Chapter 11: Infection

[To celebrate the first night of the Doomsday Game’s arrival on Blue Star, the game has released some special little cuties. They carry surprise gifts from the Doomsday Game, and brave survivors will receive generous rewards.]

After finishing her meal, Su Xiao opened the cellar hatch and poked her head out.

The sky, which should have darkened gradually, had turned completely black in an instant—like someone had draped a piece of pitch-black fabric over the world. Not a single star was visible.

Su Xiao got ready to go out and take a look.

She already had two red treasure chests. Even if she saved them for herself, she could at least synthesize a weapon, so she needed to find clues about crafting materials as soon as possible. The best-case scenario would be discovering a new color of chest and triggering a hidden bonus.

Tucking the toy race car securely away, Su Xiao grabbed her flashlight. The moment she climbed out of the cellar, she heard a strange meowing.

“Meow~”

A hoarse mewl sounded behind her. Su Xiao immediately turned and shined her flashlight in that direction.

In the beam of light appeared a small kitten with cloudy gray pupils. Aside from its unsettling eyes, it staggered when it walked, eerily resembling the kind of zombie often described in novels.

Su Xiao’s instincts kicked in.

The moment the zombie cat approached her, she struck without hesitation, cleaving its head in two. A black mist swirled up and condensed into a black treasure chest on the ground.

Su Xiao’s face lit up with joy. She immediately opened it.

Inside floated a chunk of iron.

[Iron Ingot]
[Description: Doomsday Game Crafting Material]

A prompt rang in her ears—

[Detected: You are the first survivor to open a black treasure chest in the apocalypse. Hidden bonus triggered—From now on, all black treasure chests you find will grant double rewards.]

Su Xiao: !!!

Thank goodness she was fast enough—she had immediately killed that cat and opened the black chest.

The reason this “first trigger” bonus was still available might be because these little cuties only came out at night.

She placed the two iron ingots into her storage. There was still space left, so she could store black treasure chests directly from now on.

She scanned the surroundings with her flashlight.

Since she had moved around while in the cellar, this place now resembled a construction site—completely deserted.

But the aftermath of the storm had left everything in complete disarray.

Not far away sat a pile of cement with a special message floating above it:

[There seems to be something under this pile of cement. Try digging it up—there might be a surprise.]

Here it comes again—a trap.

This time, Su Xiao studied the message carefully.

She had encountered similar prompts three times before, but the wording had been different each time.

Suddenly, something clicked.

She turned and returned to the cellar, pulled out a red treasure chest, and was about to open it—when she remembered that Turtle Hermit had triggered a red chest bonus. So she opened the communication center instead.

Turtle Hermit was back online and had sent her a message—along with two white treasure chests.

He’d left a note:
“Bro, I’m giving you everything I’ve got. You can pay me back with some water or whatever—anything’s better than me opening them myself.”

Su Xiao raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Was this guy a little… slow?

After thinking it over, she sent him four bottles of cola and four slices of strawberry cake, then stored the two white chests in her inventory.

Might as well clean up her stash while she was at it.

Turtle Hermit replied quickly:
“Whoa, cola’s awesome! But why is all the food strawberry cake?”

S:
“Most of it’s sweets. They boost energy more. At this point, having anything to eat is already a win.”

Turtle Hermit didn’t mind. He was just stocking up for emergencies, especially since natural resources would expire after seven days.

Su Xiao followed up with another message:
“You must’ve opened a bunch of weapons by now—what types do you have?”

That’s right—Su Xiao suspected the in-game text prompts were related to weapon types.

Earlier, she had seen the man with glasses open a hammer from a red chest.

She had gotten an axe herself.

The first prompt she saw had said, “Try attacking it.”
During the day, the one by the willow tree had said, “Chop it down and see.”
Now this one said, “Dig it up and take a look.”

Could each prompt correspond to a different tool?

Turtle Hermit:
“Got an axe, a hoe, and a hammer.”

Only three types of tools.

Su Xiao thought for a moment:
“I’ll give you one red treasure chest. In return, give me a hoe—and something else, doesn’t matter what.”

Turtle Hermit immediately sent over a hoe and an axe, along with a message:
“By the way, I noticed something. Red weapon chests are different—the box doesn’t disappear right away. You have to take the weapon out, then the chest vanishes. If you don’t like the weapon, you can close the box and reopen it—the weapon changes. Is it the same for white chests?”

He’d picked up some white chests, but after Su Xiao told him she had a hidden bonus with those, he hadn’t dared open any yet.

Hadn’t tested it.

Su Xiao gave it some thought, then replied:
“Probably not. Once you open a white chest, it disappears—you can’t return the item.”

But that clue from him confirmed her theory: the prompts were definitely linked to tool types!

Hoe in hand, Su Xiao left the cellar and immediately began digging at the pile of cement.

With one swing, a third of the cement vanished. After three hits, the entire pile crumbled—revealing a Level 1 purple treasure chest.

“Squeak—squeak—”

At that moment, squeaking noises rang in her ears.

The source moved fast—right near Su Xiao’s feet.

She quickly snatched up the purple chest and shone her flashlight.

Two zombie rats with gray eyes were gnawing at her shoes. She had just chopped one when the other had already chewed a hole into her brand-new sneakers—and then sank its teeth deep into her foot.

Su Xiao cried out in pain. She stomped down on the second rat and slammed her axe onto its head.

This time, she clearly felt the difference—the rat’s body was much more solid than the cat’s. It took real effort to kill.

The zombie rat was smashed into a bloody paste.

Two black treasure chests appeared on the ground.

A faint prompt sounded—

[Infection Level: 1%]

Just as Su Xiao picked up the black chests, she heard a drip-drip-drip sound—like saliva dripping.

She turned her head.

One… two… no—three zombie dogs with gray eyes had appeared!

Su Xiao began backing away, switching the hoe for her more familiar axe.

“Ah—!”

Suddenly, a scream rang out from somewhere in the distance, piercing the air in all directions.

At the same time, the zombie dogs charged at her.

Su Xiao tried to dodge, but her body felt heavy. A zombie dog tackled her to the ground—its strength was even greater than that of the rats.

Two more dogs pounced, biting into her legs from both sides.

Even Su Xiao couldn’t help but cry out in pain. Gritting her teeth, she exploded with force—grabbing her axe and twisting her body to slash all three dogs in one sweeping arc.

Squelch!
She felt warm blood splatter across her face.

[Infection Level: 5%]