Chapter 5: A New Era, Another Fall…

Three relatively ordinary talents appeared among the options…

After eliminating the first white talent, the remaining two talents both seemed useful.

Following the principle of picking the higher grade over the lower.

Su Ze hesitated for a moment, then still chose the blue talent.

Danger Sense.

This talent would definitely come in handy.

Had he possessed this talent in yesterday’s simulation, he probably would not have stayed in a contaminated zone the whole time…

Aside from the newly selected talent for this round.

Su Ze’s existing Fallen Benefaction would of course also be counted in the simulation.

『Innate talent “Danger Sense” selected…』

『Simulation start…』

『Day 1: Doomsday arrived as scheduled, and you stayed in the dormitory where you and the other students received a notice forbidding anyone to leave campus.』

Huh?

Did I actually move back into the school?

The content of the first simulated day made Su Ze pause in surprise.

To be honest, he had indeed considered sheltering at the school today, but he had never thought it through in detail.

Yet after seeing the simulation he no longer found it strange.

After all, what he wanted most now was information about the apocalypse.

Since the campus was crowded, news might circulate more widely there.

He just did not know whether the school would turn into a so-called contaminated zone…

“No, the school is definitely safe, at least during the initial stage of doomsday.”

Su Ze reacted quickly.

The talent he drew this round was Danger Sense.

If the campus were going to present a clearly deadly threat at the start of doomsday, why would he choose to return there?

It must have been that the talent had done its job.

Because he knew in advance that the campus was relatively safe, he chose it as his spawn point…

『Day 2: The temperature dropped sharply, unease seemed to spread to every corner of the campus, and you heard many rumors without knowing whether they were true.』

『Day 3: Riots broke out on campus and some people panicked to the extreme, but the trouble was minor and order returned quickly.』

『Day 4: You and your roommates stayed in the dorm all day without going out, and when power and water were cut in the afternoon the candle in your roommate’s hand became a precious commodity.』

『Day 5: The situation grew more severe, numerous horrifying reports came in, and you knew that many people were dying.』

『Day 6: Someone escaped from the sealed-off campus and never returned.』

『Day 7: Light snow fell, the school organized manpower to maintain basic order, and you heard that the campus food supply line had completely collapsed.』

『Day 8: All kinds of terrifying news kept pouring in, so you played cards with classmates in the dorm to ease their oppressive anxiety.』

『Day 9: Quite a few people had sex on the athletic field, and the scene briefly spun out of control.』

『Day 10: The school announced that daily food rations would be cut and that no grain could be wasted, and you learned from a teacher that official rescue efforts had stalled so the campus now had to rely on itself.』

『Day 11: Someone took the lead in cultivating the hill behind the school to plant vegetables, but the extremely low temperature made you doubt its feasibility.』

『Day 12: The infirmary ran out of medicine, a classmate in your class ran a fever of 42°C, yet although you had full stacks of healing energy you still had no intention of helping.』

『Day 13: An Awakener appeared on campus, attracting a crowd, and even you were startled by the speed and strength the Awakener displayed.』

Hmm…

More than 10 days had passed and he was still holed up on campus.

It even looked as though he had no intention whatsoever of leaving school to explore the outside.

He had basically just switched to another safe house and continued to play turtle…

Besides having more people to rely on, this safe house seemed to offer no advantage at all.

He could not even get enough to eat…

Most importantly, the doomsday intel he wanted had still not surfaced in any detail.

Fortunately, on the 13th day after doomsday began another so-called Awakener appeared within his sight.

『Day 14: You joined the campus security team and used work time to ask insiders for information, wanting to know how to become an Awakener but failing to obtain any critical intel.』

『Day 15: Another person became an Awakener, and your roommates all sighed that humanity was entering a new era.』

『Day 16: You obtained vital information that the first Awakener on campus had entered a contaminated zone, returned, had a nightmare at school, and then possessed a transcendent body.』

『Day 17: You hesitated the whole day, wanting to leave school in search of the unknown, but your Danger Sense kept holding you back.』

『Day 18: You continued to hesitate.』

『Day 19: You heard that someone imitated the Awakener’s awakening method, returned, and died in their sleep, so you realized that your caution might have been a blessing.』

『Day 20: Using the Awakeners’ strength, the school opened a new supply route, yet you knew it was only a temporary fix that would not last long.』

『Day 21: You acted with the Awakeners, left campus, passed through a contaminated zone, were attacked by mutant animals, and became separated from the team.』

『Relying on Danger Sense you escaped without spending any healing energy.』

『Day 22: You did not return to school but went back to the high-rise single building you had prepared in advance; the food stored there was intact, you had a hearty meal, and decided not to return to campus for the time being.』

『Day 23: Danger Sense made you feel on pins and needles in the safe house, and while sleeping you lost one layer of healing energy.』

『Day 24: You located the pollution source within the compound and destroyed it; your Danger Sense ceased, and you felt safe now.』

『That night you awoke from sleep sensing an unknown and terrible danger, and you did not dare fall asleep again.』

『Day 25: You left the compound and returned to school, and your roommates were very happy to see you still alive.』

『Day 26: You fell asleep uneasily, and in your dream you were attacked by a pack of terrifying hounds; after a desperate struggle you used up all your healing energy…』

『You died.』

Another 26 days…

And the manner of death was the same.

He was attacked by a pack of hounds in his sleep.

Even with the healing ability of Fallen Benefaction it was useless; he still could not beat those hounds…

The Danger Sense talent had also done its best.

『Simulation Assessment: You made reasonable use of your talent, so your death was not reckless.』

『Please choose one of the following simulation rewards:』

『1. Pea Shooter (green)』

『2. A precise map within a 5-kilometer radius centered on the school (including the boundaries of contaminated and safe zones)』

『3. Danger Sense (blue)』

“Whew…”

Su Ze took a deep breath.

He still had plenty of time, so he did not need to pick any of the above rewards yet.

It was not that these options were completely useless, it was just that he believed better rewards were waiting for him later.

During the simulator’s ten-minute cooldown he reread the simulation carefully.

Afterwards he could not help clicking his tongue.

“Why is it that other people enter a contaminated zone and awaken when they return…”

“Yet when I enter a contaminated zone I die if I stay and I die if I come back…”

“What the hell is going on with these contaminated zones!”