IDMLA 18

Of course it wasn’t a problem.

Because no matter what, she would definitely be the one to die first!

So she had to save her arm first, even in death, she wanted to die as a whole person!

Tang Tang’s body hung half-suspended in the corridor, her back to the direction the wind was pulling her, shouting at Yan Chen: “Let—go—!”

“I—won’t—let go!” Yan Chen heard Tang Tang’s voice and pulled even harder.

Tang Tang: …

No, let go quickly, her arm was really about to break!

Tang Tang used every ounce of her strength to persuade Yan Chen to let go, but Yan Chen was like a broken record: “Not letting go, not letting go, not letting go.”

In the end, she had no choice but to fish out a small bottle of leftover cooling oil from her pocket. Struggling with one hand, she twisted off the cap, stretched her arm out, aimed the bottle opening at the spot where Yan Chen was gripping her hand, and poured it all out.

Great, his hand was starting to slip now.

Tang Tang felt Yan Chen’s grip gradually failing to hold onto her, and her heart relaxed with immense relief.

That was close. She’d almost ended up losing a piece of herself.

“No—!”

Their hands completely slipped apart. Tang Tang looked at Yan Chen’s pained expression and suddenly felt a twinge of guilt.

Huh?

No, no, she was about to die, why was she feeling guilty?!

She could practically be called a saint!

In the second before she was completely blown away, Tang Tang shouted loudly: “Quick—close—the—door!”

Then, the very next second, she felt herself being swept out of the corridor, and finally, she flew out of a large window at the far end of the hallway.

Oh, this feeling of flying.

Absolutely terrifying!

Tang Tang spun and spun in the wind, with no idea when it would ever stop. Her whole body seemed beyond her control, and even her breathing became labored.

She was so pitiful, she was going to be twisted to death by the wind.

Just as Tang Tang was feeling sorry for herself, the fierce wind suddenly stopped as abruptly as it had started, and then, before she could even react, she was in a rapid freefall.

!!!

Tang Tang’s eyes flew wide open, but it was already nearing dusk, and the sky was thick with dark clouds, she couldn’t see a thing, just pitch black.

But this was the tenth floor!! She didn’t have a parachute!

Tang Tang was in despair, already foreseeing herself becoming a smear of flesh plastered on the ground.

How tragic.

Wait, she didn’t have a parachute, but she had her quilt! If she combined the two, maybe it could save her a little?

Luckily, she could summon things from her hidden space just by thinking about them. If she’d delayed even a few more seconds, she wouldn’t have made it in time for the quilt to come out.

Tang Tang had folded the quilt neatly when she’d put it away earlier, so all she had to do now was grab the four corners and let the fabric billow upward.

She had to admit, this method wasn’t bad, at least it slowed her descent.

Then, two seconds later, she still hit the ground.

It helped, but it wasn’t miraculous.

Tang Tang rubbed her body, which felt like it had been shaken apart, summoned a small flashlight, and cautiously surveyed her surroundings.

Perhaps because most people were in the dormitory buildings, or had already fled, there weren’t many zombies down here, just a few scattered ones wandering past.

Tang Tang was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she noticed the zombies all seemed to turn and look in her direction.

Damn it!

Oh no, oh no—she’d forgotten it was raining, and the water had washed all the essential oil off her.

Tang Tang shuddered, quickly crouched down and draped the quilt over herself, then summoned the perfume and sprayed herself liberally.

Go away, go away! Scram!

After a while, with no footsteps approaching, she dared to lift a corner of the quilt to peek. Good—the zombies had wandered off again.

She finally let out a real sigh of relief, put on her helmet, and wrapped in the quilt, she inched forward cautiously toward a sheltered spot.

But the fog at night was even thicker than during the day. Even with the flashlight in her hand, everything beyond a meter was still pitch black.

And this was the boys’ dormitory area, she’d never been here before. Not knowing the way was bad enough, but on top of that, after that inexplicable wind that had swept her away, she now had no idea which corner of the boys’ dorms she was in.

Tragic. One word says it all.

Tang Tang had spent the past few days fighting off zombies with all her might, and just now she’d been dragging a full-grown person and a big wooden board at a sprint. But maybe because she’d gone numb from the repetition, her arms were sore, aching, swollen, and throbbing, yet somehow still bearable.

But now that she’d suddenly stopped, no more stabbing zombies, no more dragging boards at full speed, and on top of that, she’d been dropped from a great height, her whole body felt like it was falling apart. Every step made her tremble.

She staggered along, swaying unsteadily. After nearly an hour of walking, she finally reached the first familiar place.

It was the library!

That blasted wind had blown her from one side of the dormitory complex all the way to the other side!

Tang Tang really wanted to know where that wind had come from, it had picked a hell of a time to show up.

But it was already nighttime now. Although there hadn’t been many zombies encountered along the way as she’d shuffled here, staying outside in the dead of night was always terrifying.

Tang Tang dragged her exhausted body past the library’s main entrance and slipped into a shop next door with its door left open.

Before the apocalypse, this place had been a stationery store, the kind library visitors loved to browse. But now it was empty inside, not a trace of a living soul.

Tang Tang switched on a large flashlight and swept it around the shop, not even missing the corners. No zombies found.

She was too tired. Leaning against the wall, she sank to the floor. The slightest raise of her arm sent searing pain through her, so intense that sweat beaded on her forehead.

The quilt wrapped around her was soaked through, heavy and sodden. Tang Tang simply set it aside without stowing it back into her hidden space, lest it dampen everything else stored there.

She rested for a while, and only when her appetite returned did she eat a simple meal.

Her clothes were dripping wet. With no way to take a hot shower, and to avoid catching a cold at a time like this, she quickly changed into dry clothes. She also pulled on all her gear, including the raincoat.

She felt utterly miserable.

She’d protected the male lead for so long, and just when she was on the verge of latching onto his coattails and making amends with him, she’d ended up alone. Should she praise the plot for being true to form?

But since things had come to this, there was nothing to be done about it.

What mattered most now was staying alive.

She steadied her mindset, leaned against the wall in the corner, and prepared to rest and recover her strength.

Tang Tang had always slept fairly well, but since the apocalypse began, her nerves had kept her from ever sleeping soundly. Even though she’d finally found a relatively quiet place tonight, the habits formed over these many days hadn’t changed.

In the middle of the night, Tang Tang, still asleep, suddenly heard a clattering sound.

Startled, she snapped her eyes open and held her breath in the darkness.

Someone was coming.

After entering the shop, worried that zombies might get in, she’d deliberately moved a chair behind the door to block it. The chair wasn’t heavy, but when the door was pushed, it would scrape loudly against the floor, serving as her warning system.

By now, Tang Tang was completely awake. She summoned a half-meter-long butcher knife from her hidden space and gripped it firmly.

Clatter—!

The chair toppled over with a loud crash.

The door was kicked open.

Tang Tang frowned. Unless a zombie had caught the scent of human flesh, it wouldn’t have been so determined to force the door open. And she was certain the perfume she wore was pungent enough to be overwhelming.

So she guessed, could the one outside be human?

No, Tang Tang shook her head. It was probably an ability user.