Chapter 167: Zombie Siege Practice
When a human’s bite force was pushed to its limit, it was enough to tear flesh clean off a body.Ordinarily, though, people could only use a fraction of that strength. Zombies had no such restraint—which was why mutated humans could casually gnaw living people apart.
But chewing through steel was another matter entirely.
The girl’s mouthful of sharp teeth didn’t even leave a mark on Zheng Wanqing’s arm. The moment they scraped against the metal, they shattered and clattered to the floor one after another.
Collapsed on the ground, the class monitor slowly removed her hands from her mouth.
Inside was completely empty.
Blood poured down her chin.
She had been the one to attack them, yet now she looked more horrified than anyone else. Whimpering, she stared down at her hands, then up at Tang Xinjue and Zheng Wanqing, as though unable to believe what had just happened.
Zheng Wanqing immediately raised her guard.
“This can’t be blamed on me, right? You’re the one who ran into me!”
At most, she had only lifted that arm to block the girl’s mouth during the lunge.
The class monitor didn’t respond.
After a few broken whines, she suddenly clawed at her own throat and dropped to her knees, vomiting violently as though trying to expel something from inside herself.
The raw sound of dry heaving echoed through the corridor.
Tang Xinjue sharply scanned their surroundings, checking whether any other dorms had reacted.
Nothing else had changed yet, but beneath the class monitor’s body was already a heap of unrecognizable flesh and tissue. The air rapidly filled with the thick smell of blood and rot.
Only after she had nothing left to vomit did a trace of clarity seem to return to her mind.
She looked at the two girls in terror, then scrambled to her feet and bolted down the corridor.
Zheng Wanqing blinked.
“Huh?”
Before she could chase after her, the girl had already vanished at startling speed around the corner.
“Don’t follow her.”
Tang Xinjue crouched down to collect some of the fallen teeth and bits of flesh. After confirming the surroundings were still safe, the two returned to the dorm.
“Finally, you’re back.”
The moment they entered, they immediately went through a full disinfection routine.
Alcohol. Water. Scrubbing away every trace of blood that had touched their skin.
Guo Guo took a towel specifically to wipe the blood from Zheng Wanqing’s metal arm, but the moment she got close, she wrinkled her nose.
“Why does this blood smell so awful?”
Beside her, Zhang You nodded grimly.
“It really does.”
Wearing gloves, Zhang You handled the “confiscated” teeth and flesh, washing them clean before placing them into transparent containers. The contaminated blood was sealed into another jar as she observed everything with a serious expression.
“These chunks are probably internal organs, but they’re too mangled to identify. The blood smells rotten—not like a living person’s blood. Though it could also be a physical mutation caused by zombification.”
After all, based on their conversation outside the door, the “class monitor” wasn’t completely dead—
But she definitely wasn’t normal either.
Tang Xinjue handed over her phone.
On the screen played a recording of the girl kneeling in the hallway vomiting.
“You can use this video to judge her physical condition.”
Zhang You adjusted her glasses as she took the phone.
“Alright. I’ll compare it.”
Meanwhile, Guo Guo silently continued working without daring to interrupt.
…She suddenly felt as though she’d somehow entered the [Human Anatomy] dungeon instead.
Once everything had finally been cleaned up, Zhang You more or less reached a conclusion.
“I think she’s very likely still in the middle of mutating.”
The dungeon background had already explained that the zombie mutation originated from a virus leaked from the school laboratory. Naturally, there had to be a process between infection and total bodily takeover.
“During that process, the infected person probably still retains some ability to think and act. The deeper the mutation progresses, the more their behavior resembles a zombie. That’s why she initially tried to negotiate with you before suddenly attacking.”
Tang Xinjue nodded in agreement.
“Exactly. Her obsession with entering our dorm was partly survival instinct—wanting a safe place to hide. But another reason may have been that we were the last conversation in her chat history.”
And there was one final possibility…
Tang Xinjue’s eyes flickered slightly before she voiced her intuition outright.
She had always possessed an unusually sharp instinct for malice born from darkness.
If the class monitor had successfully entered the dorm and then mutated—or died—inside it, something terrible would definitely have happened.
Dragging others down with you at death’s door was also a kind of instinct.
“She may not have intended it originally,” Tang Xinjue murmured thoughtfully. “But extreme physical suffering can change a person very quickly.”
Then she added quietly:
“This dungeon is giving us even more information than I expected.”
But beyond all that, there was still something else they needed to do.
Guo Guo’s eyes widened.
“You’re going outside?”
Tang Xinjue pulled on a fresh pair of gloves.
“I’m cleaning up what she left outside. You guys tune the radio.”
If zombies were sensitive to smell, that pile of blood and flesh in the corridor would become a ticking time bomb.
With that, she opened the door and slipped through the gap.
A short while later, she returned.
Her expression was grim.
“The blood was disturbed.”
From the moment they’d re-entered the dorm to now, less than three minutes had passed.
If someone had entered the hallway during that time, touched the blood, and fled, the four of them would definitely have heard something.
But they hadn’t noticed anything at all.
Which meant the answer was obvious.
“It was someone from a nearby dorm.”
“…Wonderful. Another hyper-realistic dungeon.”
Guo Guo pressed a hand against her aching temple.
The last time they’d encountered something like this had been during the [Classic Film Appreciation] dungeon with the headless monster. That dungeon had featured not only suicidal horror-movie protagonists, but also a university environment almost indistinguishable from reality—even the classes felt real.
Which was why, during the final battle, the entire academic building full of vividly lifelike “students” had gloriously transformed into headless ghosts and swarmed toward them at the balcony, leaving behind unforgettable psychological scars.
Translating that situation to the present…
Just imagining countless zombies—or future zombies—lurking inside nearby dorm rooms made Guo Guo’s scalp crawl.
Zhang You, however, shook her head.
“I don’t think it was a zombie. Probably just a very cautious person.”
Though whether they would still remain “human” after some time was another question entirely.
At that moment, a familiar burst of static crackled through the air.
Everyone immediately turned toward the source.
The radio.
The old black radio Zhang You had just repaired.
The sight of it instantly stirred up memories.
And if the class monitor had been telling the truth, this dungeon had many similarities to [Four Seasons Survival Guide]—with the radio being the most important overlap of all.
To some extent, it had replaced the dungeon’s quest system itself.
The four of them silently pushed everything else aside and focused on the radio.
Tang Xinjue adjusted the frequency based on memory. The static fluctuated before suddenly sharpening into a clear voice.
“...Hello, fellow students! This is the Student Union Broadcast Station, and I’m Reporter Xiao Ming! I’m sure you’ve already realized that this Monday is destined to be anything but ordinary…”
The familiar opening instantly jolted Guo Guo and Zheng Wanqing upright.
Some primal DNA memory had activated.
Wasn’t this the exact same introduction from the Four Seasons dungeon?!
Not a single word had changed!
The four exchanged glances.
Could it really… be the same Student Union?
The voice continued:
“Yes, we regret to inform everyone that the school has fallen into an unprecedented crisis. According to reliable sources, the origin was an accident in one of the laboratories. The Student Union has already contacted the lab immediately, and we firmly believe this incident will eventually be resolved perfectly—of course, that’s only a matter of time.”
“During this period, we hope every student will obey the broadcast instructions, follow Student Union rules, pay close attention to our updates, and survive safely until the very end.”
“If you can hear this message right now, congratulations. You’ve already achieved the first—and most important—step toward survival.”
“Next, remember the second point: stay inside your dormitory. Do not go outside!”
The broadcast paused briefly before shifting tone.
“Of course, many students may be wondering why leaving the dorm isn’t allowed. Well, that unfortunately brings us to another piece of bad news.”
“Based on the virus’s characteristics, the first group infected with the zombie virus has, at this very moment, completed their mutations.”
The instant those words entered the air, everyone felt a subtle shift.
As though some invisible barrier had suddenly been removed.
“Outside the window.”
Tang Xinjue spoke sharply.
Everyone turned at once.
The white fog outside the dorm had vanished at some unknown point, revealing the dormitory district beyond.
From the view, they appeared to be on the top floor at the innermost edge of the dorm area. Several buildings could be seen in the distance.
The area below each dormitory building and the roads were empty, with only yellowed leaves falling softly, creating an extremely desolate scene.
In this silent environment, the sudden scream was exceptionally clear:
“—Ah!!!”
The scream came from a blind spot in the distance, quickly evolving into a scream mixed with cries for help and curses, before disappearing completely again.
Silence returned outside the window.
“Hehe, I’m sure everyone understands now. So enjoy yourselves—or rather, hurry and prepare. We’ll meet again in half an hour!”
The radio then went silent, leaving only static on the receiver.“Prepare? Half an hour? What exactly are we supposed to prepare for? What happens in thirty minutes?”
Even after several dungeons, hearing that smug Student Union broadcast tone again still made Zheng Wanqing want to drag the announcer out through the radio and throttle him.
Zhang You shook her head.
“They’ll never explain everything.”
She hadn't listened to the radio before—because she was even more unlucky back then, listening while standing next to the student council.
She could even picture the malicious, gloating expressions on their faces.
"Since they're old acquaintances, there's no need for guessing," Tang Xinjue said.
Anyway, they only needed to know one thing: "Anything that makes the student council happy will be detrimental to us."
What are the detrimental elements for them in this instance?
“Virus.”
“Zombies.”
“…Supplies?”
“If the virus is airborne, then no one can escape it, and there's no room for struggle, so we can disregard it. We don't lack supplies, and even if there were, half an hour wouldn't leave anyone without food or supplies. Therefore, there are only two most likely variables.”Tang Xinjue looked out the window.
“Zombies… and people.”
How many more zombies could appear in thirty minutes?
This is impossible to verify within the vast campus, but one thing is undeniable: the danger they face is far more than just zombies."Even in the early stages of the story, when zombies are relatively less dangerous, people of their own kind might actually be the biggest source of danger."
Unlike zombies, humans possessed initiative. Even if they stayed quietly inside the dorm, they could still become someone else’s target.
Just like the existence of the "class monitor," no one can predict what traps the story will set for them beforehand.
“Instead of waiting passively, let’s take the initiative and eliminate the nearest risk first,” Tang Xinjue suggested.
No one objected.
The moment the decision was made, they immediately began preparing.
Only after fully gearing up did Guo Guo suddenly realize something.
“Wait… weren’t we told not to leave the dorm?”
Then how were they supposed to eliminate threats?
Tang Xinjue smiled faintly.
“Who said taking the initiative means going out through the door?”
She glanced meaningfully toward the window once more.
“Don’t forget. We still have a neighbor who shares our balcony.”
No need to leave through the door, just step out the window.
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