PSW – Chapter 5

Although she couldn’t store the entire house directly, Zheng Yi quickly thought of an alternative. She set her sights on the large trucks used for transporting goods.

It didn’t matter that she didn’t have the keys; Zheng Yi had no intention of driving them anyway. She purely wanted them as oversized containers.

And so, Zheng Yi found a new task for her days. She began riding her bicycle through nearby intersections, searching for abandoned trucks. Upon finding one, she would store it directly in her backpack, only taking it out downstairs at night to move her supplies up bit by bit.

A portable mobile warehouse—you deserve one.

Another three days passed. A full week had now gone by since the initial outbreak of the apocalypse.

There was no rescue, no communication. Everything remained in chaos, and the streets were now filled with a smattering of wandering zombies. Every day, whether day or night, was exceptionally quiet. The only sounds heard occasionally were the meaningless roars of zombies.

This daily descent into despair was already making some people restless. They were unwilling to sit and wait for death. After all, their food and water could barely last another week or two. Doing nothing was just another way of waiting to die.

It was at this time that a peculiar downpour swept across the entire world.

It was as if someone had draped the world in a black cloth. The entire sky darkened, and a torrential rain poured down, filling the world with the roar of violent raindrops.

Zheng Yi stood at the window, watching the zombies on the dim street bathe in the rain. One by one, the walking corpses tilted their heads toward the sky like hungry baby birds, opening their rotting mouths to receive the downpour’s irrigation.

“Is this rain special?” Zheng Yi was eager to find out. She thought of the meteor shower from that day and guessed that the rain might also contain some kind of substance. However, she hadn’t noticed any obvious changes in the zombies. More specific details would probably only become clear after the rain stopped.

[In the original novel, it’s established that the rain slightly improves the zombies’ physical condition, with a small chance of a qualitative change. The rain also affects humans and other creatures, with roughly a 20% chance of zombification, a 10% chance of enhanced physical constitution, and a 5% chance of awakening a special ability. Of course, the most likely outcome is that nothing happens.]

As soon as it finished speaking, Zero One saw Zheng Yi pull out a raincoat and a bucket and head downstairs excitedly.

Just as Zheng Yi had collected half a bucket of rainwater, the roar of a motorcycle engine tore through the curtain of rain. A beam of light pierced the gloomy sky as it sped toward her.

A black leather jacket appeared even darker under the pouring rain. A tall woman dismounted the bike nimbly. Her black hair, cascading down her back, was almost one with the leather, water streaming from it endlessly.

In a single glance, their eyes met.

The woman seemed a little surprised, but she didn’t appear to dwell on it. She quickly parked the bike and, without removing her helmet, hurried into the building.

“Sorry, the noise I just made might attract a lot of zombies. It’s probably dangerous to stay here,” she said, sounding a bit apologetic, but her delivery was noticeably stiff.

“Jiejie, are you looking for someone, coming here so late?” Zheng Yi sized up her disheveled state, then glanced at her own half-bucket of water. After a moment’s thought, she decided not to stand guard over it any longer.

“Yes.” The woman gave Zheng Yi a slightly wary look and started walking upstairs.

[Are you planning to farm Saint Points from her?] Zero One asked curiously.

‘Huh? I just want to see if she’ll turn into a zombie or awaken an ability,’ Zheng Yi replied in her mind. ‘Besides, we’re alone right now.’

[…]

With a complicated expression, Zero One watched as Zheng Yi put on that deceptively charming smile and followed the woman.

The woman went all the way up to the third floor and stopped in front of a closed door, knocking tentatively.

“Don’t you have a key?” Zheng Yi tilted her head and asked. “Besides, this family left a long time ago~ On the evening of the first day of the apocalypse, the same day as the emergency notice, they packed their bags and left immediately.”

[Eh? You actually remember something like that?]

The woman stood before the door, water still dripping from her body. She turned her head to look at Zheng Yi. The young girl, wrapped in a large raincoat, was beaming at her.

“Thank you,” she said in a low voice, a slight choke in her tone. She looked at the closed door, and for a fleeting moment, she seemed so sad she was about to cry. But with a stranger staring at her, she forced the sorrow back down.

“You’re welcome. But it’s still raining hard outside. Why don’t you push your bike into the corridor to shelter it from the rain, and come rest at my place for the night?” Zheng Yi added enthusiastically. “The sound of the motorcycle was too loud just now; the zombies will probably head this way. But you can rest assured, there are no more wandering zombies in this building.”

“No, thank you.” The woman took one last look at the apartment number and started walking downstairs. “I’ll ride away, and the zombies will be drawn away with me.”

[Perhaps being this enthusiastic makes you seem a bit suspicious.]

But Zheng Yi was completely unfazed. She watched the woman descend the stairs, one step, two steps…

Before she even reached the first floor, at the turn of the staircase, the woman’s body suddenly went limp, and she nearly tumbled down the stairs. She managed to steady herself only by grabbing the dusty handrail with some effort.

She was running a fever.

Why? Was it because of the rain? But even if she caught a fever from being soaked, it shouldn’t have come on this quickly…

Her entire body was burning, accompanied by intermittent, convulsive pains. She raised a hand to steady her helmet, only to find her vision growing blurry. With a single breath, the inside of her helmet fogged up completely.

As she staggered and fell to her knees again, footsteps rapidly approached. The young girl came over once more, pulled the woman’s arm over her shoulder, and helped her up without taking no for an answer.

“You were caught in the rain. You should rest at my place for the night before leaving. It’s too dangerous outside.” Zheng Yi’s tone remained exceedingly gentle. She supported the woman’s body steadily and led her upstairs. “Don’t worry, I’m not a bad person~”

Even if she were a bad person, in her current state, she would be powerless to fight back, the woman thought with a bitter smile. Her body grew weaker, and the rising temperature made her increasingly delirious.

By the time Zheng Yi had brought her back to the apartment and settled her on the sofa, the woman had completely lost consciousness.

After taking off the helmet, Zheng Yi glanced at her own rain-splashed hands. “Am I going to get a high fever too?”

[…I wouldn’t know about that. But if you are unfortunate enough to zombify, there is a serum for sale in the store. However, it must be used immediately; it becomes ineffective after one hour.]

Zheng Yi let out a “tsk” at Zero One’s uninteresting reply. She then took out a rope and simply tied the woman’s hands before fetching some clean water to wipe her face and cool her down.

After doing all this, she realized it was already past midnight. Zheng Yi took out her key and the blood mud she had prepared earlier, left the room quietly, and went across the hall to complete her daily feeding task.

Host: Zheng Yi

Saint Points: 36

Backpack Slots: 3

Special Abilities: –

When the last zombie had been fed, Zheng Yi’s Saint Points had risen to 36. Without hesitation, she spent 30 points to unlock an additional backpack slot.

To unlock the fifth slot, she would need 50 Saint Points. Zero One explained that each time a slot was unlocked, the cost for the next one would increase by 20 points.

Once everything was done, Zheng Yi returned, washed her hands, and went into the bedroom, closing the door for a peaceful night’s sleep.

Zero One vigilantly monitored the situation outside for her. After all, even it didn’t know which outcome the woman would experience. Such a strong reaction… it had to be either zombification or the awakening of a special ability.

Although Zheng Yi had touched the rainwater, she showed no abnormal reactions. She slept soundly until dawn. When she got up, she found the woman on the sofa was still unconscious, but her body temperature had returned to normal.

Quickly, Zheng Yi wet a towel again, wrung it out, and wiped the woman’s face before untying her. Then, she sat down on the floor next to the sofa, tilted her head, and pretended to be asleep.

How to put it… having witnessed all sorts of “Saint” operations, Zero One was emotionally stable at this point. It was even a little curious to see how the woman, who had been so wary of Zheng Yi, would react when she woke up.

She hadn’t turned into a zombie all night, so it was clear she wasn’t going to.

---

Yu Yinan had a difficult dream.

She seemed to have returned to her childhood, back to the days when she was still called “Yu Qinan.” She had to perform exceptionally well just to continue her studies with the help of her head teacher.

Whether it was before the middle school or high school entrance exams, the first thing she had to do when she got home was laundry and cooking. Only after all the chores were done could she start on her test papers and review.

Every time she needed to pay for tuition or books, a round of scolding was unavoidable. Her parents’ expressions were always so impatient, so disgusted. She often wondered: if this was how they felt, why did they even give birth to her?

Was it just to pray for a younger brother?

Perhaps it was. Before her brother came into this world, Yu Yinan had once received a sliver of “love.” When she worked hard to get first place, she could earn their approval.

But that little bit of affection, which occasionally trickled through the cracks of their palms, never fell on her again after her brother was born. It was as if her life’s mission had been completed, and everything she did from then on was met with disdain. No matter how hard she tried or how outstanding she was, the family’s resources were never shared with her. Their hearts and eyes had room only for their son; they only remembered their son.

It went on until she was accepted into a top-tier university, yet they refused to give her a single cent, telling her to drop out and work, to hurry up and get married to earn a bride price for her brother.

Her heart dead, Yu Yinan took her ID card and left that home for good.

With the help of government aid and subsidies, not only did Yu Yinan not drop out, but she lived a better life than she ever had in that house. After leaving that place, it was as if she had truly found some freedom, found her confidence and a life of her own. Everything got on the right track. She started working while still in school, and after graduation, she received a satisfying job offer.

But when the apocalypse broke out and everything descended into chaos, she still couldn’t completely let go of the family she once had. After a brief hesitation, she ultimately decided to rush back…

But it was obvious she had no home to return to long ago.