The door swung open, and Ye Fan immediately noticed a pungent smell of blood.
"Someone's dead in the stairwell!"
Instantly alert, he realized someone must have mutated into a zombie in the stairwell and killed others; otherwise, there wouldn't be such a strong odor.
Zombies typically roam mindlessly when they haven't detected anything new; this suggests that the zombies are still in the stairwell.
Ye Fan lived on the fifth floor, with one floor above him and three below.
First, he leaned half his body out to look upstairs; all was quiet above.
Then he glanced down through the stairwell gaps.
From this angle, the fourth and third floors were empty.
Listening carefully, he seemed to hear shuffling footsteps.
"Either on the second or the first floor."
Knowing there was some distance between him and the zombies, Ye Fan gathered his courage, opened the door, and began to tiptoe upstairs.
The door wasn't locked, giving him a retreat route.
He reached the sixth floor, feeling joyful.
As expected, the sixth-floor door wasn't locked, showing a slight gap.
He pressed his ear to the door; no voices came from inside.
This wasn't necessarily good — the open door suggested people used to be there, but now there's silence, meaning they've turned into zombies.
"Four people upstairs, I don't know how many were home during the day yesterday. If they were all home, I'm in serious trouble."
Clutching his homemade Long Spear with both hands and having opened his revolver holster, Ye Fan cautiously opened the door.
Cre-e-a-k~~~!
In the dilapidated old-style tube building, opening the door made quite a noise.
Even though Ye Fan opened it slightly, he instinctively felt uneasy.
But he couldn't turn back now; if he retreated, who knows when he'd find the courage to face zombies again.
With one foot partially holding the door open, leaving a crack, Ye Fan held his Long Spear, tensely watching inside.
He heard footsteps inside.
When a zombie truly appeared, a wave of nervousness and disgust washed over Ye Fan.
The view last night wasn't very clear, not as visceral, but seeing this now was different.
Upstairs, a twenty-four or twenty-five-year-old young woman, dressed in pajamas, appeared stumblingly.
She used to be quite vibrant and attractive, with a voice that kept the passionate Ye Fan often awake at night.
Now, her youthful beauty was completely gone; she'd become a terrifying zombie.
Her claws had long, sharp-looking nails.
Seeing Ye Fan through the door crack, the woman let out a beast-like howl and quickened her pace, rushing toward the door.
"Stay calm, stay calm, it's no big deal."
"You are the Red Alert Commander; if you can't handle a single female zombie, how will you command an army?"
With both hands gripping the Long Spear, he and the zombie made contact through the door.
Thud~~~!
Unexpectedly, after turning into a zombie, she gained immense strength, causing Ye Fan to stumble back as she slammed into the door.
Seeing the zombie about to burst through the door, Ye Fan gritted his teeth, gripped the Long Spear with both hands, and shouted, "Die!"
He aimed the Long Spear straight at the zombie's eye socket, knowing there were no bones to obstruct it, making it an easier target to stab.
Still, he overestimated his skills. Lacking practice, even with considerable strength, he found it hard to strike accurately.
The knife on the steel pipe scratched her cheek, leaving a wound but not affecting the zombie at all.
The rigid arm reached out and pushed the door, which was now half open.
In his tension, Ye Fan didn't hesitate, grabbing his revolver in an instant.
Standing only a meter or so apart, he figured if he missed from such a distance, he might as well bash his head in with tofu.
He opened fire on the zombie!
Bam~~~!
Bullseye!
The zombie's scarlet eyes lost their red glow instantly.
Her rigid body softened, collapsing with a thud!
Her falling claw nearly grazed Ye Fan's face.
Sweat broke out on Ye Fan's forehead; it was truly a close call.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the staircase below.
Looking down, Ye Fan spotted two zombies reaching the fourth floor.
"Damn, the noise of the fight alerted the downstairs zombies, and the gunshot made it even worse. Two zombies at once are particularly troublesome; I need to hide quickly."
Returning to the fifth floor seemed impossible, and Ye Fan hadn't forgotten his goal. He simply opened the door and entered the sixth floor, locking the door behind him.
As soon as the lock clicked into place, Ye Fan noticed another male zombie emerging from the bedroom inside.
This zombie, too, wore pajamas, with earbuds visible in its ears.
Spotting Ye Fan, the zombie growled and lunged madly.
No wonder it didn't appear before; the earbuds blocked its ears, so the door opening noise didn't disturb it, but the gunshot did.
Having just killed one zombie, Ye Fan felt bolder now. Instead of immediately opening fire, he gripped his Long Spear and stabbed!
Missing his mark, he quickly dashed into the living room, maneuvering around the dining table with the zombie in pursuit.
Zombies, with their low intelligence and slow pace, were manageable as long as he overcame his fear and avoided being tackled.
After circling dozens of times, Ye Fan finally grasped some spear-handling skills, his aim becoming increasingly precise.
"Die!"
With both hands on the steel pipe, he thrust with all his might!
The powerful stab sent the zombie falling backward!
Ye Fan exhaled a long breath, feeling his clothes were nearly soaked through.
A loud banging came from the door, with the two zombies outside having reached it.
Yet, wanting to break through the steel door, the zombies were at a disadvantage; Ye Fan ignored them and immediately got to work.
"Platinum Bracelet!"
He first noticed a white bracelet on the female zombie's arm.
The bracelet, if platinum, would be at least thirty grams.
Elated, Ye Fan carefully avoided the zombie's claws and removed the bracelet from her arm.
"Beep Beep!! Commander, rare metals discovered; ready to convert to game Money. Proceed with conversion?" Nana's voice chimed in.
"Convert immediately!" Ye Fan commanded.
"Conversion successful, congratulations, Commander, on acquiring three Gold."
"What? Three Gold, shouldn't it be thirty Gold?" Ye Fan was taken aback; after all, platinum and gold are 1:1.
"Commander has obtained thirty grams of silver, converted to three Gold according to the ratio."
"Silver!"
Ye Fan felt a bit disappointed but quickly reasoned that living in this tube building, unlikely to be wealthy people, a thirty-gram platinum bracelet would be somewhat extravagant.
Undeterred, Ye Fan soon spotted earrings on the female zombie.
This time they were platinum, converting to twelve Gold.
The male zombie wore no jewelry, so he searched the bedroom.
After half an hour of turning the room upside down, he'd made gains.
Ye Fan found a gold bracelet, a platinum necklace, and a gold ring.
The grams were small, but together they yielded fifty-four Gold.
Adding the previous fifteen Gold, Ye Fan now held sixty-nine Gold.
"Is that it?"
After searching around further, ensuring there was nothing else, Ye Fan felt a bit disappointed, still thirty-one Gold short, which was hard to come by.
The banging on the door outside grew louder, and Ye Fan approached, looking through the peephole.
He saw the other two zombies; they were the couple from this room.
Perhaps the couple went out, mutated while returning downstairs, and left the door open for them upstairs. Yet, they never got the chance to enter.
Facing two zombies simultaneously, Ye Fan felt uncertain. While hesitating, he noticed the female zombie wearing a gold bracelet and a diamond ring!