Heavy snowflakes fell continuously. Through the window, the city outside seemed to forever maintain its peaceful appearance.
The weather was freezing, and the snow was thick, even enough to cover a young person's ankles. But soon, one after another, discordant black dots quickly broke through the snow and began to rush continuously towards the hotel.
These Infected ran, converging from all directions. As far as the eye could see, countless surging zombies, so dense as an ant colony, gradually surrounded the hotel. It was like white paper being stained with ink, soon not a speck of white could be seen.
With a ten-minute time limit, even if everyone wanted to escape the hotel, there probably wouldn't be enough time. Moreover, Tsubasa believed that since the mastermind behind the Death Game had already designated the task... It would be impossible to provide such an easy solution.
If anyone tried to take a shortcut, it was highly likely to trigger a rebound mechanism. During the escape, the difficulty of survival would instantly be maximized. They would likely encounter the most terrifying monsters from the Left 4 Dead series, be blocked and surrounded by monsters, and die miserably in endless despair.
Since even such a wicked thing as a sudden zombie horde outbreak happened... Tsubasa believed that the unscrupulous mastermind might indeed do such a thing.
"..." After hearing Tsubasa's words, everyone fell silent. However, after his strict military-style management during these five days, even if everyone was still terrified, they no longer panicked as they did before.
Even the most timid Makoto merely gritted his teeth, his legs trembling, not daring to make any sound.
"Everyone, follow me downstairs! You have one minute to return to your rooms! Grab all your weapons! Hurry!" Tsubasa said with a solemn expression, issuing commands.
One minute later, everyone, including the women, had finished getting dressed, each carrying their weapons, standing at attention in military posture in the corridor, looking at Tsubasa with apprehension and extreme nervousness.
"The elevator is out of order; we can only take the stairs!"
At this moment, Tsubasa had already strapped on his AK-105 and stuffed his pockets with as many grenades and magazines as possible. He then casually picked up two MP5 submachine guns and handed them to Utaha and Yukino, respectively. He said, "Remember, the MP5 submachine gun has a very high rate of fire; it can empty an entire magazine in 3 seconds. Unless you encounter danger, do not fire continuously."
Both women nodded seriously. They learned quickly, taking several submachine gun magazines from the weapon box and stuffing them into their pockets, then racking the slides and holding their guns in front of their chests.
"Do we really have to go down? Can't we just wait here for the zombies to come up?" Taisuke asked, looking hesitant. He really didn't want to go out and face that endless horde of corpses.
"We have to go down and block the zombies at the hotel lobby entrance..." Tsubasa glanced at him expressionlessly and said coldly, "That way, if the zombies break through the entrance, we can retreat up while attacking them… If all else fails, we can use grenades to blow up the stairs; that's the safest way right now. If we passively resist the enemy, the mastermind behind the Survival Game will definitely increase the difficulty."
Tsubasa walked up to Hayato and said, "We have about eight minutes left to get down to the first floor. How are the defensive measures for the third floor going?"
"Don't worry; there won't be any problems." Hayato nodded, a sense of relief rising in his heart. If Tsubasa hadn't been overprepared, having everyone set up defensive barriers in advance to be ready to defend against zombies at any time, it would have been a different story.
Tsubasa took the initiative to lead the team, relying on his high stats to charge forward at the forefront. The distance from the entrance to the staircases at both emergency exits was approximately 100 meters. But before long, he had already reached the corner of the stairs.
This speed has clearly surpassed the current limits of human sprinting in the 100-meter dash.
Hayato and the others behind him stared in disbelief at Tsubasa. Before anyone could respond, Tsubasa had already opened the emergency exit door and ran down the stairs. And because the hotel had been cleaned beforehand, the group had a smooth journey without encountering any obstacles.
Utaha, Yukino, Hayato, and the others followed closely behind, panting. Carrying such heavy equipment, they couldn't possibly lift it as effortlessly as Tsubasa.
The lower the floor, the louder the roaring sounds from outside became. Hearing those chilling screams, everyone's mood involuntarily became heavy.
In just 7 minutes, the group reached the intersection of the hall steps.
This speed was already considered very fast. A normal adult would need several seconds to run down the stairs, taking two steps for every three steps on each floor.
What's more, everyone was carrying such heavy equipment. But under the pressure of death, no one complained easily. They were tired, but as long as they could live, who would want to die?
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In the center of the hall, a magnificent staircase split in two, forming a semi-spiral shape. There were probably several hundred steps. Its design was spacious, grand, and exquisitely beautiful.
This terrain was arguably the perfect defensive position for everyone at this moment. Just stay on either side and defend the two sides of the main hall.
"The Claymore mines have already been installed. Conservatively speaking, they should be able to hold out for at least a while. We have set up bunkers on five floors in total: the first, second, third, and 20th floors, and the top floor, the 27th floor." Hayato reported to Tsubasa from behind cover while gripping his Remington shotgun.
"They...are here!"
Yukino's palms were sweating as she watched the approaching Black Tide, her heart pounding faster than ever.
The zombie horde had arrived!
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Translator's Corner:
If you find any typos or grammatical errors, please report them in the comments; I'll fix them right away! If you have any constructive criticism or suggestions, please leave them in the comments! Thanks for reading!