Chapter 4: The Path to Survival 3
1210 Words
Chu Yi'an quickly retreated back into the balcony, her legs trembling at the sound of screams from next door. In the distance, on the playground and near the cafeteria, people were still running for their lives—everywhere she looked was a vision of hell on earth.
Terror, bewilderment.
Her clothes were soaked in sweat, and her whole body trembled uncontrollably, as if she had just been pulled from water.
A ringing in her ears, drowning out all other sounds.
Her mind was blank; her vision blurred.
She didn't know how long it took, but she finally remembered her phone.
Her messaging apps were flooded with frantic notifications.
Chu Yi'an glanced at the group chat titled "Class of 2022 Geology."
"Help, there's—4:12 PM"
"I'm in the office of the Fourth Experimental Building, can't reach the police—4:06 PM"
"Did anyone make it out? I'm hiding in the bathroom on the third floor of the teaching building, I'm so scared—4:06 PM"
"If you hear the broadcast, find a place to hide! There are lunatics attacking people outside the school, the security can't hold them off—3:59 PM"
"Why is the air raid siren going off? I'm trying to rest, it's so loud—3:55 PM"
...
"I heard there’s a riot at the train station, the area near the mall is locked down, does anyone know what’s going on?—3:43 PM"
These messages dated back just twenty minutes.
From the beginning of the chaos until now, it hadn’t even been half an hour, yet it felt like an eternity had passed.
Knowing there were still others alive on campus, she began frantically trying every public number she could think of. Unable to get through, she turned to official news sources.
There!
She paused at a page with white text on a blue background—just two lines.
“A large-scale riot has erupted in Shigang City. The following information is issued by the Shigang City Police Department:
All citizens are advised to stay indoors, avoid the rioting crowds, and prepare at least three days of food and water while awaiting rescue.”
Seeing this, she decided to follow the instructions. She plugged in her phone and began taking stock of her dorm supplies.
A girl's dorm room is never short on snacks.
She found four mangoes, half a bag of milk powder, some dates, and a snack pack larger than her pillow filled with various treats: twists, chips, dried fruit, and jerky.
Enough to last her for a while.
Wait, she couldn’t just sit around and wait for rescue.
The palpable fear had nearly made her forget she was trapped in a bizarre game, and the end goal was to reach the rescue point within five days.
But where was the rescue point?
How was she supposed to find it under such circumstances?
The thought of the mission made her restless once more. She scoured her phone for any information on rescue points, searching until she collapsed onto the desk, exhausted, and fell asleep.
The next day.
Chu Yi'an awoke, startled from a nightmare.
The sky was a murky grey, the world outside unnervingly quiet, broken only by the occasional roars of the infected and the sound of their slow, heavy footsteps.
She glanced at her phone—it was 5 AM.
No signal, no pages would load.
The power was out.
Thankfully, she had charged her phone overnight, leaving it plugged in, now showing 97% battery.
But without a network, without the ability to make calls, what good was a phone?
Chu Yi'an washed her face, then returned to her seat, eating snacks to stave off hunger while scrolling aimlessly through her phone. With no internet, the device was little more than a glowing flashlight.
She felt suffocated and anxious.
She was about to put her phone down when she noticed a hidden icon—a radio.
Also known as a wireless, a radio converts electrical energy into signal waves to receive broadcasts—a device renowned for its reliability when telecommunications and networks are down. In such times, it’s nothing short of miraculous.
Chu Yi'an perked up instantly, turning on the radio function and adjusting the frequency.
At first, it was all static.
Trapped in her room with nothing else to do, she dedicated herself entirely to fiddling with it. Near ten o’clock, the crackling finally gave way to a voice:
“Hello, listeners, this is District 11 Radio.”
“A global viral outbreak has erupted; anyone bitten by the infected will immediately contract the virus. It acts swiftly, killing victims within ten seconds, who then reanimate as zombies and attack healthy humans.”
“Zombies exhibit normal vision and have hearing five times that of a regular human. In transmission mode, they attack targets with peak human agility. In the absence of prey, they enter a dormant state.”
“Warning: No vaccine exists. Avoid the infected at all costs.”
“Attention: County Fulun in City X is the only safe rescue zone in District 11.”
“This message will repeat.”
A safe rescue zone!
Chu Yi'an's spirits soared—she hadn’t expected to hear the location of a safe zone. Suddenly, her struggles had a direction, and her days, a glimmer of hope.
But where was County Fulun in City X?
The question stumped her.
Soon, she noticed a stack of school-issued documents on the table, a small line printed at the bottom right:
“Issued by the Publicity Department of Guang University, City C.”
Beyond the pamphlets, several train tickets found in her dorm also indicated routes from various cities to City C.
Perfect—this confirmed she wasn’t in City X.
Chu Yi'an took a deep breath, feeling the weight of her daunting escape ahead.
But she had to go.
If she stayed safely in the dorm for five days, the outcome would still be death.
She looked at the food and water she had gathered, preparing to pack them up and get ready to leave.
Wait!
Chu Yi'an suddenly remembered she had drawn an item before entering the game. She opened her palm, eyeing the tiny symbol in the center.
A faint heat spread from her palm, and a box materialized in her grasp.
It was no larger than an earphone case, seemingly unable to hold anything. But under her mental command, the box expanded into a one-cubic-meter space, shimmering in golden light, with large words floating above—
“Would you like to use the skill: Something from Nothing?”
Skill: Something from Nothing—randomly generates an item from a treasure chest within the game. The skill has a three-day cooldown period after use.
Recalling the details, Chu Yi'an finally felt a hint of the game’s intended experience.
She chose “Yes.”
The box opened automatically, filling with white light. She reached in, feeling around until her fingers touched something cold and heavy, like a metal block.
A transparent screen popped up in front of her.
“A single-shot 9mm handgun with unlimited ammunition.”
“Note: Will be reclaimed after this game round ends.”
“Object’s Whisper: With me, you're in luck!”
With you, I’m impressed!
- Writer
