Chapter 86 Plague Town 8

A translucent panel popped up, displaying the following:

Name: Su Han (ID-verified)

Level: 6 (EXP 10/30)

Profession 1: Nutritionist (Maxed Innate Ability, cannot be upgraded further)

Profession 2: Artisan Soapmaker (Intermediate Innate Ability, EXP 25/30)

Satiety: 740/740

Cleanliness: 740/740

Stamina: 740/740

She then received 75 points and a Completion bonus, allowing her to choose any two options.

"A. EXP +5."

"B. Satiety, Cleanliness, and Stamina caps each +20."

"C. Obtain a rocket launcher."

A rocket launcher? Su Han’s eyes widened. After a moment of consideration, she chose options A and C. EXP +5, followed by an Innate Ability level-up.

Innate Ability (Advanced): During dungeons, there is a Daily 60% chance of obtaining two handmade soaps, a 15% chance of obtaining three handmade soaps + two lilac soaps, and a 2% chance of obtaining premium soap.

After making her selection, the game capsule opened.

Su Han stood up and immediately logged into the survival game forum.

While playing, she'd had several hunches. Due to safety concerns, she couldn’t test them recklessly and had to suppress her curiosity. Now that the dungeon was finally over, she couldn’t wait to find answers.

The forum buzzed with trending posts.

The most popular one was titled, "BS Game! I was just one minute late, and it actually eliminated me! What the hell!!!"

Opening the post, Su Han found the original poster fuming. He claimed he had only wanted to reach the pharmacy for stocking up before others. However, the store was crowded, and the long queue delayed his arrival. To his shock, the system eliminated him without hesitation! Just like that!

The poster was a veteran player who had cleared multiple dungeons. Blindsided by this sudden setback, he desperately vented his frustration by condemning the game. Yet, the replies showed zero sympathy.

2L: "Are you stupid? Do you think others didn’t consider rushing to supermarkets or pharmacies first? They avoided it because making detours might make them late to the square, risking elimination for no reason!"

3L: "You’ve survived until the 8th round—can’t you be less naive? If the system says you must arrive by 9 AM, then it means by 9 AM. A second late, and you’re out."

4L: "So there really are smartass idiots like this. No wonder two fools got eliminated for being late—probably had the same brilliant idea."

5L: "That’s why you should play it safe. Always gambling with life-and-death speed runs? One misstep, and you’re done."

...

Some roasted him mercilessly, others lectured with earnest advice, while a few simply spectated. But not a single reply offered comfort. Furious, the original poster bailed on the thread.

Su Han shook her head, closed the post, and continued browsing.

At that moment, another post titled "Yet Another Open-Ended Dungeon—Tell Your Story" quickly went viral.

Upon checking again, the replies had already surpassed over 200.

Su Han's spirits lifted—this was it! She immediately opened the thread to read.

Inside the post, players were ranting bitterly.

5L, "The moment I saw the source of infection, my mind had never been clearer—if he were gone, wouldn’t the town be safe? For everyone’s sake, this person had to die, even if he was just a child. So I hardened my heart and squeezed the trigger."

"But the next second, the system announced that the viral host had died. If healthy individuals appeared within a 50-meter radius of the viral host’s death location, there was a high chance of infection. If a healthy person had open wounds, the infection rate doubled."

"The debuff radius instantly jumped from 5m to 50m, WTF! Only then did I realize—killing the host didn’t solve anything. A bunch of useless noobs had already been exposed to the source, and every single one of them had a chance of infection!"

8L, "What a bunch of teammates with room-temperature IQs! I pleaded repeatedly not to kill the viral host, but they wouldn’t listen. And now? The host died, the antibodies vanished, and the hospital could no longer develop a cure. Then the pursuit squads rolled out in full gear, determined to hunt down every source of infection and every potentially infected resident. They turned a normal difficulty into a living hell—unbelievable!"

23L, "Man, this dungeon is next-level crazy! At first, players, the boy, and the professor all went to the hospital for quarantine. But the moment any player became a source of infection, they’d get hunted down by every other player. No one can survive being ganged up on by dozens! I finally understood—this game isn’t about skill, it’s about luck."

45L, "After the lecture, everyone instinctively scattered. Once a new infection source appeared, players fled in panic, got chased like hunted animals, only to infect healthy residents and turn them into new sources… Then those new sources kept running and infecting others, creating an endless downward spiral."

"By Day 9, over two-thirds of the town’s residents had become infection sources, triggering the ‘Death Aura’ status—losing 100 stamina per day. Oh, and this -100 stacks with the -60. So that’s 160 stamina lost per day…"

"Barely held on until Day 10, then nearly cried from relief—I could finally GTFO of this hellish dungeon! Any longer, and my meds would’ve run out."

...

200L, a summary from the thread OP: "From all cases, we can conclude that the viral host must never be harmed. Once dead, all residents within a 50-meter radius risk infection. Also, the host’s death means no antibodies, so the hospital can’t develop a cure."

"The number of infection sources varies, affecting difficulty. Easier scenarios involve pursuit squads using force to detain suspects and quarantine them. Harder ones? Suspects get executed on the spot. Generally, the more infected, the tougher the dungeon."

"If you’re unlucky enough to trigger ‘Death Aura’ (-100 stamina/day), unless you’ve stockpiled mountains of meds in your Portable Storage or miraculously level up while near death to restore stats, there’s basically no other way to clear it."

"Clearly, Viral Town is highly flexible—difficulty depends entirely on player actions. Also, I’m curious—has any server had a true alpha player who commanded respect take charge and make all the right choices?"

228L, "Yep. H11 Town was lucky enough to have such a player. Right after the lecture, she realized everyone should quarantine at the hospital. Sadly, teammates with room-temperature IQs were too quick—only about fifty players stayed put (they hadn’t run yet)."

"But the pro was dead set on going to the hospital. She had everyone hold hands, forming a 7-meter sterile perimeter to keep healthy residents away. Smoothly made it to the hospital—first the boy into quarantine, then the players. (Think processing prisoners.)"

"Only five heroes stayed outside, saying they’d round up fleeing players. No idea how they did it, but I took a nap in quarantine, woke up, messed around a bit, then heard the system announce, ‘Viral host quarantined, all carriers quarantined, virus fully contained.’"

"After that, it was just eating, drinking, and living the good life. By Day 5, the unlucky infected stayed in quarantine, while the rest were ‘released’ and free to move."

"Some tried to stir trouble, but the pro shut it down. No clue how, but infected players stayed put without causing issues."

"On Day 10, the hospital developed the real cure, everyone was saved, and the system announced early clearance."

232L, "OMFG OMFG OMFG! Am I the only one who noticed? The pro—she’s a woman, not a typo?"

235L, "Well, well, well. Look at this—other servers have all the luck."

240L, "Let’s be real—this was a complete carry, right?"

242L, "I was on that server too. On Day 10, I left early with the pro, fully restocked—felt amazing. Gotta light some incense to Buddha tonight! Hope they bless me with another pro next dungeon."

243L, "So damn jealous I could spit. The game’s getting harder, and I’m barely hanging on. Without a pro, my IQ probably maxes out here."

250L, "Me again, 228L. Heh, if you thought 228L was the end, you’re naive! After the pro left on Day 10, the survivors started a free-for-all."

"Didn’t get it at first—was this some new celebration? Then I realized some got too careless in their joy, so others took the chance to hunt players and eliminate competition."

"Total chaos. No idea why I didn’t just leave with the pro instead of staying and getting my ass handed to me. Even after clearing, it felt like a near-wipeout."

"The most infuriating part was that you could only request to exit the dungeon after exiting combat mode, but when being chased, there was no way to break free. Just as I thought I’d get disqualified from the game after clearing the dungeon, the combat status finally vanished. Without hesitation, I booked it! Damn it, by the time I left, over twenty people were already wiped out. This didn’t feel like a team victory—more like a group suicide."

"See? Without a carry player leading, it’s just chaos."

Dozens of replies followed with "HAHAHAHA," nearly laughing themselves silly over the unexpected turn of events.

Su Han never imagined that even after the game was cleared, players could still stir up trouble. She was speechless for a long while before sighing deeply, "Human nature is unpredictable. Those you can’t trust will always prove untrustworthy."

Just as she was about to close the forum, she suddenly remembered she hadn’t checked the latest stats and hurriedly scrolled through.

"Status report: 660,000 players participated in the eighth round, 270,000 advanced, with a success rate of 41%. Additionally, 346 players lasted the full 15 days to complete the full run."

The player count was steadily shrinking. Su Han keenly realized that competition would only grow fiercer in the future.

On the morning of the 9th day, she logged into the game, and the mechanical voice promptly announced, "Welcome to 'Unlimited Survival Game.' You currently have 75 points. This is the 9th dungeon. The store is offline, and you may enter the game directly."

"Mm, straight into the game," Su Han confirmed.

A flash of white light, and she vanished.

When she opened her eyes again, Su Han found herself standing on a desolate wasteland.

At the same time, the system’s mechanical voice began its introduction, "This round is a survival game set in a zombie apocalypse. Players must fight like hell to stay alive."

"Note 1: After surviving for 10 days, players meet the victory requirements and may request to exit the dungeon at any time."

"Note 2: If HP hits zero, the character dies, and the player is disqualified."

"Note 3: The longer the survival period, the better the completion bonuses."

"Note 4: Players who complete the hardcore challenge—surviving 20 days in the dungeon—will receive additional rewards. After 20 days, all surviving players will be automatically extracted."

"Note 5: Shelter I22 (your current server) has 1,000 players, 4,000 NPCs, and 50,000 zombies."

50,000! A 10:1 ratio! Su Han’s heart sank as she felt unprecedented pressure.

She thought the introduction was over, but the system continued, "Note 6: If scratched by a zombie, players will get infected with the zombie virus, losing 100 HP per day."

"Note 7: Half a year has passed since the zombie virus outbreak. Any edible plants in the surroundings are long gone, and food, clean water, and medicine are scarce as hell."

"Note 8: Most survivors have holed up in shelters, but their exact coordinates are unknown. Find them yourself."

Author’s note: Finally, a zombie dungeon!

Once the dungeon is cleared, leaving early or on the 15th day grants the same EXP, as clearly stated in the previous chapter.

**