“Isn’t it obvious?” Su Shisan touched the sores on her face. “But what about you? How’d you fake yours?”
The woman’s sores looked perfectly real. No flaws. To survive under that old gentleman’s nose, her disguise had to be airtight. Su Shisan was genuinely curious.
Because if she answered poorly, Su Shisan could figure out whether she was an NPC—or a player.
“I… I was born this way. That’s how I escaped infection,” the woman replied after a pause.
Su Shisan’s lips curled into a slow smile. A player, then.
She gave the woman a friendly pat and led her to the couch.
“Sounds like a stroke of luck. Don’t worry—I’ll get you out of here tomorrow. Just call me Sister Wang.”
Wang was a random alias. In this scenario, she was a gentle preschool teacher. “Su Shisan” would’ve broken immersion.
“Then just call me Xiao You,” the woman replied. Her real username was [Youlemei], but she kept that to herself.
Most NPCs didn’t question weird usernames. But some important ones did. As an experienced player, she wasn’t taking that risk.
Then she asked: “Can I… stay with you?”
It was the best survival plan she could come up with in those few seconds.
Unlike her own fake identity, this woman was a real infected NPC. She’d even used an item to scan her—no special abilities, no trap setup.
If Sister Wang was willing to shelter her, [Youlemei] figured she could survive until the end of the dungeon and reassess from there.
She wasn’t begging, though. Players who made it to A-rank weren’t soft.
In her inventory was an item that could control NPCs’ bodies. If Sister Wang didn’t cooperate, she’d use it.
She hadn’t chosen the old man because her tool only manipulated movement, not thoughts. Items that could tame an NPC were absurdly expensive. She couldn’t afford them.
Skills offered better value. [Youlemei]’s passive skill was Disguise—she could take on the form of any corrupted being she’d seen, once per day. Her current look was a dead infected’s.
If not for meeting Su Shisan, her plan tomorrow was to impersonate the old man—risky, since he tortured and ate people daily. But not doing it would’ve gotten her caught instantly.
Torture she could stomach—years in horror survival games had hardened her like stone. NPCs weren’t real people to her. But cannibalism? That crossed her line.
Moral disgust aside, it was risky. Most of the bodies had already come in contact with infected… which meant their flesh was probably contaminated too. “What if I mutate after just one bite?”
It was already the fifth day since the dungeon began, and by now, she had thoroughly understood the transmission mechanics of the Blood Cross virus.
—□□ transmission.
All it took was physical contact with a Blood Cross’s □□, and within three to five minutes, mutation was inevitable.
Judging by past experience, a virus with such terrifying transmission speed would either have an immediate antidote… or, more likely, players would be granted some kind of privilege.
So far, it seemed to be the latter. It had already been several days, and she hadn’t heard a single whisper about an antidote.
Yesterday, she’d even overheard the old man on the phone saying that there was no cure for the virus.
Which meant that eating questionable human meat from [Youlemei] was absolutely out of the question.
In this dungeon, the death trigger was clearly infection by the Blood Cross virus.
So her only safe option was Su Shisan.
“No.” Su Shisan rejected her flatly. But seeing the dangerous glint in the other woman’s eyes, she calmly added, “I’m leaving in a few days.”
“Leaving? Leaving where?”
[Youlemei] was momentarily stunned, then quickly asked.
Seeing that she’d caught her attention, Su Shisan sighed as if in resignation.
“Didn’t you notice? That old man has had his eye on me all day. He’s probably one of those types who thinks we ‘higher beings’ should stick together. But I don’t want to be part of his little alliance.”
“Then why not kill him?”
[Youlemei] asked, wary but confused. “If you can’t take him down alone, I’ll help.”
She knew all the Blood Crosses loved to kill. Even if this one wasn’t as bloodthirsty, the fact that the old man was already threatening her—why hadn’t she made a move?
“We can’t kill him. This world needs people like him.” Su Shisan’s reply was calm and measured.
Seeing the confusion in the girl’s eyes, she offered her reasoning:
“With how fast the virus spreads—and no cure in sight—this world is bound to fall to the Blood Crosses. That’s a given.”
[Youlemei] nodded. That was a brutally fair point. The Blood Cross virus made the zombies she’d seen before look like jokes. It was stronger, faster, and deadlier. The lack of a cure was a death sentence.
Unless someone launched a nuke and wiped out the entire city, there was no avoiding collapse.
Seeing her agree, Su Shisan continued:
“When most of the normal humans are gone, the remaining Blood Crosses will turn on each other. But that’s not the future I want. I still want to live.
“So people like me—and like that old man—we need more of us, not less. We’re the ones who’ll rebuild order after the end. I won’t attack him lightly, and I bet he feels the same.”
She hadn’t expected an NPC in a dungeon to be thinking this far ahead.
[Youlemei] stood silent for a long time, a chill running through her.
She’d always thought that the Blood Crosses, even if they could use tools, were just mindless monsters. But here was one with foresight, with vision.
If more Blood Crosses turned out like her…
Humanity wouldn’t stand a chance.
In the future, these ruthless killers—these inhuman infected—might just become the new rulers of the world.
That thought sent a shiver down her spine. But at least, she consoled herself, this was just a dungeon. A fifteen-day loop. They’d never actually live to see that terrifying future. Still…
“Why don’t you come with me?” The words came out suddenly.
“If the Blood Crosses are going to turn on each other, it’s too dangerous for you to be alone out there. But if we travel together, we can watch each other’s backs.”
The more she thought about it, the more sense it made.
First of all, Su Shisan was a real Blood Cross. Having her around would make [Youlemei] look more trustworthy.
And if they ever ran into a situation where eating human flesh became necessary—well, Su Shisan could take care of that part.
Besides, even though they’d only known each other a short while, [Youlemei] had a strong hunch:
Su Shisan wouldn’t betray her.
This was someone who thought deeply, someone who already understood that once the normal humans were wiped out, the Blood Crosses would start tearing each other apart.
That meant she had every reason to keep [Youlemei] around—for as long as possible.
And in return, [Youlemei] could protect her. As an A-rank player, her combat stats were no joke. No one at her level could afford to slack off. Unless they had a death wish.
But to her surprise, Su Shisan didn’t immediately accept this seemingly perfect deal.
“If I go with you,” she said thoughtfully, “what if you run into one of your human teammates and miss the chance to reunite with them?”
[Youlemei] blinked, then smiled. “You’re a good person. Now I’m genuinely curious what you were like before you got infected.”
Honestly, if she hadn’t just watched Su Shisan kill that pitiful little boy without even blinking… she would’ve suspected this woman hadn’t been infected at all.
Still, a partnership was worth pursuing.
“I’m not worried,” she added. “If I run into a teammate, I’ll definitely find a way to reconnect with them.”
Su Shisan gave a slow nod. In that split-second when she lowered her eyes, a sharp gleam flickered in them.
If traveling together would really hinder [Youlemei] from meeting her allies, Su Shisan would’ve declined.
After all, she’d already planted a tracker on her when she patted her on the shoulder earlier. Even without following her, she could monitor her movements at any time.
But now that [Youlemei] had a way to reconnect with her teammates, Su Shisan didn’t mind sticking close. After all, a tracker could be found and removed. But following in person? Foolproof.
With no more concerns, she agreed readily: “Alright then. We’ll leave tomorrow.”
With departure set for the next day, today was all about prepping.
First things first—food and water. Even for Su Shisan, those were essentials.
Technically, she wasn’t afraid of infection and could’ve gone shopping at the supermarket. But places like that were Blood Cross playgrounds—those lunatics didn’t care who they tore apart, even their own kind.
Su Shisan wasn’t strong enough to risk it. She wasn’t about to throw herself into the chaos.
And since [Youlemei] still had supplies, she didn’t want to go to the supermarket either. One splash of infected blood and she could lose half her life for nothing.
So the two of them each carried a large hiking backpack, stuffed full of compressed biscuits and bottled water. Clothes were unnecessary—who cared about bathing or changing in the apocalypse?
The only other must-have item: sanitary pads.
Su Shisan didn’t need them anymore in this dungeon, but [Youlemei] did—she happened to be on her period this week.
“Honestly, I think this virus’s only upside is ending periods,” [Youlemei] joked with a weak smile.
Of course, she didn’t mean it. She’d rather deal with cramps every month for the rest of her life than see the world become what it was now.
Su Shisan didn’t comment either way.
Still, to avoid being ditched once [Youlemei] found her teammates, she decided to rack up some favorability points while she could.
“If you’re not feeling well,” she said considerately, “we can stay one more day. There’s no rush.”
It was only Day 7—barely halfway through the dungeon. Su Shisan wasn’t in a hurry.
But [Youlemei] was.
She was afraid that gentlemanly old man might come to his senses and drag her back. She hadn’t worried about that before, but after Su Shisan mentioned being targeted by him, it started gnawing at her.
What if he came back for her?
With that thought, her expression hardened. “No need. We leave tomorrow.”
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