PSW – Chapter 22

Zheng Yi flicked the cap off a glass bottle of soda, inserted a long straw, and placed it by Yu Yinan’s hand.

After they finished eating, the spicy broth was left behind. Yu Yinan brought the pot to a boil again, then covered it to seal it for later. Meanwhile, Zheng Yi opened the door slightly to air out the room. Once the smell had dissipated a bit, she went to the car to retrieve a bedsheet and a quilt. She spread the sheet on the floor but didn’t unfold the quilt yet, simply placing it on top.

Together, they heated some water and gave themselves a simple wipe-down. Zheng Yi used her ability to wash their dirty clothes, then used it again to completely separate the water from the fabric. This display of fine control left Yu Yinan marveling at Zheng Yi’s talent with her special ability.

As the two sat on the cold, hard bedsheet, wrapped in a light yet very warm quilt, Zheng Yi smiled and scooted closer to Yu Yinan. As if sharing a secret, she leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Jiejie, I can tell fortunes and read palms~ Want me to take a look for you?”

“…Alright.” Yu Yinan hesitated for a moment before extending her palm to Zheng Yi.

The young woman took her hand with a serious expression, carefully tracing the lines on her palm. Her fingertips were ice-cold. Then, she suddenly interlocked their fingers, her cool hand gripping Yu Yinan’s tightly. “Hee hee, I was tricking you~ I don’t know how to read palms at all.”

“Is it very cold?” Zheng Yi said, about to let go.

Yu Yinan didn’t know what she was thinking, or perhaps she wasn’t thinking at all. Before she knew it, her other hand had already caught Zheng Yi’s, and she was warming both of them in her own. As a fire ability user, she was naturally more resistant to the cold, and her hands were warm. “It’s okay. You can sleep closer to me.”

Zheng Yi didn’t say anything, only stared at her unblinkingly with those bright, dark eyes.

If it weren’t for the poor ventilation, Yu Yinan probably would have immediately started a fire in the middle of the room.

“I thought Jiejie wouldn’t like me getting too close to you.” Zheng Yi snuggled over. Her arm brushed against Yu Yinan’s, and she could clearly feel Yu Yinan’s body tense up slightly.

“…Mm, I’ve slept alone since I was very, very young.” Yu Yinan lowered her gaze. Perhaps some children were afraid of the dark when they were little, say, in kindergarten, and scared to sleep alone? Yes, she had been afraid too, but being afraid was useless. She had never had bedtime stories or been gently coaxed to sleep by an adult. No matter how scared she was of the darkness, she could only hide under the covers and cry. Eventually, she “wasn’t afraid” anymore.

Crying would only be met with harsher scolding, or even beatings.

“I was too focused on my studies and grades, trying to seize every opportunity and sliver of hope, so I never made any really close friends. Even in university, I lost touch with many people after graduation.” Perhaps, she thought, she was just hard to get along with.

“I’m a very boring person,” she said. “And I’m not good at handling these things.” She didn’t understand the topics others talked about and couldn’t join in. Others could play games or discuss gossip and entertainment, but her free time was spent either working part-time jobs or studying. If you were to ask Yu Yinan what she did for relaxation and fun during her school years, she would probably, after a long moment of recollection, tell you it was quietly stepping out of her bedroom-converted-from-a-storage-closet after finishing her homework late at night, and sitting in the living room to watch the pitch-black, starry sky for a while…

After she left that home, it felt like every day was lived for herself, so there was no such thing as exhaustion. It was only when she had worked so hard for so long and finally obtained her ideal job and everything she wanted that she looked back and realized she had also missed out on a lot.

But she never regretted it. She cherished everything she had experienced.

Actually, during university, her parents had tried to find her. Though the reason they were looking was to drag her back home to be married off.

But her homeroom teacher, who had helped her, said nothing, told them nothing, and even tricked them with the wrong school and address, making them waste a trip.

Perhaps Yu Yinan should even be grateful to that younger brother of hers. If he hadn’t been so spoiled and coddled, unable to be left alone, her parents probably wouldn’t have given up on dragging her back so easily. Or maybe, they thought she would eventually fail to make it on her own and come back crying?

Just then, Zheng Yi moved closer and wrapped her arms around her.

“Jiejie, my hands and feet might be cold, but my stomach is warm,” Zheng Yi said. “We’re good friends now, so I can make a special exception and warm you up.”

Good friends? …

Yu Yinan smiled, raising a hand to cover Zheng Yi’s cold one. “Go to sleep,” she coaxed.

She thought that Zheng Yi must have been very popular before the apocalypse.

Who could possibly resist such a cute and kind girl?

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For breakfast, they had another hot meal of spicy instant noodles, which helped chase away the chill of the snow-covered world. In the time it took Yu Yinan to start the car, Zheng Yi took care of the few scattered zombies that had gathered nearby.

Without snow chains, driving in such heavy snow, which threatened to bury a person, was quite difficult. Moreover, the car was just an ordinary family sedan with low ground clearance and standard tires.

Yu Yinan slowed down, driving as carefully as possible. In the current situation, no one was clearing the snow from the roads. Yu Yinan could melt it with her ability, but she would likely exhaust herself after clearing just a kilometer or two. Zheng Yi could also change the form of the snow, but she didn’t want to.

Perhaps they needed to find a place to wait out this “winter.”

Zero One felt that Zheng Yi wasn’t very motivated to earn Saint Points anymore. It was probably because the five backpack slots were more than enough for her, and she didn’t seem to care much for the various special abilities in the store that other hosts found so interesting. In Zero One’s view, Zheng Yi’s combat strength was still a mystery. What were the limits of her strength? Her speed? How powerful was her mental energy, and to what extent could she now control “water”? Zero One had no idea. It could only catch glimpses from the ease with which Zheng Yi occasionally dispatched zombies.

As for supplies, Zheng Yi didn’t seem to be lacking either. Although the store had some high-tech items and all sorts of delicious food, they didn’t seem to hold much appeal for her.

These days, Zheng Yi earned one Saint Point a day by feeding Yu Yinan, and occasionally received an extra one to three points from some mysterious “Saint’s approval.” These points might have come from Li Yunhan and his group, or perhaps from the publicity spread by that camp leader. In any case, it was extra income.

If only they could meet more people, or if Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan would join some kind of apocalyptic base. Zero One often had such thoughts. It just didn’t know if any leader had managed to establish a base in just over two months.

But on the other hand, because they hadn’t met anyone else, Zheng Yi spent almost all her time with Yu Yinan. As a result, the disguised Zheng Yi was incredibly cute—so cute that Zero One could almost temporarily forget the divine operations she had pulled off in the past.

Just as Zero One was silently wavering between “this stable situation is also good” and “but it would be more effective if we met people,” their peaceful life was shattered.

That night, Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan randomly found a building with an awning to park under. It had once been a real estate agency, and now all that remained were workstations and sofas, with a conference room in the back.

They lit candles as usual. Zheng Yi was craving something hot, so she cooked two bags of instant noodles to share with Yu Yinan. The noodle cakes had been somewhat crushed at the bottom of her hiking bag, but it wasn’t a big deal. Perfectly intact instant noodles from her backpack space would have been suspicious; a little bit of crushing was just right.

Just as Yu Yinan was sipping the noodle broth, the distinct sound of a car engine grew closer and then stopped.

Someone was here!

In an instant, Yu Yinan shot to her feet, grabbed her fire axe, and ignited a flame in her left palm for light as she strode quickly outside.

Zheng Yi leisurely wiped her mouth before getting up to follow.

With this much snow, their tire tracks should have been obvious on the road. Yu Yinan didn’t believe for a second that they were driving at night without their headlights on. There was also light coming from this building, and they had parked their car right nearby… Whether they were friend or foe was hard to say.

By the time Zheng Yi reached the doorway, she saw Yu Yinan in a standoff with the people by an SUV.

The newcomers were a man and a woman, a handsome couple. The man was tall, and the girl was petite and cute. At that moment, the girl was holding his arm and saying something to him in a low voice.

“Just the two of you women?” The man raised an eyebrow slightly. He glanced at the flame in Yu Yinan’s hand, then patted the girl’s hand reassuringly. When he spoke, his tone was unquestionable. “You must have gasoline, right? Give us some. We can trade food or water.”

“That motorcycle of yours is nice. My baby likes it when I take her for a ride. Name your price.”

[Why are you running into the male and female protagonists now!] Zero One exclaimed. [Where’s the second male lead? The villainess? This… wasn’t in the original novel?]

“Get lost,” Yu Yinan squeezed out a single word.

“Brother, if they don’t want to, let’s just forget it. It’s so cold, I don’t want it anyway. Let’s go?” The female protagonist clearly sensed the male protagonist’s rising anger. She quickly interjected, shaking his arm. “Don’t bully them.”

“Where are you two headed? Reconsider my offer. My baby and I can escort you for a while.” The male protagonist lifted his chin arrogantly. “No woman has ever been able to refuse me.”

Zheng Yi made a “tsk” sound at Zero One. ‘The male and female protagonists… are like this?’

[…Try to understand. It’s not easy for the world consciousness to survive and successfully incubate.] Zero One paused, then asked, [Are you… still going to farm Saint Points from them?]

‘If you hadn’t said the male protagonist can’t die before the rushed ending, do you think he’d leave here alive?’ Despite her words, Zheng Yi was eager to try.

[Don’t! Host! What if something unexpected happens!]

The moment Zero One finished speaking, the snow under the male protagonist’s feet instantly turned to water, then froze into solid ice in the next instant. He took a step and was immediately frozen in place. He stumbled, losing a shoe to the ice. The female protagonist holding his arm was stunned and failed to steady him, and they both fell to the ground.

If Zero One had spoken just a moment later, the snow where he fell would have likely turned into sharp ice spikes, piercing straight through his head.

In other words, if nothing went wrong, with no unexpected factors, the male and female protagonists were indeed protected by their plot armor and would face no life-threatening danger. But, Zheng Yi was that unexpected factor.

‘I see.’ The little bit of excitement Zheng Yi had felt for these special protagonists vanished. She looked up and met Yu Yinan’s gaze, then immediately got into character. Stepping in front of Yu Yinan, she shouted, “We don’t need your food or water! We don’t have extra gasoline, and we won’t give you the motorcycle! I love it when Jiejie takes me for a ride on it!”

“You two robbers, get out of here right now, or don’t blame us for what happens next!”

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