Chapter 19: “The Cafeteria”
After confirming the details, Shen Jinwen prepared to set off.
Before she left, Xu Zhi tugged Gouzi’s ear and reminded, “Be smart, got it?”
Gouzi barked once. Xu Zhi figured it probably understood.
Then she tapped the wrist of the motionless Yi. Reluctantly, Yi flicked its tongue and crawled off her hand, resuming the size Shen Jinwen had seen before.
Once Shen Jinwen left with the two familiars, Xu Zhi returned to her room and took out the game console. Through it, she could observe the familiars’ progress in real time from their perspective.
However, commands already issued couldn’t be changed or revoked. For the next seven hours, she could only monitor their actions on screen—she couldn’t update their orders. That was one downside of being “AFK.”
Maybe when the familiars became more intelligent, she’d be able to issue new commands through the game in real time.
For now, she could only hope Yi and Gouzi were clever enough.
On screen, the trio took about forty minutes to reach the entrance of the affiliated high school. That was the time it took walking through the mist. They’d even encountered some mutated creatures on the way, which cost a little extra time. If visibility and movement weren’t impaired, it would’ve taken less than half an hour on foot from the school to the old residential area.
“They’re way too close…”
If the school were even a bit farther, Xu Zhi wouldn’t be in such a rush to deal with them.
When Shen Jinwen arrived at the school gates, Xu Zhi, through the familiar’s view, saw that the iron gate was wide open. Two teenage boys stood at the entrance like guards. Xu Zhi guessed they’d probably tricked some people with the broadcast over the past two days, and always kept someone at the gate to “welcome” gullible prey.
Yi had already shrunk down and slipped quietly into the school grounds. Meanwhile, one of the gate “guards” quickly noticed Shen Jinwen alone with a dog and eagerly approached—without even alerting his companion.
His companion, upon seeing his movement, looked instinctively in the same direction, saw Shen Jinwen, and also headed toward her.
As they drew closer and noticed the unusually large dog behind her, they hesitated slightly. The excitement on their faces dimmed a bit. One looked at Shen Jinwen and asked, “You here to join the survivor base too?”
Shen Jinwen nodded. “Yes.”
“That your pet?” They eyed Gouzi warily, clearly put off by its abnormal size.
Although these crazies lacked intellect, they weren’t totally brainless.
“It—”
Just as Shen Jinwen started to reply, Gouzi suddenly lunged at them in silence. Its sharper-than-average teeth sank viciously into one boy’s thigh. A scream burst from his mouth.
Even Shen Jinwen was startled for a moment—but she quickly drew the knife from her back and struck at the other boy’s leg as he kicked toward Gouzi.
The fight broke out instantly. If it had been a regular person, that bite would’ve crippled the leg, but these lunatics could still hobble around despite the injury. They were wounded, but not seriously.
“What ridiculous physical durability. Are they even still human?”
Watching through the screen, Xu Zhi was also surprised by Gouzi’s sudden attack. But after thinking about it, it made sense—beasts didn’t bother with pleasantries; they struck when they saw the chance. Unlike humans, who made small talk first.
These lunatics had the bodies of wild dogs and the brains of fools—stuck somewhere between animal and man. Their low intelligence was clearly one of their main weaknesses.
During the skirmish, Shen Jinwen and Gouzi deliberately let one of them escape to sound the alarm. After the clash began, Gouzi even howled a few times—Xu Zhi guessed that would lure more people out.
Seeing the situation unfold, Xu Zhi switched the screen to Yi’s perspective. It had already shrunk and snuck into the interior of the school, now roughly the size it had been when perched on her wrist.
Even in miniature form, its crawling speed hadn’t decreased. In fact, due to its level-up, all its senses had sharpened significantly. It no longer relied solely on thermal vision—it could now easily detect the scent of blood nearby.
Following the trail, Yi arrived at the cafeteria.
The moment it entered—even through the pixelated screen—Xu Zhi was stunned by the sight inside.
Blood. Everywhere. On the floors, on the tables, on the walls. Blood and mangled body parts painted a scene straight from hell.
Even the words “Affiliated High School Cafeteria 1,” scrawled in red paint above the service window, were now barely legible beneath the gore.
“…How many people died here?”
Just glancing at the severed limbs on the floor, there had to be at least fifteen victims.
The grotesque scene felt odd to Xu Zhi. Even if they enjoyed killing, why make such a spectacle of it?
They didn’t eat the bodies—only dismembered them. Was this some twisted pleasure?
Moreover, as Yi crawled to a higher vantage point, Xu Zhi looked down at the cafeteria through the pixelated game screen. The limbs scattered across the floor seemed chaotically placed at first—but on closer inspection, there was a faint order in the mess. It unsettled her deeply.
Unfortunately, this was more of a gut feeling than a solid theory. The narrator didn’t chime in to confirm her suspicions, so Xu Zhi simply made a mental note of the oddity.
There were many lunatics in the cafeteria. Xu Zhi counted over thirty—double what that student had claimed earlier.
“Is their group growing that quickly?”
To be honest, Xu Zhi didn’t think the two lunatics had any reason to lie about their numbers—especially since they hadn’t planned on letting her live long enough to find out.
But what would happen if these madmen were left unchecked and continued expanding?
Xu Zhi only pondered the thought briefly before shaking her head. Nothing good, that was for sure.
In the blood-soaked cafeteria, the lunatics sat calmly in chairs. Suddenly, the door burst open. A man, covered in blood, hobbled inside shouting something. Seven or eight people immediately stood up and rushed toward the door.
Their expressions weren’t anxious—if anything, they looked excited. The way they ran out didn’t suggest they were going to rescue a teammate—it looked more like they were eager to seize prey.
Not long after they left, someone emerged from the kitchen.
He wore the cleanest clothes in the entire room, and a pair of slightly refined-looking glasses. Compared to the others’ manic demeanor, he looked completely normal.
Which, in turn, made him the most terrifying of them all.
