Chapter 97 Sanctuary 11

Chapter 97 Shelter 11

At 9 a.m. on Day 9, the system’s mechanical voice announced, "Shelter I22 (current player server) has 634 players, 582 NPCs, and 613 zombies remaining."

The numbers of both players and NPCs had sharply declined, showing how fierce the battles had been.

However, many had never planned to jump into the fray and had stayed quietly in the outer areas of the shelter. They went out to scavenge supplies in the morning and returned to their tents to rest at night, living pretty easy.

Meanwhile, Su Han drove her off-road vehicle, munching on a pork floss bun, acting like she was just on a joyride. She took out any zombies she came across, cruised around if none appeared, occasionally stopping for a short break.

At 9 a.m. on Day 10, the system’s mechanical voice announced, "Shelter I22 (current player server) has 410 players, 393 NPCs, and 584 zombies remaining."

Now that players could freely leave the instance, their numbers dwindled once again.

**

As the days passed, Su Han and Zhong Rui roamed the wilderness, living pretty easy.

In the middle of nowhere, with no one around, they didn’t have to worry about others’ opinions. Occasionally, they even spruced up instant noodles with a sausage to treat themselves.

On Day 15, the system’s mechanical voice spoke again in Su Han’s ear, "Experience points 30/30. Congratulations, player level +1. Hunger limit +100, Cleanliness limit +100, Stamina limit +100."

The transparent panel displayed:

Name: Su Han (Real-name verified)

Level: 7 (Experience 0/30)

Occupation 1: Nutritionist (Has maxed-out skills, cannot be upgraded further)

Occupation 2: Soapmaker (Has high-level skills, Experience 15/30)

Satiety: 840/840

Cleanliness: 840/840

Stamina: 840/840

Hearing about the level-up, Su Han felt completely indifferent. At this point, she only had one thought—that the 20 days would just be over already.

On the morning of Day 16, the system’s mechanical voice announced, "Zombies are being summoned by a mysterious force and are heading toward the shelter. In two hours, they will surround it."

Su Han found it kinda funny. She thought to herself that if there were tens of thousands of zombies, the scene of them surrounding the shelter would be spectacular. But with just a few hundred, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel!

Zhong Rui let out a sigh. "As much as I’d love for all the zombies to be taken out completely, it’s probably impossible."

For example, a resident might have dug a pit long ago and forgotten about it, only for a zombie to be dumb enough to fall in and be unable to climb out.

Or, someone might trick a zombie into a closet, lock the door, and quickly escape.

This kind of thing kept happening, making it extremely difficult to eliminate every single zombie. The challenge wasn’t in killing them—it was in finding them. Skip one and you've failed.

"Beating the level is enough," Su Han said indifferently.

At 9 a.m. on Day 20, the system announced, "Shelter I22 (current player server) has 163 players, 212 NPCs, and 143 zombies remaining."

In the end, the zombies were not all gone.

At midnight, the system’s mechanical voice chimed in right on time, "The game has ended. Congratulations on completing the ultimate challenge."

"You have received additional rewards."

"All surviving players in the dungeon will be automatically warped out."

A white flash, and Su Han left the dungeon.

As usual, Su Han chose the additional rewards of "+5 experience points" and "+20 to max satiety, cleanliness, and stamina." After confirming her choices, the transparent panel's attributes updated as follows—

Name: Su Han (ID-verified)

Level: 7 (Experience 10/30)

Profession 1: Nutritionist (Has maxed-out talent, cannot be upgraded further)

Profession 2: Soap Artisan (Possesses advanced talent, Experience 25/30)

Satiety: 860/860

Cleanliness: 860/860

Stamina: 860/860

After confirming her choices, the game capsule opened.

Su Han curled up inside the game capsule. For a moment, she didn’t want to move, simply wanting to sink into deep sleep. This game had left her mentally exhausted as she spent too much effort tracking the movements of players on the same server.

Summoning her energy, she got up and logged into the survival game forum. No matter how tired she was, she still needed to keep tabs on her rivals.

Posts about clearing and beating the game were pinned at the top. "Latest update: 270,000 players participated in the ninth round, 106,000 advanced to the next round, with a clearance rate of 39%. Additionally, 504 players beat the game (20-day survival)."

106,000... Su Han thought to herself. Looks like the round won’t wrap by Day 10—she’d have to ask her company for two days off. Shaking it off, she continued browsing the posts.

"Finally nailed the dungeon’s theme once. The excitement is indescribable—it feels like I hit the jackpot (though I really didn’t)."

"Zombie siege—classic and predictable. Hope there’s more of this and less innovation in the future. After all, players just want to survive... *Weathered face.jpg*"

"Finally understand why it takes 20 days to clear. Killing zombies is easy, but finding supplies is hard! I almost failed because I ran out of them! Thankfully, I leveled up at the last moment, maxing out all stats. Thank god."

"Not scavenging enough leads to shortages of essentials later. Not focusing on clearing zombies means a siege from Day 16 onward—no way to survive till the end. Conclusion: scavenging and zombie-clearing must go hand in hand. Balance is key to clearing smoothly."

"Stats nerd here with another summary! From numerous posts, we’ve learned that trader factions have professional medical teams that can develop an antidote under certain conditions.

The 7-8-year-old girl in the outer ring, the 80-something grandpa, the 40-something middle-aged man, the exchange manager in the inner ring, the 50-something cleaning lady, and *Boss Huang* from the trader faction—all can develop antibodies after being attacked by zombies. (Note: These are cases mentioned in player posts; actual numbers may be higher.)

If these individuals are taken to the research institute after injury, an antidote can be developed within five days. If the key NPC *Old Jiang* dies, the antidote becomes permanently unobtainable.

Overall, this is a very typical tactical survival game. Players simply need to eliminate zombies, gather supplies, and trade with trader factions. Repeat these steps and wait for clearance."

Su Han rested her chin on her hand, reflecting. How did players on the same server manage to complicate such a straightforward game? Thinking back, it does seem a bit baffling...

At the same time, a new post appeared titled, "I might be cursed—every game I play is different from everyone else’s."

The OP then detailed their experience.

After getting lost, they wandered outside for two days, only reaching the shelter on Day 3. Hearing that zombies had crystals in their heads—exchangeable for food and antidotes—they diligently hunted zombies.

But just as they nearly wiped them out, news broke—there were no crystals. It was all a scam. In a daze, they rebelled.

Breaking into the inner ring, they fought the guards, looted the warehouse, and barely had time to rest before players started betraying each other.

On Day 13, the trader faction claimed to have developed an antidote for an unknown virus. Only players who switched sides again and helped them could obtain it. So they aided the traders against the holdouts.

In the end, the OP realized it wasn't until he exited the game capsule that he understood he had been manipulated the whole time, and surviving was pure luck.

1L, "Zombie heads contain crystals??! Holy shit, what genius came up with that lie? It sounded so convincing."

2L, "If I were in that position, I’d probably fall for it too. Many movies and TV shows just assume zombies have crystals in their heads—it's easy to buy into that."

3L, "Arriving at the shelter a day or two late and taking the lie as an actual game rule... Just thinking about it gives me chills."

4L, "The longest road I’ve ever walked is your scheme. Feel bad for you, OP."

5L, "Glad I didn’t run into that, or I’d have believed it too and been exploited to death."

6L, "Another entry in the 'Players Are the Real Monsters' series."

7L, "There are still over 100,000 players left in the game, so is everyone just going nuts and causing chaos now? As one of the survivors, I’m terrified."

8L, "Same game, different bosses. The carry in my server emphasized balancing zombie elimination and resource gathering from the start, leading everyone smoothly. In the end, over a hundred of us made it through—all thanks to their guidance!"

9L, "6666, kowtowing to the god player."

10L, "If I hadn’t been in that server myself, been through the same shit as OP, I’d almost doubt this story’s authenticity."

11L, "Was about to call the OP a liar, then I refreshed and saw 10L’s post in the thread... Hang in there, guys. Hope you don’t have nightmares tonight."

After scrolling through the thread for a while, Su Han felt too exhausted to continue. She gave up the struggle, shut down her computer, and went back to bed to catch up on sleep.

Lazy days pass quick, and soon, the 10th day arrived.

In the morning, as soon as she logged into the game, a robotic voice chimed in, "Welcome to the 'Unlimited Survival Game.' You currently have 175 points (75 + 100)."

"This is the 10th round. The item shop is open. Enter the shop?"

"Notice: This is the shop’s final operation. It will not reopen afterward. Please choose your purchases carefully."

Last chance to shop? Su Han casually clicked "Yes."

Truthfully, she was pretty much set—she had plenty of daily necessities, medicine, and firearms. Not one to waste points, she spent all 175 on medicine and stuffed it into her Portable Storage.

With shopping done, Su Han closed the panel.

The system asked, "Preparations complete. Would you like to enter the game now?"

Without hesitation, Su Han replied, "Yes." With a white flash, she was gone.

**

Upon entering, the system began its introduction: "This round is a survival game set in a nuclear radiation scenario. Do whatever it takes to survive."

"Note 1: Surviving for 10 days meets the win condition. You may request to leave the instance at any time."

"Note 2: If your stamina drops to zero, you die, and you are disqualified."

"Note 3: The longer you survive, the richer the rewards."

"Note 4: Completing the ultimate challenge—surviving 20 days—grants additional rewards. After 20 days, all remaining players will be automatically transported out."

"Note 5: J33 Town (your current server) has 1,000 players and 4,000 Resident NPCs."

"Note 6: Half a year ago, a major nuclear leak disrupted the town’s peaceful life. To this day, survivors still face radiation threats, barely scraping by."

"Note 7: Game on as soon as you enter."

Nuclear radiation? Su Han kept a straight face but couldn't help complaining inwardly. These test questions keep getting more random! Without professional knowledge, who would know how to deal with nuclear radiation?

She racked her brain before barely remembering a few key points about nuclear radiation.

Different types of radiation cause different kinds of damage to the human body. Some rays only cause damage when they enter the body, some mainly affect the external body, while others can harm both internally and externally.

Small doses of radiation aren't dangerous to human health. But excessive exposure can lead to illness, cancer, or death. Additionally, the longer the exposure time, the greater the harm.

Su Han figured this was probably how it worked in theory, but who knows if the game plays by real-world rules.

Author's note: Nuclear radiation information sourced from Baidu Encyclopedia.

I'll keep the setting simple, because I wouldn't understand the complex details either...

Not an expert here, so don't look too closely at the details.