Chapter Four: Survival Rate 0%

Outside the Dormitory Manager’s Office.

Li Luyan’s hand rested on the door handle, cold and metallic to the touch.

Faint noises came from inside—someone was there, the dorm manager—but under these circumstances,

‘She’ was probably no longer the dorm manager.

“Who is it? Come in quickly...”

A hoarse voice squeezed out from the crack of the door. It was the dorm manager’s voice, but there was an indescribable oddness to it.

As if a lump of old phlegm were stuck in the throat.

Li Luyan’s fingertips paused slightly.

The dorm manager had mutated too.

But compared to those other monsters just now, the dorm manager was a more advanced creature. At least she could speak, even lure people inside.

Suddenly, Li Luyan curled the corner of her mouth, as if greeting someone casually: “Aunt Wang, it’s Luyan!”

As if completely unaware of the black, putrid water seeping out from under the door.

“Oh, Luyan...” The voice inside brightened suddenly, accompanied by the sickening sound of bones grinding—“Come in quickly. Auntie has something delicious for you. Crunch crunch...”

It even had emotion—how fascinating. Far more interesting than the mindless brutes upstairs.

“What is Auntie eating?” Li Luyan tilted her head, eyes fixed unblinking on the door.

“Peanuts...” Before the words fell, another crisp sound rang out—

‘Crunch.’

Li Luyan smiled silently.

She slowly drew a fruit knife from behind her waist; the black blood on the blade had dried.

Meanwhile, her other hand carefully twisted the doorknob.

The moment the door opened, a wave of rank, fishy stench hit her face.

Under the dim yellow light, Li Luyan finally saw ‘Aunt Wang’ clearly.

Her upper body looked normal, but her lower half had grown webbed feet.

No wonder those female students were deceived.

“Good child, come eat some peanuts.” If one ignored the webbed feet and the ‘peanuts’ in her mouth,

She didn’t seem so unusual.

Li Luyan placed her hand behind her back, gripping the fruit knife tightly, her fingertips trembling.

“Aunt Wang, I want the key to leave the dormitory.”

The ‘friendly’ Aunt Wang’s expression changed instantly, her skin swelling into a bluish-gray, the corners of her mouth stretching back toward her ears.

Hm, now she looked a lot like those monsters upstairs.

“Good children don’t leave their dorms! You’re not a good child, you’re not.”

The dorm manager’s body suddenly sprang forward like a coiled spring!

That bloody maw lunged straight for Li Luyan’s face, exuding stench and blood.

Li Luyan was prepared; she dodged to the side, slashing the fruit knife fiercely across the dorm manager’s throat.

Black blood sprayed out, but the dorm manager seemed unfazed by the pain, only enraged: “You’re a bad child, daring to bring forbidden items! Bad child! Bad child.”

Tentacles suddenly sprouted from the slit throat, lashing viciously at Li Luyan.

A purple-blue whip mark appeared instantly across her forearm.

Li Luyan’s pupils contracted sharply—why did the usual methods for ordinary monsters not work on the dorm manager?

The sudden change caught her off guard; the only weapon slipped from her grasp in pain, falling beneath a cabinet.

Not easy to retrieve—was she about to die here? Like a lamb stripped of its claws, awaiting slaughter.

“I hate disobedient bad children the most; they all deserve to be eliminated.”

No—it wasn’t over yet.

In a flash, she dodged the dorm manager’s snapping jaws, snatched up the fire axe under the table, and swung at the thrashing tentacles.

The dark blue-black tentacle snapped off, the dorm manager screamed, and new tentacles grew immediately.

Such incredible regeneration speed.

The new tentacle looked thicker, about the size of a baby’s arm.

The dorm manager emitted a piercing, eerie laugh; the long tentacle cracked like a whip, striking Li Luyan hard and sending her crashing into the wall.

Pain exploded across her back, and a faint metallic taste of blood rose in her mouth.

“Bad children... must be eliminated...” The dorm manager advanced slowly, her wide-open mouth radiating a nauseating stench.

No... not over yet. She spotted the alcohol on the table—if only she could reach it...

“Aunt Wang, bad children should be eliminated, but I’m a good child! Do you remember when you didn’t eat and I brought you that boxed meal?”

“Good child... boxed meal?” The monster before her looked puzzled.

Now.

She reached into her pocket for a lighter, while grabbing the alcohol spray with the other hand.

“Aunt Wang, it’s time to end this.”

The moment the flames erupted, the dorm manager screamed in agony.

Her scales curled and fell away rapidly under the heat, revealing repulsive flesh beneath, as if her skin were being peeled alive.

Li Luyan seized the chance to grab the dropped key and dashed toward the door without looking back.

Behind her, the burning dorm manager writhed wildly, releasing inhuman howls.

The air was thick with the smell of roasted seafood—rotten seafood.

She had escaped...

Leaning against the wall, gasping heavily, the key in her hand slick with sweat and blood.

Upstairs, the sounds of tearing and biting grew more intense; the entire building was crawling with monsters.

Li Luyan opened the dormitory’s main door. The moment she stepped outside, she collapsed to the ground.

Trembling, she pulled out her phone; the screen was cracked from a fall but still functional.

508 Li Luyan: [The main door is open, get out quickly, Building Three is falling.]

603 Zhang Min: [We’re trapped on the third floor, too many monsters.]

404 Qiu Lingling: [Can you come help us? We have a weapon, just found it @Little Luyan]

This surprised Li Luyan somewhat.

Zhang Wan’an’s sister was still alive. Surviving this long at least proved she wasn’t foolish.

But their situation was just like when she and Ye Zhouzhou were trapped.

She couldn’t go back to save them now.

Too many—packed everywhere...

She glanced back at the dormitory.

Several inhuman shadows clung to the windows on the third floor, their webbed paws pressed against the glass, countless, one after another...

Li Luyan wiped the half-coagulated blood off her face and weighed the axe in her hand.

“It’s too heavy...”

Looks like she needed to find a more manageable weapon.

Otherwise, this big axe would only waste unnecessary energy.

Where to go first?

Definitely not the playground, where monsters congregated densely—probably more than the remaining students.

In such a situation, her stomach growled, as if on cue—naturally, when hungry, one should find food.

The small convenience store.

Its location was remote; even if there were mutated monsters, likely only one or two mutated clerks.

She looked at the axe again.

Though cumbersome, it was more than enough to handle two ‘water monsters’.

Provided they weren’t high-level creatures like the dorm manager...

At least for now, there was nowhere else to go. What chance did a hungry, ‘frail’ woman have of survival?

Zero percent.

Her stomach protested again; Li Luyan licked her cracked lips.

The distant sun was rising gradually.

“Almost dawn... how long has it been since I drank water?”

She stepped forward toward the small store.

Filling her stomach and finding a handy weapon were equally important.