Although the cafeteria’s rolling shutter door had already been shut, the monsters gathered outside showed no intention of leaving.
They kept pounding the aluminum doors with their bodies and weapons, and the sharp, ear-piercing sounds echoed continuously.
Before anyone could get a good look at Tong Yang, they saw a bloody hand reaching out toward her from behind. If she got pulled into the crowd of monsters, there was no need for further explanation—her death was inevitable.
“Smash!”
Just as everyone was stunned, Tong Yang swung the spiked club in her hand, smashing the hand into a bloody mess. A broken finger rolled onto the ground, leaving a bright splash of blood behind.
“Ah!”
Everyone scrambled backward in a panic, afraid to get anything unclean on them.
Tong Yang leaped down from the window, landing right in front of them.
“Tong-jie, are you alright?” Sun Ye asked shakily.
Tong Yang shook her head, “I’m fine.”
“Do you know something? What exactly is going on?”
“Why is there no one at the school? And why does it look completely different?”
Perhaps because Tong Yang had remained calm and composed since things began, accepting the strange rules without question, everyone’s eyes were now on her.
Ignoring the dozens of curious gazes, Tong Yang walked through the crowd and found a chair to sit on. She set down her backpack, took out a brand-new notebook and a pen, then looked up at everyone, saying, “Those things outside won’t get in for a while. Before I answer your questions, everyone line up and pay the 200 yuan usage fee.”
“Are you serious? At a time like this, you’re still thinking about money?”
“Tong Yang, the priority should be dealing with those things outside.”
Tong Yang shrugged and said, “Mainly because I’m worried you’ll die before paying.”
“What the hell! Don’t scare us like that. There are a lot of us; as long as we stick together, nothing bad should happen, right?”
“Yeah, plus those things outside just look scary. Their combat power isn’t that strong.”
Tong Yang sighed regretfully, “Alright then, you can owe me for now.”
“Ask away.”
Seeing how calm and composed she was, everyone else couldn’t help but feel a bit speechless. Who knew when those monsters outside would break in!
“What is this place?”
Tong Yang replied, “A parallel dimension? Or maybe No. 3 High School decades into the future.”
“A parallel dimension? What are you talking about? Have you watched too many horror movies?”
“But this really does feel like something out of a horror movie…”
“Why are we here?”
Tong Yang said, “I don’t know.”
She truly had no idea why they ended up here.
“Are those things outside people or ghosts?”
“No idea.”
“Why are they still moving after we’ve clearly killed them?”
“Maybe they weren’t fully dead. You didn’t hit their vital spots.”
“How do we get out of here?”
After a moment of thought, Tong Yang answered, “Maybe if we survive until the college entrance exam, we’ll be able to return.”
“Wait, doesn’t that mean we’ve gone missing in the real world? Won’t the school report us missing? Maybe once the police find us, we’ll be able to leave!”
Tong Yang didn’t agree with that theory, because the news in the online gossip group only reported the discovery of their bodies from a terror attack. This meant that neither the school nor the police knew they had disappeared during the exam. Besides, according to the original timeline, all 33 students here were supposed to die on June 7th.
“Don’t get your hopes up too high. If you want to get out, just focus on surviving until tomorrow afternoon.”
“Thud!”
Suddenly, a heavy sound came from the back of the crowd.
Everyone turned around in a panic, only to see a torn-up mass of flesh roll through the window that Tong Yang had smashed open. Its right leg was severely damaged, twisted as if it had been broken forcibly. The grotesque thing climbed off the ground expressionless, gripping a sharp weapon in its hand, and began crawling slowly toward them. Its ghastly appearance was worse than any vengeful spirit.
At the same time, more bloodied creatures began crawling through the window.
Seeing this, everyone gasped, taking several steps back.
Tong Yang glanced at their reaction, then lazily yawned and said, “What are you standing around for? This is a great opportunity. They’re like the Huluwa saving their grandpa—one comes in, and you just kill it. Easy.”
“Come on! That’s easy for you to say! Why don’t you go kill them yourself… ugh!”
“I’m your creditor.” Tong Yang packed her things back into her bag. “But, if you want me to do it, it’ll be 300 yuan per kill.”
“You’re obsessed with money.”
Chu Shiyu watched Tong Yang’s nonchalant attitude and felt conflicted. Even in the face of such a dangerous situation, she remained calm, as if she had everything under control, without a hint of fear or panic.
Even when something so bizarre was happening, she carried on as if it were an ordinary day. It made Chu Shiyu feel childish and ignorant for all the trouble she used to stir up against Tong Yang.
Moreover… how should she put it… She thought this version of Tong Yang was pretty awesome.
“Sun Ye, why don’t you set an example for everyone?” Tong Yang leaned lazily against her chair, her tone casual yet commanding.
Sun Ye shuddered when his name was called. With a pained expression, he hesitated, clearly terrified and unwilling, but still, he picked up the machete Tong Yang had thrown earlier. The handle was sticky with thick blood, reeking of a strong stench. He wrinkled his nose in disgust as he shakily approached the bloody monster.
Standing in front of it, his hands trembled so badly that he couldn’t bring himself to swing the machete. Looking at the gory face of the creature, his stomach churned, and he was about to vomit.
“Coward,” Tong Yang rolled her eyes at him. “The slower you are, the sooner the next one will crawl in.”
“I… I can’t do it…” Sun Ye whimpered.
Just then, Chu Shiyu, standing at the back, suddenly strode forward. She grabbed the machete from his hand, bit her lower lip, raised her arm—shaking slightly—and brought the weapon down on the monster’s neck with a sharp swing.
“Thwack!” The machete sliced through the monster’s neck, blood splattering across her face. A round head rolled to the ground and spun into the crowd.
After completing the action, she turned back to look at Tong Yang.
Tong Yang raised her eyebrows in slight surprise. She hadn’t expected the pampered young lady to be more useful than Sun Ye.
“Not bad. The next one’s coming in.”
Hearing Tong Yang’s praise, Chu Shiyu blushed a little, “It’s… it’s not that hard.”
Maybe seeing his goddess act so bravely spurred Sun Ye into action. He grabbed the weapon from the corpse and turned to stab the next monster that crawled in through the window.
With Chu Shiyu and Sun Ye leading by example, the rest of the group also started picking up their weapons, attacking the monsters that continuously crawled through the window. Since the window could only fit one person at a time, they would chop down each monster as it fell through. This time, with experience under their belts, they struck harder, making sure the monsters wouldn’t get back up.
By the time the noise outside had quieted down, the cafeteria had turned into a sea of corpses and blood. Flesh and blood were strewn everywhere, and the thick stench of blood filled the air. However, they seemed to have gotten used to the smell, feeling no discomfort. In fact, even the horrific scene in front of them no longer fazed them.
“Finally, they’re gone!”
“My hands are sore from all the chopping.”
“Damn it, I’m never playing zombie games again. They’re exhausting as hell.”
When everyone finally relaxed and looked for a quiet corner to rest, they noticed that Tong Yang had somehow moved to a spot far away from the blood splatter. She was now hunched over, furiously scribbling in her notebook.
Curious, they walked over, only to find several pages of exam questions spread out on the desk, covered with dense, meticulous calculations!
Tong Yang: “Reviewing. Do not disturb.”
Everyone else (rage mode): “Smarter, more capable, cooler, and even more hardworking than me?!”
