Chapter Fifteen: Food is Heaven

Fan Li awoke from his sleep, staring somewhat blankly at the ceiling. It was midday on the seventh day.

The memories from the early hours still lingered in Fan Li’s mind. If it weren’t for the food scattered around him and the samurai sword lying on the table, Fan Li might have believed he had simply dreamed a long, strange dream.

His achievements yesterday included slaying a slightly overweight zombie and a zombie dog. After dispatching the zombie dog, his kill points had certainly increased—not by just one, but by two. At first, Fan Li thought he had misread the numbers. But after confirming the jump from [3/100 to 5/100], he was sure: killing the zombie dog had granted him two kill points.

Kill points were not fixed. During the battle with the zombie dog, Fan Li sensed a strength within the creature, far superior to that of a human zombie. The more powerful the monster he killed, the more his kill points rose. This was good news, suggesting that the time needed to summon the next monster might be shortened.

In the monster summoning manual he possessed, only Ellie—the “first-time reward”—was currently available. To summon another, he needed a full 100 kill points.

After several slaughters—the zombie family and the slightly overweight zombie—Fan Li had expected his points to rise gradually. Yet, he hadn’t anticipated that facing different enemies would result in a greater increase.

Of course, with increased kill points came greater dangers. Clearly, these higher-level challenges were a mixed blessing.

Although Fan Li was slowly growing accustomed to this post-apocalyptic world, he was still deeply shocked by the scene in the zombie dog’s room. Words could not describe it: blood everywhere, as if a horror film had come to life. His fear was amplified, but that didn’t mean he had become some emotionless machine.

Even though his vision at night was only in shades of gray, the sticky sensation underfoot was all too real. He knew the entire room was soaked in blood, and it was impossible to imagine the despair the man of the house must have felt when attacked.

It was a room that made one uncomfortable.

Fan Li searched the room as quickly as possible and returned home. Whether to celebrate killing a creature stronger than an ordinary zombie or simply to numb himself, he drank six cans of beer at four in the morning and fell into a deep sleep. When he opened his eyes again, it was already noon.

The owner of the golden retriever was a drunkard. Besides the zombie family, Fan Li had collected a large haul of supplies.

Counting by cans, there were twenty-three bottles of beer. Having drunk six, seventeen remained.

A case of spirits—each bottle a pound, six bottles in total. Fan Li occasionally drank beer but never touched spirits; however, in such dangerous times, minor injuries were inevitable, and these bottles could serve as alcohol for sterilization.

There were peanuts, soybeans, and various snacks, half a bag of rice left from a ten-pound pack, and some scattered seasonings.

The food wasn’t much, fitting the standards of a bachelor—apart from some drinks and side dishes, there wasn’t much stored grain.

Besides these, Fan Li had brought home a large bag of dog food—twenty pounds in all. It seemed the owner had just bought it for the golden retriever; it hadn’t even been opened before Fan Li hauled it away.

Dog food is for dogs, of course.

If this were peacetime, even though poverty still existed, basic needs had been met. Even in a small county town—not as prosperous as a big city—it was difficult to starve; if one couldn’t find work, even sitting at a restaurant’s door and begging for leftover rice or empty plates could fill the belly.

In peacetime, not even beggars would compete with dogs for their food.

Now, things were different. Zombies roamed the county, making it worse than any war-torn nation, hundreds or even thousands of times more dire.

Even in war-torn countries, there were two sides—one side could plunder supplies if the other failed. Here, monsters like zombies held the absolute advantage.

Humans, as the losing side, couldn’t simply join the enemy and feed themselves to monsters. In such circumstances, food was incomparably scarce.

Fan Li opened the bag, grabbed a handful of dog food, and tossed it into his mouth.

Crunch, crunch.

Fan Li had never known pampering. Living alone since childhood, he had long learned how to survive in harsh conditions.

Though his supplies were now sufficient to last several months, he reminded himself always to be prepared for danger.

After chewing a few mouthfuls, Fan Li swallowed the dog food.

“It’s a bit bland.”

Dog food wasn’t as bad as he’d imagined. It tasted mild, slightly salty, and had a faint fishiness.

Naturally, dog food isn’t made like human biscuits, neither sweet nor savory. Dogs’ digestive systems differ from humans’, so most dog food is deliberately made mild to prevent excessive salt and sugar intake.

“I picked up some white sugar from the zombie family’s house. Next time, maybe I’ll mix it with water and add a bit of sugar.”

Fan Li took out his notebook and began making some simple records.

It was his habit; unlike families with guiding parents, Fan Li, living alone, was used to planning and recording for himself.

He only tried the dog food to test its flavor. Confirming it was acceptable, he made a bowl of instant noodles with boiling water.

Dog food was just an emergency ration; Fan Li had no need to deliberately deprive himself.

Save where possible.

Yesterday’s boiled water was kept warm in a thermos; soon it would cool. To conserve gas, Fan Li chose instant noodles for today’s meal.

During yesterday’s exploration, he had worn heavy clothing, which had become stained with blood after fighting the slightly overweight zombie and the zombie dog. Blood was like a stimulant to zombies, so to avoid unnecessary trouble, Fan Li washed all his clothes after eating.

The apocalypse was undeniably monotonous, leaving almost no hope.

After finishing his chores, just as Fan Li was picking up dumbbells to exercise, a loud crash outside the window startled him.

The sound was like a car being smashed. Fan Li put down the dumbbells, pulled aside the curtain, and looked outside. His pupils suddenly contracted, his expression full of surprise, and he muttered to himself:

“What…what kind of monster is that?”