January 11
Because they had been through so much the day before and had not slept well that night, both girls woke up with enormous panda eyes.
Even so, Huaxiu was full of energy this morning, bustling around to make breakfast like a newlywed housewife.
Kyoko, by contrast, lay sprawled on the bed like a lazy dog. She had overused her body badly the day before, and now every part of her ached. If anything, after a night's sleep, the soreness had only gotten worse.
For some reason, Kyoko felt that something about the situation was a little off. This girl had only been with her a few days, and yet somehow Kyoko had already... trained her into this.
Could this be what people called the suspension-bridge effect?
Kyoko, your crimes are unforgivable. You are hereby sentenced to a lifetime with no wife. Waaaah.
Alright, putting that aside.
With how terrible her whole body felt, Kyoko was beginning to suspect that her so-called peak-human physique was a fake.
At that moment, the system popped out and slapped a string of text right in her face.
[High-performance body: capable of maintaining the average peak physical performance of a human, but prolonged and unrestrained use will sharply increase food and water consumption and deepen mental fatigue. For that reason, the body will automatically regulate its output. It also has a status lock, and it will not be fully released until the required conditions are met.]
[Can you please read these descriptions properly? Status lock. Average. Negative effects. Did you not see any of that?]
[Let me ask you this: have you replenished large amounts of food and water?]
[If it weren't for this physique, do you really think your body—already halfway sunk into shut-in life—could have been this strong?]
Since the system had saved her yesterday, Kyoko could not really argue back. She was in no position to complain.
So now she was as obedient as a pampered cat. At the very least, the amount of hissing she was doing was far less than that alphabet-string lady from the neighboring henhouse.
"Did today's reward points come in yet?"
[Already credited. Here's yesterday's settlement.]
[Kills: 108 ordinary infected, 351 points. Special infected—Sonic type: 100 points. Exploration points: 114. Mission points: 0. Recycling points: 91. Total: 656 points. Current balance: 811.]
"Then buy the virus detector, and refresh the random shop."
[You're not going to keep some points in reserve? Just in case?]
"Buy it if I can. Points can always be earned again. Worst-case scenario, I sell some of the less important gear back to you for recycling. And once I finish the safehouse mission today, that's another 800 points."
Mentioning missions reminded Kyoko that she had not accepted any new ones over the last two days.
(Author's note in spirit: today I realized I forgot to claim two days' worth of Hongmeng red packets. Tragic. That's one less milk tea for me.)
"System, do you have any new missions?"
[Yes. Go look for yourself. The random shop's refreshed too. I may be going offline for a while.]
"When will you be back online?"
The moment she heard that, Kyoko became noticeably anxious. Could it be that taking over her body yesterday had cost the system quite a bit?
Seeing Kyoko's surprise, Miss System gave a smug little laugh and explained.
[Don't worry about that. I found that some of my modules can be repaired. After this, the system shop will refresh with more items.]
[Relax. I'll be back within two days. Other than not being able to talk to you directly, all the rest of the system functions will still work.]
[Here are the missions.]
Security Alert: Eliminate nearby sources of danger and establish a safe zone measuring 100m x 100m. Wipe out infected and other hazards within that range.
Reward: 1,000 points, an M4A1 rifle, three 30-round magazines, and 260 rounds of standard ammunition.
Closed-Loop Ecology: Establish water collection and cultivation systems within the safe zone.
Reward: 10 potato tubers, 1 bag of carrot seeds, 1 bag of cabbage seeds, and 12 sterile eggs.
So You're the Building Manager, Huh: Deal with the neighbors in the adjacent building.
Reward:Thick Skin trait: Compared to ordinary people, you are less likely to suffer superficial injuries. Grants increased physical resistance.
None of these missions had any time limit, so Kyoko accepted all of them at once.
Today's random shop looked like it had been opened by some guy named Dick Vincent—everything in it was complete trash.
After buying the detector, Kyoko closed the system interface.
At just that moment, Huaxiu called her over for breakfast.
It was a simple meal: rice porridge, beef sauce, and vacuum-sealed corn.
"Kyoko, what's wrong with you? You look so distracted."
Even after Huaxiu set the food right in front of her, Kyoko still did not pick up her chopsticks.
The truth was, Kyoko was still thinking about the missions.
At the moment, her priorities were arranged like this:
Safehouse > Closed-Loop Ecology > Deal with the neighbors next door > Security Alert
There were also some things she needed to do that were not technically on the mission list but still absolutely had to be handled.
For example, first sorting out a portion of the supplies, then carrying out full viral disinfection.
Yesterday's special operation had uncovered three large crates of disinfectant in one apartment. Once all the infected corpses were dealt with today, they would begin disinfection work.
Otherwise, other diseases would start breeding.
Since ancient times, whenever large numbers of bodies piled up, a whole host of illnesses would follow.
These corpses were natural breeding grounds for viruses and pathogens. They had to be handled.
Everything those people had touched while alive—and while infected—had to be processed as well: furniture, household goods, all of it.
If it could burn, it would become fuel.
If it could not, it would be thrown out.
Sitting there on the stool, Kyoko fell deep into thought, so deep that she did not even notice Huaxiu walking over to her.
Suddenly, Huaxiu attacked her neck from behind and wrapped her arms around her.
"Sister Kyoko, think about all that after you finish eating."
Kyoko instantly entered emergency-response mode and nearly kicked the stool flying. But the moment she realized it was Huaxiu, she silently lowered the hand she had half-raised in reflex.
Looking at Huaxiu's smiling face, Kyoko could only obediently start eating.
The simple meal was finished in less than three minutes.
Now it was already 10:30 in the morning.
Unlike before, Kyoko did not pile on all her usual layers of equipment. After yesterday's battle, her clothes were soaked in blood and needed to be disinfected and cleaned.
One of her blades had been chipped and needed sharpening and maintenance. Her helmet and other gear were damaged too.
What a pain.
So much to do.
She brought the Colt pistol, freshly reloaded, one spare magazine, and a dagger.
Everything was ready.
Go, go, go—time to head out.
First, the two girls worked together to sort through part of the supplies. After that, the cleanup itself became a division of labor again: Kyoko handled tossing out corpses and moving heavy objects, while Huaxiu strapped on a disinfectant sprayer and began spraying down rooms one by one.
Why not have Huaxiu do the heavy lifting too?
Partly because she really was small and slight.
But mostly because Kyoko needed to carry out some covert recycling operations.
Some infected corpses had fairly high recycling value. The sonic infected from yesterday, for example, was worth five points.
[Corpse recycling value is one-twentieth of the listed price.]
Ordinary infected were not worth much at all and still had to be dealt with manually.
A real pain.
By 1:00 p.m., the two of them had already moved a portion of the food and water up to the fifteenth floor.
After briefly replenishing their energy, it was time to split up again.
Huaxiu carefully carried out the sterilization work, the mask on her face pulling her ears red. A spray bottle hung at her waist, and a mop was in her hands.
Behold: Yurizono Huaxiu, domestic-warrior god of housekeeping.
If the apocalypse had not happened, she might well have become an excellent housekeeper someday.
Kyoko's side of the work was much bloodier.
Cutting open chests and bellies, ripping out hearts and lungs, brains splattered on the floor, plus recycling some of the more valuable jewelry she found—it was all of that combined that finally earned her seventy-one points.
And naturally, she had once again managed to get herself filthy all over. At this rate, she was going to run out of clean clothes before long.
Looking at the transparent raincoat now smeared with grime and blood, Kyoko frowned in disgust.
"Forget it. I'll just wash it and keep using it."
She had originally intended to toss it out the window, but after a second thought, she pulled it back. If she threw away any more raincoats, she would not have many left.
So she went down to the snow and used it to scrub the worst of the filth off the raincoat.
The snowfall seemed to be easing these past few days. In a few more days, she would use the weather forecaster to check the conditions.
She had barely used it since buying it. At this rate, it would rust from neglect.
Now that Kyoko had finished her own work, it was time to go help Huaxiu.
From the seventh floor all the way up to the twentieth, the workload was enormous.
The two of them kept at it so long they did not even stop for dinner.
Fortunately, because they had looted the whole building, they now had no shortage of phones, flashlights, power banks, lighters, and similar supplies.
They did not bother too much with stains on the floors. Instead, carrying flashlights, they went through every remaining room, spraying everything down with disinfectant and opening the windows for ventilation.
"Work's done!"
By the time Huaxiu got home, she was so exhausted she did not even want to move. She threw herself straight onto the sofa and collapsed into a limp heap.
Then she got hit by the lingering smell of disinfectant.
The coughing left her face red and flushed.
Kyoko laughed so hard she could not stop.
In response, Huaxiu whipped off one of her little shoes and threw it, smacking Kyoko in the lower abdomen.
That immediately brought a flush to Kyoko's face too. Like an enraged lion, she pounced straight at the sofa.
"Oh, you little brat. It's only been a few days and you're already bullying me? Give it another few days and am I supposed to start calling you Boss Lady?"
She pinned Huaxiu beneath her, and the two girls instantly dissolved into a tangle of mock combat on the sofa.
"S-Sister Kyoko... mercy... I surrender... stop tickling me..."
"If you knew you'd beg later, you shouldn't have started it."
Kyoko's very tangible hands enforced order on the freedom-loving Huaxiu, driving her steadily into defeat. Before long, the whole room was filled with laughter.
Join here to read ahead.
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