PSW – Chapter 14

Finally reaching a safe place, Yu Yinan stopped the car. After getting out, she looked up at the roof.

The hemp rope Zheng Yi had bought had not only secured the motorcycle but had also supported the weight of two people without breaking. Its quality was truly excellent.

“Are you two okay?” Zheng Yi asked with concern.

The two people on the roof had hands and feet stiff from the cold. They released their grip with some difficulty, rubbing their hands vigorously before sliding down from the roof in a somewhat disheveled state. “We’re okay, we’re okay. Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, we definitely would’ve been done for back there.”

Their first words after getting down were of thanks. Then, the young woman took off her backpack and opened it. “After that huge storm, our strength and speed increased quite a bit, which is why we risked coming out. We have a survivor camp—just a bunch of poor souls sticking together. My friend is sick with a fever, and the others in the camp aren’t doing too well either, so he and I risked going to the hospital pharmacy to find some medicine.”

“You can see if there’s anything you need. We can share some with you as thanks.”

The roadside pharmacies had long been picked clean. Medicine was becoming harder and harder to find as time went on, so they had no choice but to head for the hospital.

Medicine? Zheng Yi wasn’t short on that. “I don’t need anything, but… what’s a survivor camp?”

“Ah, well, we call it a camp, but it’s really just people who survived the chaos gathering together. We’re all huddling together for warmth, trying our best to stay alive.” The young woman couldn’t help but sigh. If it weren’t for that storm, which gave a few people special abilities and enhanced their bodies, maybe the atmosphere in the camp would be better now. She considered herself lucky; although she didn’t get any special abilities, her physical fitness had improved all around. Most importantly, she hadn’t turned into a zombie because of the rain.

“We won’t take a share of the medicine you risked so much for,” Yu Yinan said. Since they had a camp and had ventured out for a companion in need, Yu Yinan had no interest in taking their life-saving medicine.

“Are you both from Genbin?” Zheng Yi asked.

“Ah, no, he and I are university classmates. We were studying here.” Of course, there’s not much studying to be done now, the young woman thought. She then took the initiative to ask, “Are you looking for someone?”

“Yes. When the chaos started, there was an emergency notice, right? It seemed to come from Genbin. We thought maybe someone here would know something.”

When Zheng Yi asked this, the young woman and man exchanged a look, their expressions momentarily turning complex. Before Zheng Yi could press further, the young man spoke, his tone heavy. “You probably… won’t be able to find anything out.”

“There is indeed a military base here in Genbin. People who live nearby know where it is, but it’s not on any maps. After the meteor shower that night, maybe… the higher-ups realized something was wrong? There were murders the very next day, and before that day was even over, the world had descended into chaos.”

“A lot of residents from that area fled to the base for safety.” The young man seemed a little embarrassed as he continued, “The news spread pretty quickly. Even though we were far away and just university students, we heard about it too. After the emergency notice came out, we stockpiled some supplies, planning to wait it out in our dorm for a few days to see how things went. I mean, it’s a university, so we figured rescue would come, right? But after two days, we were running low on food. Our dorm mates talked it over and decided to risk making a break for it, to seek shelter there.”

“The university town… there were too many zombies. We got separated while we were running. The plan was to regroup at the base.”

“It was about a week into the apocalypse, I think? I don’t remember clearly. They said the base took in too many people and couldn’t house them all. The emergency notice from Genbin attracted too many people from other cities, and they all rushed there in waves. With so many people gathered, it attracted the zombies too.” The young woman sighed. “Even before the storm, some of the people they’d taken in turned into zombies, causing a pretty big outbreak. And after the storm… it seems like a lot of people turned.”

“That place has been completely overrun. There are people in our survivor camp who escaped from there.”

“There was another group before, too. They were probably after the leftover military weapons at the base. They caused a huge commotion over there and triggered a massive zombie horde. We were so scared we didn’t dare go outside for two days.”

“…Is it all gone?” Yu Yinan couldn’t help but ask.

“We don’t know for sure. We don’t dare go anywhere near there, after all.” The young woman sighed. “But it’s probably not looking good, right?”

“We heard that when the mutation period broke out after the storm, they had already realized something was wrong. They immediately organized vehicles and escorted the refugees who weren’t showing fevers or other abnormal symptoms to evacuate.”

“That’s all we know.”

It seemed their destination was off the table for now. Zheng Yi glanced at Yu Yinan. “Where is your survivor camp? Is it holding up okay?”

[Wow. Are you finally planning to farm group Saint Points?] Zero One sounded excited. [That’s pretty difficult, so there’s no need to rush, Host. Just focus on maintaining your persona for now.]

Zheng Yi ignored Zero One. She walked over to Yu Yinan, took her arm, and gave it a little shake. “If it’s not far from here, should we give them a ride back?” After all, even though they had shaken off that huge horde of zombies and were safe for the moment, it could still be dangerous for the two of them to get back on their own. No matter how enhanced humans were at this point, they still weren’t faster than a car.

Of course, Zheng Yi’s question wasn’t really directed at the two survivors, but at Yu Yinan, seeking her opinion.

We’ve already saved them, and we can’t go to the military base for now… If you’re going to save someone, see it through to the end. We might as well give them a ride back. Besides, Yu Yinan was also curious to see what the survivor camp was like. They said they were huddling together for warmth, but what if it was well-planned and constructed?

Of course, that was highly unlikely. The apocalypse had only just begun, after all.

Yu Yinan walked to the back door of the car. After a moment’s thought, she looked at the two survivors. “If you don’t mind, you can climb in through the windows.” The dead knot they had tied with such effort wouldn’t be easy to undo. And in the apocalypse, finding another rope this sturdy would be difficult.

“We don’t mind! Of course we don’t mind!”

“Thank you so much. If we hadn’t run into you, I really can’t imagine what would have happened to us.”

The two were extremely emotional and thanked Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan repeatedly without the slightest hesitation.

‘They’re clearly thanking us from the bottom of their hearts. Why aren’t I getting any Saint Points?’

[Obviously, they have to believe from the bottom of their hearts that you’re a Saint. Otherwise, are you just going to wait for the system to judge whether Yu Yinan driving them back to their camp counts as a saintly act on your part?] Zero One was teasing her. After all, situations where someone genuinely recognized the Host as a Saint were incredibly rare. It had never seen a slick move like the one Zheng Yi pulled last time.

But Zheng Yi clearly didn’t see it that way. She gave a light cough, interrupting their thanks. Clearing her throat, she said earnestly, “You don’t have to thank me. You just have to believe from the bottom of your hearts that I am a Saint.”

“A S-Saint?” They almost thought they had misheard.

“Yes. My name is Zheng Yi, and she’s Yu Yinan.” Zheng Yi smiled and pointed to herself. “Zheng Yi. Me. I am a Saint.”

“O-Okay. I’m Li Yunhan, and his name is Wang Youfei.” The young woman was a bit stunned, not quite understanding what Zheng Yi was doing. She scratched her head as they exchanged names.

Zheng Yi waited for a moment, but no Saint Points reward came.

[It’s not that easy.] Zero One retorted. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, it added urgently, [Calm down! You can’t use the same method you used last time!]

Zheng Yi really couldn’t be bothered to respond to Zero One’s chatter. Seeing that she had fallen silent, Li Yunhan and Wang Youfei began the effort of climbing through the car windows. Li Yunhan managed fine, but Wang Youfei struggled a bit. Fortunately, he was a university student who had enjoyed playing sports before the apocalypse, so he wasn’t overweight by any means and was able to pull himself through.

Well then, time to go. No Saint Points here, but there’ll be opportunities elsewhere. There are still all those people at the survivor camp later.

Zheng Yi pulled open the passenger side door and was about to get in when she suddenly heard Yu Yinan’s voice from behind her. “Zheng Yi.”

“You really… are a Saint.”

The words were a mixture of complex emotions—partly through gritted teeth, partly with a sense of helplessness. Yet when spoken, they came out as a very soft whisper.

[Ding! Detected someone who believes from the bottom of their heart that the Host is a Saint! Assessing emotional intensity…]

[Assessment complete. Awarding 7 Saint Points!]

“Jiejie?” Zheng Yi’s hand froze on the car door. For a moment, she didn’t know what expression would be appropriate, so she could only turn back with a look of pure innocence, tilting her head slightly as if she hadn’t understood. “Did you say something just now, Jiejie?”

“I said, it’s good to save people, but don’t be so reckless next time.”

“Mhm, okay~” Zheng Yi immediately broke into a big, bright, and sunny smile. She hurried over to the driver’s side, opened the door for Yu Yinan, and made a welcoming gesture. “After you, Jiejie~”

Only after Yu Yinan was in the car did she go back to the passenger side, open the door again, and take her seat.

[Yu Yinan actually believes you’re a Saint that much…] Seven Saint Points, that’s insane. Doesn’t she find it strange at all? She’s been with Zheng Yi for so long, doesn’t she have any suspicions? Is Zheng Yi’s acting just that good, or has she been completely dazed by her sugar-coated bullets…

That gang leader before really wasn’t sincere, Zheng Yi thought. If she’d had more time back then, she probably could have squeezed more Saint Points out of him. ‘Zero One, can I get Saint Points from Yu Yinan again tomorrow?’

[How could that be possible? A single person’s recognition of you is only effective three times within one month, and it resets monthly. Unless you break character in front of her, lose the Saint Points, and then make her change her opinion of you again—that would directly reset the cooldown and allow you to get a new round of recognition-based Saint Points.] Zero One said, [Of course, we don’t recommend doing that.]