Ch 108: Opening a Survival School Before the Zombie Outbreak

“A match?”

Bai Xianglei glanced at the students. “What kind of match?”

Strictly speaking, he was almost a generation older than Song Rushuang and the others. No matter what they competed in, winning would feel awkward, and losing would feel just as strange.

Fu Qing seemed to notice his hesitation. “Don’t worry. I just want to show you our usual training grounds. As for what we’ll compete in, we’ll use the students’ daily training exercises.”

Since they were routine training activities, the students would naturally be more familiar with them. Even if Bai Xianglei and his team lost, it would not be embarrassing. Instead, it would allow them to participate more freely.

Besides, Fu Qing had already realized that Bai Xianglei and his group had arrived with a mission.

In addition to “protecting” them, they were also meant to observe and gather information about the System and Fangzhou. Translated on Hololo novels. Unlike hostile foreign spies, however, they were open about it. They had informed Fu Qing beforehand, and whatever they did afterward was carried out without any attempt to hide it from her.

In that case, they surely would not want to miss seeing the students’ daily training.

Bai Xianglei exchanged glances with his teammates, interest immediately sparking. “Alright, then let’s have a match.”

The group moved together toward another area. As they walked, Bai Xianglei suddenly stopped, staring at the field before him.

The familiar four-hundred-meter standard track, basketball hoops on either side, and the tree-lined path leading through a wire fence instantly stirred memories of his own school days.

The corner of his mouth twitched. “This is your training ground?”

Fu Qing nodded. “Yes.”

Her tone was completely matter-of-fact.

After witnessing her casually erase an entire lake earlier, Bai Xianglei had imagined something straight out of a science fiction film during the walk over. Walls made of nanomaterials, anti-gravity training chambers, futuristic combat simulators…

He never expected the “training ground” she mentioned to be so plain and ordinary.

Then again, it made sense.

What else would a school use for training besides its athletic field?

Today’s endless shocks had nearly made him forget that Fangzhou had once simply been a school.

Bai Xianglei laughed helplessly.

Just then, Song Rushuang suddenly spotted something and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Don’t stop!”

Everyone jumped in alarm.

They thought she had spotted a thief and turned sharply in that direction, only to see a middle-aged man with a protruding belly staggering along the track, gasping for breath.

His steps were weak, his face flushed red, as if he might collapse at any moment.

Seeing Song Rushuang, he wheezed, “I… I really can’t go on…”

Song Rushuang snorted coldly. “You’ve run two kilometers, have you? And you’re already done?”

The man shot her a resentful look, then resumed jogging with labored breaths.

“And that is…?” Bai Xianglei asked cautiously once the man had moved farther away.

Song Rushuang replied casually, “Oh, that’s my dad.”

The soldiers: “…?”

Looking again, they noticed many similar middle-aged runners on the track, each accompanied by a young “supervisor.” Hands on hips, delivering sharp critiques. Give them a small whip and they could pass for ancient slave drivers.

Bai Xianglei blinked. “Is this also the principal’s requirement?”

“Not really,” Su Huaijin explained. “We just thought they were too out of shape. If they run into zombies someday, they won’t be able to escape.”

She sighed afterward. “Honestly, this generation of middle-aged people has terrible stamina.”

“….”

Bai Xianglei silently concluded that this was a method they could never replicate.

The country might want to encourage nationwide fitness, but no official order could compare to pressure from one’s own children. Add in those visibly judgmental expressions, and no parent with any dignity could endure it.

In some ways, Fangzhou’s success truly could not be reproduced elsewhere.

After a moment of reflection, Bai Xianglei signaled his teammates to remove their jackets, revealing the fitted combat vests underneath. “So what exactly are we competing in?”

Fu Qing looked toward a nearby building.

The iron doors on the ground floor were slowly opening. Sunlight crept inward, illuminating the dim interior inch by inch and revealing a row of figures standing perfectly still.

…People?

Bai Xianglei narrowed his eyes. Before he could see clearly, the figures suddenly moved.

In perfect unison, they dropped to all fours and lunged forward at once.

The explosive burst of speed made Bai Xianglei and his team’s eyes widen.

Their running posture looked like those bizarre internet clips where characters move using both hands and feet as if glitching through bad code. Online it would look funny. In real life, it was deeply unsettling.

The figures moved like machines running precise programs. After crawling out of storage, each randomly locked onto runners on the track and charged after them at full speed.

The previously leisurely joggers panicked, sprinting away amid cries of alarm, while students cheered encouragingly behind them:

“Yes, that’s it! Run like that!”

The soldiers: “…??”

After chasing for a distance, the strange runners abruptly turned and regrouped toward Fu Qing.

Only then did the soldiers realize these were the same realistic zombie models Fu Qing had previously handed over.

Fu Qing patted the shoulder of the first one to return and explained, “When nobody’s borrowing them, these simulated zombies just sit in storage anyway. So I let them come out for a run now and then.”

“—A sudden scare, followed by squeezing out a little more of the trainees’ potential.”

“That also adds a bit of fun to otherwise boring exercise,” Fu Qing said.

The team members were speechless at her peculiar sense of humor.

Fun? Had she asked the opinion of the poor, innocent middle-aged men on the field who were screaming while being chased by zombies?

They suddenly felt that Fangzhou might not be such an easy place to live after all.

Once all the simulated zombies had gathered, Bai Xianglei gave them a quick count and realized there were about twenty in total.

So the competition involved them?

Sure enough, Fu Qing continued, “The rules are simple. We’ll follow our usual training format, divided into three rounds. In the first round, each team sends out one person. Five zombies will be deployed to attack simultaneously. Whoever eliminates all of them the fastest wins.”

“Just killing zombies would be too dull, so there’s one restriction. Movement must remain within a designated area.”

At a glance from Fu Qing, Qin Yufei immediately picked up a branch and drew a square roughly fifteen by fifteen meters on the ground.

“If any part of your body crosses this line, you fail immediately,” Fu Qing said.

The two exchanged no extra words, as though this was how training was always conducted.

The special operations soldiers’ expressions gradually grew serious.

And when Fu Qing finished adjusting each zombie’s settings, they finally lost their composure.

Since the soldiers had no clear concept yet of beginner zombies, intermediate zombies, or evolved special variants, Fu Qing ensured fairness by having each zombie step forward to warm up, demonstrating its speed, agility, and strength.

The virus had only just broken out, and zombie samples were scarce. None of the soldiers had ever seen zombies move this fast.

One of them was even more agile than a trained fighter.

Another zombie, after adjustment, emitted a series of cracking sounds as its bones shifted. Its body rapidly expanded, shooting up nearly thirty centimeters in height in the blink of an eye, growing over two meters tall. Dense muscles bulged beneath its skin, its weight easily reaching one hundred eighty kilograms.

With that kind of build, a single punch could deliver several hundred kilograms of force, enough to crush a human skull.

The remaining three zombies appeared less unusual, but their speed still far exceeded that of the typical slow-moving infected. Their presence was like adding three ordinary fighters into combat, not overwhelmingly dangerous but enough to create serious trouble.

“One reminder,” Fu Qing added. “They are zombies, not humans. Any scratch from their teeth carries an infection risk and counts as elimination.”

As she spoke, her gaze deliberately swept over the soldiers’ exposed muscular arms after they had removed their jackets. “Of course, if you insist on fighting dressed like that, I have no objections.”

The soldiers: “…”

Silently, they picked up their jackets and put them back on.

One of them muttered, “A fifteen-by-fifteen grid sounds large, but with six targets fighting inside, there’s practically no room to dodge.”

Was this really the students’ normal training?

He glanced again at Su Huaijin, the smallest and youngest-looking member of the student group, and seriously doubted whether she could endure something like this.

A zombie of that largest size could shatter her bones with a single blow. If struck in the wrong place, it could even be fatal.

Height, muscle mass, bone density, these were innate disadvantages that training could hardly overcome. That was why their own selection standards were so strict.

Su Huaijin noticed his gaze, paused, and turned to Song Rushuang. “Why was he looking at me when he said that?”

Song Rushuang replied flatly, “He probably thinks you can’t handle it.”

Su Huaijin: “…”

The soldier who had spoken quickly realized the small, youthful-looking girl had gone expressionless, apparently offended.

“Uh… I didn’t mean anything by it,” he hurriedly added.

But when Su Huaijin spoke again, her tone was perfectly calm.

“How would there be no space to dodge?”

“Just kill the zombies, and there will be.”

Her unexpectedly forceful answer stunned the soldiers.

During the campus tour earlier, Su Huaijin had mostly handled explanations of facilities, so they had assumed she was more of a strategist or intellectual type. Yet now, preparing for combat, the aura she gave off was no weaker than Song Rushuang or Qin Yufei.

After speaking, Su Huaijin stepped forward on her own. “Principal, I’ll take the first round.”

Fu Qing nodded casually, indicating she had no objection.

The soldiers stiffened. They looked at one another, but no one volunteered.

Su Huaijin had no choice but to pick someone herself, using the simplest method imaginable, randomly pointing at one like drawing lots.

The chosen soldier happened to be tall and powerfully built. He stepped forward with forced composure while the others, spared selection, quietly exhaled in relief.

Meanwhile, the students watched with mischievous grins, offering cheerful encouragement.

“Don’t feel too pressured.”

Xue Ran even whistled. “Losing isn’t embarrassing. After all, it’s your first time fighting zombies. You don’t have experience.”

That was enough to ignite competitive pride.

Fu Qing glanced at the troublemakers, suddenly feeling that when these students had first entered the elite class, they had not been nearly this irritating.

Back then, they were nervous around her, stammering when spoken to, restrained in everything they did.

Now she was standing right there, yet even the usually steady Liang Yi was hiding among the crowd, laughing along with the others.

Had they simply grown comfortable enough to reveal their true personalities?

Fu Qing fell into thought.

After waiting a while without receiving further instruction, Qin Yufei jogged over and used his branch to draw another square of identical size beside the first.

“Both matches will be carried out simultaneously so neither side can copy the other’s tactics. That makes it fairer,” he said.

At first glance, nothing about this looked like a fair contest. Yet after Fu Qing and the students solemnly added and adjusted rule after rule, the atmosphere somehow began to resemble a competition between evenly matched opponents.

The two contestants stepped into their respective arenas and took their positions.

The only permitted weapon was a military knife. Both were already accustomed to similar weapons, so no adjustment was necessary.

The surrounding students immediately began cheering enthusiastically. Translated on Hololo novels. Su Huaijin clenched her fist and raised it, giving a confident upward pump.

After a moment’s thought, the squad members stopped overthinking and began cheering for their own teammate as well.

The chosen soldier, Chu Hai, felt his ears grow warm under the encouragement. Just as he tried to sneak another glance toward Su Huaijin, Fu Qing spoke calmly:

“As a completion reward, regardless of victory or defeat, I’ll give a detailed explanation of each zombie type and how to deal with them. By the way, that large one is what we call a brute-type zombie. The fast-moving one is generally referred to as a runner-type.”

“I’ve lowered their parameters here for safety, since the battlefield is restricted. In real combat, depending on circumstances, they’re far more troublesome.”

“I’ve already reported these common zombie types to higher command, but seeing is better than hearing. Now you have a chance to face them directly.” Fu Qing smiled lightly. “Ready?”

Her words instantly lifted everyone’s spirits, igniting a stronger fighting intent.

“Three, two, one. Begin.”

The moment her voice fell, the ten zombies stationed at the edge of the fields activated simultaneously and charged toward Su Huaijin and Chu Hai.

Shifting figures blocked the view. In an instant, Su Huaijin disappeared beneath the swarm. Chu Hai, who had been watching her closely, hurriedly forced himself to look away and refocus.

Yet that brief distraction before the match had already slowed his reaction by half a beat.

The runner-type zombie reached him in a flash. Its explosive speed startled him. Realizing the danger, he dodged while slashing forward, but in the next instant the zombie vanished from sight.

Observers saw clearly what happened.

The runner twisted its waist midair, forcibly changing direction. One hand touched the ground, and using only arm strength it rebounded upward at an impossible angle, ghostlike, reappearing diagonally behind Chu Hai. Its jaws opened wide, fangs aimed directly at the back of his neck.

With a single exchange, everyone’s expressions turned grave.

The creature’s coordination and bodily control were nothing like a human’s. No, it was no longer human at all.

Its humanlike appearance was deeply deceptive. If Chu Hai continued treating it like a human opponent, he would suffer badly.

The zombie had neither breath nor body warmth. At close range it moved silently. Fortunately, Chu Hai was no ordinary soldier. At the final moment he lunged forward sharply while sweeping a leg backward like a whip along the ground. The runner stumbled and was knocked off balance.

Chu Hai turned to finish it, but the other three zombies, slightly slower, had already closed in. One glance was enough to make his eye twitch.

During warm-up he had not noticed, but now he realized these three were not merely physically equivalent to ordinary people.

Their positions naturally formed an encirclement, gradually compressing his movement space.

Behind them, the slowest of all, the brute-type zombie advanced steadily, radiating an overwhelming sense of pressure.

If he turned to kill the runner now, he would lose precious time breaking the encirclement.

In a split-second decision, Chu Hai abandoned the kill and charged instead at the nearest ordinary zombie.

Against a special forces soldier, an ordinary zombie posed little threat. It barely managed to open its mouth before being swiftly eliminated.

The body crashed to the ground. Before Chu Hai could breathe out, cheers suddenly erupted from somewhere nearby.

His teammates turned, mouths half open, staring toward Su Huaijin’s side of the field.

Still focused on combat, Chu Hai did not know what had happened, but a sudden sense of foreboding rose in his chest.

…

On Su Huaijin’s side, the runner-type zombie also arrived first.

But she appeared prepared. Her eyes locked onto its movements. Only when it lunged with jaws wide did she move, calmly sliding sideways at the final instant. Holding the knife in a reverse grip, she struck as their bodies crossed, the blade slipping precisely into the gap of the neck joint and angling upward.

The brain was pierced instantly.

Even a slight deviation would have caused the blade to jam against the occipital bone, yet her angle, placement, and force were perfectly precise.

The special operations team stared in astonishment.

“Why could that zombie dodge Chu Hai midair, but not her?” asked Zhou Lingxi, one of the female soldiers.

Standing beside her, Song Rushuang smiled. “Didn’t you notice? Xiao Su dodged exactly when the zombie opened its mouth wide. Zombies don’t rely much on smell or hearing during close combat. Vision is still their primary sense. When it opened its mouth, its field of vision was briefly obstructed. That gave her the opening.”

“In the end, that brother Chu Hai just suffered from not understanding zombies. Against a brain-type player like Xiao Su, the difference becomes obvious.” Song Rushuang continued, “The principal announced the zombie types before the match. Xiao Su definitely prepared in advance. During our normal training, zombie types are decided on the spot. Until they move, you can’t tell what you’re facing.”

It was like a chess match, and Su Huaijin was their best strategist.

Once she knew the opponent’s strategy beforehand, she could practically play the rest with her eyes closed.

Zhou Lingxi was deeply surprised. They had clearly underestimated these students.

Song Rushuang, however, was not finished. After a brief show of modesty, she launched enthusiastically into praise.

“We usually train with daggers,” she said, gesturing. “A standard dagger is shorter than a military knife, so stabbing through the brainstem from the back is harder. I bet Xiao Su noticed the knife length and adjusted her tactic on the spot.”

Zhou Lingxi: “…”

A last-minute decision, yet executed with such precision?

Apparently these students were not only skilled fighters but also highly knowledgeable in human anatomy.

As they spoke, both battles ended almost simultaneously.

Five zombies total, two enhanced variants and three ordinary ones, were not meant to prolong the fight.

The match primarily tested adaptability. Often a single decision determined victory against one zombie.

Though Chu Hai lost time early on, he adapted quickly as the fight progressed. Especially against ordinary zombies, he eliminated them faster than Su Huaijin.

However, when grappling with the brute-type zombie at the end, he instinctively attempted to lock its neck with his arm, nearly getting bitten and almost eliminated on the spot.

His extensive experience fighting humans had ironically become a disadvantage.

The observing soldiers silently etched that lesson into memory, determined not to let muscle memory betray them in real combat.

Meanwhile, Su Huaijin maintained a consistent rhythm throughout, as if every step had already been rehearsed in her mind and all she needed to do now was execute it exactly as planned.

She finished off the final zombie just a step ahead of Chu Hai.

When she returned to the edge of the field, her breathing was not even disturbed.

Only then did Chu Hai truly believe that this was merely the students’ daily training. He accepted his defeat wholeheartedly. “You’re incredible.”

Thinking back to his attitude before the match, shame crept in.

He never should have underestimated his opponent.

Even if that opponent was only a seventeen-year-old minor, she still deserved equal respect.

Remembering how he had worried earlier that winning might feel embarrassing, Chu Hai now wished he could bury his head. Who would have thought that even after giving everything he had, he would still lose?

And the loss did not feel humiliating at all. Instead, what burned his face with embarrassment was his earlier lack of respect, even if it had never come from ill intent.

Chu Hai took the initiative to walk over and shake Su Huaijin’s hand. Only then did he realize that the girl who had looked annoyed before the match was already smiling brightly.

She had never truly been angry.

Realizing this, Chu Hai relaxed completely. They exchanged smiles before he returned to his team.

Su Huaijin also went back to her side, high-fiving Song Rushuang excitedly. “One to zero. Yes!”

Even if it was their own specialty they had competed in… they had still beaten special forces soldiers!

“Too bad Qingqing isn’t here,” Song Rushuang said regretfully. “She definitely wouldn’t have missed something this fun.”

Having witnessed the students’ abilities firsthand, Bai Xianglei was now fully invested. He asked proactively, “That’s the end of round one. What about round two?”

Only ten of the twenty simulated zombies had been used so far. The remaining ten would obviously appear next.

Bai Xianglei tried to guess their purpose but found he could not predict Fu Qing’s thinking at all.

Fu Qing said, “The second round is based on our regular PE training. A pursuit battle against ten zombies. The arena includes the entire track field and the gymnasium behind us.”

She then produced two safety harnesses. “You’ll need to wear these. There are suspended safety ropes along the outer walls of the gym. Once the lock is secured, you can use them to ensure safety while climbing.”

The building walls even came equipped with climbing safety lines.

The squad members had already been numbed by Fangzhou’s endless surprises.

Their attention drifted elsewhere. “Your PE classes usually train like this?”

Could this even still be called physical education?

Fu Qing had been right from the start, seeing was believing. If they had known Fangzhou’s curriculum was this intense, they never would have underestimated the students.

Before arriving, Commander Tian had told them only that every student here possessed rich survival experience and zombie knowledge and required priority protection.

No one had mentioned that their combat experience against zombies was equally extensive.

And when they first arrived, they had run into Zhao Yunxiao, who was preparing to leave for the capital. After exchanging greetings, they saw a gentle, scholarly teacher who looked like he could barely lift anything heavy. Naturally, they assumed his students were similar.

Who would have guessed Zhao Yunxiao was actually the weakest one here?

The squad members silently cursed their misjudgment.

Their primary mission was to protect Fangzhou’s students, yet the more Bai Xianglei thought about it, the stranger it felt.

With skills like these, did they really need protection?

And then there was the individual repeatedly emphasized by higher command as the highest-priority protection target…

They discreetly glanced at Fu Qing, who had behaved modestly and cooperatively the entire time, patient and composed like nothing more than a conscientious school principal. They tried to detect what made her special.

As if sensing their gaze, she turned around. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing…” they replied awkwardly, hurriedly looking away.

The second round soon began. The representatives were Song Rushuang and Zhou Lingxi.

Because the arena was larger this time, Fu Qing showed Zhou Lingxi a floor plan of the gym beforehand to prevent her from getting lost indoors.

The track field itself was simple enough to see at a glance, so no map was needed.

Memorizing layouts and rapidly familiarizing oneself with terrain was already part of their training, and since the gym design was straightforward, Zhou Lingxi quickly nodded to indicate she understood.

Once both contestants fastened their harnesses, Fu Qing gave the signal. All twenty simulated zombies activated simultaneously, clattering off toward different corners of the field.

“The first to complete all eliminations wins.”

“There are no special zombies this round. All move at normal human speed. This tests pursuit and positioning more than close combat.”

The rules were simple. After giving them ten seconds to prepare, Fu Qing started the match.

Having learned from Chu Hai’s mistake, Zhou Lingxi did not rush forward immediately. Instead, she stood still, observing where her assigned ten zombies scattered, planning an efficient elimination route.

Under Fu Qing’s command, the zombies’ clothing had been simulated in two colors, red and blue, making them easy to distinguish.

But before Zhou Lingxi had even located all of hers, Song Rushuang suddenly sprinted ahead.

She appeared completely strategy-less, running straight across the field until she reached a spot visible to every zombie.

Then she stopped.

The next second, Song Rushuang inhaled deeply and shouted at the top of her lungs:

“HEY—!!!”

Everyone on the field jumped in shock. Song Jianguo, far away, whipped his head around in alarm, eyes wide.

If humans reacted like that, the sharp-hearing zombies reacted even more strongly.

All of them, red and blue alike, threw their heads back with roars and charged toward Song Rushuang in a chaotic wave.

The lure worked perfectly.

Once they were close enough and clearly fully aggroed, Song Rushuang spun around without hesitation and sprinted toward the gymnasium.

Behind her followed a wildly howling procession of zombies.

Zhou Lingxi watched helplessly as her own zombies also abandoned their routes and chased Song Rushuang without a backward glance.

“?????”

That works too???

She froze for several seconds, utterly at a loss.

Snapping back to reality, she hurried after them and, after gathering her breath, began shouting as well:

“Don’t go! I’m over here!!!”

From afar, Song Jianguo shaded his eyes and stared in confusion. “What is my daughter doing?”

Zhang Feng beside him sighed. “…How would I know?”

As Song Rushuang disappeared into the distance with a roaring zombie parade while Zhou Lingxi chased behind trying desperately to reclaim their attention, Bai Xianglei turned toward Fu Qing with genuine curiosity.