Translator: phizzlepop, kurisu (WhimsicalReads)
Editor: mantou
T/N: this translator made an oopsie in the last ch, the weapon Luo Geng found is actually the Type-56 triangular combat knife, rather than the SNS/Type-56 triangular spike bayonet, i always get the words for those 2 confused lol, but basically it’s just the actual dagger version with a handle rather than the one made for potential attachment to a rifle
Early morning on the fifth day of the zombie siege, the students living in Buildings 2 and 3 of the boys’ dormitory first heard a weird 1980s disco song, before catching a faint whiff of an inexplicably familiar, pungent scent. Some of the more daring students slid open their balcony doors to peer around, but the fog was dense and hazy, so nothing could be gleaned.
No one knew that in the haze, five students were currently treading cautiously, holding their breaths while forging ahead.
Similar to the blindfolded games of hide-and-seek they used to play in their childhoods, the faceless zombie was the hapless kid who had no choice but to blindfold himself after losing at rock-paper-scissors, while the five of them were clever and mischievous, naughty boys who were edging right past him, tiptoeing like stalking cats while slowly creeping along.
Song Fei and the others didn’t understand why Luo Geng had brought along an eau de toilette on an escape, especially during the wintertime, even packing one from the Revitalizing Cool Blast line. But miraculously, this thing could completely mask the scent of their human flesh. To be more precise, as of right now, they couldn’t feel any sensation in their own faces, necks, hands, or any other exposed parts that had been sprayed with this sacred water.
At the closest, they were only a single step away from the faceless zombie.
Through the PM 2.5, Song Fei could visibly see a face that belonged to a fellow countryman. With just this one glance, Song Fei’s hair stood on end. Fighting back a wave of nausea, he slowly skirted his way around inch by inch, the strong fragrance from the eau de toilette unable to completely overshadow the rancid odor of the other.
That wasn’t the scent of a human being.
Song Fei could no longer even call them mutants, and could no longer use “him” anymore.
Zombie.
Song Fei had experienced for himself just how crazed they acted when eating humans, and at this moment, he truly understood the character, corpse, for the very first time. Without a trace of life, without a shred of vitality, with only the rot and decay of the dying.
After a few close calls, five people safely arrived at the entrance to the residential area.
Perhaps all of the zombies had been captivated by the mighty Genghis Khan, because the residential area entranceway was quiet, like an early morning during the winter holidays, when very few students stayed on campus, leaving silence and desolation pervading the air.
Just that, right now, they could declare silence, but wouldn’t dare assert desolation.
The road ahead was a vast expanse of white.
The five of them distinctly clutched onto each of their weapons tightly, before advancing forward in a 1-2-2 zone formation.
Luo Geng was running point, not because he volunteered himself or because he was confident in his military boxing skills or anything, but because compared to the others, he had on an extra mask. Everyone had still been making fun of Luo Geng for looking for his mask prior to departure, saying it was the f*cking end of the world, what the hell was the point of guarding against poor air quality. But, once Luo Geng brought out a helmet-like gas mask, everyone instantly shut up, and unanimously promoted him to squad leader. Not for any other reason, but because in a situation where he was attacked by a zombie, the probability of him becoming infected would be relatively lower. If they ran into one with poor dentition, who knew, maybe it’d even be to break a few of their opponent’s weapons.
Luo Geng was only 1.71 meters tall with a leaner physique, but upon closer look, it was all muscle. But, once he put on a mask, there was no need to look too closely. He exuded power and grandeur with a single glance.
As their company moved farther and farther away from the residential area, the sound of music from the phone gradually faded away. Instead, some unidentifiable sounds began to fill their surroundings.
Luo Geng could already faintly see the supermarket sign through the gray mist.
He swallowed, then continued to patiently maintain a steady, slow speed.
There had to be some zombies around, Luo Geng could feel them. But, as of right now, their bodies shouldn’t be giving off their scent. As long as they remained out of sight, they’d be able to hide in the haze, fishing in troubled…
Uh.
Luo Geng’s body came to an abrupt standstill, and he silently lowered his head. As expected.
Qiao Siqi behind him was confused, so he asked under his breath: “What's wrong?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Lamenting not studying harder in the past, Luo-tongxue from the Department of Mathematics racked his brains before cobbling up a few vocabulary words: “I stepped on someone‘s foot…”
The translation system in John-tongxue’s language center couldn’t adjust for a period of time, playing havoc with his comprehension ability, while the one that’d been trampled on had already grabbed onto Luo Geng’s shoulder, and was just about to bite him!
Oeb Xfcu’r Scuilrt kjr cb ubbv, yea tlr wjgalji jgar kfgf gjatfg fzmfiifca. Dfrlvfr, atfgf kjr ralii j ujr wjrx atfgf ab qgbafma tlw. Cr atf fcfws iecufv bnfg, tf vlgfmais tfjvyeaafv la gluta yjmx!
Ktf hbwylf kjr atgbkc boo yjijcmf, jcv ibbrfcfv lar uglq bc Oeb Xfcu’r rtbeivfg.
Instead, Luo Geng seized the opponent’s arm, and with a tug, yanked the person back in front of him again, raising the combat knife in his hand!
His four comrades only saw a flash of cold light, and the next thing they knew, three-quarters of the dagger had already been buried in between the zombie’s eyebrows.
Luo Geng clutched the handle of the dagger tightly as dark red blood slowly trickled out along the tiny stretch of metal that hadn’t sunk itself into the zombie’s brain. The group finally understood why this was called a triangular combat knife. Since the metal blade that looked very similar to an awl at first glance was, in fact, neither flat nor rounded, but actually had a triple-edged structure, upon skewering its target, blood would immediately ooze out along its grooves, truly making it a sharp, lethal weapon.
More importantly, because of its three edges, skin and muscle wouldn’t sandwich in the portion that had pierced through, the lack of resistance resulting in it being much easier to pull out when compared to stabbing it in.
The zombie fell into Luo Geng’s arms.
From beginning to end, it hadn’t made any sounds at all.
Luo Geng carefully lowered it to the ground, as if he were handling the precious girl in his heart.
The other four remained alert to their surroundings. Although the muted disturbance from their fight hadn’t sounded too noisy outside, no one could guarantee their absolute safety.
Finally, the zombie had been properly laid on the ground.
Luo Geng squatted there, quietly looking at him for a while, when he suddenly raised his head: “I killed someone…”
His lips were trembling slightly, a “who am I, where am I, and what exactly just happened” kind of confusion suffusing his expression.
This wasn’t like the first day, when he’d only shoved someone outside the door. It was also different from yesterday, when he’d witnessed Qi Yan and the others kill Cui Menghan. This was the first time Luo Geng had killed a zombie himself. The tangible sensation of metal piercing through flesh brought about a current that was blazing hot, then icy cold, flooding him with courage, then with dread.
“Those things are no longer human beings anymore,” Song Fei reached out and lightly squeezed his shoulder, “You did a great job.”
Luo Geng blinked, his mind slowly clearing up at last with the warmth being transmitted through the pressure on his shoulder. Then, a wave of sadness washed over him: “My dream is to become a math teacher…”
Song Fei gently helped him up: “In the future, be more lenient with your students.”
Three big characters, Fen Duo Duo, finally emerged from the gray fog.
Perhaps the RNG gods were smiling upon them today, perhaps the eau du toilette was a powerful deterrent, or perhaps the visibility was indeed pitifully low, but besides the one whose foot had been stepped on by Luo Geng, they never bumped into another zombified student in the mist.
However, the supermarket was bustling with excitement.
Just the entrance alone had no fewer than ten students wandering around. Who knew how many more there’d be inside.
The five of them hid in a flowerbed, taking out their phones once again with tacit understanding—
Zhou Yilu: “Isn’t this combat method of consuming a phone with each encounter too wasteful?”
Luo Geng: “A riddle, bud to who have many otter ray…”
Zhou Yilu: “Can’t you take off your mask before speaking?”
Song Fei: “He said, a little, but do you have any other way?”
Qiao Siqi: “Your Chinese listening comprehension skills are absolutely godly.”
Qi Yan pondered for a while: “We don’t need to toss away a phone this time.”
The Fen Duo Duo supermarket occupied a large plot of land, but only had one floor, with a height of 3.5 meters. Back when they’d been discussing their plans, this had been covered during Zhou Yilu’s brief rundown. At this time, their group was quietly approaching the foot of the supermarket wall from the side, and through pyramid stacking, climbed up onto the roof of the supermarket.
As their sturdiest base, Luo Geng was the last one to be pulled up. With his shoulders almost shattered, he swore that if they ever pyramid stacked again in the future, he abso-f*cking-lutely wouldn’t act as foundation ever again!
The roof of the supermarket wasn’t completely flat, but because of its large surface area, had a very gentle slope.
The five people cautiously arrived just above the main entrance, and lay down shoulder-to-shoulder, clutching onto the eaves.
Qi Yan: “Ready?”
Song Fei took off the bicycle lock that’d been hanging around his neck all the way here, and lightly twisted the key that had been inserted into it. With a kada, the lock opened in response, the loop opening up into a chain. He slowly clenched his fist, his gaze resolute: “After locking up a thermos for a year, it’s finally about to do something big.”
Qi Yan smiled. He’d been very nervous, but as soon as Song Fei opened his mouth, he felt as though there were no hurdles that he wouldn’t be able to surmount.
“Remember to open the window,” Qi Yan said.
Song Fei turned to look at him. For some reason, the rims of his eyes heated up, as something possessed him to lean over and give him a peck: “Remember to come back.”
Qi Yan responded by licking his lips with satisfaction.
No more delaying. Taking a deep breath, Qi Yan slowly stood up, bidding his teammates who were still lying there side-by-side farewell, and decisively moved towards a corner diagonally opposite the supermarket’s main entrance.
Qiao Siqi consoled Song Fei: “Relax, he’s so fierce, nothing will happen to him.”
Song Fei nodded: “En, he’s very fierce, I know.”
Qiao Siqi felt that it was really inconvenient for them to continue with this topic, so he turned around, wanting to find his other comrades so they could get back on track, but unexpectedly, he met two pairs of eyes that looked thunderstruck—
Zhou Yilu: “They all say that a friend in need is a friend indeed, but those two, those two, those two…”
Luo Geng: “Fell in love in just five days?!”
Although the focus of his teammates’ attention was a bit off, Qiao Siqi was still honest with them: “It looks like they knew each other from before, but I don’t really know any of the details either…”
Song Fei pretended not to hear them, concentrating his efforts on peering over the edge to look down at the ground.
Just at this time, there came a cheerful, rhythmic melody diagonally across from them on the roof. This song wasn’t violent, but the lively drumbeats and the high-spirited vigor from the lead singer imbued this song with a magical summoning power—
“Love chili peppers~ Light chili peppers~ Green chili peppers~~~ Love chili peppers~ Light chili peppers~ Red chili peppers~~~ You have to study hard in school~~ In the future you have to get into college~~ After college you can get a job~~ With a job you’ll have a good life...”
If the local music library on Qiao Siqi’s phone opened up a door to a whole new world, then the local music files on Qi Yan’s phone served as the perfect foil to this new world of Qiao Siqi’s, making it appear exceptionally beautiful.
Especially since Qi Yan had also turned the speaker volume all the way up, it rapidly stirred up a commotion in the silent supermarket area.
First, one zombie ran out, then two, three, with the ones behind them coming out faster and faster, as if spurred on by some kind of hatred that’d been deeply engraved into their very bones, desperately rushing towards the source of the music!
From above the main entrance, the three of them fixed their intent gazes on the bottom. By the time the song had reached its end, no more zombies were coming out anymore. Once the song finished, it looped back to the beginning once again. The three of them made the prompt decision to jump down pronto, then dash lightning-fast into the supermarket!
Qiao Siqi went straight behind the left door, while Zhou Yilu went straight behind the right door, the two of them tightly shutting the glass doors in a split second!
Song Fei nimbly secured the lock, timing it just right!
Everything had gone according to plan— except for a beautiful face that had abruptly pasted itself against the outside of the door, squeaking against the glass, moments after they’d locked up.
For such a classical beauty, even smashed against the glass, face distorted beyond recognition, you’d still feel comfortable just looking at it.
But no matter how comfortable it made them feel, it could only be appreciated.
Song Fei directed a shrug outside the door, disregarding whether or not his words would be understood: “Apologies, zombies are prohibited from entry.”
The face on the glass withdrew five centimeters, restoring its original appearance.
The three boys inside the glass doors simultaneously sucked in a breath of cold air. That face was obviously ghastly pale, yet still suffocatingly beautiful!
Song Fei felt infinite distress in his heart: “I’m sorry, young lady. In the next life ba. In the next life, run a bit faster and don’t get bitten, and I’ll definitely allow you in.”
A sorrowful expression surfaced on the girl’s face, and drops of tears seemed ready to fall from her eyes, as her lips slightly moved: “Help me…”
This voice was as pleasant as a sweet, yellow oriole, but as heart-rending as a cuckoo weeping blood, and Song Fei felt that his heart was practically about to break.
Qiao Siqi and Zhou Yilu on the side came to a realization. How was this a zombie, this was a classmate ah!
The three of them awkwardly fumbled around, one doing the unlocking, another attempting to pry the doors apart, trying to welcome her in with doors wide open ASAP.
But, as was often the case, the more they rushed, the worse things got. However nimbly Song Fei had acted when he’d first locked the door, was how clumsily he was acting now while trying to unlock it. Moreover, he’d only needed to twist and pull when locking the door, but needed to reinsert the key in order to open it back up. The more anxious he was, the more he missed the keyhole.
When he finally managed to insert the key, Song Fei briskly twisted it while sending the girl a guilty look. This look wasn’t much, only giving him a jolt, nearly causing him to snap the key in half inside the lock out of fright.
At the same time, Qiao Siqi and Zhou Yilu also opened their mouths wide in horror, the latter’s finger quivering as he pointed behind the girl.
The girl seemed to sense something, and hastily dodged to the side!
With a guangdang, a zombie with a filthy, blood-stained face that gave the impression it’d popped out from underground somewhere whammed into the glass door!
The loud collision and the hideous, deformed face pressing against the glass startled the three people inside. However, the zombie had no interest in the three people that were separated from it by a door, and soon propped itself up, before pouncing at the girl who was right at its fingertips!
The girl turned pale with fright, but her feet were rooted to the ground, and wouldn’t move no matter what, remaining frozen in place until the zombie had arrived right in front of her. Perhaps she was quick-witted or perhaps it was a fluke, but she raised the thermos in her hands high up in the air, before smashing it down on the zombie’s skull!
The girl was very tall, her height about the same as the zombie’s. This strike left her opponent in a dazed state, wobbling unsteadily on its feet from side to side. That girl bore down on it, delivering yet another wallop!
The huge force, in conjunction with the angle of impact, sent both the lid and stopper of the thermos flying, as its contents sloshed out, instantly launching cold water droplets into the air!
After being struck twice, the zombie had officially been put out of commission, and fell to the ground with a guangdang.
Song Fei and the others had already been stunned silly, while the girl carrying her emptied thermos over there ran back like the wind, then slapped on the glass door—
“Laoniang hasn’t lived long enough yet, hurry the f*ck up and open the door for me!!!”
Author’s Chapter Summary:
The haze worked hard to separate the enemy from us, looking up with elation to see Fen Duo Duo!
The translator has something to say: yes, we have to gather more light bulbs and amass a huge peanut gallery, because you can’t throw dog food around the apocalypse without the appropriate audience, flexing on zombies doesnt count
P.S. some of you may have been wondering why there were flips b/w mutant and zombie, which i hope has been answered now by this ch. Song Fei has notably been referring to the zombies as mutants specifically, using “he/him” pronouns rather than “it”. depending on the narrator/POV (since this is 3rd person), some of the others have been referring to them as zombies/it from the get-go, so it’s a fun bit of insight into each individual’s mindset. Qi Yan is the other person who has also been regularly using mutant/he terms, btw.
P.P.S. you guys may have noticed I’ve opened up both novels I’m translating to co-translator applications. in the interest of bringing more regular releases to you guys + freeing up some of my time, i thought it’d be best for there to be 2 of us working on these novels.
Thanks for the chapter! ❤
thanks for reading! <3
Thank you for the update! ❤
thanks for reading!! <3
At least they make it into the supermarket. That girl is so cool.
Thanks for the chapter
i love her too!!!! she’s so bad*ss
thanks for reading!
Since I get tired of the “females are too weak to survive the zombie apocalypse” trope, it’s nice to get a female character who seems like she can hold her own… Thanks for the chapter!
oh she’s fabulous, i think you’ll like the characterization in the chapters to come~
i mega love her, and hopefully you will too!
thanks for reading!!
Oho~ a new team member I guess? And she seems to be a tough female, that’s good.
And now empty out the store.
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
~indeed~ a new member has joined the party.
she’s such a refreshing addition to this motley crew
and finally~ food is just within reach~
thanks for reading!! <3
Oh, finally a female character appeared~
Thank you for the chapter 💜
yep yep~ and she’s awesome~~~~
thanks for reading! <3
thanks for the chapter <3
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I’M READY TO STAN THE GIRL
also the kiss!!! The casual kiss!!! I’m alfjskdjsjjdjsjj
Was it just me or, for a moment, did you also think it was another more evolved zombie?
Finished! That Beauty Jiejie is my girlfriend from now on.🤣