Arriving in another new dormitory, Qin Shilei watched An Qian take the silk armor to the bathroom, then took out the green stone for Sword Mastery.
Sword Mastery (Green): Seals the experience of a sword expert, allowing you to quickly master the skills of sword-type weapons.
"Proceed with attribute refresh?"
"Refresh."
One blue, one green, and one red circle of light appeared above the stone.
Thrown Sword (Blue): Once a sword-type weapon is thrown, its attack power doubles.
Dual Wielding (Green): Both hands can simultaneously wield sword-type weapons, exponentially increasing power.
Sword Intent (Red): There is a one percent chance of imbuing Sword Intent when casting sword techniques.
Qin Shilei was very satisfied with this refresh.
Thrown Sword had very limited utility, so he skipped it. Dual Wielding was a good attribute, but unfortunately, he didn't have two swords for now.
Sword Intent was clearly a high-tier attribute. Qin Shilei chose this attribute without hesitation.
After adding the attribute, the green stone transformed into a red-tinged green ribbon and shot into Qin Shilei's body.
Instantly, a small figure appeared in Qin Shilei's mind, practicing sword techniques.
As the small figure practiced, all sorts of profound secrets of swordsmanship were absorbed by Qin Shilei.
A trace of Sword Intent appeared in his body, filling the entire dormitory with a murderous aura.
Qin Shilei's eyes snapped open, and the blade in his hand swept forward.
The blade effortlessly sliced through the chair in front of him, as easily as cutting tofu.
He struck again, and although he split the other chair in two, he clearly exerted more effort.
It must have been that the first strike had perfectly imbued Sword Intent, increasing his attack power by at least three levels, which explained the ease.
Hanging, sliding, thrusting, parrying, stabbing, slashing...
Qin Shilei casually tried a few moves, feeling incredibly fluid.
The Seven-Star Sword in his hand felt like an extension of his arm.
It was as if he had been practicing for over ten years.
Compared to his own clumsy hacking just ten minutes prior, it was like the difference between heaven and earth.
An Qian also emerged after putting on the silk armor.
She was still as graceful and elegant, her beautiful figure completely unmarred.
The silk armor was a thin inner garment for the torso, worn like a vest, yet it provided excellent protection for the chest and abdomen.
Qin Shilei suggested, "Let's take a break and familiarize ourselves with the game interface."
"Okay," An Qian agreed with a nod.
The area chat interface.
A number, 9318, was displayed.
This was likely a chat channel formed by ten thousand people.
Since this was Ancheng University, most of the people here were students from Ancheng University.
The remaining few hundred had likely died.
"Have to dig zombie brains for cores yourself, zero stars!"
"Big shots looking for teammates, I'm a professional core digger."
"Someone save me, I'm in the locker room at the swimming pool."
"I'm in dorm building three of Ancheng University, anyone forming a team?"
"Sweet-voiced, tender-bodied class beauty, seeking a big shot to carry me."
"Food and mineral water for exchange with cores, Tiancheng Convenience Store awaits your patronage."
The last message from Xu Tiancheng caught Qin Shilei's attention.
Qin Shilei clicked on the trading interface.
A prompt immediately popped up: Trades are free within three days. After three days, each trade will incur a fee of at least 1 transaction coin (one basic core can be exchanged for one transaction coin).
There were transaction fees.
It had the distinct feel of a pay-to-win mobile game.
A fee of one transaction coin would likely deter many from using the trading system.
The only good news was the three-day free trial period.
Currently, there were tens of thousands of pages of items for sale, which meant there were more than just the ten thousand people in the chat channel.
A pack of tissues for a bottle of mineral water.
Original-flavored underwear for a bottle of water and a loaf of bread.
An arm-thick wooden stick for three cores.
A ten-meter rope for food and water.
An electric scooter for some food.
A dazzling array of items, truly everything.
However, most of them required food and water in exchange, with only a few specifying cores.
Qin Shilei searched for Tiancheng Convenience Store and was taken to a page with five items.
Two kitchen knives, each costing three cores.
A 150ml bottle of mineral water, each costing one core.
Two packs of instant noodles, each costing one core.
Did Xu Tiancheng happen to be in a convenience store without any zombies?
What a lucky guy.
And a very shrewd one too, knowing to exchange these desperately needed items for cores and then convert them into his own strength.
Qin Shilei wasn't lacking in food or weapons at the moment.
He had found two bags of chips, a bag of biscuits, a bag of instant noodles, and an unopened bottle of mineral water in the dormitory.
Girls' dormitories usually had some snacks, which could be obtained by killing the zombies inside.
However, he couldn't live off what he had forever; he needed to stockpile more food.
It was unlikely this apocalypse would end anytime soon.
Qin Shilei looked up and asked, "An Qian, where's the nearest convenience store?"
An Qian pointed towards the door, "There's a convenience store on the first floor of that building across the way."
Qin Shilei suggested, "Later, let's go there to get some food and supplies."
An Qian nodded in agreement, "Okay, let's clear out the zombies that pose a threat to us first, then we'll go."
Killing the zombies in the corridors and downstairs would not only prevent them from being attacked from behind but also allow them to absorb cores and grow stronger.
Qin Shilei naturally supported An Qian's suggestion.
He tore open a bag of chips, ate two, and offered the bag to her.
He unscrewed the mineral water and took a large gulp, then offered it to her.
"Drink up, my mouth didn't touch the opening," he said with a grin, seeing An Qian hesitate.
An Qian, after swallowing the chips with difficulty, let out a soft hmph:
"You have no consideration for ladies."
"Really don't want it? Then I'll put it away," Qin Shilei said, placing the mineral water into his spatial ring when she didn't take it.
An Qian shot him a glare and stormed out first.
"I don't believe I won't find a bottle of water later."
Their target now was the convenience store, so they didn't bother knocking on any more closed dormitory doors.
They reached the stairwell.
Qin Shilei threw the small cosmetic bottle in his hand towards the fourth floor.
*Thump thump thump.*
The sound of the cosmetic bottle hitting the floor attracted the zombies on the fourth floor to the stairwell.
Qin Shilei peeked and saw seven or eight zombies, but nothing particularly special.
They could handle it.
The two stood at the stairwell, waiting for the zombies to rush them.
The stairwell was narrow, only allowing two zombies to pass through at a time.
Perfect for one each.
With Sword Mastery, Qin Shilei was a completely different person from before.
Fast, fierce, and accurate.
Both attacked simultaneously, but Qin Shilei was a fraction of a second faster than An Qian, accurately severing a zombie's head.
Then, with a flying kick, he sent the headless zombie crashing into the zombies behind it, disrupting their advance.
Leveraging the terrain and their swords, they eliminated seven zombies in less than twenty seconds.
Qin Shilei swung his sword over ten times but hadn't yet found any strike imbued with Sword Intent.
"Let's go, be careful, there might be more zombies," Qin Shilei said, taking the lead.
When they reached the fourth-floor landing, they indeed saw three zombies rushing towards them from the innermost dormitories.
"They were my classmates," An Qian's voice choked slightly.
Her class had five dormitories on the fourth floor and one on the fifth, which was why she hadn't encountered her classmates on the fifth floor.
"They've already turned into zombies."
Qin Shilei glanced at An Qian, thinking, "This girl isn't going to have a brain aneurysm and ask to let them go, is she?"