Chapter 15

What do you do when you know you're not cut out for studying, but you got into grad school anyway?

When you oversold yourself on your resume, but you got the job anyway?

Lin Tu felt this deeply. Her advice was to stay confident.

"It's actually a Special Ability Coupon!" Zheng Yangyang, who liked to browse the marketplace for oddities in her spare time, recognized the strange-looking coupon at a glance. "The high-grade ones go for thousands or even tens of thousands of points! This introductory-level one should be worth around a thousand points too!"

Lin Tu, who had just reached out her hand, immediately pulled it back. "?" How much? Did you say how much?

But staying confident had a prerequisite. When you received compensation far exceeding your worth, Lin Tu's advice was to drop the confidence and run with the anti-fraud app installed, because there was a good chance your boss was already sharpening his knife, ready to take your kidney.

"No, this is too valuable." Lin Tu shook her head and refused.

"It's not really that valuable. After all, whether something is worth much depends on whether anyone needs it. This coupon..." Dong Huadan's fingers rubbed against it, a hint of nostalgia in her eyes. "I got it by chance two years ago. I had just entered the Black Market and was ambitious, thinking I could sell this coupon to save up a startup fund. I didn't expect to be suppressed everywhere. I was dead set on selling it at a high price to show them, but unfortunately, too few people wanted this kind of special item, so here I am, still unable to sell it."

"I don't need that startup fund anymore. Selling it at a high price means nothing to me now."

Hearing this, Lin Tu was even more reluctant to accept. Who would just casually give away something so meaningful to a stranger?

Dong Huadan smiled. "Of course, this isn't just payment for you to help get the medicine. It's also payment in advance."

Lin Tu listened attentively.

"This coupon should be somewhat useful to you right now, since you just got the 'Angry Corn' and seem to want to buy plant-type special items. I'm giving you this coupon as a gesture of goodwill."

"I can see you won't stop at the lower-three-tier worlds. In the future, you might even go to the upper-three-tier or even S-level worlds for missions. My request is simple: if you obtain any items or resources you don't need, please prioritize selling them to me, or even consign them. As long as you sell to me, I promise you won't be shortchanged."

The most important resource for a Black Market trader was connections. Which Black Market trader didn't have a few high-level players they dealt with? Dong Huadan had long wanted to win over Lin Tu, and this was just a convenient opportunity.

This wasn't difficult. Lin Tu nodded without hesitation and accepted the item.

She planned for retirement, which meant she needed a lot of points to build up her rundown house and improve herself until she cleared the game. She would keep entering disaster worlds and keep obtaining various resources. Selling the surplus to Dong Huadan didn't conflict with Lin Tu's own plans—in fact, it was exactly what Dong Huadan hoped for.

The only thing that could make Lin Tu break the agreement was dying young.

That wasn't impossible. If Dong Huadan knew she only had a 0.3333% survival rate... Lin Tu thought humorously, she'd probably snatch the coupon back on the spot.

"Deal."

The hospital at the town center was only about a ten-minute drive from "Combatants." The group drove over in two cars, one after another, and soon arrived at the foot of the town hospital.

The town center was much more bustling—and of course, there were many more zombies. The five-story hospital was ring-shaped, surrounding a small fountain that had long since dried up. By now, that fountain had become a paradise for zombies. Nearly twenty of them had fallen inside, surging and scrambling because they couldn't climb out.

"Hey! There are survivors!" Karen, in the passenger seat, pointed at the hospital rooftop in surprise.

There, several white sheets hung outside the windows, each painted with a letter: "S," "O," "S." Hearing the commotion outside, a few people even poked their heads out excitedly.

Dong Huadan and the others had already gotten out of the car. Lin Tu also climbed out, gun in hand. Karen didn't originally need to come, but when she heard they were going to the hospital for medicine, she decided to come along to get some for her mother too.

"Leave the corn in the car to sunbathe," Lin Tu said, glancing at the shadow cast by the hospital building, then turning to Karen. "Just lock the doors."

Karen did as told, then pulled her hunting rifle from the back seat and slung it over her shoulder. The group gathered together and moved slowly toward the shadow cast by the hospital.

As soon as they stepped through the hospital entrance, a foul stench hit them. The floor was the main source of the smell—large pools of congealed blood, human limbs, entrails, and excrement all mixed together, churning stomachs and making people want to vomit.

A few zombies turned the corner ahead, caught the fresh scent of the group, and immediately charged over like mad.

Lin Tu's plan was to grab the medicine and go, ending things quickly without attracting a large horde of zombies. She held her breath slightly, endured the stench, and pulled out her crowbar.

"You guys, go check the signs for the emergency room."

Dong Huadan nodded.

The two had already agreed beforehand to head straight for the emergency room to get the medicine, so their movements were swift.

The reason they weren't going to the pharmacy, where medicines were more complete, was that emergency rooms and nurse stations typically had injectable prescription drugs stored temporarily. Also, emergency rooms were usually on the first floor, so the group could grab the medicine and get out quickly—much safer than going to the pharmacy. This all came from the experience of veteran player Dong Huadan.

While Dong Huadan ran toward the signs, the rest of the group met the zombies with their melee weapons.

Karen wanted to help too, but Lin Tu stopped her. "Just keep watch for us."

Players got point rewards for killing zombies, but if Karen killed them, it'd be a wasted effort. No matter how she thought about it, it wasn't worth it.

That was her thinking, but the players didn't know. After everyone finished fighting off the zombies and looked up, they saw the local woman leisurely keeping watch around them, and they were all speechless.

Fortunately, Dong Huadan quickly found the emergency room's location.

"It's just around the corner!" Dong Huadan led the group forward, saying, "I'll go in to get the medicine in a bit. You all—especially Karen—stay outside and guard. I'll be out quickly!"

Lin Tu immediately understood: she was planning to use the Single-Use Backpack item and didn't want non-player Karen to see it. She quickly agreed: "Karen, stay with me and do exactly what we did before. Sister Huadan will get the medicine for you."

As she spoke, a few more zombies rushed at them from the front. Lin Tu raised her crowbar to clear the way, Dong Huadan following close behind. Soon they reached the emergency room.

The emergency room's pharmacy was right behind the front desk. Lin Tu smashed open the head of a zombie at the desk as fast as she could, kicked the door open to confirm it was safe, then pulled everyone except Dong Huadan to the outside of the front desk.

By now, the noise had attracted zombies, and about thirty of them had gathered outside the desk.

"Damn!" Han Yu felt like he was back at the 4S shop. He'd had nightmares for days after nearly dying to those zombies back then.

"Sister Huadan... hurry up..." Zheng Yangyang was on the verge of tears.

Zhang Zisheng and Tian Jingjing each pulled out a spiked iron rod and a big knife respectively. Though they stood behind Lin Tu with composed expressions, their heaving chests betrayed their nervousness.

Especially Zhang Zisheng. Just a few nights ago, she'd been complaining that Lin Tu shouldn't be fighting zombies, and today it was her turn. But she had no choice—Brother Yongzhi had always taken care of everyone. If something happened to him, she absolutely couldn't turn a blind eye...

"How about you stop keeping watch..." Zheng Yangyang wished Dong Huadan would come out right now, and that the local woman would join in and kill more zombies for points.

"Her killing zombies is useless," Lin Tu said something that seemed off-topic, pulling out her crowbar and reassuring, "Don't be scared."

With that, she charged at a zombie. These days of training had given her body a strange instinct. Without overthinking, Lin Tu brought the crowbar down on the zombie's head—a very precise spot. The sharp end of the crowbar pierced straight through its skull.

One hit, one kill.

Lin Tu kicked the zombie away, and it collapsed limply to the ground. The crowbar slid out of its skull from the recoil and swung backward, smashing into another zombie's head.

Since it was just the shaft of the crowbar striking, that zombie only staggered under the heavy blow.

Lin Tu didn't waste the opportunity. She spun and kicked the zombie to the ground, right in front of Zhang Zisheng.

Zhang Zisheng stared at the zombie that had suddenly appeared at her feet, completely helpless. "..." What just happened?

On instinct, she raised her spiked iron rod and drove it down through the zombie's chest.

Even after killing it, her face was still blank.

Lin Tu had just taken out a zombie in the blink of an eye and even sent a warm one-point gift to the stunned Zhang Zisheng. Zheng Yangyang, who had been sniffling, suddenly fell silent.

"Right side!" Karen's sudden warning snapped Zheng Yangyang back to reality.

She turned to see Lin Tu moving with extraordinary agility, drawing most of the zombies' attention. Only a few were left for them to handle—a complete gift of points.

Zheng Yangyang exchanged glances with Han Yu and Tian Jingjing. What were they waiting for? They all raised their weapons.

As for Zhang Zisheng, she had long since charged in with her spiked rod after the pleasant surprise of earning a point out of nowhere. Stubborn talk meant nothing to someone as pragmatic as her.

About a minute later, nearly half the zombies had fallen, and Dong Huadan's figure finally emerged from behind the front desk.

"I got it! Let's go!" she said in a low, excited voice.

The group quickly shook off the clumsy zombies and sprinted toward the entrance, desperate to leave this place. Seeing the bright doorway ahead, smiles spread across their faces.

"Bang bang bang!"

Just then, several loud gunshots rang out from the rooftop.

To zombies, who were most sensitive to sound, it was like an injection of stimulant.

The hospital building, previously quiet, instantly echoed with countless roars.

"Damn!" was a plant. Zheng Yangyang's smile scattered like ants in the rain, instantly turning into fear.

"What happened?" The group looked up in panic.

Karen suddenly realized something and shouted, "It's those people upstairs! There are other people up there!"