Chapter Six: Searching for Weapons

Finally coming to his senses, Chu Qingfeng could no longer bear it. He rushed out the door, and soon the sounds of retching and flushing echoed from the upstairs bathroom. In the meantime, Yan Luo gained 3 points of disgust and 1 point of shame.

Heartless Doll.

Current stored emotion values—
Disgust: 6 points
Shame: 2 points
Confusion: 8 points
Madness: 2 points
Fear: 12 points

The Heartless Doll can temporarily store emotions, but its capacity is limited. With a level 1 Fate talent, the maximum capacity is 100 emotion points, which is also the requirement to craft a level 1 Persona Mask.

Fusing emotions to create a Persona Mask carries the risk of failure; the more diverse the emotions, the stronger the mask, but the higher the chance of failure.

Some emotions must be released.

As an emotionless one, Yan Luo cherished each emotion carefully. After some thought, he chose to release 2 points of shame, allowing himself to experience it. Instantly, he was overwhelmed by a flood of shame.

Chu Qingfeng, having rinsed his mouth and washed up, returned to the room, his mood complicated. He had hoped to win Yan Luo’s approval, but not only had he failed, his behavior moments ago was simply “pathetic,” and the persona of wise, calm, and composed he’d worked to build nearly collapsed.

He looked at Yan Luo awkwardly, about to speak—when the other spoke first.

“Mr. Chu Qingfeng, I must apologize to you.”

“Hm?” The psychologist was puzzled, pausing for a moment before quickly reacting, “You mean when you blew apart the zombie’s head and sprayed me with it? No, no, you don’t need to apologize. I should thank you for saving my life.”

“That’s not it.” Even while steeped in shame, Yan Luo remained composed. “Actually, I saw that zombie at the doorway right away, but I didn’t say a word. I watched it approach, let it get right behind you, and only stopped it when it was about to bite.”

“Why?” Chu Qingfeng was utterly lost.

The insight from the 2 points of shame faded, and seeing the bespectacled man gaze at him in confusion, Yan Luo wasn’t sure how to smooth over his confession, made in a moment of shame. After a moment’s earnest thought, he spoke calmly:

“Because I enjoy watching you look utterly bewildered.”

With those words, Yan Luo gripped the fire axe and left the room.

Chu Qingfeng: ???

You feel a powerful emotion:
Confusion +1

After searching, everyone gathered in the courtyard downstairs.

Li Zang’ai, the flamboyant “Killer Matt,” clutched a dog-leg knife—a weapon with greater lethality than ordinary blades. Zhu Xiaoyong, the plump recluse, wielded a shovel. Wang Dongwei, the “Failure,” had surprisingly found a treasure: the Holy Sword of Physics—otherwise known as a crowbar.

The crowbar is both weapon and tool, midway between blunt and sharp, with moderate weight, easy to carry, sturdy and reliable, and suitable for a broad range of uses. Its practicality against zombies surpasses even the fire axe.

The “Transcendently Cute” girl, Li Changxin, held a gleaming black machete, its blade flashing coldly, making her stand out.

A loud laugh echoed as Tang Tianjie strode out of the house, triumphant. In his hand was a Colt M1911, one of the most common American handguns—.45 caliber, seven rounds, with a detachable magazine.

“Found a handgun? That’s real luck.”

Mu Bai, still invisible, felt a twinge of surprise. This zombie-themed world’s town should be in America, where guns are everywhere, but finding one in the starter villa was lucky indeed. However, this isn’t one of those games with unlimited ammo—a pistol with no bullets is less useful than a knife... and gunfire will attract zombies.

As Mu Bai was thinking this, he saw Tang Tianjie flauntingly unzip a waist pouch full of golden bullets, then produce a silencer and attach it to the gun.

“Damn! It’s one thing to find a handgun, but a whole pouch of bullets? And a silencer too? What kind of absurd luck is this!”

Remembering his own early days in the Inner World, Mu Bai, the black man, felt a surge of irritation.

Yan Luo glanced at a patch of empty space; just now, the emotion meter had gained an “Irritation: 1 point.” It seemed the guide was invisible, right there.

“All right, everyone has found their weapons. Let’s show those damned zombies what we’re made of!”

Tang Tianjie, wielding the Colt M1911, was full of confidence.

In a zombie-infested, low-level world, getting a handgun was akin to slashing the difficulty to pieces!

The others were eager as well.

The chuunibyou girl was fearless! Even Zhu Xiaoyong, who seemed the most timid, gripped his shovel tightly, his expression grave. No one here was foolish; everyone understood the importance of the starting phase.

“I suggest we split into three groups of three.”

Chu Qingfeng proposed.

“Three-three?”

“We have nine people here. A large team risks interference during combat, and can easily spark conflicts. Three-person squads are most efficient, forming a triangle, close enough for mutual support.”

Chu Qingfeng didn’t hold much hope for most newcomers.

The chuunibyou girl was the most dangerous. Killer Matt and the recluse were weak teammates.

The mortician’s profession was likely to cause psychological issues—a destabilizing factor. As for the cute girl, Li Changxin, cuteness is useless against zombies, and he suspected she hid a true talent.

A person’s talent shows in their demeanor; Killer Matt, the recluse, and the chuunibyou girl were easily identifiable.

As for character breakthroughs, Yan Luo’s “calm” was obvious, unmistakable. But “cute”? Li Changxin was indeed cute, her smile adorable, but transcendent cuteness couldn’t just be that. After all, an ultimate cute girl wouldn’t use a machete as her weapon.

Tang Tianjie possessed an arrogant personality, with a strong, implicit disdain for others.

That was tolerable before.

Now, with a gun and bullets in hand, such a person could be more dangerous than zombies at certain moments!

In his mind, Chu Qingfeng ranked his preferred teammates: first, Yan Luo; second, Wang Dongwei, the “Transcendently Failed.” As a psychologist, he didn’t discriminate against failures. Compared to others, these teammates were more likely to heed guidance.

Furthermore, repeated failures accumulate experience and lessons.

Of course, too many failures may lead to “learned helplessness,” resulting in loss of confidence and total despair.

But that’s nothing—Chu Qingfeng was a psychologist who transcended human limits.

Winning Yan Luo’s favor would be difficult, but helping the Failure regain confidence would be easy. Every Failure harbors both resentment and pain, as well as hope for success. Psychologists are experts at pouring motivational chicken soup into the soul.

“Li Changxin, would you team up with me? I’ll protect you.”

Tang Tianjie immediately invited his preferred “harem.”

The shy-looking girl, clutching her dark machete, glanced at the others, then at the handsome young man, and nodded.

“Yan Luo, let’s team up,” Chu Qingfeng said quickly.

“Wait!” Tang Tianjie’s face showed displeasure. “Yan Luo, there’s still a spot with me and Li Changxin. Come join us.”

He had been pleased with Chu Qingfeng, but his earlier behavior revealed the psychologist to be restless, and his analytical and reasoning skills were formidable. Too clever to control, and the silent, calm Yan Luo would make a more valuable subordinate.

Yan Luo was deep in thought. He’d just absorbed 1 point of irritation from Mu Bai, and storing such emotion in the Heartless Doll was pointless—it took up space and interfered with accumulation of other emotions.

“Mr. Tang Tianjie, I invited him first,” Chu Qingfeng said.

“So, Chu Qingfeng, I have a handgun and a pouch of bullets. Do you really think your team is more attractive than mine?”

Tang Tianjie, unwilling to argue, walked over to Yan Luo, who was silently releasing the “irritation” emotion and experiencing it deeply, and said in an overbearing tone, “I trust you’ll make the smart choice, right?”

Immersed in “irritation,” Yan Luo suppressed his emotions. “I’ll team up with Chu Qingfeng.”

“What?” Tang Tianjie, accustomed to being at the top in the Outer World, had always looked down on the likes of Killer Matt, the recluse, and the psychologist. Now, with the only gun in hand, he felt superior. He’d extended an invitation, only to be rejected, which made him furious.

“How ungrateful!”

Tang Tianjie’s cold snort made Yan Luo, still in the throes of “irritation,” bristle. He raised his head, eyes narrowed like an angry kitten. “What did you say?”

“I said you’re ungrateful.”

In the Outer World, Tang Tianjie would have slapped such a person, but here in the Inner World, as a young mogul who controlled several enterprises, he was already being very mild by merely scolding.

“Smack!”

Yan Luo raised his right hand and delivered a crisp slap to Tang Tianjie’s face.

You feel a powerful emotion:
Confusion +1

The released emotion faded, and Yan Luo, emerging from the “irritation” state, stared at his right hand in silence. Why can’t I control my hand?

Tang Tianjie’s face flushed crimson.

“You hit me? No one has ever hit me in this world. Good, very good! I’ll kill you!”

He aimed the pistol at Yan Luo’s head.

You feel a powerful emotion:
Anger +4

“Hey, in the rookie mission world, you want to kill a fellow newcomer? Young man, I have to say you’re bold,” came the guide Mu Bai’s voice from the void, gleeful. “Go ahead, kill him! The others can see what happens as a result.”

“Calm down, calm down!”

“We’re all new here, in a world full of zombies. We should help each other. You called him ungrateful, but Yan Luo’s action was too extreme. Let’s all cool down—the guide is still watching us.”

Chu Qingfeng folded his arms and spoke persuasively. Tang Tianjie’s chest heaved with anger, but he finally managed to restrain himself.

Meanwhile, Yan Luo’s Heartless Doll had accumulated 9 points of anger.

Looking at Tang Tianjie’s handsome face, still stained with blood, Yan Luo tried to ease the tension. He thought for a moment, and worked to display a sincere expression. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to slap you. It was just...”

“My hand slipped.”

You feel a powerful emotion:
Anger +1