Ch 68: Opening a Survival School Before the Zombie Outbreak

This was the first time the entire Fangzhou teaching staff had gone out together.

Fortunately, Fu Qing’s vehicle was large enough to seat all seven people, with extra storage space besides.

Aside from Grandma Liu, everyone in the car had a driver’s license. Fu Qing naturally assumed the airs of a principal and handed driving duties to Hao Zhenye. She settled into the back row, opened a social media app amid the teachers’ casual chatter, and began scrolling through the day’s news.

Since the second half of the year, unrest had begun occurring frequently not only in S City but across all of China and even around the world. Especially in smaller nations already plagued by conflict, shifting powers rose and fell one after another, with the situation changing almost weekly. Major countries still maintained an outward calm, yet anyone paying close attention could sense something ominous beneath the vague wording of official reports.

The sea still appeared calm, but the storm was already gathering.

Fu Qing had developed the habit of checking the news daily, starting with local updates, then national coverage, and finally using technical means to browse overseas reports from key regions.

She tried to sift through the rigid language of media reporting to determine whether the Believers were secretly driving these events, but found it nearly impossible.

They were far too cautious.

Moreover, according to the analysis she and Lu Yan had reached earlier that day, true core figures like the Hooded Woman and Skull, those who had directly encountered the Zombie King, received “Its favor,” and undergone mutation, likely made up only a small fraction of the Believers as a whole.

Aside from the two operations targeting Fu Qing and Fangzhou, she had never seen them act again.

Nor had similar news reports mentioned attackers with abnormal appearances or strange behavior. Fu Qing tentatively concluded that many violent incidents around the world were more likely carried out by people like Liu Yong, individuals who had learned of the Believers online and acted independently in hopes of joining them.

Of course, some incidents might genuinely stem from what experts described as “economic decline, rising unemployment, and growing social instability.”

In a sense, the Believers and the people of Fangzhou were alike. Both were quietly accumulating strength in the shadows, waiting for the virus outbreak to arrive.

The car beneath them came to a gentle stop with a soft creak. Hao Zhenye’s driving was solid, backing neatly into a parking space. Translated on Hololo novels. At the same moment, Fu Qing locked her phone screen. When she looked out the window, her expression turned slightly complicated.

“This Carrefour is close to us,” Zhao Yunxiao said while reading from the navigation app. “It’s large, and there’s an end-of-year sale. Some items are ten percent off.”

He had been guiding the route from the passenger seat the whole way. When Fu Qing got into the car, she had only said, “Find a supermarket with a wide selection,” before retreating into her own thoughts.

She had completely forgotten that neither the driver nor the navigator was local and that they were relying entirely on GPS.

Looking proudly at the supermarket ahead, Zhao Yunxiao felt he had completed his task well and turned to the principal expectantly. “This place should be okay, right?”

Fu Qing paused. “…It’s fine.”

She glanced at it twice more and took the lead in grabbing a shopping cart.

Noticing that Xu Mingyue and Bai Tang also wore oddly stiff expressions, Zhao Yunxiao felt confused. Lu Yan patted his shoulder and said earnestly, “You haven’t used the simulation pods much, have you?”

“…Yeah,” Zhao Yunxiao admitted awkwardly, rubbing his nose.

He had always been physically uncoordinated and terrible at sports, relying entirely on academics to get ahead. After finally entering a prestigious university, he had unexpectedly bonded with a system that only allowed him to level up by killing zombies. His life had been nothing if not dramatic.

Even after four years of killing zombies under government protection, he had made little improvement. After all that time, he was still a rookie, something he had long since accepted. So even though teachers could use the simulation pods, he rarely did.

“No wonder,” Xu Mingyue said. “If you’d used them more often, you’d know this Carrefour is a very famous mid-level dungeon.”

Zhao Yunxiao blinked. “???”

“On the seventeenth day after the virus outbreak,” Xu Mingyue continued, “a brutal struggle for supplies happened here. More than two hundred people were inside the supermarket at the time. Only seven walked out alive.”

She added quietly, “And there wasn’t a single zombie in the store that day. Everyone died at the hands of other humans.”

According to student forum descriptions, it was a scenario that exposed the darkest parts of human nature in full.

Zhao Yunxiao abruptly turned to stare at the bustling supermarket before him.

Red lanterns hung from the parking lot lights, their golden tassels swaying in the winter wind. Even from a distance, loudspeakers broadcast year-end sale announcements alongside cheerful New Year songs.

Men and women, young and old, pushed shopping carts filled with holiday goods, smiling as they walked.

Who could have imagined that only a few months later, most of these people would become zombies or die by the hands of fellow survivors, and that this festive supermarket would become the site of tragedy?

A heavy weight settled in Zhao Yunxiao’s chest.

He truly had not expected this. “I… joined the research institute not long after the apocalypse began,” he said quietly. “I never experienced anything like this.”

There was even a trace of guilt in his voice.

Guilt for standing among these people while never having suffered the same fate.

Xu Mingyue suddenly slapped him hard on the back, nearly knocking him forward and almost forcing a mouthful of blood up his throat.

Xu Mingyue waved her hand carelessly. “Not experiencing it is a good thing. Otherwise you’d really lose faith in humanity. I’ve played that dungeon before. This supermarket had huge foot traffic, so a lot of people mutated on the first day of the apocalypse. Before that day, it was basically surrounded by zombies the whole time, and there were still plenty of supplies left inside.”

“In fact, if the people inside that day hadn’t been greedy, the remaining supplies would’ve been enough for everyone. There was no need to fight at all. But two groups couldn’t reach an agreement while taking supplies and started fighting. That eventually escalated into a full-scale melee. Everyone had been starving for days and was physically weak, which is why so many people died. Many of them were dragged into it for no reason.”

“The ones who started the conflict lost control and tried to monopolize all the supplies. If others didn’t fight back, the little they’d managed to secure would’ve been taken from them, so they were forced to join in.”

Grandma Liu, who had never used a simulation pod either, leaned closer to listen and sighed. “How could things turn out like that?”

Zhao Yunxiao added, “That’s terrible luck. What happened to the supplies in the end? Did the bad people take them?”

To Zhao Yunxiao, those who attacked their fellow humans first were naturally villains. Like a child listening to a story, he instinctively hoped for an ending where wrongdoers were punished.

“They didn’t,” Xu Mingyue replied, satisfying his expectation. “They died in the fighting too.”

Zhao Yunxiao finally let out a relieved sigh. “That’s good. Otherwise I wouldn’t even feel like shopping today.”

“Yeah…”

A strangely resentful voice drifted over. Lu Yan said gloomily, “If your principal and I hadn’t happened to be two of the unlucky people trapped inside that day, the story would sound even better.”

Zhao Yunxiao: “………………”

As they spoke, they reached the supermarket entrance. Fu Qing, who had already grabbed a shopping cart, overheard the conversation and let out a cold laugh, her expression darkening.

Clearly, the incident had left her with considerable psychological trauma. She had no interest in joining the discussion.

Grandma Liu and Zhao Yunxiao looked confused. “What exactly happened?”

Xu Mingyue finally couldn’t hold back and covered her face as she laughed. “It’s a little dark, but actually…”

Actually, the zombies inside the supermarket that day had been painstakingly cleared out by Fu Qing herself.

Just as Xu Mingyue had said, after the apocalypse began, the supermarket remained surrounded by zombies. Translated on Hololo novels. Everyone nearby knew about this Carrefour, yet almost no one dared enter.

After escaping from school, Fu Qing had hidden in a nearby residence and eyed the supermarket for a long time.

Eventually, when everyone was nearly out of food, she, Lu Yan, and several companions discussed it and decided to break in and gather supplies.

They even devised a detailed plan. Some drove vehicles to lure zombies away from the parking lot. Others stayed outside as backup. Fu Qing, confident in her abilities, infiltrated the supermarket with Lu Yan to clear the interior.

Who would have thought that after a group of college students worked themselves to exhaustion clearing out the zombies, others would swoop in at the critical moment and reap the benefits?

By then Fu Qing’s group had no strength left. Seeing that the newcomers were human, starving, and included the elderly and children, and knowing they couldn’t carry all the supplies anyway, they decided to share.

They never expected greed to spiral out of control into a massive brawl that left over a hundred people dead.

Standing in a supermarket flooded with blood, no one could even describe what they felt.

…

“They were just too young,” Xu Mingyue sighed.

Thinking back to nineteen-year-old Fu Qing, barely two weeks out of school and still clinging to naïve faith in human nature before reality taught her a brutal lesson, she felt both pity and a faintly dark amusement.

The experience had been so humiliating that after teaming up later, neither Fu Qing nor Lu Yan ever mentioned it again. If Xu Mingyue hadn’t happened to play the dungeon, she would never have known.

Seizing the rare opportunity, she draped an arm over Fu Qing’s shoulder, preparing to interview her about her feelings at the time. “Young lady, you—”

She had barely begun when Fu Qing suddenly raised one finger.

Xu Mingyue blinked. “?”

Fu Qing clearly disapproved of Xu Mingyue’s habit of acting senior despite being only a few years older. Calmly, she said, “Allow me to remind you. The young person is currently your superior.”

Xu Mingyue: “?”

“Discussing your superior casually results in a deduction of one hundred from your holiday shopping allowance,” Fu Qing said leisurely, pressing that finger against Xu Mingyue’s nonstop mouth with the elegance of a refined villain from a drama, as if she might whisper shh at any moment.

“Any objections, another hundred.”

Xu Mingyue: “……”

The once naïve college student had long since been tempered by society into a cold, merciless overlord who docked employee benefits without hesitation.

Clutching her chest, Xu Mingyue retreated gloomily to mourn the loss of her hundred yuan.

*

No matter how turbulent the year had been, past unhappiness and pain seemed to wash away with the arrival of the New Year.

Except for Grandma Liu, none of them had experienced such a strong festive atmosphere in a long time.

As they pushed carts through the aisles, their attention lingered less on the products and more on the people passing by, smiling faces, glittering banners hanging from the ceiling, bold calligraphy dusted with gold powder, and the looping chorus of “Wishing You Prosperity.”

There was nostalgia, and also a faint sadness.

Because they knew all of this would vanish in less than a year.

If not for the stares of nearby shoppers, Xu Mingyue might have hugged the supermarket mascot and cried. Translated on Hololo novels. Once the apocalypse arrived, who would still dress like that just to make people smile?

Lost in her melancholy, she startled Bai Tang, who stared at her wide-eyed. “Teacher Xu, I didn’t know you were so… sensual. I mean, sentimental.”

Xu Mingyue wiped the corner of her eye, choosing not to admit that most of her sorrow actually came from having her benefits docked by a ruthless boss.

Everyone drifted into a daze under the festive atmosphere except for two people who remained completely unaffected.

Holding a box of pork belly, Fu Qing returned seriously to consult Xu Mingyue. “Can we have braised pork tonight?”

Xu Mingyue: “……”

Facing that hopeful gaze, she reluctantly nodded.

Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.

Three boxes of pork belly landed in the cart. Fu Qing immediately moved on in search of her next target, her departing figure radiating an inexplicable satisfaction.

Before Xu Mingyue could recover her earlier mood, someone else approached.

Lu Yan appeared holding a lively carp. “For New Year’s Eve dinner, can we stew a fish?”

Xu Mingyue sighed. “…I’m not killing it.”

“No problem. I’ll ask the staff to handle it,” Lu Yan replied cheerfully, walking off with the still-flapping fish.

Xu Mingyue turned back only to find the mascot gone and Bai Tang staring at her with newfound admiration. “Teacher Xu, are you really that good at cooking?”

She considered and answered honestly. “Actually, I’m average.”

Before the apocalypse, no one had ever praised her cooking. At best, it was edible. After years of work and health checkups revealing various problems, cooking for herself had simply been healthier than takeout.

Yet for some reason, Fu Qing and Lu Yan loved her food.

Over time, wanting to live up to their enthusiasm, she learned to make the most of scarce seasonings and whatever strange ingredients they scavenged, cooking them as deliciously as possible.

Bai Tang nodded, then looked at her shyly. “Then… for this year’s New Year’s Eve dinner, could you make one of my favorite dishes too? I’ll help.”

“Of course,” Xu Mingyue said.

She had already promised on the ride over that she would be the head chef for the New Year’s Eve meal.

Bai Tang’s request reminded her. She began seeking out the others, asking what dishes they wanted.

A long-awaited reunion dinner should fulfill wishes and mend regrets.

Soon she was moving between teachers, collecting their favorite dishes, then searching the supermarket for ingredients. As the cart gradually filled, her earlier sadness faded away.

Her mind now held only cooking methods and the schedule for New Year’s Eve.

Looking at the long menu in her phone’s notes app, with “Braised Pork” boldly highlighted at the top under someone’s persistent hints, she suddenly laughed, put her phone away, and murmured to herself,

“I knew it. With those two around, it’s impossible to stay sentimental.”

She had a feeling that as long as she stayed with them, even in the apocalypse, next year’s New Year would still be lively and joyful.

₊˚.🎧📓✩