Chapter 12: The Fourth Night, The Points Leaderboard

Unable to sleep, a new member joined the restless ranks.

Xu Lang lay on the outermost edge of the bed, Cao Yaxuan slept in the middle, embraced, and Tong Qi nestled deepest inside.

The two girls exchanged wide-eyed glances, both barely holding themselves together.

On the first day of the game, Cao Yaxuan would have had the courage to venture out.

Although the number of survivors had suddenly dropped by more than half, the situation outside was still intense today.

But after lying flat alongside Xu Lang for several days, that little spark of courage had vanished.

Lying flat was simply too comfortable!

In truth, over these days, she had imagined many scenes of the two of them struggling to survive together, even scenarios where they risked their lives to save each other...

She had fantasized about such unlikely plots.

But she had never imagined Xu Lang would be such a coward!

With so few resources at his disposal, could he even eat enough? He should just recruit others—uh, actually, he seemed to have enough food!

From what she observed, water was still a rare resource.

If Xu Lang revealed the secret of that barrel of water, every student would definitely come knocking on Dorm 200’s door!

Cao Yaxuan’s eyes darted around, her mind racing. Tong Qi, however, was less distracted.

Her big, innocent eyes looked at Cao Yaxuan, and suddenly sent a friend request.

[200 Tong Qi: Hello]

Cao Yaxuan sneered but accepted the request anyway.

[200 Cao Yaxuan: When are you planning to leave?]

[200 Tong Qi: Ah...]

[200 Cao Yaxuan: We’ve found the zombies’ weak point now. It’s not so dangerous outside. You could take a chance.]

[200 Tong Qi: Then why don’t you go?]

[200 Cao Yaxuan: Do you think Xu Lang would let me? He’s so clingy.]

Tong Qi pressed her lips together, looking down at the handcuffs on Cao Yaxuan’s stockings, silent.

Cao Yaxuan felt awkward and quickly found a new excuse.

[200 Cao Yaxuan: Honestly, Xu Lang is a coward. If you stay here, he’ll die in bed sooner or later.]

Suddenly, Tong Qi’s face flushed bright red like a boiled shrimp. She wanted to turn away but feared waking Xu Lang.

Yet strangely, talking about this topic made her somewhat excited.

[200 Tong Qi: No, I actually feel a little pain.]

[200 Cao Yaxuan: Silly girl, pain means he’s no good!]

[200 Tong Qi: It’s okay. Three minutes is still great, and I don’t like this anyway.]

What’s going on... wasn’t Cao Yaxuan supposed to be a goddess? Why did she seem so spineless...

Cao Yaxuan instantly scowled and began lecturing Tong Qi on love, while simultaneously disparaging Xu Lang.

If Xu Lang found out, he’d surely hit her twice.

Sure, she could say many things, but spreading dirty rumors was off-limits!

[200 Cao Yaxuan: Listen... don’t doubt me...]

[200 Tong Qi: Go ahead... I believe you...]

From then on, the two chatted energetically.

When Cao Yaxuan talked, she had the demeanor of a rustic elder commanding the scene—sometimes analyzing the origins of the survival game, other times sharply criticizing the survival rates of other students, speaking with authority.

Tong Qi was dazed, thinking, rich girl really knows a lot...

Seeing Tong Qi’s starstruck eyes, Cao Yaxuan felt better than drinking a glass of cold water!

She just couldn’t help it—she was so pent-up!

None of her girlfriends were in the survival game, and Xu Lang was a man of few words.

In the survival game, loneliness was also a test.

Though there were many people in the chatroom, few cared to chat idly.

An hour later.

[200 Cao Yaxuan: You should just settle down here. No one can kick you out, I promise!!]

...

When Xu Lang woke, he found both girls asleep, breathing softly.

Judging by the game countdown, he had slept eight hours straight.

First thing he did was open the chatroom.

Information was often the most crucial survival tool.

His eyes widened at the top of the chatroom: [Chatroom 153/400]!

How had so many died again?

From the messages, Xu Lang pieced together the cause.

The deaths were simple: fighting over territory!

The canteen, equipment room, and teaching building were rare strongholds!

The canteen easily yielded food, the equipment room weapons, and the teaching building blueprints.

Ignoring useless junk messages, the students now mainly formed three groups.

First, the lower-tier residents led by Wang Yang, Jin Xin, and Zhou Tao occupied the equipment room.

Second, the super-powerful group under Wang Ao held the canteen.

Third, a large but weak bunch led by Wu Huihui controlled the teaching building.

What shocked Xu Lang most was that Wang Ao had risen again!

In the apocalypse, a ruthless person like Wang Ao truly had charisma.

Most importantly, he was generous, protected his underlings, and stood firm against the low-tier players.

This made some who believed in survival of the fittest think that following Wang Ao gave the highest chance to survive!

Humans are the best at adapting, and after several days of the apocalypse game, everyone’s mentality had transformed.

“They’re no longer ordinary students!”

“They’re players!”

“Players in the survival game!”

“This lesson should make everyone recognize the nature of this game.”

“But on the other hand, zombies really seem to have become playthings now, with many people actively hunting them.”

“Those who do are finding richer supplies and many have upgraded their doors...”

“The scariest are Wang Yang’s group—they found bullets in the equipment room. That’s a very dangerous signal!”

“But... none of this concerns me. I’ll just lie low!”

Xu Lang’s expression shifted before he closed the chatroom.

Keeping to himself was best.

Humans were unpredictable—just think of team-based competitive games; if you could send knives across the internet, countless murders would occur daily.

In eight hours, Xu Lang earned 40 base Nightmare Coins. The conversion rates from the Nightmare Cot, Cao Yaxuan, and Tong Qi added up to 196%, combined with the previous 133.

Xu Lang now had—

[Total Nightmare Coins: 251]

His Nightmare Coins had broken the 200 mark!

Everything in sight could be upgraded!

Including the Nightmare Cot!

Xu Lang hesitated over how to spend his Nightmare Coins when the dormitory broadcast sounded again, solidifying his decision.

[Dormitory Broadcast: On the fourth night, three types of new zombies with strong attack desires have appeared!]

[Scoreboard activated. Killing zombies earns points!]

[At game end, the top ten dormitories on the scoreboard will upgrade; the top three receive special extra rewards!]

[The number of zombies tonight is limited, no respawns!]

[Players, please defend your dormitories!]