The four of them moved in silence.
The dormitory corridor behind them had already become a place for the dead. The screams coming from below had not lessened. If anything, they were worse now—sharper, shorter, cut off too quickly.
The stairwell was dim, lit only by weak emergency lights that painted the walls in a dying red glow.
Lin Hao walked first.
Not because anyone had named him leader.
But because the others had already started following his pace.
Strong Spirit was still active.
The world felt colder.
Cleaner.
Every sound separated itself from the others.
Wang Li's footsteps were heavy and direct. Chen Yu tried to stay light, but fear kept tightening her breathing. Liu Ming moved almost silently, like he wanted even the dark to forget he existed.
Then Lin Hao heard it.
A wet scraping sound.
Low.
Uneven.
Coming from below.
He raised one hand.
The others froze.
Wang Li lowered his voice. "What is it?"
Lin Hao stared at the landing beneath them.
A figure crawled into view.
Its body was human-shaped, but that meant very little now.
Its arms bent at impossible angles, its fingers scraping against the concrete as it dragged itself upward. Half its face had been torn open, exposing broken teeth and dark flesh underneath. Black veins crawled across its neck and cheeks like cracks in rotting stone.
A zombie.
Primitive rank.
And stronger than the first one.
The thing lifted its head.
Its dead eyes locked onto them.
Then it screamed and launched itself upward.
Fast.
Far too fast.
Chen Yu stumbled back. "It's coming!"
Lin Hao stepped down instead of retreating.
The fire extinguisher swung hard and smashed into the zombie's shoulder, knocking it into the railing with a metallic crash. It twisted instantly and clawed back, its blackened nails tearing through Lin Hao's sleeve and grazing his forearm.
Pain flashed across his skin.
Wang Li charged with a roar and brought the broken chair leg down across the creature's spine.
The blow landed hard.
But the zombie didn't stop.
Instead, it rolled and lunged straight toward Wang Li's throat.
Liu Ming moved first.
He kicked an empty glass bottle from the floor. It shattered beneath the zombie's hand and slowed it for the smallest fraction of a second.
That was enough.
Lin Hao stepped in and drove the extinguisher forward with both hands.
Once.
Twice.
The third strike crushed the thing's throat.
The zombie convulsed violently, then collapsed across the stairs.
Silver text appeared before Lin Hao's eyes.
Target Eliminated
Type: Zombie
Rank: Primitive
Level: 4
Primitive Power Absorbed
Source: Primitive Zombie Lv.4
Experience Gained
Level Up
Current Level: 1 → 2
+2 Unassigned Attribute Points
Warmth rushed through Lin Hao's body.
This time it was stronger.
Not enough to transform him, but enough to tighten muscle and steady breath. Enough to make him feel that small, undeniable step forward.
Wang Li leaned against the railing, breathing hard. "That one was definitely stronger."
Chen Yu nodded, pale but focused. "The veins were darker. Denser. Maybe that means a higher level."
"Or a deeper mutation," Liu Ming said.
Lin Hao opened his status window.
Primitive Record
User: Lin Hao
Race: Human (Restricted)
Level: 2
Strength: 8
Agility: 8
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 8
Magic:15
Mana: 5
Health: 90/90
Active Skills:
• Strong Spirit (Primitive)
Passive Skills:
• Cold Heart (Primitive)
Occupied Territories: —
Unassigned Attribute Points: 2
He placed one point into Strength.
One point into Agility.
Strength: 8 → 9
Agility: 8 → 9
A faint current ran through his body.
Subtle.
But real.
He closed the window.
The group continued downward.
When they reached the next landing, they found a dead student sprawled across the stairs, neck twisted at an impossible angle. His phone lay nearby, screen shattered.
Liu Ming crouched and checked the body without hesitation.
Wang Li frowned. "Seriously?"
"Keys. Food card. Anything useful," Liu Ming said calmly. "The dead don't need them."
Chen Yu looked uncomfortable, but she said nothing.
Lin Hao didn't argue either.
A few minutes ago, he might have.
Now he understood.
The next corridor smelled worse.
Rot.
Wet fur.
Old food.
At the far end stood an overturned vending machine. Broken cans and plastic littered the floor beneath it. The emergency light overhead flickered weakly.
Something shifted in the dark behind the machine.
Low to the ground.
Too large.
Chen Yu's voice dropped. "That's not human."
It stepped into the light.
A dog.
Or what had once been one.
Its body was stretched too long, ribs visible beneath patchy black fur. Gray flesh showed through the gaps. Saliva dripped from oversized teeth. Its eyes burned with a dim, murky yellow.
A beast.
Primitive rank.
Wang Li grinned despite himself. "Good. I was getting bored of zombies."
The beast crouched.
Its muscles tightened.
Lin Hao's instincts screamed.
"Spread out!"
The dog launched itself forward.
Not at him.
At Chen Yu.
She barely managed to raise her backpack before the beast slammed into it and drove her into the wall. The impact knocked the breath out of her.
Wang Li rushed in immediately, swinging the broken chair leg into the beast's side.
The blow landed—
and the beast bit straight through the wood.
"Damn it!"
Liu Ming grabbed Chen Yu and pulled her aside just as the beast's claws raked across the wall where her throat had been.
Lin Hao moved.
Strong Spirit sharpened his focus.
Cold Heart pushed down the wave of panic rising in his chest.
The beast circled.
Fast.
Then lunged again.
Lin Hao sidestepped at the last instant and brought the extinguisher down across its spine. The beast yelped and crashed into the vending machine—
then rebounded almost instantly.
Too fast.
Its claw tore across Wang Li's upper arm.
He hissed and stumbled back.
Chen Yu's face changed immediately.
"Don't let it scratch you!" she shouted. "The ones who were turning upstairs—they all had wounds!"
For a single second, the corridor went colder.
Wang Li looked at the blood on his arm.
The beast lunged again.
No one had time to think.
Wang Li roared and slammed into it from the side, throwing both of them to the floor.
"Now!"
Lin Hao stepped in without hesitation.
The extinguisher came down on the beast's neck.
Once.
Twice.
A third time.
Bone gave way.
The dog convulsed hard, then fell still.
Silver text appeared again.
Target Eliminated
Type: Beast
Rank: Primitive
Level: 5
Primitive Power Absorbed
Source: Primitive Beast Lv.5
Experience Gained
No level up.
Lin Hao narrowed his eyes.
So the gap between levels was already growing.
At the beast's side, something dark fluttered against the bloodied floor.
A scroll.
Thin. Black. Tied with a faded red thread.
Wang Li was still breathing hard, one hand pressed over the bloody scratch on his arm. Chen Yu had already dropped to her knees beside him, checking the wound with a face that had gone too pale.
Liu Ming noticed the scroll first, but his gaze shifted to Lin Hao and stopped.
He had seen it too.
Lin Hao bent down and picked it up.
The moment his fingers touched the black scroll, pale text appeared before his eyes.
Skill Identified
Name: Blood Rush
Type: Active
Rank: Primitive
Description: Temporarily increases movement speed for 10 seconds.
Consumes stamina upon activation.
Lin Hao stared at it for half a second.
An active skill.
Dropped from the beast.
So this was another rule of the new world.
Kill.
Risk death.
Take power.
He thought one word.
Learn.
The black scroll dissolved in his hand.
It turned into strands of dim red light and rushed between his fingers, then into his forehead.
A sharp pain stabbed through his mind.
Not enough to make him scream.
Enough to make him freeze.
Then the knowledge was simply there.
How to trigger it.
How long it lasted.
What it would cost.
Wang Li looked up despite the pain in his arm. "What was that?"
Lin Hao flexed his fingers once.
"A skill."
All three of them went still.
Even Liu Ming's eyes sharpened.
Chen Yu was the first to speak. "You can get skills from killing them?"
"It seems so," Lin Hao said.
Wang Li gave a breathless laugh, then winced as Chen Yu pressed harder against the wound. "Good. Then this world isn't completely unfair."
Chen Yu ignored the joke. Her eyes were fixed on the scratches on his arm.
The flesh around them already looked wrong.
A little darker than it should have.
Her voice was low when she spoke.
"If zombie scratches cause infection…"
She didn't finish.
She didn't need to.
Wang Li's grin faded.
For the first time since meeting him, fear touched his eyes in a real, honest way.
Lin Hao looked at the blood on Wang Li's arm, then at the dead beast, then down the dark stairwell leading toward the cafeteria.
The screams below had not stopped.
And now they had less time than before.
"Can you still move?" Lin Hao asked.
Wang Li clenched his jaw. "Yeah."
"Then move," Lin Hao said. "If you're going to turn, it won't help to do it here."
Wang Li stared at him for a second.
Then barked out a rough laugh. "Cold bastard."
Lin Hao didn't deny it.
Maybe Cold Heart was already changing him.
Or maybe it was only revealing what had always been there.
Chen Yu stood up slowly. "We go downstairs. Fast. And if his condition worsens, we stop and check it."
Liu Ming adjusted the keys he had taken from the corpse. "Agreed."
Lin Hao looked down into the red-lit dark below.
The cafeteria was still waiting.
Along with survivors.
Along with conflict.
Along with whatever else this new world had prepared for them.
He tightened his grip on the extinguisher and said, "Let's go."
This time, no one argued.