Ah, quite suddenly, the world, which moments ago basked in the afterglow of the afternoon, plunged headlong into darkness.
Ming raised his hand and observed that it was so dark he could not discern his fingers. He looked towards the window and realized how foolish he had been. The windows in his home were tightly sealed, preventing even the faintest glimmer of moonlight or starlight from entering.
He groped his way to the window and gently pulled back the curtain. Outside, in addition to the starlight, a blood moon hung in the sky, casting a crimson glow that bathed the entire world in a veil of red gossamer. Fortunately, it was not pitch black; with the blood moon present, there was still some light.
A cacophony of growls and howls emanated from every neighborhood corner as if mutated creatures were announcing their presence.
Thud, thud—thud, thud.
Footsteps from above grew louder, accompanied by harrowing screams. The wailing and cries within the neighborhood continued intermittently.
Clearly, some people had survived during the day, only to be discovered and hunted by the unsealed zombies.
"Help! Is anyone there?"
"No! Please!"
"Aah!"
Ming heard a banging sound from outside the hallway, near the fire exit door. Someone pleaded for help, but their cries were cut short by a chilling scream.
After a while, silence returned. Ming sat on the sofa with his crossbow, leaning back to rest. His plan was simple:
Wait for the arrival of Da Vinci's travel CD.
Send him to scout the area.
Decide the next course of action.
He began to review the achievements for the first chapter of the apocalypse game: "Apocalypse Game Chapter One: Seventy-Two Hour Night Achievements."
[Personal Achievements]:
Survive 72 hours, reward 100 experience points, 100 apocalypse gold coins, and one wooden blind box.
Kill 0/50 ordinary mutated creatures, reward 200 experience points, 200 apocalypse gold coins, and one bronze blind box.
Kill 0/5 elite mutated creatures, reward 500 experience points, 500 apocalypse gold coins, and one silver blind box.
Kill 0/1 boss-level mutated creature, reward 1000 experience points, 1000 apocalypse gold coins, and one golden blind box.
[Complete all the above achievements to obtain the (Nighttime Time Management Master) title.]
[Achievement Notes: All achievements will be settled after the end of the first chapter and will not be carried over to the second chapter. Titles will no longer be issued permanently.]
[Survivors, please try to complete these tasks.]
Ming realized that the first achievement was a survival reward, which was friendly for those who initially stayed home and did nothing. As long as they endured the seventy-two-hour night, they would have some starting capital and experience points to continue surviving.
The remaining achievements simply involved killing a certain number of zombies and eliminating elite and boss-level mutated creatures.
However, what if someone cheats?
For instance, if each person kills zombies separately, and could be in danger and only receive a small individual reward. But a group suppose they collaborated to kill zombies and let one person deliver the final blow. In that case, they could quickly level that person, similar to a high-level player nurturing multiple low-level accounts.
Many online games had players who broke the rules by creating multiple accounts and using their resources to support a high-level account. Sometimes, these players were even more formidable than those who spent money in the game.
Of course, games were games, and such behavior was indeed unethical. However, this was now the apocalypse, where a slight mistake could lead to death. Such teamwork is also considered a survival strategy.
Any method that could help one survive and become stronger was good, and there was no reason to disparage it.
Ming continued reading:
[Team kills do not count towards individual achievements; experience will be distributed evenly, and the drop rate for equipment and items will be reduced.]
[Rewards for multi-person kills by non-team members will be calculated based on team standards.]
[For richer rewards, individual kills are recommended.]
As expected, the apocalypse game had already established rules.
At this point, Ming understood that the apocalypse game forced everyone to be a lone wolf. The individual could only achieve individual kill achievements, and any kills made by two or more people would be calculated according to team standards. Even if two or more strangers killed the same mutated creature, it would still be counted as a team kill.
These were the rules.
After reading, Ming glanced outside through the gap in the curtains. His floor remained relatively quiet, as all the residents had been killed, and he had also eliminated some attracted zombies from upstairs and downstairs near the fire exit stairwell.
Thus, his surroundings were relatively peaceful after nightfall, proving his decision to deal with the nearby zombies before the night was correct.
He also took the opportunity to lie on the bed and rest while watching for any noises near the fire exit door.
"I wonder what that blue card is."
"Right, there are two white cards as well."
With that thought, he retrieved the three cards from his brain domain storage, starting with the white ones. He had formed a habit of saving the best for last.
The first white card read:
[Basic Treasure Map: In a certain place, the treasure is hidden. Use this map to receive a treasure chest. Combine three basic maps for an advanced map (chest levels: advanced, epic, and legendary, each requiring three previous level maps).]
Treasure maps were widely used in many online games and generally yielded some decent loot. With a treasure map in hand, Ming thought it couldn't be that bad, right? He could try digging for treasure later or wait until he had collected enough maps to get an epic-level chest.
Ming put the treasure map aside and took out the second white card:
[Basic Stamina Recovery Potion: Drink this potion to instantly banish fatigue and feel as energetic as a dragon or tiger. Removes 50% of fatigue.]
"Nice!"
He stored the potion, knowing it might save his life in certain situations. Once the potion was safely tucked away, Ming looked at the third card, the blue one:
[C*Eternal Day Sunglasses (Durability 10/10)]
[Spirit+10]
[Strength+8]
[Constitution+4]
[Agility+4]
[Unique Attribute: Wearing these glasses makes nighttime appear as bright as day while daytime remains unchanged.]
"Seriously~?" Ming couldn't help but wonder why the name of the sunglasses had such a cheesy, browser-game vibe. He had always thought he was terrible at naming things, so he borrowed a famous historical man for his little frog Da Vinci. But the apocalypse game was no better at naming items, either.
Nevertheless, the stats provided by the sunglasses were quite impressive.
Upon wearing the sunglasses, Ming's vision suddenly brightened, and the surroundings appeared as if it were daytime, utterly unaffected by the darkness of night.
"Awesome!"
With these sunglasses, the 72-hour night would feel like daytime for Ming.
Ming felt like a stylish superhero, ready to conquer the apocalypse one quirky item at a time. If only he had a cape, he could look the part as well! he knows that his future adventures would be filled with even more unusual and amusing items, making his journey in the apocalypse a wild and entertaining ride.
Ming checked his attributes.
"Has the durability of the Strongbow Crossbow and the Quiver dropped?"
He checked again and found that the original durability of 300 had now decreased to 282. It seemed like he had shot more than ten arrows when killing the Spider Woman earlier. This meant that every time he used the Strongbow Crossbow, its durability decreased by 1, and the Quiver followed the same principle.
"So that's how it works～."
Ming figured out the issue but was still trying to understand why the durability of the novice battle gear he was wearing was only 1.
How was this durability consumption calculated?
After thinking for a while, he surmised it might be related to defense reduction. Ming stretched his limbs and decided not to dwell on the durability issue any longer.
After all, once a problem was encountered, an answer would eventually follow. At this point, his physical abilities were equivalent to three ordinary people's, and he could clearly feel the powerful energy coursing through him.
Ming lay on the bed again, glancing at Da Vinci, who was fast asleep beside him. He patted the little frog's head and lay down to rest, knowing that conserving energy and maintaining a strong spirit was crucial for survival.
However, he remained vigilant, taking brief naps and waking up to stay alert and listen for any sounds outside. He didn't know how much time had passed when suddenly a voice sounded in his mind.
[Ding~ Your frogling's travel cooldown has ended, and a new day of adventure is about to begin!]