Chapter 5: First Download, Treasure Hunting in the Abandoned Building!

The sounds of fierce fighting and roaring echoed continuously, gradually thinning until they could no longer be heard.

After a long while, Tang Zhen felt a faint return of strength in his limbs. Gritting his teeth, he painfully pulled himself up in an awkward, unsightly manner. Wiping the blood from his face, he surveyed his surroundings and confirmed the battle had ended.

All the nearby monsters had been eliminated, though a few wanderers had unfortunately perished in the fight. Their broken bodies were dragged aside, awaiting burial. Many other wanderers bore wounds of varying severity and were now tending to their injuries with stitches and bandages.

Tang Zhen gasped for breath, and once his breathing steadied, he dragged his legs and shakily began collecting the spoils. The brain orbs held an immense allure for him; he could hardly contain his eagerness.

Clumsily, he harvested two white, Level One brain orbs from the corpses of two monsters. Hesitating briefly, he returned one to Qian Long.

However, Qian Long adamantly refused to accept it. Whenever Tang Zhen mentioned the brain orbs, Qian Long would scowl, and Tang Zhen had no choice but to give up.

Silently noting the favor, Tang Zhen absorbed the brain orb when no one was looking. Sneaking a glance at his personal information on his phone, he was delighted to find that, besides gaining twenty gold coins, his experience points had increased by two. He was only eight points away from leveling up.

Tang Zhen's physical condition was solid, his strength nearly matching that of a Level One monster. Judging by his stats, defeating a monster of comparable power would likely grant him one experience point.

If he could slay ten Level One monsters, he might just ascend to Level One himself.

On the blood-stained, shredded grass, the wanderers rested briefly after bandaging their wounds, then eagerly seized their weapons and charged toward the nearby abandoned building. At the forefront, one kicked open the decayed iron door, revealing a dark, dilapidated hallway.

The corridor was equally ruined; white plaster peeled away in patches, and heaps of trash and unidentifiable objects cluttered every corner.

Tang Zhen noticed numerous dried, dark brown bloodstains on the walls and in shadowed recesses. Scattered about were bones—human or animal—imbuing the hallway with a chilling, eerie atmosphere.

Yet the wanderers paid no heed. After a brief discussion, one took the lead and ascended the stairs, clearing sporadic monsters and prying open locked doors.

Like drawing lots, no one knew what treasures might lie behind each door, filling everyone with anticipation.

Despite the temptation, the group remained orderly. The strongest leader assigned rooms randomly to each wanderer.

Items found in the rooms belonged solely to their discoverers, with unwanted goods available for trade after the exploration concluded.

Naturally, after all was said and done, each wanderer had to pay a fee to the building's discoverer and the organizer of the expedition—no free lunch existed; effort deserved reward.

Thanks to their cooperation, the corridor was soon cleared, and the leader began distributing rooms.

When it was Tang Zhen's turn, he was assigned two rooms on the fourth floor of Unit Two. But as he prepared to enter, a heavy security door barred his way.

His tools were insufficient to breach the door, and only then did he realize why every wanderer carried a crowbar: they were for breaking open doors.

Fortunately, Qian Long, who had been following closely, noticed his predicament and smiled as he skillfully pried the iron door open within minutes.

Without glancing at the room's interior, Qian Long turned and went to open his own assigned door.

Tang Zhen was about to step inside when he suddenly remembered a software called Lucky Lottery on his phone. After a moment’s hesitation, he pulled out his phone, entered the app store, and downloaded the Lucky Roulette.

The download was lightning fast, installing in less than three seconds. Tang Zhen immediately opened the app.

A magnificent large wheel appeared on the screen, divided into hundreds of tiny segments, most of which were blank. Upon closer inspection, Tang Zhen realized the odds of winning were extremely slim.

Beside the wheel was a set of instructions explaining how to play.

The basic mode required a bet of ten gold coins per spin; each additional bet removed one blank segment, but the wheel had to retain at least ten segments for every spin.

The intermediate mode increased the number and level of prizes, costing one hundred gold coins per bet, with the same rule about keeping at least ten segments.

There were also advanced and special modes, costing one thousand and ten thousand gold coins per bet, respectively.

This Lucky Roulette had many modes, and Tang Zhen muttered to himself that without money, it was impossible to play.

But since it was already open, he decided to try once. He placed a single basic bet and hit start.

The splendid wheel spun rapidly, too fast to discern any details. As it slowed, the pointer’s segment enlarged, and Tang Zhen could finally read the contents.

Just as he tried to see clearly, the wheel abruptly stopped.

“Congratulations! You have won a Double Luck Card!” the screen announced.

A golden card appeared, inscribed with “Double luck for one hour. Use now?”

Did he really win?

Tang Zhen was nearly moved to tears. After seven or eight years of buying lottery tickets, the best he’d ever won was ten yuan once. Now, with a simple bet, he had struck lucky. He wondered if the Double Luck Card had taken effect prematurely.

Regardless, winning was a blessing!

He tapped to use the card, which instantly burst into fireworks on the screen. At the same moment, he felt a surge of spirit and boundless confidence, as if everything he attempted would effortlessly succeed.

Tang Zhen marveled at the sensation, unsure if the card truly worked, but this newfound confidence felt remarkably pleasant.

Filled with nearly overwhelming self-assurance, Tang Zhen pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Gripping a kitchen knife, he cautiously entered the room. As expected, it was a mess, dust covering everything. Yet the furnishings stirred a strange sense of familiarity, as though he had returned to his original world.

A television, refrigerator, sofa—

Everything one might find in a modern home was present.

The only pity was that all the appliances were utterly ruined, worthless junk.

What connection did this other world have to his own? The question arose again in Tang Zhen’s mind, but he did not dwell on it, focusing instead on the present.

Though the room was cluttered with trash, careful searching might yield useful items. Still, Tang Zhen was not especially interested.

In truth, he believed that once he returned to his original world, he would have no need for this junk.

The items he found here would barely be worth a few dozen yuan back on Earth. Yet, knowing that wanderers could trade goods, he decided to search thoroughly.

After all, these things could be exchanged for brain orbs, and those were exactly what he lacked.

He combed through the kitchen, bedroom, wardrobe, and desk, and to his surprise, found several stacks of cash—currency he recognized and trusted. Examining carefully, Tang Zhen confirmed they were genuine banknotes.

This was an incredible stroke of luck; the Double Luck Card really seemed to be working.

His joy mingled with confusion as he eagerly continued searching, soon uncovering gold and silver jewelry and various certificates, all stuffed into his scavenging bag.

After about fifteen minutes, he packed some relatively intact clothes and moldy rice and flour, then gave a quick final sweep before hauling the bag out to explore his second assigned room.

The iron door to this room was only ajar, sparing Tang Zhen considerable effort.

Upon entering, he was startled to see a zombie roaming the living room.

Compared to other zombie monsters, this one was enormous—a bloated figure clearly a former fat man, its grayish, corpse-spotted skin marked with many bluish-green tattoos.

“Wow, is this zombie some sort of gangster?” Tang Zhen scoffed, wary but alert as he cautiously advanced.

The zombie wielded a metal baseball bat. Upon seeing Tang Zhen, it opened a blackened, torn maw and growled, staggering forward.

“Ugh,” Tang Zhen spat, overwhelmed by the foul stench. He quickly used his bag as a shield and charged at the monster.

At the instant the bag hit the zombie, an idea struck Tang Zhen. He bent low and twisted aside, swinging his rusty kitchen knife hard against the zombie’s knee.

The blade sliced clean through the joint. The zombie stumbled, tripped by the bag, and crashed to the ground. The force snapped one of its legs, and it flailed wildly.

The baseball bat flew from its grasp, crashing into the dilapidated bed and smashing a hole in its base. Tang Zhen glanced over and noticed something hidden beneath the bed.

But he did not pause; his priority was dispatching the zombie.

Seizing the moment, Tang Zhen rushed forward, hacking the zombie’s skull with his knife—once, twice, thrice...

By the time his strength waned, the zombie’s head was a mass of mangled flesh, and a fierce stench filled the air, nearly forcing him to vomit.

“Damn it, dead zombies are the good ones!” he muttered.

Having narrowly survived, Tang Zhen resumed searching.

Recalling the bed the zombie had smashed, he immediately inspected it. Amid the scattered debris, he discovered a secret compartment about five feet long, filled with bulky bundles wrapped in canvas.

He pulled out the package, feeling its weight. Opening it, he found over a dozen sharp blades and swords of varying sizes.