Chapter 015: Insight Tags


    Back home, Zhang Su closed the door tightly and waved the keys in his hand with a pleased expression. “Brother Li’s whole family lives together, so they probably have some supplies at home. If… if they’re not there, don’t let it go to waste.”


    It wasn’t that he was hoping for Brother Li’s family to be wiped out, but given the current circumstances, that seemed like the most likely outcome.


    Zheng Xinyu looked at the keys stained with blood and felt a sense of heaviness. Suddenly, she perked up and pointed toward her bedroom. “I almost forgot! I have wet wipes—lots of them!”


    “Wet wipes?” Zhang Su placed the keys on the shoe cabinet and looked at her. “That’s great! They can completely replace water for cleaning. How did you forget about those?”


    As he spoke, he headed toward her bedroom without hesitation.


    “I was doing that challenge—trying to stay in my room for a month without leaving or taking in supplies. For personal hygiene, I could only rely on wet wipes. I bought a ton of them, even alcohol-based disinfecting ones, but I forgot to unpack them!”


    Zheng Xinyu followed Zhang Su with quick steps. The thought of being able to clean herself without using up water lifted her spirits immensely.


    People can endure hardship, but they don’t need to seek it out—finding ways to alleviate suffering is the real challenge.


    Before long, the two opened the delivery boxes. Sure enough, just as she said, there were twenty large packs of regular wet wipes, with eighty sheets per pack, plus three hundred alcohol wipes.


    “Hahaha…”


    Zhang Su couldn’t help but laugh. He immediately tore open a pack and pulled out a wipe to clean the blood and grime from his chin and neck.


    Zheng Xinyu, feeling just as delighted, pulled out a wet wipe to help clean the spots Zhang Su missed.


    Once Zhang Su had wiped himself clean, he grabbed an alcohol wipe for good measure. Even if it didn’t help, at least it was reassuring psychologically.


    After tidying up, they had used about ten wipes. With 1,600 sheets remaining, they could last a long time.


    “I’m going to drain some water,” Zhang Su said, heading to the bathroom. He tossed his blood-stained T-shirt into the trash can. It had been soaked in zombie blood, and without water to clean it, it was useless. Fortunately, he had plenty of clothes at home. Since he couldn’t take them when leaving anyway, there was no shortage for now.


    As he walked into the bathroom and out of Zheng Xinyu’s view, text appeared in his mind.


    [Collaborated to eliminate zombies outside the door within one day. Difficulty: C. Completed in 01:33:25.]


    “So that’s why nothing happened—it only activates when no one’s watching.”


    Zhang Su had been wondering why the challenges hadn’t been acknowledged yet. With so much going on, he hadn’t dwelled on it.


    “If that’s the case…”


    Curious to test his theory, he turned to leave the bathroom. However, he found himself rooted in place, trapped in a strange space. sea??h thё n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    “Looks like I overthought it.”


    As the text disappeared, a new line appeared in his mind.


    [Reward: Insight Tags × 20]


    “Insight Tags?”


    The multiplier was easy to understand—he could presumably use this special ability twenty times. But what exactly were “Insight Tags”?


    “Hey, explain this, will you? How do I use Insight Tags?”


    Zhang Su asked mentally, like a curious student eager for answers. Unfortunately, the text vanished, replaced only by [Insight Tags 0/20], and silence reigned.


    “Still stingy as ever. Insight Tags, hmm…”


    As Zhang Su stood in the bathroom, puzzling over this new ability, his two employees were cowering in the Eireiwen convenience store, trembling in fear.


    The store was pitch dark. Wu Lue and a young woman hid under the counter, barely daring to breathe.


    Just as Zhang Su predicted, Zhao Xue, who was supposed to replace Wu Lue for the day shift, had arrived early as usual. However, instead of greeting the day with her usual serene smile, she had limped into the store in a panic, missing a shoe and visibly terrified.


    The sudden commotion jolted Wu Lue awake from a nap. He had only meant to rest after exhausting himself with his studies, but when he woke, the world had turned upside down.


    Though physically frail, Wu Lue was quick-witted. Upon seeing zombies on the street attacking and biting people, he immediately pulled down the shutter. For the first time, this always-open convenience store was closed—even during the New Year.


    “Xue-jie, are you okay?”


    Zhao Xue, sitting in the corner with her injured ankle, was quietly sobbing. The past few hours had felt like an eternity, filled with the sounds of car crashes, agonized screams, and desperate cries for help. Her spirit was battered.


    She looked at Wu Lue’s silhouette in the darkness and weakly asked, “Is the internet back yet?”


    “No…” Wu Lue replied dejectedly.


    “Ugh… I-I should’ve just run straight home. I shouldn’t have come to the store. My parents… Ugh…”


    At the thought of her parents, Zhao Xue broke into sobs again.


    “It’s a good thing you didn’t. If you had, you’d probably be dead by now…” Wu Lue sighed heavily. “When the network briefly came back, I tried calling the police, but it wouldn’t connect. Things out there must be really bad.”


    “Xiao Wu, what are those monsters eating people? What’s going on?”


    Zhao Xue sniffled and asked in a hushed voice.


    “What else? Zombies, like in those TV shows. Damn it, no wonder there’ve been so many zombie-themed shows and movies in recent years. They were prepping us for this, so we wouldn’t panic when the zombie virus finally broke out.”


    Wu Lue’s wild speculations left Zhao Xue stunned. Her terrible mood was momentarily interrupted as she stared at him in disbelief. “You… you think this is a terrorist attack by another country?”


    “I have no idea…” Wu Lue licked his dry lips. “Whatever the cause, we need to focus on survival. Xue-jie, how’s your ankle? Can you walk?”


    Zhao Xue rubbed her swollen ankle and replied, “It hurts when I touch it—it’s really swollen.”


    Thick socks had protected the bottom of her foot from injury, but her twisted ankle was in bad shape.


    Wu Lue scratched his messy hair in frustration. “If Brother Su were here, he’d know what to do. He’s great with injuries like this. Last time, he even fixed my stiff neck…”


    “Brother Su…” Zhao Xue softly murmured the name. Her mind conjured the image of Zhang Su’s tall figure, always with a smile. Her eyes reddened again.


    “Wait, I just remembered—Brother Su has some medicinal ointments stored in the back. I’ll go grab them!”


    Without waiting for a response, Wu Lue crouched low and made his way toward the storage room, clutching a frying pan for a semblance of security.