Gelamer Boarding School was said to have been founded hundreds of years ago by the Gelamer family, whose purpose was to educate and illuminate new generations so they could benefit the world. Since its inception, the school had been famous for taking in orphaned children free of charge. As a private institution, this business model was initially unsustainable, but after witnessing the success of these students year after year, everyone wanted to study at Gelamer, turning it into a prestigious academy.
Everything they did was unconventional, so when the apocalyptic attacks began and only the non-orphaned students were retrieved by their families, the school did not close down. No explanation was given to the faculty, who were forced to keep working. However, as the days wore on and the attacks grew fiercer and more frequent, most of the staff abandoned their posts. When the infected finally breached the campus, numerous casualties ensued, leaving the handful of survivors to gather, hide, and ultimately flee in the school's only functional bus.
The primary issue was that Gelamer had been built on the distant outskirts, far from the city's wealthy districts, to foster a serene educational environment—a decision that now severely diminished their chances of survival. A journey that would typically take two hours had stretched into days as they slowly navigated the abandoned, chaos-riddled roads.
Remaining inside the vehicle provided a fragile sense of security during the pitch-black nights, as they prayed nothing was lurking outside. Every few miles, however, they had to take the risk of disembarking to clear debris from the road so they could press forward.
All obstacles had seemed manageable until they encountered a massive, impassable blockade standing between them and freedom. Reflecting on the treacherous route they had traveled, turning back was not an option, leaving them stranded in the middle of the desolate highway.
"Miss Cheng Xin, what are we going to do?" a student asked timidly.
Miss Cheng Xin had been their primary emotional anchor throughout the entire ordeal. Feeling the weight of numerous hopeful eyes upon her, Cheng Xin remained quiet, forcing a brave front. She couldn't bear to let them know that she was equally clueless and rapidly losing hope. Instead of revealing the grim truth, she chose to lie to help them hold on just a little longer.
"We have to be patient," she assured them softly. "We've been moving non-stop, so now we should rest and prepare ourselves for the rest of the journey."
Hearing this, most of the occupants agreed, recalled their sleepless nights, and settled down.
At first, a calm fell over the bus, but as the sun slowly set and darkness crept in, so did overwhelming fear and anxiety. Peering out at the deserted streets surrounding the road, one student even contemplated stepping outside. But a dark shadow lurking silently in the gloom suddenly shifted, startling him.
"I think there's something outside," he whispered loudly, drawing terrified gazes toward a pair of hungry eyes staring back at them, waiting for a chance to strike.
Normally, as they traveled, the bus's engine hum had drawn in roaming hordes, but their speed had allowed them to outrun the threat. Now, after hours of being immobilized, the horde had finally caught up—and the students had nowhere to run.
Confronted by an endless sea of ravenous eyes, the passengers felt their skin crawl, shrinking back toward the center aisle in a desperate bid to remain unseen. They prayed the horde would wander past, but instead, the creatures drew closer and closer.
This was the exact scene that greeted Zhao Yuan when she materialized on the scene.
In the dead of night, the horde looked eerie as it closed in on the stranded bus like a predator stalking its prey. None of the creatures seemed to notice her arrival as she glanced down at her tactical watch and tapped the weapons icon.
Staring at the holographic arsenal displayed before her, she didn't notice a few heads turning in her direction. The bus driver and a few stray members of the horde were stunned to see a person appear out of thin air.
Both groups reacted instantly: the horde began veering toward her, while the driver yelled out in shocked excitement, drawing even more attention to her location.
Even after hearing the driver's shout, Zhao Yuan remained completely unfazed, scrolling calmly through the weaponry choices.
"This one shouldn't damage the bus," she muttered to herself before decisively selecting a weapon.
The students crowding around the driver at the front of the bus temporarily forgot their own plight as they watched the woman get stalked by the undead. Anxious, they tried waving frantically to warn her, unable to comprehend why she was acting so carelessly in such a lethal situation.
Minutes later, they realized how naive they had been.
A sleek assault rifle materialized in the woman's hands, and she casually shot the lead infectee. She unleashed a volley of rapid shots before the first body even hit the pavement, immediately drawing the attention of the entire horde.
Seeing the mass pivot toward her, Zhao Yuan slowly stepped backward, executing precise headshots on any creature that dared close the distance. Every shot was terrifyingly accurate, dropping corpses at a relentless pace.
Frustrated, the horde surged forward aggressively, prompting her to maintain her strategic retreat while continuing a disciplined fire rate. She swapped empty magazines with fluid speed, making it appear as though her rifle possessed an infinite ammunition supply.
Just as the onlookers were growing accustomed to the continuous rhythmic gunfire, an explosive roar shattered the night. A single grenade detonated, obliterating a dense cluster of infectees in a flash of fire.
Energized by the devastation, Zhao Yuan hurled a few more grenades into the thickest parts of the crowd before resuming her rifle fire. She had never received formal marksmanship training or practiced combat, meaning the system's activated skill booster was performing flawlessly.
Glancing at the skill booster's expiring timer, she accelerated her movements, firing and throwing explosives with superhuman precision. When the countdown finally hit zero, a couple of her final shots strayed, but she still managed to eliminate the last standing infectee.
The resulting scene was staggering: the highway was strewn with mounds of smoking corpses.
Gazing at the solitary, heavily armed woman standing among the carnage, the students felt as though they were looking upon a guardian angel as the first golden rays of dawn broke over her back. Her tied-back hair seemed to ignite in the morning sunshine, bestowing a magical quality upon her features as she finally raised her gaze toward the bus.