Ch 55: Opening a Survival School Before the Zombie Outbreak

After discovering that more than just Instance 004 had records, Lu Dongyu finally opened an instance she had been repeatedly challenging for several weeks, her heart full of nervous anticipation.

Instance 061.

She had never managed to clear this one. Even her best attempt had fallen just short. Her stubborn streak kicked in, and she kept retrying week after week, only for her performance to become increasingly unstable.

She had wasted so much time without clearing it that frustration and helplessness mixed together, turning it into something like a personal knot in her heart.

The worst part was that, perhaps because of its higher difficulty, there were no guides for Instance 061 on the forum. Every search result was just players like her asking how to clear it.

Who could have imagined that just as Lu Dongyu was about to give up, the principal updated the historical archive feature?

Maybe this was a turning point.

When the page finished loading, Lu Dongyu needed only one glance before her heart began pounding wildly.

There really was a record.

Seeing the name Anonymous Visitor, she took a deep breath, flexed her stiff fingers, and solemnly selected the “Companion” option under Replay.

[Loading instance…]

[Entering instance]

The blurred vision gradually sharpened, revealing a scene she had experienced more than a dozen times, one she knew intimately.

The instance timer began counting from that moment.

She did not have time to think about anything else. She immediately turned to scan her surroundings.

Companion mode should start the moment the instance begins, right? Then the principal must be—

The thought froze her in place.

She did not need to think anymore.

She had already seen her.

Under a tree not far away stood “Fu Qing.”

She was not a physical presence, only a glowing blue projection. Sunlight filtering through the treetops passed partially through her body as she raised a hand, studying her faintly luminous palm.

A breeze drifted past, and for a brief instant, time seemed to pause, pulling everything back into a distant past.

A person from another time stood before her.

As Lu Dongyu saw the principal, the principal also saw her.

Without hesitation, Fuqing strode toward her, catching Lu Dongyu completely unprepared.

“Uh—”

She grew instantly nervous.

The Fuqing inside Instance 061 looked far younger than the principal of today, only eighteen or nineteen years old, slightly thinner as well. She still had short hair, though the length and style differed slightly. Perhaps the haircutting technique had been clumsy, or perhaps she simply found it troublesome. The back of her head had been shaved flat with clippers, leaving newly grown hair that looked soft and slightly fluffy.

Beneath her uneven bangs, her eyes were clear and bright, sharply defined in black and white.

She examined Lu Dongyu with a gaze that held both caution and a trace of curiosity.

—This was the principal before reaching her “complete form.”

That was the conclusion Lu Dongyu reached.

“You…”

“Were you waiting for me?”

Lu Dongyu’s words were interrupted by Fu Qing. She froze for a moment. “How did you know?”

“You didn’t notice? There’s an exclamation mark above your head.” A big golden one. Visible from far away.

Fu Qing spoke, amused, and let out a light laugh. “Once you see something like that, it’s hard to resist coming over to talk, right?”

Lu Dongyu blanked for a moment at the smile.

The principal… smiled.

She suddenly remembered the timeline of this instance. The zombie virus had only broken out one month earlier. Nearly ninety percent of the population had already died, but shelters still gathered large numbers of survivors. When searching the streets for supplies, silhouettes could still be seen moving behind tightly shut apartment and office windows.

The city still retained traces of life. Survivors were afraid, yet overall morale remained stable. Although electricity had already failed, water systems had not completely collapsed. Essential resources were still available. Every few days, the military conducted supply drops, and daily shortwave broadcasts remained encouraging and optimistic, greatly soothing public anxiety.

People still held hope. They believed the virus would eventually be conquered and life would return to normal.

They did not yet know what the future held.

The principal did not know either.

At this time, she looked no different from an ordinary college student, unaware of the five years she would one day endure, the mounting deaths that would gradually weigh her down, turning her into someone others instinctively regarded with awe.

“…”
Lu Dongyu lowered her head and blinked quickly, hiding the sudden surge of emotion so Fuqing would not notice anything strange.

Before she could explain the exclamation mark, Fu Qing shrugged again.

“Though judging from the situation,” she said casually, “I’m actually the NPC here, aren’t I?”

She waved her hand, staring with curiosity at her digitized body.

“So, what should we do?” NPC Fu Qing asked dutifully.

The [Companion] function essentially provided the player with a teammate whose intelligence, experience, physical ability, and skill levels matched those of the original clear-run player. At the same time, it simulated that person’s way of thinking. Unlike replay mode, however, it did not simply play back a recording. The player still needed to communicate with this new companion.

Lu Dongyu suppressed the excitement that had lingered since seeing Fu Qing and said seriously, “I want to go to the Central City Hospital.”

Fu Qing’s eyebrow lifted slightly.

“Why?”

The objective of Instance 061 required players to enter the hospital pharmacy, obtain specific medical supplies such as antibiotics, alcohol, bandages, antihypertensives, and painkillers, and safely bring them out.

But Fu Qing clearly could not see any mission panel, and Lu Dongyu obviously could not explain that this was just a game. She had no choice but to improvise.

“There’s someone at home with high blood pressure who needs medication. All the nearby clinics have already been looted, so I wanted to try my luck there.”

“The Central City Hospital is the largest top-tier hospital in the city. At the beginning of the outbreak it received the most patients, so now it’s surrounded by infected people. No one really dares to go there anymore. But with that many medical supplies stored inside, they couldn’t possibly all be taken… I figured there might still be some resources left.”

Fu Qing listened quietly as she spoke.

The hospital complex, including inpatient wards, held at least several thousand infected. Lu Dongyu knew her idea sounded insane to most people. As she continued speaking, her confidence began to falter.

She looked at Fu Qing nervously.

But Fu Qing showed neither surprise nor opposition. Nor did she mock her for overestimating herself. After listening, she simply nodded calmly.

“Reasonable.”

Then she asked, “So what’s your plan?”

Lu Dongyu was so shocked she forgot she was speaking to the principal and blurted out, “You… just agreed like that?”

“Why wouldn’t I? This benefits me too.” Fu Qing looked almost pleased. “I’ve wanted to visit Central City Hospital for a while. Since you’re thinking the same thing and seem to have already considered it carefully, why not explain it and we’ll discuss it together?”

“If we succeed, we split the supplies evenly.”

Lu Dongyu: “…”

She felt slightly dazed.

She had almost forgotten. These were the principal’s memories.

The impossible objectives she once viewed as reckless fantasies were things the principal had actually attempted in reality and succeeded at on the first try.

Embarrassed, Lu Dongyu rubbed the tip of her nose, pulled out the system-provided mission map from her pocket, spread it open, and finally slipped into a focused state.

“I have a floor plan of the hospital here. The pharmacy is located here. You, uh, look…”

*

The two quickly formulated a strategy.

Lu Dongyu explained the same plans she had used in previous attempts, deliberately hoping the principal would help refine them. Fu Qing did not disappoint. Studying the map, she immediately pointed out several potential problems.

“According to the blueprint, this should be an automatic door. The hospital lost power long ago. If the door was open when power failed, it probably won’t block anything like you expect.”

“And if it was closed, we’ll need to avoid it while escaping, or we could get trapped.”

“…This window here, depending on the angle, could overlook this corridor. We’ll need to be careful when passing.”

“And here…”

Lu Dongyu gradually grew stunned.

Thinking back on her past failures, almost all of them matched the issues Fu Qing pointed out.

No wonder that one time, when she passed through that corridor without making a sound, zombies nearby suddenly began roaring, attracting a horde and causing instant mission failure.

The culprit had been that inconspicuous window.

And the automatic door had indeed blocked her path during one run, preventing her escape from pursuing zombies.

From a single floor plan, Fu Qing identified countless hidden dangers, eliminating numerous potential deaths before the mission even began.

…So this was what a true expert looked like?

Lu Dongyu was filled with admiration. “You’re amazing!”

“Not really. I just made a few suggestions.” Fu Qing replied sincerely. “You’re the one who came up with such a thorough plan. That’s impressive.”

Under the young principal’s approving gaze, Lu Dongyu flushed red.

She felt too embarrassed to admit that everything she knew had actually been taught by the principal and the teachers.

“We should get moving… it’ll be dark soon.” She rolled up the map.

“Mm.” Fu Qing stood.

The player spawn point for this instance was at a construction site near the hospital. The outbreak had begun recently enough that workers had fled early, meaning players did not spawn directly into zombie danger.

While planning, they had waited inside a construction tent. It had likely once served as a lunch rest area, containing a microwave, kettle, and water dispenser. The water jug, however, had long been taken, and chaotic footprints covered the ground.

As they prepared to leave, Fu Qing suddenly turned and stopped beside a long table near the corner.

Lu Dongyu looked back, confused. “What is it?”

Fu Qing bent down and picked up an empty gas canister from beneath the table, weighing it in her hand.

“There were probably several portable gas stoves here originally. Someone must have taken them while scavenging.”

If she had not noticed a faint metallic reflection in the shadows beneath the table, she might have missed it entirely.

At first glance, the microwave made it seem like workers had only reheated meals here. But in reality, the important cooking equipment had been taken, leaving behind useless electric appliances after the power outage, which had led them to misjudge the space.

“If there were gas stoves, that means people cooked here.”

At that point, Lu Dongyu finally understood.

She scanned the area. “Judging by the footprints, they left in a hurry. Two chairs are knocked over. They probably ran into another group or encountered zombies.”

“In a panic, they might not have looted thoroughly. Something useful could have been left behind.”

For example, knives essential for cooking.

“Exactly.” Fu Qing smiled faintly. “Looks like our plan to search for surgical scalpels first should change.”

Aside from the hospital map, the system provided no equipment. Every attempt, Lu Dongyu had needed to find weapons on-site.

Even after many runs, conditions varied each time. Sometimes zombies forced her to abandon planned routes, making previously memorized scalpel locations unreachable.

In high-difficulty instances, even knowing the solution did not guarantee success.

And Instance 061 had an invisible time limit. Less than two hours remained before nightfall. They needed to leave the hospital before then.

At night, the hospital became a playground for zombies. Humans could hardly survive navigating such a dark, complex structure filled with infected.

From experience, Lu Dongyu knew weapon searching had to be completed within forty minutes to leave enough time for the pharmacy objective.

She had emphasized this repeatedly while planning.

Yet—

Barely five minutes later, they found two fruit knives beneath fallen cabinets and wedged between seats.

After wiping away dust, the blades shone like new, even easier to handle than surgical scalpels.

Lu Dongyu stared blankly at the knife in her hand.

One of the mission’s biggest obstacles, finding weapons, had been solved effortlessly.

They had not even reached the hospital yet.

Her forty-minute estimate had taken only five minutes.

Why had she never noticed that gas canister before?

No… she knew the answer.

Even if she had seen it, she likely would have dismissed it as junk and walked away, never making the connection to cooking tools the way the young principal had.

Ashamed, she quietly sheathed the knife.

Nearby, Fu Qing tested the blade with her thumb, spun it lightly in her hand, and tilted her head.

“Let’s go.”

₊˚.🎧📓✩

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