25: Chapter 25 Mr. Jigsaw and the Feeling of Mowing the Lawn

The school bus moved forward with a bumpy ride. The emptiness of the cabin created an illusion, as if this wasn't a chartered bus taking students to a dungeon, but rather some suburban line with most of its shifts canceled.

Hu Jinsi leaned against the window and counted the seats; altogether, the people from their school, First High, couldn't even fill this fifty-seat bus.

The back rows were empty, and the green paint on the seat covers gleamed with a cold light in the morning sun.

"It looks like we really chose an unpopular one."

Su Wan flipped through the sheet music in her hands, her fingertips unconsciously plucking the strings, producing a few scattered notes. "Goldshire is so crowded that official personnel have to maintain order every time."

"Unpopular ones have their advantages. At least there's no need to queue, and no need to deal with judgmental looks."

Lin Rui checked the equipment in his backpack without looking up. "But logically speaking, as a dungeon open to second-year high school students, the difficulty shouldn't be too far off; generally, there should be some balance."

Hu Jinsi gazed at the scenery rapidly receding outside the window and did not join their discussion.

He was, however, calculating something else in his mind.

Raccoon City—this name was like a key that, when turned gently, could open a certain room in his memories of his past life.

Umbrella, Red Queen, Leon, Claire, as well as Alice and Zheng Zha.

But he didn't say anything, just narrowed his eyes and let the sunlight dance on his eyelids.

The bus stopped in front of an abandoned subway entrance. The style of this subway entrance clearly didn't match that of Water Blue Star.

The surrounding environment was completely different from the sunny forest at the entrance of the Goldshire dungeon—the concrete road surface was cracked, weeds grew out from the crevices, entangling the rusty railings.

Most of the glass roof of the subway station was shattered, like a toothless mouth, facing the sky in pitch darkness.

The air was filled with a damp, moldy smell, mixed with some indescribable, fishy sweetness.

This was a sign of the dungeon environment spreading outward. The remnants of other worlds within the dungeon and the world consciousness of Water Blue Star were clearly in a process of struggle; if the Awakened of Water Blue Star were slow in clearing them out, the environment inside the dungeon would spread outward, modifying the surrounding environment.

Consequently, the monsters inside the dungeon could also move about in the modified external environment.

The Coilfang Reservoir dungeon cluster to the north of Wei City was formed this way. It started as a dungeon with an unnoticed entrance underwater, and by the time people discovered it and reacted,

the surrounding environment had already become like an alien planet, with spores over a dozen meters tall everywhere.

The dungeon had also gone from being a single one to a dungeon cluster.

In recent years, with the authorities constantly organizing personnel for clearance, the monsters outside the dungeon had gradually disappeared, but the modified environment would require decades for the ecology of Water Blue Star to slowly recover.

The current situation was clearly that students weren't coming, allowing the residual consciousness of other worlds within Raccoon City to begin emerging.

"Just judging by this appearance, this dungeon won't be popular for the time being."

Hu Jinsi jumped off the bus, his boots stepping on a loose floor tile, emitting a hollow echo. "It's too close to the city. I estimate that in two weeks at most, the authorities will send people to sweep through it."

The entrance was indeed deserted.

There were no students at the dungeon entrance, so there were no street vendors, no one selling grilled sausages, no one selling potions, and no second-hand merchants holding signs to buy materials.

The lively market atmosphere at the entrance of Goldshire was nonexistent here.

There were only a few staff members in uniforms, leaning against the wall smoking in boredom. Seeing the three approach, they waved lazily: "Student IDs, register, and go in. As long as you don't make too much noise inside, you won't die; at worst, you'll just get bitten by a few zombies."

This line was identical to the one from the old man at the entrance of the Blood Moor, but paired with the eerie background of the subway entrance, its credibility plummeted.

"Having fewer people has its benefits."

Lin Rui handed over the three IDs and lowered his voice. "No need to queue, and no more judgmental looks."

Hu Jinsi noticed a yellowed notice posted next to the registration desk, with a few lines scribbled on it: [Raccoon City Dungeon, entry level 4-12, survival time limit 72 hours. Warning: Gunfire noise will attract monsters; it is recommended to carry silencing equipment.]

"There should be quite a few tech-based classes, right?"

Su Wan looked at the notice and frowned. "Equipping a silencer can greatly reduce the decibels; I don't believe that among all the students and teachers in the city, no one could think of that. This dungeon definitely has its traps."

"There's definitely a trap."

Hu Jinsi stared at the impenetrable darkness deep within the subway station. "And a big one at that. Otherwise, it wouldn't be this deserted."

After registration, the three stepped into the teleportation vortex at the subway entrance one by one.

This time it wasn't green, nor was it dark red, but a murky gray-white, like stirred-up lime water.

...

The moment he landed, Hu Jinsi almost cried out.

A subway platform. Familiar tiled walls, mottled advertising posters, shattered benches, and flickering fluorescent lights on the ceiling.

Everything felt like it had been plucked directly from a nightmare in his past life, bringing with it a suffocating sense of déjà vu.

Raccoon City.

He silently repeated this name in his heart, and something in his blood was boiling.

Memories of his past life flashed by like a revolving lantern—the protagonists of those stories, the legends who took their first steps in this city.

If he weren't afraid that cheering would attract zombies, he would have really wanted to stand on the platform and shout at the air: "I am the king of the world!"

"What are you spacing out for?"

Lin Rui pulled him. "Let's go, don't linger in the subway. Intelligence says sound and light will trigger an encirclement."

Su Wan also tugged at his sleeve. "This place is creepy, let's get out quickly."

Hu Jinsi was dragged toward the exit, looking back every three steps.

From the tunnel deep in the platform came some kind of sticky, dragging sound, as if something was slowly crawling along the tracks.

He swallowed his saliva and forced the chuunibyou declaration that had reached his lips back down.

...

Outside the subway exit were the streets of Raccoon City.

The sky was pressed down by a layer of gray haze, like a rag soaked in oil stains.

The buildings were mostly low-rise apartment buildings and shops, with shop window glass shattered into spiderwebs; overturned, scrapped police cars lay on the street, their tires flat and doors wide open.

In the distance, one could see the spire of a church, tilted, as if it would collapse at any moment.

According to the information gathered in advance, they were currently located in the southwest of the city.

Straight ahead to the north was Raccoon City High School, and to the northwest was the Raccoon City Police Department—it was stocked with a large number of firearms usable within the dungeon, but according to classmates who had been there, it was a bottomless pit.

Ordinary zombies, bulletproof-vest zombies, zombie dogs, Lickers—nested layer by layer, like a Russian nesting doll.

"Don't be in a rush to go to the police station yet."

Lin Rui spread out a hand-drawn simple map. "Let's find a few straggling zombies and test their strength."

Hu Jinsi pulled himself out of his memories and nodded.

He looked around, his gaze landing on a swaying figure at the street corner; it was a male wearing a tattered suit, half of his face already rotted, exposing gray-white cheekbones, with deep-set eye sockets and cloudy, white pupils.

It seemed to have heard the three people's footsteps, slowly turned its head, made a "ho-ho" sound in its throat, and dragged its stiff legs toward them.

"That's the one."

Hu Jinsi gripped his long staff tightly.

The battle was so brief it was almost laughable.

The zombie's movement speed was slower than the zombies in the Blood Moor; Hu Jinsi swept his staff against its knees, it fell directly, and Lin Rui followed up with a short spear to pierce its back of the head, dissipating into light particles.

[Damaged Suit Jacket]

[Green Herb]

"The strength is very low."

Lin Rui frowned. "It's on the same level as the zombies in the Blood Moor, maybe even worse."

"But the quantity..."

Su Wan looked toward the end of the street. In the haze, more swaying figures could be vaguely seen, like a silent wheat field. "Intelligence says the monster density in this dungeon is extremely high."

"And it's not just ordinary zombies."

Hu Jinsi stretched his body, but he already sensed some kind of danger. "There must be stronger variants. Otherwise, the students who came in before wouldn't have suffered."

...

Following the pre-arranged plan, the three advanced to a residential area near the subway exit.

The residential area was eerily quiet, with only the rustling sound of the wind blowing through broken curtains.

Hu Jinsi found a rusty trash can and struck it hard with his long staff. "Clang!"

The sound of metal clashing echoed among the buildings, like throwing a stone into stagnant water.

Then, the ripples turned into a tide.

"Ho-ho-ho—"

"Roar—"

Zombies within a range of dozens of meters raised their heads simultaneously, their cloudy eyes turning toward the source of the sound, and then, as if pulled by invisible threads, they came stumbling out from the stairwells, from under cars, and from the green belts.

The number far exceeded expectations, a dark mass of them, at least thirty or forty, like a slow but unstoppable mudslide.

"They've been lured!"

Hu Jinsi jumped onto a bicycle. "Go! Circle around! Gather them into a group!"

The three pedaled wildly, drawing arcs on the internal roads of the residential area.

The zombie horde was attracted by the ringing and footsteps, gathering closer and closer, finally squeezing into an open space in the center of the residential area, shoulder to shoulder, their rotten arms colliding with each other, like a nest of stirred-up maggots.

"That's enough!"

Lin Rui squeezed the brakes to stop and pulled a new piece of equipment from his backpack—it was a low-noise chainsaw, equipped with an extended chain and guide bar, which he had specifically purchased for this dungeon, costing 1500 credit points.

Hu Jinsi, on the other hand, rested one foot on the ground and focused his energy into his dantian.

[Spinning Crane Kick], activate!

Spinning. The shadows of his legs turned into a circular arc, and the whirlwind brought about by his energy force sent the front row of zombies reeling.

These ordinary zombies were surprisingly fragile; every kick could shatter a skull or break a cervical spine. In three seconds, it was over, and the zombies within the attack range had all dissipated into light particles, leaving only a pile of tattered clothing and a few green herbs.

"The efficiency is pretty good!"

Lin Rui started the chainsaw, the rotating saw teeth emitting a low hum, like the wings of some giant bee.

He charged into the remaining zombie horde, pushing the chainsaw horizontally, and rotten limbs and black blood splattered everywhere; [-15] [-17] [-14], the damage numbers jumped happily.

Su Wan also drew [rixats elegy], the deep blue sword light weaving through the zombie horde, specifically picking off those who had been crippled by the Spinning Crane Kick or downed by the chainsaw for finishing blows.

Subsequently, Hu Jinsi knocked on the trash can a few more times, luring in wave after wave of zombies.

Lin Rui tested the effects of various weapons: short spear thrusting efficiency was too low, round shield bashing consumed stamina, throwing knives couldn't hit vital points accurately, but only the chainsaw—that extended chain and guide bar swept away a whole area; although the noise was much greater than Hu Jinsi's spin, the speed of clearing monsters was in no way inferior.

"Captain Lin, your look..."

Hu Jinsi, after stopping his spin, held his knees and, looking at Lin Rui's blood-soaked figure holding the chainsaw, couldn't help but blurt out, "Mr. Jigsaw."

"What?"

Lin Rui didn't hear clearly; the hum of the chainsaw was still echoing in his ears.

"Nothing." Hu Jinsi waved his hand, silently complaining in his heart: If this scene were in a movie from my past life, it would definitely be a restricted-rating opening. But aloud, he only added, "The chainsaw's efficiency is good, but it's a bit too loud, easy to attract monsters."

Su Wan also tested [Thunderwave]. She held her lyre and plucked it rapidly; a powerful sound exploded, and the sound wave spread in a circle—the result was that it immediately attracted even more zombies within a hundred-meter radius, swarming out in a dark mass from street corners, stairwells, and underground parking exits, like a poked hornet's nest.

"Holy crap!" Su Wan's face turned pale.

But the damage from one Thunderwave actually couldn't kill these ordinary zombies. They were knocked back, staggering, their health bars only dropping by half, yet they still continued to push forward, making "ho-ho" sounds. Su Wan had no choice but to follow up with another Thunderwave to finish off all the zombies in the area.

"It takes two Thunderwaves to clear a wave..." Su Wan panted, "The efficiency is not as good as Jinsi's three-second rotation."

"Overall, Spinning Crane Kick is the most cost-effective." Lin Rui turned off the chainsaw and shook the black blood off the chain, "Three seconds, low consumption, full area coverage. Spinning for 18 turns only consumes 1 steamed bun."

This wave of zombies within a hundred-meter radius, at least fifty of them, were wiped out by the three in different ways. It set a new record for the number of monsters cleared at once by the team.

But the drops were so miserable it made one want to cry.

Aside from about twenty pieces of [Damaged Clothing], which at best could be dismantled into fabric by students from the Tailoring Department, there was only one [Green Herb], with the panel description reading "Can alleviate mild infection," and a box of [Crushed Marlboro], with the note: "This box of cigarettes has clearly gone through more than one escape. The cigarette box is soaked in tainted blood, and only three twisted cigarettes remain inside the aluminum foil. One of them is even stained with skin fragments of unknown origin. Whoever smokes it probably no longer cares whether their lungs are filled with nicotine or the T-Virus."

The three were good kids and didn't smoke. Plus, the note was too tragic, so it would be better to process this [Crushed Marlboro] to the school; maybe some teacher had a taste for it.

"I can't say we lost money," Hu Jinsi stuffed the [Green Herb] and [Crushed Marlboro] into his backpack, looking at the pile of tattered clothes, "I can only say there wasn't much profit. They're just like their zombie relatives in the Blood Moor."

Since it was their first day entering the dungeon, the three did not choose a more aggressive advancement method. They brought out their bicycles and rode around the residential complex, bells jingling, gathering all the zombies in the vicinity that they could attract. Eventually, several hundred zombies were driven to the side gate of the complex—an iron gate only about four meters wide, which could allow at most seven or eight zombies to squeeze through at once.

Then, the slaughter began.

Hu Jinsi guarded one side of the gate, Spinning Crane Kick rotating continuously, like a human meat grinder. Lin Rui guarded the other side, his low-noise chainsaw pushing horizontally and cutting vertically, rotten limbs turning into fragments under the saw teeth. Su Wan stood at the back, using a light crossbow and short sword to deal with any that slipped through, occasionally following up with a Thunderwave to knock back zombies attempting to pile up and climb over the wall.

The battle was so easy it felt almost unreal. Hundreds of zombies, restricted by the terrain at the narrow gate, could not leverage their numerical advantage and were destroyed one by one like parts on an assembly line. Points of light rose one after another, black blood pooled into puddles, and the air was filled with a pungent stench of rot and burnt smells.

"This is too..." Su Wan watched the last zombie dissipate under the chainsaw, her voice sounding uncertain, "simple, right?"

"Don't let your guard down." Lin Rui turned off the chainsaw, but his brow did not relax, "The dungeon can't be this simple. There must be something else."

Before the words had even faded, a sudden change occurred.

In the shadows beside the complex's side gate, a crawling figure was moving slowly along the ground. It made no sound, no footsteps, no breathing, like a blob of slime melted into the darkness. The thing had a pale, humanoid outline, but its limbs were planted on the ground with reversed joints, its head had no skin, and the exposed muscle fibers and brain tissue gleamed with a moist pink in the dim light. Most terrifying was the tongue, a full half-meter long, like a red whip, gently trembling in the air, detecting the scent of prey.

It had already entered attack range, targeting Su Wan who was standing on the outermost side.

Su Wan was completely unaware. Her Perception attribute was not enough to detect this level of stealth, and she still held her lyre in her arms, her fingertips having just finished plucking the last note.

But Hu Jinsi moved.

His Perception attribute, under the dual stacking of [Fairy's Favor] and the Mistweaver School bonus, had quietly broken through 20 points, stepping across the line between the extraordinary and the ordinary. Sometimes, the world became different in his eyes; the disturbance of airflow, changes in temperature, that slight, discordant distortion in the shadows—all were as clear as ink dropped into clear water.

He grabbed Su Wan's arm and yanked her violently behind him!

"Move!"

Almost simultaneously, that long red tongue arrived, piercing the air like a poisoned javelin, brushing past where Su Wan had originally been standing, and plunged fiercely into Hu Jinsi's side!

"Sshhh——"

[-50]

A sharp pain suddenly erupted in his side. Hu Jinsi let out a muffled groan, feeling a piece of flesh from his side being ripped away, and warm blood instantly soaked through his school uniform. As the long tongue retracted, it also carried away a small patch of skin and flesh, flicking a spray of blood droplets into the air.

"Licker!" Lin Rui's roar exploded from behind.

He had reacted the moment the Licker attacked, activating [Charge]! His body turned into a blur, slamming fiercely into the pale monster. The Licker's weight was clearly lighter than a human's; it was knocked directly to the ground by Lin Rui's impact, limbs facing the sky, emitting a sharp hiss.

Su Wan recovered from her shock, her fingers instinctively pressing onto the strings.

"Healing Word!"

White light fell upon Hu Jinsi, slowing the bleeding from the wound, but the sharp pain of being torn remained clear. More troublesome was that a [Mild Infection] icon had appeared in the status bar, slowly pulsing.

"Infection!" Hu Jinsi gritted his teeth, "Kill it first!"

The Licker had already flipped itself up, its reversed-joint limbs making its movement eerily fast, like a giant white spider scurrying across the ground. But the three were already on full alert; Lin Rui braced his short spear for a frontal interception, Hu Jinsi clutched his side and flanked it, and Su Wan's [Faerie Fire] illuminated the shadows, leaving the Licker nowhere to hide.

"Thunderwave!"

A powerful sound exploded, and the Licker was stunned, its movement stalling. Lin Rui seized the opportunity to thrust, his short spear piercing its exposed shoulder blade, [-14]. Hu Jinsi endured the sharp pain and activated [Flurry of Blows], following up with punches and kicks, [-9] [-8]. The Licker tried to counterattack with its long tongue, but Su Wan's [Tashas Hideous Laughter] cut in precisely; the monster's whole body stiffened, the corners of its mouth twitching upward, and it fell into a silent, brief fit of laughter.

Three seconds later, the Licker dissipated into points of light.

After the battle, Hu Jinsi leaned against the wall, his wound still oozing blood. He used [Energizing Chi] on himself, the warm energy barely sealing the wound, but the missing flesh could not grow back immediately. Su Wan cast another [Healing Word], clearing the infection status, but the pain was real and undiminished.

"This is the trap of this dungeon..." Lin Rui panted, still holding the chainsaw, the chain stained with the Licker's pink tissue fluid, "Ordinary zombies are a decoy; things like this are the real killer move."

"And I didn't sense it at all." Su Wan's face turned pale, "If it weren't for Jinsi..."

The three fell silent simultaneously. The team was well aware of Hu Jinsi's perception ability; the stealth of a Defias Thief was non-existent before him. If even he only detected the Licker at the very last moment it entered attack range, then for other teams, this kind of monster was almost impossible to perceive.

"Every team will have to take the first ambush head-on." Hu Jinsi clutched his side, his voice hoarse, "Unless they specialize in perception or have special reconnaissance methods."

"Thermal imager!" Lin Rui suddenly remembered something and pulled a palm-sized device from the depths of his backpack, one of the backup items they had purchased before entering the dungeon, "Let's try it!"

He turned on the switch and aimed it at the spot where the Licker's corpse had not yet fully dissipated. On the screen, the ground, which should have been empty, revealed a faint, irregular red outline, forming a sharp contrast with the gray-blue of the surrounding environment.

"It's reacting!" Su Wan leaned in to look, "Although it's faint, you can see it!"

"The eyes of the masses are indeed sharp." Hu Jinsi smiled bitterly, "The advice from those classmates before was right; thermal imaging can catch these stealthy things."

"But we only brought one." Lin Rui frowned, "And the battery life is limited."

"At least we know the direction now." Hu Jinsi sat down slowly against the wall, "We have to adjust our tactics this afternoon; we can't just swagger around attracting monsters like before. Lickers like shadows and ambushes; we need to clear out the stealthy threats around us first, then deal with the zombies in plain sight."

Near lunch break, the three retreated into a relatively intact apartment building inside the complex. Hu Jinsi's wound had stopped bleeding under the dual treatment of [Energizing Chi] and Su Wan, but the missing flesh made his movements stiff, and every breath tugged at the nerve pain in his side.

"Rest." Lin Rui decided, "We'll advance again in the afternoon."

As for the Licker's drop, it was as miserable as the zombies, leaving behind a [Licker's Long Tongue], wet and glistening with a pink sheen, like a giant, skinned earthworm.

"Weapon material?" Su Wan picked it up with two fingers, her face full of disgust, "Or cooking material?"

"Ask when we get back if any classmates who use whips want to buy it." Hu Jinsi leaned on the sofa, feeling weak, "It can't really be a cooking ingredient, right... stewed tongue soup?"

"Shut up!" Su Wan and Lin Rui yelled simultaneously.

Outside the window, the smog of Raccoon City remained heavy. From the distance came the ho-ho sounds of zombies, like some kind of incessant background noise. And in the shadows, more Lickers might be crawling slowly along the walls, their long tongues trembling gently in the air, waiting for the next prey with insufficient perception.

On the noon of the first day, the three sat around in the apartment's living room, eating compressed biscuits, with no one speaking. Lin Rui checked the chainsaw's chain, Su Wan adjusted her strings, and Hu Jinsi closed his eyes to rest, his Chi circulating slowly through his meridians, trying to alleviate the dull pain in his side.

The danger of this dungeon had finally bared its fangs.