Chapter Twelve: A Small Gift from the Chemistry Teacher

Ding-ling-ling...

A small metal pillbox slipped from Xu Zhengdong’s pocket and hit the ground, exploding with a sharp crack, like water dropping into a pan of hot oil.

“Run!”

No one knew who gave the command or whose voice it was, but that order pierced into everyone’s mind like a wedge.

Chen Mo, bringing up the rear, felt his palms break into a cold sweat at the sudden blast. This wasn’t a regular drill for special forces, nor was it a mock battle on a training field. If you got hit by a blank round during those, you just raised your hand and walked off the field; there were no real medics, no real wounds.

If you don’t run, you’ll die.

He couldn’t afford to be the last one to reach the school bus—if he was, the veteran, Liu Mengchao, would certainly abandon him. Liu Mengchao had no intention of letting him survive.

No, perhaps this had been their plan all along!

In a flash, these thoughts spread through Chen Mo’s mind like wild weeds. He glanced at the veteran leading the group—Liu Mengchao.

Liu Mengchao, clothed in white, moved as if strolling through a fine rain, hands constantly in motion. Occasionally, he would bend down, then with a flick of his wrist, a glint of cold steel would flash from under his sleeve. In the blink of an eye, the zombies beside him would collapse to the ground as if made of paper.

Liu Mengchao was like a great ship, plowing through any storm in his path without hesitation. The rear, which should have been perilous, was guarded by Saeko Busujima’s wooden sword, knocking down any stray zombies with precision. And then there was the last to awaken among the newcomers—

Qi Xiaoxiao. By all rights, the later one woke, the less potential they should have had. So how was she so strong? Or had she awakened earlier than she let on? No, perhaps she too was a veteran.

He’d been played!

“Damn it!” Chen Mo dodged the zombies lunging at him from either side, heart pounding with fear—afraid of an attack from behind where he couldn’t see.

There was a story: if you and your friend encountered a tiger in the jungle, what would you do?

Chen Mo knew the textbook answer. Now, he planned to do the same.

He just had to outrun his companion.

For instance, the chemistry teacher just ahead of him—Xu Zhengdong.

Some, spurred by sudden danger, fled for their lives; others, relying on strength, watched with leisure.

Liu Mengchao was the observer. Before his enhancement, he hadn’t thought much of the Assassin’s Creed system. But in a world crawling with zombies, the assassin’s skills shone brightest.

The zombies here could only locate the living by sound. Whether it was Saeko Busujima or Qi Xiaoxiao, their attacks produced a dull thud.

By contrast, the two hidden blades at Liu Mengchao’s wrists killed without a sound, their stealth rendering the strikes silent.

Not to mention, he possessed the essential skill of any assassin:

Stealth.

It felt as if cushions were strapped to his feet; no matter how fast he moved, there was barely a sound.

The school bus was now just ahead. Liu Mengchao took a bounding step, soared into the air, and with a flick, his right hidden blade shot out, piercing the forehead of the last zombie blocking his way.

He spun and landed.

Liu Mengchao watched as the zombie before him slowly toppled, raising a faint cloud of dust. By the time the dust settled, he was already seated atop the school bus.

Every runner—whether a Reincarnator or a character from the scenario—was as clearly visible to him as the lines on his palm.

Even after deducting the points lost for zombies slain by the Reincarnators, the jackpot value on Liu Mengchao’s system interface told him one thing:

A bumper harvest.

Jackpot: 1

This was only the beginning of the horror film, and the jackpot was already rising so quickly. Truly, with great investment comes great reward—horror movies live up to their name.

Smiling, Liu Mengchao turned his gaze to Chen Mo, who was quickly closing in on Xu Zhengdong.

When faced with hardship, people instinctively seek the police for help. Anyone raised in China would feel safer with a police officer nearby during danger.

How much more so with a special forces soldier at your side?

At this thought, Liu Mengchao smiled and closed his eyes, listening quietly to the sounds of Fujimi Academy.

Red phosphorus, potassium permanganate, potassium nitrate, sulfur, charcoal powder.

Mix these five together in a sealed container and shake vigorously—a violent explosion will occur.

Back in the science lab, Liu Mengchao had noticed that the bottles containing those substances were already empty.

All he needed to do now was wait. Would Chen Mo reach the school bus first, or would the backpack full of emergency medicine explode before he arrived?

Thud.

A dull sound—Saeko Busujima striking a zombie with her wooden sword, but not with much force.

Shhk.

Shorter and sharper than the sound of the wooden sword—like a steel blade slicing through air. Liu Mengchao knew it was the weapon Qi Xiaoxiao had found in the equipment room.

Liu Mengchao was at ease; Xu Zhengdong, by contrast, was anxious.

He kept waiting for the explosion behind him. No one understood the power of mixing red phosphorus, potassium permanganate, potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal powder better than he did.

Just one loud boom, and the special forces soldier behind him would have a hole blown through his back. It wasn’t his fault.

Xu Zhengdong, running, tried to reassure himself. This was a world where the strong devoured the weak—either you get eaten, or you eat someone else.

“Better you than me!” he muttered, ducking his head and charging forward. After a few steps, the heavenly sound reached his ears.

Boom!

A deep rumble, like distant thunder.

Crack!

A flash, like lightning.

The sky over Fujimi Academy changed in an instant—orange-red light shot upward.

Special forces, field brigade, the elite among the elite.

Hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, a true ace.

But none of that mattered for Chen Mo now. He thought of how he’d only broken a student’s arm, been a bit too harsh in training, and condemned a few rookies to permanent hospital beds.

And now he was being discharged.

Pain seared through his back, filling him with bitterness and rage. Every time, just as success was within reach...

Memories, mingling with pain, made his eyes burn red.

“Even if I die... I’ll take someone with me!”

Chen Mo’s gaze locked onto Xu Zhengdong ahead. At this distance, he was sure he could throw his knife into the teacher’s skull.

But—

Where was his hand?

Chen Mo suddenly realized he’d lost all feeling in his right hand. Disbelieving, he turned his head and saw his right hand, severed at the elbow, lying discarded on the ground like a broken doll. It twitched spasmodically, nerve endings firing until a zombie, drawn by the sound, stomped on it, finally stilling it.

“No!”

Chen Mo couldn’t hold back a scream. Blood poured from him, soaking the ground in a crimson pool.

“Hah... hah...”

Hearing Chen Mo’s anguished cry behind him, Xu Zhengdong couldn’t help but smile, even as he gasped for breath. Under Liu Mengchao’s watchful gaze, he lowered his head and boarded the school bus.

Just before entering, he caught a glimpse of Chen Mo in the bus’s side mirror.

Chen Mo was completely out of sight, surrounded by a swarm of zombies. Only a single leg, clad in a military boot, stuck out, pounding the ground in a dying struggle.

Don’t blame me. You shouldn’t have crossed a veteran. In the Reincarnation World, the worthless die. Your only value was serving as my token of allegiance to the strong.

Xu Zhengdong adjusted his glasses and flashed Liu Mengchao a sycophantic smile before sitting down.

“Drive, Ms. Ju,” Xu Zhengdong said, grinning at the school nurse in the driver’s seat. “We need to hurry.”

“No, not yet—someone’s still out there.”

Ju shook her head, pointing outside.

Following her finger, Liu Mengchao saw Koichi Shido with his black hair, leading his students in a desperate dash towards the bus.

“Good people die young, while evil lingers forever. With a face as loathsome as yours, even I don’t want you to die so quickly.”

Fingers interlaced, Liu Mengchao leaned back, waiting for the next act of the drama to unfold.

Jackpot: 150,000

The climax had yet to come.

————————————————————————————————————

As for the special forces soldier’s death—at first, someone joked in the group that he’d smugly kicked a zombie in the groin, only to cry out in disbelief, “Why doesn’t that work?” and get torn apart...

And so—farewell to our black-and-white supporting cast, take your bit parts and your box lunches...

After the last update, I realized that urging me to update means more words the next day. I want to roll around on the floor oo.

So—since that's the case, I’ll go all out on Thursday...

Thanks to our roasted cannon-fodder critics, Water Strings, Enduring Greatness, Madman the Fallen, For Hatsune, Xuanyuan the Killer, Victorique8, Da Mi 023, The Forbidden Path, A Thousand Years’ Secret, Si Yi, Tales of the Starry Sky, and Qian’er and the Zerg for their generous rewards.