements much more convenient. Trust me, before long, you’ll be glad you weren’t late today.】

After all, once night fell, things would be completely different.

The freshmen failed to catch the implication in her words and instead exchanged subtle looks.

—Is she… chatting with us?

—This new school’s broadcast style is kind of something else.

After the person finished speaking, there was a brief pause.

Song Rushuang’s gaze locked onto the leaves trembling slightly under the movement of air.

The sun hung high overhead. Against the clear blue sky, a few white clouds drifted low, faintly revealing mountain peaks wrapped in thin mist.

Time seemed to stretch endlessly in that pause, heavy with unspoken meaning.

But it was only about two seconds.

When she spoke again, the tone was still that utterly informal, conversational one.

【Then, I am pleased to announce that the first zombie tide simulation drill is about to begin.】

【Assessment duration: 1 hour.】

【This assessment will affect class placement. Death will result in points being reset to zero. All freshmen, please prepare yourselves and do your best to survive.】

【One-minute countdown begins now.】

The moment the last word fell, without giving them any time to process, the speakers snapped off with a sharp click, plunging into silence.

After a brief moment, an electronic voice sounded: 【55, 54, …】

Under the steady mechanical countdown, the freshmen gradually came back to their senses.

Then, all at once, an intense wave of discussion erupted.

“Who was speaking just now? The voice was actually pretty nice. A senior from the broadcasting major?”

“What assessment? What affects class placement? Someone tell me this isn’t real…”

“Holy crap, an exam right after we get here. Don’t mess with me. I thought nobody cared if you skipped classes in college!”

“No, seriously, how are we even taking it? Where’s the exam room? The seat numbers? They didn’t give us anything and they’re saying it starts in a minute. This has to be a prank, right?”

Probably because everyone around them looked equally confused, and with herd mentality at play, nobody panicked too badly. Instead, curiosity took over.

Some people even enjoyed the spectacle. In an otherwise ordinary life, any sudden twist was exciting. They stood in the crowd craning their necks, eyes bright, almost wishing that once the countdown ended, something big would actually happen.

Zhang Han grabbed her roommate’s arm. “Hey, what did that person just say about some kind of simulation drill? I didn’t get it at all. Practical training or something?”

Shen Qingqing’s lips moved slightly. “No, I think I heard… zombie tide…”

“Huh?!” Zhang Han jumped in fright.

Song Rushuang pressed her lips together and said nothing, because she had heard the same thing as Shen Qingqing.

Just then, a faint vibration came from her wrist. It was subtle, pressed close to the skin, hard for others to notice, but for Song Rushuang and Shen Qingqing, who were wearing the watches, it was like an electric shock. Both raised their hands at once.

The pure black watch that had been perfectly quiet a moment ago now activated its projection automatically, displaying a huge number.

30, 29, 28, 27…

The countdown was actually synced with the watch.

Both of their expressions turned strange at once.

Zhang Han was even more lost. “What’s wrong with the watch?”

Under the privacy screen function, she could not see a thing. She grew anxious enough to hop in place.

Because of the watch’s alert, about half of the students nearby fell silent, likely realizing that this was not a prank after all. The air took on a sense of an approaching storm.

Even those who had not taken the so-called assessment seriously could not help holding their breath, wanting to see what exactly would happen when the countdown ended.

The electronic voice from the loudspeaker remained emotionless, continuing its dutiful countdown.

【3, 2, 1…】

【Assessment begins!】

A gust of wind swept through, shaking the leaves with a rustling sound.

And yet, nothing happened.

A few seconds later, the first person to lose patience relaxed his shoulders and burst out laughing, breaking the stiff silence. “What the hell, there’s nothing at all!”

“Tch, I even got nervous for a second.”

“Which senior has the guts to pull a prank like this on registration day? A role model for our generation. I’ll pray in advance that the school doesn’t catch her…”

The atmosphere gradually loosened. As if to cover up the brief moment of fear just now, everyone began joking with each other.

Song Rushuang, however, felt that something was off.

As far as she could see, the highest leaves were still shaking, startling a flock of birds that flapped their wings and cried as they flew into the blue sky. Higher up, the white clouds were unhurried, drifting slowly forward with the stifling late summer air.

Was the wind really that strong?

The movement showed no sign of stopping. Instead, it grew more violent, until the crowd began to sense something was wrong and fell silent one by one.

They heard the sound of clothes brushing together, of dry branches snapping underfoot.

Not just one sound.

But one after another, overlapping without pause.

A girl standing by the roadside took an uneasy step back, when she suddenly felt a weight land on her shoulder.

She thought it was a roommate resting an arm on her and instinctively turned her head, only to come face to face with a mangled, bloody visage.

Half of it was already rotten. The lower half of the face, gnawed and incomplete, had lost its skin. With every movement, the direction of muscles and tendons was clearly visible.

Through the dark red holes in the cheek, the girl even saw sharp teeth slowly opening straight at her.

Her whole body stiffened. She instinctively retreated half a step, only to step squarely on a chunk of rotting flesh.

With a sickening squelch, as if in slow motion, it was crushed into a smear of gore.

“…”

That sticky, bursting sensation twisted her expression completely, and in an instant she fell from a nightmare into an even crueler reality.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

The scream that erupted from the crowd made Song Rushuang flinch. Zhang Han nearly jumped. “What’s going on?!”

Her voice died in her throat, as if someone had grabbed her by the neck. Her already large eyes widened wider and wider, almost frightening to look at.

Song Rushuang’s heart lurched. She followed Zhang Han’s gaze and turned her head.

Out of nowhere, dense hordes of zombies had appeared. Their bluish-purple faces were covered in rotting flesh, withered claws outstretched as they howled and staggered toward them.

The air churned with a nauseating stench of decay. More zombies kept pouring out from the woods, from behind teaching buildings, from the back of the bike sheds, endless as a tide. At a glance, they had formed an encirclement around the students.

Students on the outer edge did not react in time and were knocked to the ground by one of them, immediately swarmed and torn apart by countless zombies.

Blood splattered onto a nearby roommate. The other froze for two seconds, then let out a scream that sounded like it was squeezed straight out of her chest.

“What are you standing there for, run!” someone shouted.

Everyone snapped awake as if from a dream, dropping whatever they were holding and sprinting for their lives in every direction.

The entire campus turned into a sea of chaos in an instant.

Some people ran while hunching forward, retching uncontrollably.

Song Rushuang’s head buzzed. She shoved the red-eyed Zhang Han at her side, and together with Shen Qingqing, the three of them instinctively chose a wide road and ran.

The scene was complete chaos. There was no time to care where zombies were or were not. So many people were fleeing together. Before the broadcast, plenty of students had still been dragging suitcases around looking for their dorms. Once the zombie tide appeared, those suitcases were abandoned on the spot and became scattered obstacles. If a small path got blocked, it was a dead end. It was better to follow the main crowd along the main road and maybe carve out a way to survive.

Song Rushuang had never run this fast in her life. Her heart pounded like a drum. A metallic taste filled her throat, and she ignored it.

She absolutely could not be pushed down, could not trip. She could not stop.

As if she could already smell the rotten breath spewing from zombie mouths, Song Rushuang forced herself to speed up again and grit her teeth as she glanced back.

There was blood everywhere. Students were constantly being knocked down, their groans growing weaker and weaker. The cries and pleas of the crowd, mixed with the roars of zombies, wove together into a scene like hell on earth.

“Watch out!” Shen Qingqing suddenly shouted beside her.

Song Rushuang’s heart clenched. She twisted her body on reflex, barely dodging a zombie lunging from the side.

Its blood-filled mouth was already wide open, waiting for food to be delivered. Missing its prey, it ground its molars in apparent displeasure.

Death’s scythe brushed past her sleeve. Song Rushuang came back to herself, cold sweat pouring down.

In that split second between life and death, her senses sharpened instead. In the chaos, out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught sight of a slender, upright figure among the shifting shadows of the zombies in the distance.

The zombie horde deliberately avoided her, lunging instead toward the surrounding students. In the blood-soaked scene, she alone remained calm and composed, not a single drop of blood on her. One hand held something, her side profile looking strikingly young, like a college student who had casually come out for a stroll.

Song Rushuang stared at her in disbelief, almost suspecting that terror had made her hallucinate.

“Are you stupid? Run!” Zhang Han saw Song Rushuang slow down and reached out anxiously to grab her.

“I’m coming.” Song Rushuang swallowed the fear in her chest.

As she forced her legs to move, she still could not help it and turned her head for one more look.

The other person stopped at the edge of the zombie horde, looking at the chaotic scene before her without even lifting an eyebrow. The last thing Song Rushuang saw was her lifting whatever she held in her hand, fingers tightening slightly.

Pshh.

She opened a can of cola.

₊˚.🎧📓✩