Wen Xishu noticed that on the 21st-floor hallway, outside of room 2111, there was barbed wire.
It was a makeshift fortification, meant to hinder the approach of zombies. Zombies, driven by hunger, would also avoid certain obstacles due to pain.
"If I’m not mistaken, there’s someone inside room 2111. The person inside should be the target that this zombie desperately wants to protect."
Wen Xishu realized that his hunger level had reached 60, and his thirst level had shot up to 80, qualified as extreme thirst.
He needed to find a water source quickly.
"There’s a zombie at the stairway, holding a steel pipe. That pipe might come in handy for me."
"Also, the door to 2111 is locked. If I try to knock and enter directly from the 21st-floor hallway, it will definitely alert the zombies, potentially causing the mission to fail."
The current game had a pay-to-win option.
The source of asset values was your possessions. According to the mission brief, you could trade everything you had for asset values, which could then be used to purchase cheat items in the game.
However, Wen Xishu didn’t have this ability. So he cherished one important point...
Which was the mission.
If a game wasn’t too bad, it should have a decent growth system, like completing missions.
If the game’s rewards relied solely on pay-to-win... then it was probably a game for harvesting money from players.
"Compass guided me here, so this mission must be crucial."
At the stairway, a zombie guarded the exit. Wen Xishu was confident he could kill the zombie, but the exclamation mark above the zombie’s head made him feel that killing it would be wrong.
Moreover, if he bypassed the zombie and entered through the door of room 2111, he would alert other zombies, and possibly the zombie with the exclamation mark would fight him again to protect the occupants of 2111.
Wen Xishu was certain... the outcome would either be his escape or accidentally killing the zombie.
The mission would still fail.
"I need to enter 2111 directly. I can’t alert any zombies. I can’t enter through the door."
With that in mind, Wen Xishu quickly devised a plan.
He first observed the structure of the corridor, then slowly returned to the rooftop of the building.
That was the 24th floor. Based on his memory, Wen Xishu found room 2411.
Then he climbed over the railing and began to descend along the outer wall of the building.
He had seen this maneuver in games and movies before, and he had done it himself once at the Reversed Seven Mansion.
He would jump from the 24th floor, use his arm strength to grab the 23rd-floor 2311 room’s windowsill, then release and fall to the 22nd-floor 2211 room’s windowsill, and release again to land on the 2111 room’s windowsill.
This required immense grip and arm strength, but the current Wen Xishu found it effortlessly easy.
Before long, Wen Xishu reached the windowsill of room 2111.
The window was open.
As soon as Wen Xishu’s feet landed on the windowsill, two mission options appeared in his mind. Time seemed to slow down dramatically.
Everything around him moved in slow motion.
[Please choose the mission you want to undertake.]
[Mission One: Family Reunion.]
[Mission Two: Hard Work.]
There were no mission descriptions or reward previews. One had to choose based almost solely on the names.
And the countdown was only five seconds.
Wen Xishu chose Mission One. In an instant, everything around him returned to normal speed, time seemingly resuming its normal flow.
The woman inside instinctively wanted to scream, but Wen Xishu swiftly dashed forward and covered her mouth.
There wasn’t just a woman in the room; there was also a little girl, asleep and feverish. Her hands were tied with a belt.
Covering the woman’s mouth, Wen Xishu gestured for silence:
"If you make noise, you should know it will attract the zombies. So, if you want to live, if you want your daughter to live, be quiet. I won’t hurt you, okay?"
The woman nodded.
She was a woman in her mid-thirties, neither particularly attractive nor unattractive.
Wen Xishu released her hand:
"I am just a passerby, a survivor. I need some water and food."
The woman looked at Wen Xishu in fear and shook her head:
"There’s only a little bit left... please, please don’t take them."
On the table in room 2111, there was half a bottle of mineral water and a pack of instant noodles.
Wen Xishu’s eyes landed on the water, and he noted the remark: [Drinking this will reduce your thirst by 40 points.]
The instant noodles also had a label indicating the reduction in hunger they would provide.
Seeing Wen Xishu appear somewhat friendly, the woman suddenly became fierce. She lunged forward, trying to grab the half-bottle of water and the pack of instant noodles from the table.
But Wen Xishu effortlessly pulled her back entirely.
The woman gritted her teeth, fearing she would cry out, and said:
"You... you can’t take our... this is our last bit of resources. My daughter is still sick."
Wen Xishu first put the water and food in his pocket, then silently pondered the current situation.
"This woman and the girl, unless there’s some dramatic twist, probably won’t survive long."
"I seem to understand this game’s mission mechanics now. Missions trigger forcibly when you approach the location, and they can have multiple endings."
"And it doesn’t give you enough time to think. There are no mission briefings. The only information you have is the name of the mission."