Chapter 160: I Just Arrived

Time slipped away quickly.
Soon, it was ten-forty in the evening.
A full day had already passed within the game.
Over the course of this single day, Someone Under the Tree had finished exploring the two floors above and the two floors below his own location.
While gathering a massive haul of supplies, he also caught sight of several other players.
These players were not nearly as naive as Hua Xiaoman.
They maintained a high degree of wariness toward him.
Either these individuals had already cleared instances previously, or they were resurrected players starting over after death.
One of them even harbored explicit hostile intentions against him.
Realizing this, Someone Under the Tree understood that the others had all woken up to the situation and started scrambling for supplies.
Without any lingering attachment, he immediately returned to his apartment.
He began preparations for his next move.
The early stage of this zombie instance was the safest period.
The density of zombies outside was extremely low.
One would typically only encounter a single zombie every twenty meters or so.
As time steadily marched on, however, the density of zombies below would gradually increase.
When the density reached roughly one zombie every five meters, the horde would begin assaulting the building.
At that point, attempting to scavenge for supplies would become utterly impossible.
Therefore, the key to clearing this instance lay in how one reasonably allocated resources and time.
Upon returning to his room, Someone Under the Tree immediately set about taking stock of his gains.
Including his previous food supplies, he now had enough provisions to last him fifteen days.
By rationing carefully, he should be able to stretch it to seventeen or eighteen days.
Yet, even knowing this would make his supplies last longer, he had no intention whatsoever of doing so.
According to the game's mechanics, unless one remained in a fully satiated state, all physical attributes would suffer a significant decline.
That would never do when it came to handling sudden emergencies.
Hiding the food away, Someone Under the Tree proceeded to examine his remaining spoils:
A number of spare parts;
A wristwatch;
An engineering hammer;
A solar panel;
A storage battery;
A bottle of vitamins;
A pair of night-vision goggles;
A student backpack.
All of these items would prove useful.
The solar panel and the storage battery satisfied him the most.
With these two pieces of equipment, many currently useless devices in the room could now be put into operation.
However...
Someone Under the Tree glanced at the computer powered by the storage battery; after half a day of charging yesterday, it had only reached about 20% capacity.
The conversion efficiency from ultraviolet light to electricity was appallingly low.
Still, having something was better than having nothing.
Having tallied up his acquisitions, Someone Under the Tree immediately commenced his preparations.
He crammed a handful of essential tools straight into his backpack.
Naturally, he only packed relatively lightweight items; things like the engineering hammer, while possessing impressive-looking destructive power, were simply too heavy.
Facing fast-moving zombies, wielding such a cumbersome object as a weapon was clearly not a wise move.
In the end, Someone Under the Tree only placed his homemade spear, the wristwatch, three types of screwdrivers, and one day's rations into his backpack.
Once everything was packed securely, Someone Under the Tree stepped out of his room and set up a small trap.
He jammed the door lock.
Although this contraption couldn't prevent someone from forcefully picking the lock, it would buy some time. Moreover, trying to pry this door open would inevitably create a massive racket.
Even if he wasn't around, others in the building would deal with the thief for him.
Having readied everything, Someone Under the Tree walked down the stairs.
This time, rather than taking the main stairs, he used the fire escape.
Taking this route minimized the chances of running into other players and avoided potential conflicts.
Yet, despite his well-laid plans, the other players were not fools.
Someone else had thought of this exact strategy as well.
"Wanna team up?"
Someone Under the Tree asked, looking at a skinny figure standing right before him.
This thin person was also carrying a pack—a mountaineering rucksack somewhat larger than his own.
Someone Under the Tree felt a twinge of covetousness.
Even so, it was merely a passing greed; he made no other moves that might cause a misunderstanding.
After all, the person was holding a watermelon knife roughly half a meter long.
With his own build, taking a single slash would likely mean curtains for him.
The thin man wielding the watermelon knife—who went by the game ID "AI Drinking Carbonated Drinks"—scanned Someone Under the Tree up and down with a cautious gaze.
Without a word, he stepped aside.
His meaning couldn't have been clearer.
*Get lost.*
Seeing this, Someone Under the Tree mentally translated the gesture with those exact words.
Maintaining his vigilance, he brushed past AI Drinking Carbonated Drinks.
Someone Under the Tree breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, wasting time here was completely not worth it.
Putting distance between himself and AI Drinking Carbonated Drinks, Someone Under the Tree strode quickly down the stairs, harboring no intention of lingering.
Time waited for no man, after all.
As for AI Drinking Carbonated Drinks, who had yielded the way, he watched the other figure recede into the distance before immediately turning and walking briskly back upstairs.
Because the fire escape doors went unused for long periods, a thick layer of dust had accumulated there, making it effortless for him to track the traces Someone Under the Tree had left behind and locate his floor.
Without the slightest hesitation, he stepped out of the fire escape and entered the corridor.
The moment he crossed into the hallway, he swept his eyes across the level to assess the situation.
Four doors stood tightly shut.
"Are the doors stuck, so he hasn't searched them yet?"
Muttering this to himself, AI Drinking Carbonated Drinks approached one of the doors.
He produced a fine piece of wire and began manipulating it inside the keyhole.
This was a skill he had acquired in the previous instance:
Lockpicking Mastery (Junior).
Capable of picking the vast majority of ordinary door locks.
The lock on the door before him clearly fell within the category of standard locks.
The room sprang open, its interior immaculately tidy.
This only made AI Drinking Carbonated Drinks even more convinced that Someone Under the Tree hadn't searched the rooms yet.
With that thought, he hesitated no longer, eagerly beginning to rummage through the place.
Yet...
There was absolutely nothing.
Assuming his luck was simply terrible, AI Drinking Carbonated Drinks still didn't suspect Someone Under the Tree.
Until...
"Cornbread, cornbread, four for a dollar, hee-hee-hee~"
A piercing and eerie sound instantly pierced through five floors, up and down.
It echoed directly into the ears of every single player residing within those five stories.
Their gazes involuntarily snapped toward the source.
Hearing this noise, AI Drinking Carbonated Drinks felt his entire world collapse.
"Lunatic!"
He cursed under his breath, daring not to waste another second in place, and bolted back the way he had come.
He slipped into the fire escape, waited a moment, and upon hearing movement outside, reached out and shoved the fire escape door open with force.
The strength behind the push caused the metal door to bang open with a thunderous crash.
This instantly captured the attention of the players both above and below.
"What's going on here?"
Sensing the stares of the other players, AI Drinking Carbonated Drinks immediately called out.
He put on the air of someone who had just arrived and was completely clueless about the situation.