Shi You sat on the toilet, pulled out his cell phone, flipped through the map of the mall he'd taken on the first floor, and planned his escape route.
The mall was far too crowded. In his previous life, he'd come to the mall to look for supplies after reaching Level 7.
If he got surrounded by zombies during the early stages of the apocalypse, even with a semi-legendary weapon capable of killing zombies with ease, there were simply too many of them. Even if they didn't kill him, they could exhaust him to death.
“If I focus on escaping…”
Shi You looked toward the mall's two emergency exits.
There was a stairwell emergency exit on both the left and right sides of the mall. The stairs on the left led down to the first floor, while the stairs on the right led directly to the underground parking garage.
The people in the mall weren't confined to the building. The plaza outside was even more terrifying.
Then he had to take the stairs on the right down to the underground parking garage, avoid the crowded areas, and get out of the mall—which would be no different from a meat grinder during the early stages of the apocalypse—as quickly as possible.
This was the best route.
Shi You checked the time. Five minutes remained.
He unlocked the door and was about to push it open to check the situation outside.
Suddenly, footsteps came from outside the restroom. Judging by the sound, there seemed to be two people.
Shi You gently pulled the door back, leaving only a narrow gap. A few seconds later, a man and woman sneaked in.
Huh?
Shi You froze, then narrowed his eyes.
The apocalypse would arrive soon, but judging from the suspicious behavior of the two, he had no idea what they were planning. They just better not interfere with him collecting his treasure chest.
He watched as the two of them looked around, paying particular attention to whether each restroom stall was locked. After confirming that no one was inside, they hurried into the stall at the far end. After a brief bout of whispered conversation, an indescribable slurping sound rang out.
“Oh… so that's what this is.”
Realizing what was happening, Shi You held his forehead helplessly.
He really couldn't blame anyone but himself.
In the apocalypse, men and women getting together was perfectly normal. There was no need to sneak around, so he'd assumed the two of them were up to something else.
Shi You pushed the door open a little farther. The minutes ticked by, and no one else came in.
When the time on his phone changed from 11:59 to 12:00,
A dazzling light flashed in front of Shi You. A moderately sized black treasure chest appeared in the radiance. It was square, about the size of a small safe. Different demon faces were engraved on all six sides, while the chest emitted alternating black and white light.
There was no doubt about it. This was a semi-legendary treasure chest!
The next second, a notification window announcing the arrival of the Doomsday Game appeared. Shi You had no interest in looking at it and swiped it aside, focusing instead on listening to the movements in the neighboring stall.
Less than three seconds later, a man's cry of pain rang out from next door. Then a ghostly wail suddenly rose from outside the mall.
Shi You slowly closed the door, held his breath, and didn't move.
After more than ten seconds, the man's wail abruptly stopped. Then a creepy chewing sound came from next door, accompanied by a large amount of blood flowing into Shi You's stall.
Zombies loved eating human brains.
Shi You could clearly picture what was happening inside. The woman, transformed into a zombie, used her powerful fingernails to pry open the man's skull, then bit into his brain and the surrounding skull with loud, wet chomps.
Shi You held his breath, silent as a statue. It didn't take the zombie long to finish eating the brain. Once it finished its meal, the zombie would be drawn outside by the screams.
Sure enough, things unfolded exactly as Shi You had predicted. Before long, he heard a loud crash, followed by rhythmic footsteps.
Only after the footsteps had faded did Shi You finally exhale and push open the restroom door.
Besides the treasure chest, the scene before him included a trail of bloody footprints leading from the stall to the outside. Shi You glanced at the man inside. Aside from his brutally pried-open skull, everything below it was a mess of fresh blood!
If a man encountered his girlfriend turning into a zombie while they were doing that, and he were reborn with his old memories, he would probably be so traumatized that he'd suffer from sexual dysfunction for the rest of his life.
When the man and woman entered the restroom, Shi You already knew there was a chance they would turn into zombies. But he couldn't drive them out of the restroom. At that time, there were still five minutes before the apocalypse arrived. If he stepped out and got into an argument with them, attracting even more people, everything would be over.
He had no need to step out.
There were three possibilities for the two of them: neither turned into a zombie, both turned into zombies, or one turned into a zombie while the other didn't.
If neither turned into a zombie, the two of them would be drawn to the treasure chest. Shi You could deal with them easily.
As for the other two possibilities, they no longer mattered. In an enclosed space, Shi You's safety would be in danger, but the screams outside were deafening. The zombie would certainly be drawn outside.
Shi You walked forward and opened the treasure chest. It wasn't locked, so there was no waiting period and no skill required to open it. With a click, the chest opened.
Three cards lay quietly inside.
Shi You picked up the cards, and the treasure chest dissolved into light.
Shi You examined the card's attributes.
Weapon: [Frost Jade (Evolvable)]
Type: Miaodao (a Chinese sword with a long, narrow, double-edged, slightly curved blade)
Rank: Semi-legendary
Durability: 150/150
Attribute: Increases all four stats by 10%
Special Attribute: Ice Resistance +30% (reduces ice damage and received abnormal status effects)
Special Attribute 1: Ice Crystal Power—can deal additional ice damage to enemies
Special Attribute 2: Attacks ignore 10% of armor
Special Attribute 3: After combat, Frost Jade restores 5 durability every hour
Special Attribute 4: Not yet activated
Special Attribute 5: Not yet activated
Additional Skill 1: Not yet activated
Additional Skill 2: Not yet activated
Kills required for upgrade: 2,000
Equip Requirements: None
Just like in his previous life, the weapon and attributes inside the treasure chest hadn't changed at all.
The Frost Jade Miaodao.
The weapon Shi You had used until the day he died in his previous life. Although it was only semi-legendary, after evolving three times, its attributes were no weaker than those of a legendary weapon. It could also unlock a quest chain later on. Once the complete set was assembled, the semi-legendary set would be equivalent to legendary equipment piece by piece.
Of course, Shi You hadn't obtained such a powerful weapon because he was lucky. All of this had been laid out for the protagonist!
After his death, this weapon naturally fell into the protagonist's hands and became his signature weapon. It wasn't until he obtained a divine weapon with even stronger attributes that the protagonist gave the Frost Jade to one of the women in his harem.
In his previous life, Shi You had merely been a stepping stone for the protagonist to trample on—a tool for tempering the protagonist, providing resources, weapons, subordinates, and finally, his own life!
Shi You tore the card. A bone-chilling aura swept through the area. He reached out and pulled the miaodao from the light.
It was 1.6 meters long overall. The golden hilt was decorated with blue gemstones. When he drew the silver-and-blue scabbard, it revealed a blade covered in a thin layer of ice and radiating an astonishing coldness.
“Old friend. We meet again.”
Shi You smiled faintly and looked at the two remaining cards.
Just like in his previous life, the rest were a skill book and an accessory.
Skill Book: Frost Strike (Cannot be upgraded)
Usage Requirements: Equip a weapon with an ice attribute, or equip an accessory with an ice-attack attribute
Skill Description: Deals additional ice damage equal to 300% of Strength, with a chance to inflict Frozen
Cooldown: 60 seconds
Learning Requirements: Sword Mastery Level 7 or higher
Accessory: Falling Feather Ring
Rank: Gold
Attribute: Spirit +1
Skill: Falling Feather (reduces fall damage by 90%; 10-minute cooldown; lasts 3 minutes)
Equip Requirements: None