Chapter Three: Darling, Shall We Do Something a Little Naughty?-The Apocalypse Is Here, and the Dating System Shows Up Now?(Southern Heavens)

Guo Lang slammed his palm on the table and glared angrily at the female zombie across from him.

He had originally thought this damned system was just another attribute-adding system under a different name.

But now, it really was a dating system!

What should he do?

He had never even dated a living person—was it really appropriate to jump straight into a relationship with a female corpse?

After all, a zombie was still a corpse! This was simply too inhuman!

Guo Lang was caught in a torturous dilemma, racking his brain but unable to think of a way out.

If he kept going with these tasks, he’d probably be too embarrassed to face anyone ever again.

But if he gave up, there was no guarantee he’d live to see tomorrow’s sunrise.

To be fair, though, the system’s rewards were genuinely substantial.

Just this morning, he’d still been a sub-healthy office drone.

Not even a full day had passed, yet now he already felt like he could punch a bull to death.

A strength value of 7 meant he could deadlift a hundred and forty pounds with pure brute force alone.

He could easily lift a grown man above his head!

And if he used other movements, the power would only be greater.

Before the apocalypse, those gym rats would have to train for years to reach this level—he was a bona fide fitness guru!

So Guo Lang fell silent.

It’s not that I want this, it’s just that the system is offering too much!

The thought that he could go even further in the future—maybe punch a tank to pieces—left him even more speechless.

Fine, fine. As long as I have no morals, no one can restrain me.

If anyone dares look at me weird, I’ll kill them!

After a moment of thought, Guo Lang decided to follow his heart.

Falling in love with a zombie? Why not.

For some reason, having overcome his psychological hurdle, he found himself feeling an odd thrill—it was rather exciting...

Once he’d made up his mind, he acted decisively, rummaging quickly through the house.

Before long, he found a silver ring in his bedroom closet, something he’d worn for show back in university.

Returning to the living room, he stood before Yu Qiuchi, pondering how to exchange tokens of affection with her.

This task was different from the previous two—there was virtually no danger.

There was no way he was going to untie her, though.

So the token exchange could only happen by force.

Circling the female zombie a few times, he realized there was no good way to take something from her, seeing as she was so thoroughly bound. Even the spots he might have overlooked were covered by the tent tarp.

There was simply nowhere to retrieve an item from her.

Finally, Guo Lang’s gaze settled on her glossy black hair.

He took a pair of scissors, clipped off a lock, and quickly braided it into a simple bracelet.

Then he crouched in front of the zombie girl.

With heartfelt emotion, he said, “Yu Qiuchi, will you be my girlfriend? If you don’t object, I’ll take it as a yes, okay?”

“Ho-oh~ ah awooo~ hissss...”

Seeing her so happy she could barely close her mouth, Guo Lang felt a wave of contentment.

Smiling broadly, he slipped the hair bracelet onto his own wrist. Then, with a solemn, priest-like seriousness, he took out the prepared ring, threaded it onto a plain necklace from the bedroom, and placed it around Yu Qiuchi’s neck.

At the very moment the ring settled atop her ample chest, the system interface flashed with a change in task status.

[Current Task: Thanks to your superb binding skills, Yu Qiuchi’s affection for you has soared. Why not seize the opportunity and win her over in one fell swoop? Please confess to Yu Qiuchi and exchange tokens of affection to unlock a couple relationship.]
[Task Status: Completed]
[Task Reward: 3 free attribute points + Couple Affinity]
[Couple Affinity: Any woman who enters into a relationship with you will involuntarily develop feelings of closeness and dependence, even complete obedience (passive buff).]
[Since you are no longer single and have entered a passionate romantic relationship with Yu Qiuchi, her skills are now unconditionally shared with you.]
[Note: Free attribute points have unlocked a new feature. You may now use them to enhance your partner as well as yourself (let’s become better together!)]
[Note: Savage Charge (active skill)—You may summon your entire body’s muscle and blood power to enter a brief overclocked state, launching a fearless charge at your target for 200% damage. Ten-minute cooldown. (Why does my girlfriend have this skill? Is she planning to beat me to death?)]

As Guo Lang scrolled through the flood of system messages, he also kept a close eye on Yu Qiuchi in front of him.

Maybe because the system now recognized them as a couple, the previously agitated, writhing female zombie had suddenly become uncharacteristically calm.

Her perpetual snarling, ferocious expression was finally replaced by peace.

In just a moment, she had lost all aggression.

Only at that moment did Guo Lang truly relax.

He began to carefully analyze the system’s new information.

The passive skill [Couple Affinity] was self-explanatory—its main function was probably to make this female zombie more obedient.

What really caught his attention were the next two points.

First, the free attribute points’ new feature. They were no longer limited to self-enhancement.

Now he could upgrade his “girlfriend” as well?

Guo Lang hesitated for a moment, eyeing Yu Qiuchi’s character sheet, where her intelligence stat was a flat zero.

Should he try an experiment?

With her previous zombie aggression towards the living gone, it seemed safe enough.

Without further hesitation, he assigned one free attribute point to Yu Qiuchi’s intelligence.

[Intelligence: 1]

He then watched her grayish, numb face closely.

Under his gaze, the dull, colorless eyes—once faded by the infection—seemed to regain a hint of color.

Though still faint and unfocused, they now held a trace of liveliness.

Her eyes darted about, then a look of bewilderment appeared.

After staring at Guo Lang for a few seconds, a pure, childlike delight suddenly flashed across her face.

She steadied herself, then wriggled over toward Guo Lang, clearly wanting to be close to him.

Guo Lang was startled, but seeing she meant him no harm, he relaxed.

Chin in hand, he met Yu Qiuchi’s gaze, suspecting her desire for closeness stemmed from the [Couple Affinity] skill.

And with her intelligence now at one, she was at least a minimally sentient creature.

He tried tentatively, “Sweetheart?”

“Yah~ ee-yah~ ee-yah...”

Hiss—

Guo Lang inhaled sharply.

What the—

How did she suddenly become a bit cute? What kind of sorcery was this?!

Just moments ago, before their relationship was official, he’d felt so resistant.

On reflection, he concluded it had to be the result of her extremely low intelligence.

With only one point, she was as harmless as a puppy.

It was as if he’d adopted a little dog.

Confident she wouldn’t attack him again, Guo Lang fetched the scissors and cut her bonds.

It was risky, but he couldn’t keep her tied up forever.

Better a short pain than a long one.

As he expected, Yu Qiuchi’s response was just as he’d anticipated.

Once freed, she didn’t attack him; instead, relying on her impressive speed stat of 5, she leapt at him and wrapped him in a tight embrace, nuzzling her head against him again and again.

She really was like a pet dog!

Guo Lang awkwardly endured the cold touch of her zombie skin, especially the two large mounds beneath her bra.

Though they lacked some softness, the cool, novel sensation made up for it.

So this is what it’s like to date a zombie?

It wasn’t bad at all!

Most importantly, he could keep earning attribute points with the system and upgrade her continuously.

He was sure things would only get better—surely she wouldn’t get more rigid.

After being embraced for a while, Guo Lang’s neck began to ache.

He called out quickly, “Let go, let go, you’re hugging me too hard!”

To his surprise, Yu Qiuchi actually obeyed—reluctantly, but she did let go.

Then she babbled on in a string of incomprehensible sounds, gesturing her dissatisfaction.

Adorable.

Guo Lang rubbed his neck and straightened up, only to realize a new problem—

Supplies at home were running low, enough for at most three or four days.

And with the apocalypse rewards, water, electricity, and gas would soon be cut off.

It would be no different from being stranded on an island.

But he was still not strong enough to venture out scavenging...

He glanced at Yu Qiuchi, who was still babbling away, and a sudden idea struck him.

Yu Qiuchi was a zombie, so other zombies surely wouldn’t attack her, right?

And since she listened to him, couldn’t he send his new little girlfriend to fetch supplies for him?

Holy hell, what had he just discovered?

The path of the Apocalypse Freeloader!

Having completed three system tasks in a row, Guo Lang, exhausted in both body and mind, finally found himself genuinely happy again.

This romance harem system wasn’t as useless as he’d thought!

He instinctively glanced at the system interface, eager to express his gratitude.

But to his surprise, a new task had already appeared.

[Current Task: Yu Qiuchi is delighted to have you as her boyfriend. Now that you are officially a couple, isn’t it time for a proper date? Dinner, a shopping spree, a movie—please complete the above date tasks.]

Guo Lang’s newly brightened expression collapsed instantly.

He couldn’t help but curse aloud, “Are you kidding me? Have you looked outside at how many zombies are wandering the streets?!”

“Ee-yah?”