603: Chapter 603: Fighting Zombies, Skill Experience Greatly Increased

Ma Donghe's eyes glowed as he stared intently at Fang Cheng.

That look in his eyes carried an irrepressible desire to show off, as if urging:

"Hurry up and ask! Quickly ask me!"

Seeing him in such high spirits, Fang Cheng did not dampen his mood.

Thus, he sat down beside him and cooperated fully by asking:

"What did you encounter?"

Hearing this straight-man prompt, Ma Donghe slapped his thigh hard and instantly opened the floodgates of conversation:

"Weren't I turned into a security guard in his forties at the time?"

"At that time, I was dozing off in the security room. In the middle of the night, the captain insisted on sending me to patrol the morgue on the second basement level."

"The hallway was freezing cold, and the bulb overhead was flickering with a buzzing sound. The morgue was the room right at the very end."

"Before I even reached the door, I suddenly heard a banging sound from inside. When I leaned in to listen, guess what?"

"It seemed... like it was coming from the refrigerated corpse cabinet!"

Ma Donghe told this story vividly, exuding an immersive sense of grim horror, quite like a midnight radio host.

Fang Cheng's expression was calm as he casually asked:

"You went in?"

"Go in! Why wouldn't I go in?"

Ma Donghe slapped his thigh, spitting flying everywhere:

"At the time, I thought to 'myself', this crappy place is an illusion anyway, what the hell do I have to be afraid of!"

"So I pushed the door open and walked right in. Following the source of the sound, I yanked open the iron drawer of one of the refrigerated cabinets."

"Goodness, inside lay a male corpse that snapped its eyes wide open in a flash, its eyeballs completely white."

"It sat straight up, opening its mouth as it tried to crawl out and bite me."

The more Ma Donghe talked, the more excited he became, gesturing with both hands in a slapping motion that kicked up a gust of wind:

"When I saw this scene, without another word, I wound up my arm and slapped it directly across the face!"

"With a crisp 'slap', it was sent flying on the spot, slamming into the wall to reflect on its misdeeds."

"His grandfather's, you're already dead, so you better just lie down properly for me! Running out to scare people, what kind of nonsense is that!"

"As a result, that zombie flew into a rage..."

Ma Donghe shook his right hand, seemingly still reminiscing about the feeling of beating the zombie back then:

"Sigh, the body of a forty-year-old security guard is simply too weak. Right after delivering that slap, my own hand went numb first."

"Yet that zombie had immense strength and was extremely fierce. It pounced forward straight at my face, spewing a huge mouthful of foul, stinking black water!"

Hearing the two words "black water", Fang Cheng's heart couldn't help but stir.

The horrifying scenes from the abandoned water plant instantly flashed across his mind.

After Wang Lan, Zhou Ming, and the others were possessed and lost their minds, they would likewise spew extremely foul-smelling black liquid from their mouths.

Fang Cheng's eyes flickered slightly as he immediately formed a judgment in his heart.

The monster Ma Donghe encountered was definitely of the same species as the black shadow in the water plant.

It was just that the black shadow in the water plant possessed a living person, whereas the black shadow in the morgue burrowed into the shell of a corpse.

Ma Donghe didn't notice the change in Fang Cheng's expression, completely immersed in his own heroic deeds as he continued to recount with spittle flying:

"That black water burned fiercely when it touched my skin and even broke out in rashes. It was extremely toxic—his grandfather's, it almost ruined my face!"

"I couldn't care less at the time, just wiping it off with my clothes while retreating backwards and shouting frantically into the walkie-talkie for the brothers in the security room to come support me."

"That zombie was super fierce. Taking my slap like it was nothing, it crawled on all fours on the ground, and like a giant spider, 'whoosh', it darted right to my feet."

"Then, with those hands like iron pliers, it grabbed my thigh and opened its mouth full of black water, preparing to bite down!"

"I kicked wildly for dear life, and a piece of my sole was forcefully torn right off by it!"

"With no other choice, I instinctively grabbed a dry powder fire extinguisher off the wall, pulled the pin, and sprayed it fiercely at it, then swung the iron canister and smashed it against its head!"

"Damn it, this guy's head was iron-hard; no matter how I smashed it, it wouldn't die—oh, wait, it was already dead to begin with, it just rose from the dead tonight."

"Finally, when the other security guards arrived, several people piled on top of each other to pin it down tightly, and then called the police to take this ghost-like thing away."

"However, some of that black water got on my body, and it seemed I got infected, going pitch black before my eyes and passing out."

Ma Donghe changed his sitting posture, scratched his scalp, and his expression turned somewhat puzzled:

"Logically speaking, fainting means you're eliminated, right? As a result, when I opened my eyes, I found that I hadn't exited the illusion at all, but was lying in a hospital bed on an IV drip."

"Then came something even more ridiculous: a woman leading a half-grown child ran into the ward, holding my hand and crying while calling me husband."

He curled his lips, his expression extremely awkward:

"I've been a bachelor since I came out of my mother's womb, never even holding a girl's hand, yet suddenly a wife and child popped out. It literally gave me goosebumps all over."

"Fortunately, the nurse sister who came in later to change my dressing was quite cute, so I felt this illusion wasn't that aggravating."

Fang Cheng listened quietly without interrupting.

"I originally thought that subduing the zombie and lying in the hospital for a few days would count as passing."

Ma Donghe's voice suddenly dropped, and his broad shoulders shrank back a little, clearly recalling some extremely uncomfortable imagery.

"As a result, when night came, the ward became exceptionally cold and exceptionally dark."

"Lying in bed unable to sleep, I turned my head and saw several pitch-black shadows oozing out from the corners of the walls and the ceiling."

"Their eyes glowed with red light, staring straight at me and letting out faint chuckles."

"Those things were chilling to the bone; they were definitely ghosts!"

Ma Donghe swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down:

"I figured it must have been the trouble caused by touching the black water spat out from the zombie's mouth, wondering if my mental state had gone wrong."

"Those shadows grew more and more numerous, slowly drifting over and densely surrounding my bedside."

"They lowered their heads in unison, opening their pitch-black mouths at me and letting out weird laughs like fingernails scratching a chalkboard."

"I frantically pressed the call button and shouted for a doctor, but there wasn't a single sound in the hallway."

"I swung my fists to hit them, but my fists passed right through, completely unable to kill them!"

Finishing up, Ma Donghe let out a long breath of stale air and patted his chest:

"Fortunately, right when those black shadows were about to pounce on my face, a loud bell rang out with a 'dong' overhead."

"Then, with a blur before my eyes, I finally exited that ghost place."

At this point, Ma Donghe smacked his lips and turned to look at Fang Cheng:

"Hey, you also woke up with a start after hearing that loud bell chime, right? Weren't the feelings of fighting inside very thrilling?"

Hearing this, Fang Cheng's gaze narrowed slightly.

A bell? Where did a bell come from?

His consciousness clearly had to exit the illusion because his body was extremely weak and overdrawn.

From beginning to end, including the battle process in the water plant until finally walking out the gates, he didn't hear any prompt bell representing the end of the assessment at all.

Fang Cheng quietly clenched his right hand hanging by his side, feeling the surging power contained within this body.

Suddenly, another huge question flashed across his mind.

Come to think of it, his body in reality wasn't truly weak.

At most, he just broke a little sweat and his body temperature rose slightly, appearing somewhat abnormal.

This kind of consumption couldn't even reach the intensity of his usual full morning exercise, being only slightly more intense than a warm-up routine.

At most, right after waking up, in order to adjust to the cognitive gap between the two worlds, his mind was slightly daze-like and produced brief dizziness.

Since he was able to visualize the True Sun Fire in the illusion and thereby gain the ability to defeat the monsters.

Then why didn't his memories belonging to reality fully recover inside?

Also, from the end of the battle until now, his skill panel seemed to have been in a frozen state without any movement.

Just thinking of this.

A light blue glow suddenly flashed across the edge of Fang Cheng's retina.

At the same time, translucent text prompts flowed down like a waterfall along his line of sight:

[You completed a wonderful battle without relying on any physical attribute bonuses, skill experience increased by 20 points]

[Boxing Lv3 (503/1000)]

[You completed a wonderful battle without relying on any physical attribute bonuses, skill experience increased by 20 points]

[Sanda Lv3 (195/1000)]

[You completed a wonderful battle without relying on any physical attribute bonuses, skill experience increased by 20 points]

[Muay Thai Lv2 (451/500)]

[You are in an absolute state of selflessness, stimulated the True Sun Fire by will, guided Qigong to run autonomously, skill experience increased by 40 points]

[Qigong Lv3 (91/1000)]

[You successfully visualized the True Sun Fire in a certain isolated special environment, skill experience increased by 50]

[Visualization Lv3 (309/1000)]

Looking at these newly popped-up messages one after another, Fang Cheng was slightly stunned at first, and then breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Fortunately, the panel was not completely blocked by that eerie assessment illusion.

Fang Cheng couldn't spare the energy to feel happy about the increase in skill experience.

Thinking about it further, the look in the depths of his eyes turned profound once again.

Since he was able to engage in physical combat with enemies in the so-called "illusion", and it was judged as a valid battle by the panel, even reaping such rich skill experience.

Wouldn't this inversely corroborate the authenticity of that experience?

You must know that if one purely relied on imaginary enemies in the mind for Shadow Boxing training in reality, the panel would definitely not give out so much practical combat experience.

In this world, is there really such an outrageous illusion that can not only completely suppress his subjective consciousness and forcibly implant false memories?

Even fool the panel's judgment mechanism for actual combat?

Fang Cheng clenched his fists slightly, his heart churning like rivers and seas.

By his ear was Ma Donghe's endless boasting, as well as the nervous whispers of the surrounding examinees.

There seemed to be lingering reaction force on his fist peaks from shattering the monster's body.

Those family members chattering away beside the dining table.

Those vivid and lifelike classmates in the water plant.

If that truly was just a virtual illusion constructed by subconscious code.

Why was even that feeling of exhaustion to the extreme at the very moment before losing consciousness so clear, as if carved by a knife into every inch of muscle in his body?

Those close-at-hand sunlight, buildings, and relatives and friends...

Are they really just illusions?

"Slap!"

A thick palm landed on Fang Cheng's shoulder, interrupting the surging thoughts in his mind.

Ma Donghe leaned over that huge head, looking at him somewhat quizzically:

"A-Cheng, what are you thinking about? Sitting here motionless for half a day, haven't you recovered from the illusion yet?"

Fang Cheng quickly reined in the ripples deep within his eyes and casually replied:

"Nothing, just recalling the details of the battle just now."

"Hey, the exam is already over, what's there to reminisce about."

Ma Donghe waved his hand carelessly and took the opportunity to rub his withered stomach.

"Gurgle—"

A long, muffled sound timely emanated from his abdomen.

He raised his head to glance at the wall clock in the corridor and said:

"It's almost eleven o'clock, let's hurry out and find something to eat."

Speaking of this, Ma Donghe's movements suddenly paused, as if he had suddenly discovered a blind spot.

Stroking the stubble that had just sprouted on his chin, his brows knitted into a knot, his face full of puzzlement:

"Hey, don't you find it weird? We were clearly just lying in chairs doing a mental test, but after I had a fight with that zombie and those ghosts in the illusion, coming out now, I actually feel my legs going soft, and my stomach is so hungry my chest is sticking to my back."

Ma Donghe widened his eyes and patted his thick thighs:

"It's as if... all the strength consumed inside was counted toward the body in reality!"

Falling into his ears, this coarse-yet-detailed complaint made Fang Cheng lower his eyes slightly, verifying the conjecture deep in his heart by a few more points.

But he didn't reply, just listening quietly.

"Forget it!"

Deciding not to think about it since he couldn't figure it out, Ma Donghe waved his big hand and patted his chest, shouting:

"We must have a big feast this noon to make up for all the stamina consumed! Tomorrow afternoon will be the physical fitness and wilderness survival test."

"Based on my past experience in the training camp, those examiners have very dark hearts; at the very least, they'll throw us into the mountain gullies for two or three days."

"By then, braving the wind and sleeping in the open, going hungry will be the norm. If we don't stock up on some fat today, we definitely won't be able to hold out!"

"Two big brothers, what are you talking about, so happily?"

As they were talking, a head with two wind-catching ears suddenly leaned over from the side.

It was that scrawny examinee who was listening to Ma Donghe brag by the water dispenser just now, Hou Peng.

Rubbing his hands together with a smile that made his teeth show, he sidled up with an extremely familiar attitude:

"Brother Fang, you're done with the exam, right? I just heard Brother Ma say something about eating."

"Right on time, I know there's a mutton restaurant at the corner of the street outside the Special Investigation Team headquarters. The copper pot mutton hot pot there tastes absolutely amazing!"

"Today, consider it me offering stolen flowers to Buddha; I'll treat, treating it as an early celebration for the few of us to successfully pass and become colleagues in the future."

"Shoo, shoo, shoo, when is it your turn to treat."

Ma Donghe glared, his fan-like large hand directly pushing Hou Peng to the side:

"I got a bellyful of anger fighting zombies in the morgue just now; this meal must be arranged by me, as a way to clear away bad luck. Nobody compete with me to pay the bill!"

"Oh dear, Brother Ma, you're being a stranger here..."

Hou Peng wasn't annoyed at all, sticking to him again like a piece of taffy.

The two of them looked as though they had already gotten quite familiar with each other.

For the right to pay the bill, they actually stood in the waiting hall, arguing back and forth with each other.

Fang Cheng stood to the side, watching the two put on airs of big spenders, his tightly wound nerves relaxing slightly.

The corners of his mouth turned up into a faint smile, and he opened his mouth to interrupt them:

"Let's go, talk as we walk. If worst comes to worst, I'll treat."

Hearing Fang Cheng speak up, Ma Donghe and Hou Peng finally stopped tugging at each other, hurriedly following up on his left and right.

The three of them walked shoulder to shoulder, passing through the crowd of examinees who still looked nervous and lowered their heads to recite materials.

Arriving at the first-floor lobby, they pushed open the heavy glass doors and walked into the dazzling bright sunlight outside.

(End of Chapter)