Chapter 4: Zombie Hunting

As soon as the door swung open, Ye Fan was met with the pungent odor of blood.

"Someone died in the corridor!"

He became alert, suspecting that someone had mutated in the corridor, leading to a violent encounter. The strong smell of blood only heightened his concerns.

Zombies typically roamed aimlessly when undisturbed, indicating their presence in the corridor. Ye Fan, residing on the fifth floor, assessed the floors above and below. Leaning halfway out of his door, he found no movement on the floor above and none on the third and fourth floors. Listening carefully, he detected the shuffling sound of footsteps.

"Either on the second floor or on the first floor."

Feeling somewhat distant from the zombies, Ye Fan summoned his courage, unlocked the door, and stealthily ascended the stairs.

Leaving himself an exit strategy, he arrived at the door on the sixth floor, finding it unlocked and slightly ajar.

He listened closely, but no voices emanated from within.

"This might not be a good sign. An open door suggests someone was present before, and the silence now could mean they've turned into zombies."

"There are four people upstairs. I don't know how many were at home yesterday during the day. If they were all home, I might have walked into a trap."

Armed with his makeshift spear, Ye Fan cautiously opened the door, creating a distinctive creaking sound typical of the aging Tongzi Building.

Zhiah~~~!

Although he only opened it slightly, an instinctive feeling of unease washed over him.

Yet, retreating was not an option. To turn back now would mean postponing the inevitable confrontation with the zombies.

With one foot against the door, leaving a gap, Ye Fan gripped the spear with both hands, anxiously peering into the room.

Footsteps echoed from within.

When the zombies truly materialized, Ye Fan felt a mix of nerves and nausea. The vague impressions from the previous night now took a vivid and unsettling form.

A woman in her twenties, once a familiar neighbor with a penchant for loud late-night disturbances, now appeared. Clad in disheveled pajamas, her face bore the unmistakable signs of the virus's corrosion – pale, ulcer-ridden, and grotesque. The elongated claws on her hands, stained with flesh residue, highlighted the gruesome transformation.

Upon spotting Ye Fan through the crack in the door, the woman roared like a wild beast, quickening her pace as she lunged towards him.

"Calm down, it's no big deal."

"You are a Red Alert commander. How can you lead thousands of troops if you can't handle even one female zombie?"

Gripping the spear tightly, Ye Fan and the female zombie collided through the door.

Gudong~~~!

Unexpectedly, the strength of the zombies increased significantly. The impact knocked Ye Fan off balance.

Witnessing the imminent emergence of the zombie from the door, Ye Fan gritted his teeth, spear raised: "Go to hell!"

The spear aimed for the zombie's eye socket, a region Ye Fan knew lacked bone obstruction, making it an easier target.

However, he overestimated his strength, and his lack of expertise in such matters became evident. The dagger on the steel pipe pierced the cheek, bringing forth a gory spray but failing to incapacitate the zombie.

With stiff arms, the zombie pushed against the door, now halfway open.

In his nervous state, Ye Fan quickly drew his revolver.

With only a meter separating him from the zombie, a miss at this range could be catastrophic.

Aim at the zombie's head and fire!

Bang~~~!

A shot hit the zombie in the mouth.

Black blood splattered, and the zombie recoiled violently.

"No, I should hit the brain, not the mouth."

Ye Fan adjusted his approach, firing again, this time precisely between the eyebrows.

While the revolver seemed somewhat inferior, failing to obliterate the brain at such close range, the bullet penetrated the zombie's mind.

The red glow faded from the zombie's scarlet eyes.

The lifeless body collapsed, its claws nearly grazing Ye Fan's face.

Ye Fan couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. The encounter had been perilous.

In the midst of this, sounds of ascending footsteps echoed from the stairs downstairs.

Ye Fan peered down, observing two zombies reaching the fourth floor.

"Damn it, the sounds of battle reached the zombies downstairs. Gunshots can easily attract them. Dealing with two zombies together won't be easy. I need to hide quickly."

Returning to the fifth floor was no longer an option, and Ye Fan, not forgetting his mission, unlocked the door and entered the sixth floor before securely locking it.

As he locked the door, Ye Fan glanced into the bedroom, spotting another male zombie emerging.

This zombie, also in pajamas and wearing headphones, had gone unnoticed during the earlier events, as the headphones had shielded it from the door's opening sound. The subsequent gunshots, however, alerted it.

Having just defeated one zombie, Ye Fan found renewed courage. Instead of shooting immediately, he held the spear with both hands and thrust it forward.

He missed and retreated to the living room. Circling the dining table, he outpaced the slow and low-intelligence zombie, gradually gaining control over the situation.

After numerous turns, Ye Fan began mastering the essentials of firing the gun, achieving more accurate shots.

"Die!"

With both hands gripping the steel pipe, Ye Fan exerted all his strength, aiming for the eye socket with a single stab.

Blood and white matter burst forth as the zombie collapsed.

Ye Fan breathed a sigh of relief, his clothes soaked from the intense encounter.

There was a relentless banging at the door, with two zombies now outside having reached the fourth floor.

But when it came to breaching the security door, the zombies lagged behind. Ignoring them, Ye Fan focused on the task at hand.

"Platinum bracelet!"

His eyes fixated on a white bracelet adorning the female zombie's arm.

"If it's made of platinum, this bracelet should weigh at least thirty grams."

Joy surged through Ye Fan as he carefully removed the bracelet, avoiding the zombie's claws.

"Didi! Sir, we found a rare metal that can be converted into game money. Do you want to convert it?" Nana's voice sounded.

"Convert immediately!" Ye Fan issued the command.

"The transformation was successful. Congratulations to sir for winning three gold medals."

"What? Three golds? Shouldn't it be thirty golds?" Ye Fan was momentarily puzzled, recalling the one-to-one conversion between platinum and gold.

"The commander received thirty grams of silver, converted into three golds proportionally."

"Silver!"

Ye Fan felt a twinge of regret, but on reflection, he deemed it acceptable. Given the confined living conditions in the building, a thirty-gram platinum bracelet was already a luxury.

Undeterred, Ye Fan soon discovered platinum earrings on the female zombie. The conversion yielded twelve gold.

The male zombie had no jewelry, prompting Ye Fan to scour the bedroom.