After completing the draws, Dean's personal panel appeared.
=====
Name: Dean
[Constitution]: 11 (Constitution represents combined "strength, agility, stamina"—average adult male is 10)
[Mental]: 9 (Mental represents combined "perception, willpower, energy, intelligence"—average adult male is 10)
Bound Vehicle: [Broken Van] (Scrap Metal Level)
Talent: [Daily Intelligence] (SSS-rank) (Hidden) (Unique)
=====
Seeing words like "SSS-rank," "Hidden," and "Unique," Dean was so excited his hands were shaking.
Chosen one!
He'd really become the chosen one!
Daily intel refresh!
In this kind of exploration survival game, how was this different from straight-up cheating?
[All newbie configurations have been distributed!]
[Players, begin your survival journey!]
[Friendly tip: Each player's spawn area will randomly contain one treasure chest. Don't forget to search for it.]
There's a treasure chest nearby?
Seeing this notification, Dean calmed down and started looking around.
[Ding!]
[Today's intelligence triggered! Do you accept?]
Dean paused, then clicked "No."
The announcement already mentioned treasure chests near spawn points. If today's intelligence was also about chest locations, that would be redundant information—a huge waste.
Dean searched the surrounding grass.
Soon, he spotted a wooden chest lying quietly in the grass not far away, glowing with tempting light.
Dean's eyes lit up, but he didn't rush over carelessly. The chest was way too close to that zombie—only seven or eight meters away.
He crouched slightly, lightened his steps, held his breath, and carefully crept to the wooden chest.
He lifted his hand to open it.
With a flash of light, a pile of items appeared before him.
[Obtained Coins x1, Parts x3, Leather x2]
[Obtained "Glock 17" x1]
Besides coins and materials, the chest also contained a pistol.
Dean's anxious heart finally relaxed.
Good—he had a firearm.
He picked up the black pistol. Its solid weight and cold touch gave him a sense of security that only a deadly weapon could provide.
A line of information appeared:
=====
[Pistol] Glock 17
Magazine: 20/40 (auto-refill)
Durability: 100%
Modification Attachments: None
Rating: A reliable firearm for ordinary self-defense situations. Balanced, dependable performance across the board—a lethal weapon for close to medium range.
=====
It even came with 60 rounds of ammo.
Perfect—he'd use that zombie to test its power.
Dean pulled the slide. The crisp sound of a round chambering rang out.
Click!
The nearby zombie was startled by the noise, let out a roar, and ran toward him.
The zombie's speed was average—not ridiculously fast, but not slow enough to be a sitting duck either.
Dean took a deep breath, raised the gun, and aimed.
Bang—!
The first shot went a bit wide, only hitting the zombie's shoulder.
But that shot sent the zombie into a rage state, significantly boosting its speed as it frantically lunged at Dean with snapping jaws.
Bang! Bang! Bang—!
Dean fired three more shots. After getting used to the feel, his accuracy improved dramatically. When only three or four meters remained, the final shot successfully struck the zombie right between the eyes, dropping it.
[Successfully killed one zombie! Coins +0.1!]
"Huff... huff..."
Dean wiped away sweat. For a modern young person who'd never touched a gun, that scene was definitely too intense.
But killing zombies actually dropped coins—he hadn't expected that.
Just way too few though.
0.1 coins per zombie meant he'd need ten kills for 1 coin.
Dean holstered the pistol and crouched down to search the zombie, hoping to find useful supplies. But after poking around for a bit, he gave up—it was just too disgusting.
"Let me check other areas."
Dean looked at the time in the upper right corner. Four hours until nightfall.
He still didn't know what he'd face at night, so he needed to prepare thoroughly.
Then he checked Regional Chat.
Many players had already found their newbie treasure chests like him, opening various weapons, tools, food, and other items.
One lucky player had actually opened an M4A1 with unlimited ammo, causing a huge stir in the public chat.
"Unlimited ammo... could that be a 'modification attachment' for firearms?"
Dean stroked his chin.
He remembered his pistol panel also had modification options.
Not having to worry about ammo consumption sounded amazing...
Dean collected his thoughts and was about to search other areas for more supplies.
But just then, he heard terrifying sounds coming from nearby.
When he realized what was happening, his face went pale!
"Oh shit!"
Dean cursed and immediately dashed into his van.
Shut the door, turn the ignition, start it up!
Shift into gear and floor the gas pedal!
Vroooom—!
The engine roared to life, the exhaust pipe belched out two puffs of old smoke, and the four wheels started rolling across the grass.
Behind him, over a dozen menacing figures were already in pursuit.
Unfortunately, manual transmission cars had terrible initial speed, plus the grass terrain slowed him down. The zombie horde quickly caught up!
Bang! Bang!
Smack!...
"Roaaaar!!"
"Hisssss!!!"
This was Dean's first time experiencing the pressure of a zombie horde so directly.
Grotesque, rotting human faces frantically screamed and pounded the windows, as if they wanted to devour him alive.
He never imagined those few gunshots could attract so many zombies!
Looks like he really couldn't just fire randomly anymore.
Dean skillfully shifted gears and accelerated, gradually shaking off the zombie horde.
After driving several kilometers straight and confirming safety, Dean finally got out to assess the damage.
After the horde's beating and clawing, the doors and hood were dented and covered in blood.
Most critically, the driver's side window had been cracked by zombie pounding!
"Damn it!"
Dean cursed angrily, feeling a huge sense of crisis.
The doors were at least metal, but windows were different. Once they broke through, he'd be meat in a tin can, getting eaten bite by bite!
When Dean focused on the window, several lines of text appeared:
[Car Window]
Upgrade Path ①: [Shooting Port] Completely modify windows into firing ports, allowing attacks from inside the vehicle. After upgrade, all windows except the windshield will be sealed into shooting ports. (Upgrade requires: Coins x5, Parts x2, Steel Sheets x5)
Upgrade Path ②: [Tempered Glass] Upgrade windows to tempered glass that can block powerful attacks without obstructing side driving vision. (Upgrade requires: Coins x3, Parts x1)
[Note: All upgrades can be reversed anytime, returning 80% of materials]