[This time's initial dungeon—Bio-Apocalypse (Single Player)]
[Main Mission: Survive for five days in a city full of crises]
[Side Mission: Kill zombies]
[Hidden Mission: Please explore on your own (Upon completion, you can immediately leave the dungeon world, greatly enhancing the final evaluation)]
After displaying the mission prompt, the livestream screen switched to one scene after another.
Viewers could choose any country's stream and watch any of the prep players.
Maybe it's because Lu Wenwu had a top-level talent and a peak of perfection skill, his livestream was ranked first among the prep players in the Divine Continent.
Apart from some officials locating the identities of the participants, most of the viewers watching the stream chose Lu Wenwu by default, hoping he's someone who can carry the game.
According to the typical style of this game, those who rank at the top are usually tough people.
The moment they clicked in, countless people instantly felt more anxious.
[Looks like a burly guy who often exercises, he has some advantage in this survival game!]
[Advantage my ass, didn't you see the chef's apron? This guy's a cook!]
[What's wrong with being a cook? Shouldn't a cook be good with knives?]
[Take another good look, judging by the apron and attire, this guy's a pastry chef!]
[Oh man, the first rank by default is a chef this time? What are the others going to be like? We're doomed!]
[Hold on, why does he have a dog too?]
[Don't ask, if you ask, it's on.]
[Aren't you afraid the difficulty will increase with a dog? This game is already lost.]
...
Lu Wenwu naturally wasn't aware of the bullet chat's sarcasm and negativity.
When he came to his senses, he found himself inside a dark steel compartment.
Beams of light shot through the shocking cracks in the "walls," seemingly torn open by a large monster's claws.
The rotten stench, rich scent of blood, and the smell of various things burned mixed in the air, wafting into Lu Wenwu's nostrils.
"Not bad, not as bad as the smell during basic training."
"Ugh... wow..."
He felt he could still endure it, but Mao Mao, with a keen sense of smell, seemed to have a different opinion and succeeded in making the place smell even worse.
Mao Mao kept conveying thoughts to Lu Wenwu.
"Master go... bad place!"
"Don't rush, let me check the mission and survey the surroundings first." Lu Wenwu patted Mao Mao's dog head.
Under normal difficulty, a beginner's survival mission in such a zombie dungeon typically lasts five days.
Bring a bottle of water in, find a safe place to hang on for five days. Endure hunger and thirst to survive, and you might just scrape a passing score in the end.
Unless someone comes in with stats far beyond ordinary people, or possesses special aids like pets, weapons, or powerful skills, the difficulty doesn't increase much.
Lu Wenwu's egg pancake cart was ignored by the system since it's just a piece of cooking equipment.
But a pet like Mao Mao, which can play a significant role in the early stages of the dungeon, greatly increases the difficulty. Thus, the main quest's duration for him was directly doubled.
He needed to survive a full ten days here to complete the main mission.
A dog alone raised it up to this level; if someone brought a nuclear bomb into the beginner dungeon...
The difficulty to clear it would probably be harder than curing the Mei Le Sect's brain issues.
"Ten days to survive... let me take a look."
Lu Wenwu examined the place where he and Mao Mao currently were and concentrated.
[Near-defunct armored infantry fighting vehicle]: 768/10000
[Current Status]: Blowout x3, external armor damaged, secondary weapon missing, primary weapon damaged
As expected, the weapons were dismantled, preventing any chance to farm scores.
The vehicle's body was still mostly intact.
This thing could barely move, probably meant for players trying to survive with the Heart Fire Package; without extraordinary power, it's hard to penetrate the armor of an infantry fighting vehicle.
The fuel tank was nearly full, and there were still quite a few shells and bullets left, potentially useful.
Lu Wenwu pondered as he gently opened a small gap in the observation window of the infantry vehicle to look outside.
On the empty road, scattered zombies aimlessly wandered at a distance, seemingly unaware of the one man and one dog in the vehicle.
[Zombie (E)]: 50/???
[Current Status]: Hunger, irritable, fear
Did the seal get unlocked on its own?
A little peek doesn't count as opening fully!
To think these things are so weak?
Seeing the zombies with blood bars as high as 50 points, Lu Wenwu felt a wave of relief.
He still had a spare knife in his cart, enough to deal with ordinary zombies.
However...
What's the meaning of this fear?
Could it be that there's an even stronger zombie hidden nearby?
The wrecked combat vehicle and the fear of zombies are enough to indicate there's a powerful creature lurking here.
If it were an ordinary mode without a pet, staying in the combat vehicle might be enough to survive for five days.
But now Lu Wenwu is experiencing high difficulty mode.
He doesn't dare to bet whether the boss will attack proactively.
But what is certain is that at least in the next few hours, as long as he doesn't get himself killed, it should be safe here.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be a trial but a death sentence.
As for that so-called hidden task, it might be to kill that big guy.
It's almost an obvious hint, not hard to guess.
After gathering some information, Lu Wenwu decides to get on with some big task.
According to Mao Mao's scent detection, this area is pretty safe.
Besides the remaining ammunition, he also found a pistol of an unknown model, explosives the size of three bricks, and an entrenching tool from a corner.
After putting all these items into his backpack, Lu Wenwu quietly opened the car door and quickly entered the nearby skyscraper with Mao Mao, who had already adapted to the smell.
The personal backpack is like in many games, with internal time being static.
Currently, there are a total of thirty slots, with similar items able to stack up to 999 in a single slot.
If it weren't for this backpack, taking away all the scattered items from the combat vehicle would be quite a challenge.
[Not too dumb, knowing to loot at the start]
[Not testing anything and just rushing into the building, isn't that dumb?]
[Fast forward to getting face-killed, fast forward to triggering another contaminated area]
[No need to watch this guy, switch the channel.]
[I'm amused, I'll tp over directly.]
The audience doesn't know how strong Mao Mao is, nor do they know it shares a mental connection with Lu Wenwu, working almost like a radar.
Using Mao Mao's keen sense of smell, Lu Wenwu has already determined that there are no zombies around.
The man and dog quickly move upwards in the building—they need a high point to observe the surrounding environment.
The interior of the building is filled with various shocking cracks and an overwhelming stench of blood.
Countless decayed and rotten corpses and fragments are piled here, along with the broken walls and ruins, narrating the terrifying disaster that once occurred.
[Shaky Building]: 2418/100000
[Current State]: Fragile Balance
This near blood-drained building made Lu Wenwu and Mao Mao even more gentle with their movements, afraid a careless step might collapse the place.
Judging by its blood volume, it might fully collapse if one or two columns break, or some load-bearing walls shatter.
Even more frightening, during Lu Wenwu's exploration, the building's blood volume decreased slightly yet again.
This made both the man and dog even more cautious, unintentionally speeding up their pace.
Just as they were about to reach the eighteenth floor, Mao Mao refused to take another step, biting on Lu Wenwu's pants leg and trying to pull him back.
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
Lu Wenwu patted Mao Mao's head, conveying his doubts directly through the system to Mao Mao.
"Something scary... up there... Master, don't go! Master, leave!"
Mao Mao responded indistinctly, its dog face nearly wrinkled beyond recognition.
For a dog sensitive to danger, it sensed something terrifying several floors above.
"Don't be afraid, stay here and don't move, most importantly, don't bark, I'll go up and take a look."
Comforting his somewhat cowardly dog, Lu Wenwu took off his shoes and snuck upwards alone.
The eighteenth floor is already halfway up this building.
Strangely, it's almost an unobstructed open floor.
This absurd design might be due to later tenants being dissatisfied and, lacking common sense, knocking everything down.
Now, this uncultured tenant is lying in the center, snoring soundly.
It's a giant zombie at least five meters tall.
Unlike ordinary zombies with shriveled flesh, some power seems to make its "blood" flow again, its muscular body constantly exuding a frightening aura.
Thick dark green liquid is seeping from its cracks and dripping down from its menacing bone spikes onto the floor.
[Heavily Injured Mutant Giant Zombie (C+)]: 5724/???
[Current State]: Critical, Deep Sleep, Recovery Suppressed
You call this thing critical?
Lu Wenwu was full of question marks.