Chapter 31: Descent Into Chaos

Beneath the teaching building.

After springing out the window, Yenir didn’t hesitate and dashed toward the largest teaching building. The thirteen-story structure loomed under a gloomy sky like a massive tombstone.

In his previous life, after the disaster erupted, the authorities had ordered all factions to unleash every instance run to quickly empower the survivors.

Thus, Yenir was well acquainted with the tactics for this instance.

His steps were swift as he recalled the crucial details.

Within seconds, Yenir leaped across two buildings and landed at the base of the teaching building.

Nearby, a few scattered zombies quickly took notice. A student zombie, clad in a school uniform and seemingly only sixteen or seventeen, let out a howl before charging at him in a frenzy.

Undeterred by obstacles.

While sprinting, Yenir rapidly triggered his sleeve crossbow, landing successive headshots.

After diving into the teaching building, he bolted straight up the stairs.

1st floor… 2nd floor…

Armed with a long sword and a series of precise slashes, the zombies on the stairs were effortlessly cleaved in two.

He tilted his head to avoid the splattering, grimy blood.

The severed bodies tumbled down the stairs like slabs of meat.

With an expression as cold as that of an efficient killing machine, Yenir, bloodied yet relentless, surged toward the 7th floor in mere seconds.

The teaching building, being the instance’s least infested, had its rooftop—an ideal spot for his next move.

Perhaps the zombies hadn’t been in class when the outbreak hit, or maybe they’d already gone off to hunt other students.

After dispatching twenty-seven zombies in quick succession, the chaotic clamor on the stairs noticeably subsided, though faint groans from a classroom hinted at more lurking within.

9th floor…

After a rapid scan of the floor, Yenir forcefully kicked a zombie blocking his path, then casually pierced a teacher-like zombie, pinning it to the corridor wall.

After a brief pause, the sound of desks and chairs sliding echoed from a nearby classroom.

Just as Yenir resumed his ascent, a panicked female voice halted him:

“Help me! Please… take me with you!”

In a classroom by the stairs, a girl in a school skirt, her face twisted in terror, stood directly in his path.

Her pale complexion and trembling legs betrayed the depth of her fear.

Though her once-innocent face was smudged with dirt, her striking features still shone through—as if she were a goddess at the school.

Gazing at Yenir in his eccentric attire, hope lit up in her eyes.

She had noticed him when he shattered the window, and watching him butcher zombies as if slicing through vegetables only deepened her astonishment.

Caring little about who he really was, she was certain that following this young man was her best chance to survive.

Raising an eyebrow, she paused.

“You want me to take you along? A side quest NPC?”

In that split second, however, Yenir quickly deduced her identity.

It appeared she was an NPC carrying a side quest.

Seeing Yenir halt, her eyes lit with delight as she hurried to follow him:

“Hey, fellow student! You’re so strong—you must be able to get me out of here, right?! It’s terrifying out there; I have no idea what’s happening…”

“A few of my good friends are trapped over there; once you’re done, could you rescue all of us?”

Her pitiful demeanor drove her to cling to Yenir, as if only his presence could offer safety.

At that moment, the system’s side quest prompt suddenly blared to life.

Seeing the girl’s pitiable expression, Yenir unhesitatingly agreed.

“No problem!”

Thud!

Before his words had fully faded, Yenir discharged another sleeve crossbow shot, nailing the girl to the wall with a brutal headshot.

In an instant, her shocked expression froze alongside the halfway-delivered system prompt, both caught completely off guard.

“Beep, quest failed. Target has died.”

Hearing the timely system alert, Yenir nonchalantly shook his head and sprinted toward the rooftop.

Indeed, this NPC did carry a quest—a quest many had accepted in his past life.

But for Yenir, delaying his plan for a trivial quest was simply unnecessary.

Moreover, the girl’s incessant pleading was particularly grating.

If she were a real human, perhaps he might have felt pity, but when it came to an NPC instance, Yenir simply didn’t care.

Within moments, his swift steps carried him onto the rooftop.

“Bang!”

After kicking open the iron door, he immediately locked it behind him and darted to a corner of the roof.

As the tallest building in the academy, this spot provided a commanding view of the entire battlefield. More importantly, it was the core— the final main battleground.

Exhaling lightly as he stood on the rooftop, Yenir gazed downward.

He saw that in the classroom where the instance had begun, thirteen Awakened cautiously burst forth.

Led by Gao Yun, they raced straight for the playground’s corner restroom.

Observing their movements, Yenir quickly deduced their plan.

The classroom was positioned at the very south of the academy, while the playground restroom lay in the far southeast—a place notorious as the birthplace of the Decapitated Female Corpse.

Surely, their intention was to eliminate their target before the mutant outbreak escalated.

……

“Try not to kill any zombies! Even if we don’t accept the quest, every creature will be unleashed in the final three hours.”

“Those monsters will track their scent using the corpses along the way!”

Leading the charge like agile leopards, Gao Yun’s voice rang out as he warily scanned for nearby zombies, steering everyone along the wall’s corner.

“There’s a trick in the Corpse Academy instance! Once the mutants pick up the quest, their strength skyrockets. But we can severely wound them before that happens, drastically reducing the difficulty!”

Behind him, several Second-Stage Awakeneds couldn’t help but exclaim in delight at Gao Yun’s shared intel:

“So, do we first hunt for the quest target, inflict some damage, and then start the quest?”

“Exactly!”

Gao Yun nodded firmly.

“Although this approach might lower our final score, the rewards are still there.”

“After slaying the Decapitated Female Corpse, we’ll head straight to the highest teaching building for shelter.”

“As long as we keep hiding, we can ride out the zombie uprising. The real challenge is holding the rooftop until the very end!”

Listening to Gao Yun’s plan, a female Awakened let out a charming laugh and quickly joined the group:

“So simple? I’m really grateful to Captain Gao!”

Unmoved by the flattery, Gao Yun quickened his pace slightly, a hint of cold disdain flickering in his lowered eyes.

“Grateful to me? No… it should be I who thanks you all…”