Chapter 3: Unexpected Encounter with the Campus Belle

In the cafeteria kitchen, Liang Yu almost gagged upon entering.

The smell was overwhelming: spoiled food, rotten ingredients, the metallic scent of human blood, and the stench of zombies.

The combination was unimaginable.

Fortunately, Liang Yu was mentally strong enough to remain unfazed by the foul odor.

There weren’t many zombies in the kitchen, but they were quite large.

They say a starving chef weighs 120 Kilograms , and there’s truth to that!

Liang Yu wasn’t in a hurry to deal with these zombies; he had plenty of time to take them down one by one later.

He began searching for the cold storage room, scanning the area, and found it at the far end.

He cursed under his breath at the design choice, but he had to go there anyway.

The path ahead was nerve-wracking as Liang Yu maneuvered around the workstations.

Suddenly, a noise behind him startled Liang Yu, and he turned along with the zombies to see what had happened.

A zombie had knocked over a chopping board. Liang Yu wanted to rush over and kill it immediately.

But he held back, knowing that killing it would alert the other zombies, especially those outside. Over a hundred zombies outside would exhaust him!

Liang Yu continued forward, reaching the cold storage room. The temperature display showed it was off.

Just as he suspected, someone had smartly hidden inside during the outbreak. He hoped it was his two roommates!

As Liang Yu pondered, a ringtone sounded.

“Ring, ring…”

His right pocket vibrated, and Liang Yu was startled.

Who would call him at a time like this?

The ringtone caused the kitchen zombies to become agitated, lunging at Liang Yu.

He dodged while reaching into his pocket to turn off the phone.

Avoiding the zombies, Liang Yu reached the door, quickly closed it, and grabbed an iron lock from the corner to secure it.

Now he had to deal with the zombies in front of him. With a dagger in hand, Liang Yu also picked up a large cleaver from the counter.

He easily decapitated the weaker zombies, but the fat ones were troublesome. The dagger couldn’t reach their core.

Even as blood sprayed from their bodies, they seemed unfazed by pain, relentlessly attacking Liang Yu.

Seeing the dagger was useless, Liang Yu decisively switched to the cleaver, swinging it with both hands.

From the outside, one could see Liang Yu wielding the cleaver, cutting through zombies from the kitchen entrance to the cold storage room.

Zombie limbs flew, blood stained the walls, and brain matter splattered everywhere.

After dispatching all the zombies, Liang Yu leaned against the cold storage room, exhausted.

Outside, zombies continued to pound on the kitchen door. Liang Yu gripped the cleaver, ready for the next battle.

Soon, the kitchen door was breached, and Liang Yu swiftly entered combat mode.

Just as the zombies charged at Liang Yu, the cold storage room door opened. Liang Yu, focused on the zombies, didn’t notice the door behind him.

A pale hand reached out from the cold storage room, grabbed Liang Yu’s shoulder, and pulled him inside, quickly shutting the door.

The zombies outside were left empty-handed, pounding on the cold storage room.

Inside, Liang Yu and another person fell onto some meat. Liang Yu quickly got up, recognizing a familiar face.

It was Donghai University’s campus belle, Lai Qingxue!

Lai Qingxue blushed as Liang Yu stared at her.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that, it’s awkward!” she said, her cheeks turning red.

Hearing this, Liang Yu awkwardly scratched his head, looking away.

“Uh, I’m Liang Yu. Thanks for pulling me in.”

“I’m Lai Qingxue!” she replied, extending her right hand.

Liang Yu hesitated, noticing zombie blood on his hand, and quickly withdrew it.

“Maybe next time, now’s not the best time!”

Lai Qingxue retracted her hand, nodding.

“Liang Yu, what’s happened to everyone out there?” she asked.

“They’ve been infected by a virus, turning into zombies like in the movies!” Liang Yu replied, sitting on some ingredients.

“Zombies!?”

Liang Yu nodded.

“For some unknown reason, the virus spread, and now the school is full of zombies,” he explained, grabbing a cucumber to regain his strength.

Taking a bite, he continued, “I guess it’s the same outside.”

“How did this happen!?” Lai Qingxue exclaimed in shock.

“Who knows!” Liang Yu continued munching on the cucumber.

“By the way, why are you here?”

Lai Qingxue explained, “I was helping in the cafeteria to earn some money. When I went to get ingredients, I saw students attacking others outside.”

Liang Yu thought she was a diligent student, working part-time.

“I got scared and locked myself in here. It was cold at first, but then the temperature normalized!”

Liang Yu speculated, “Probably a zombie cut the power lines!”

The cold storage room was a large appliance with a separate power supply, likely disrupted by a clumsy zombie.

“Maybe,” Lai Qingxue agreed. “I heard noises outside, then it stopped. I wanted to check, and that’s when I saw you!”

Liang Yu sighed, “I didn’t expect these zombie chefs to be so tough.”

“If it weren’t for this cleaver, I might not have made it!”

He glanced at the cleaver lying on the ground.

Lai Qingxue shuddered at the sight of the blood-stained cleaver, grateful she hid in the cold storage room. Otherwise, she might have turned into a zombie last night.

After a while, Liang Yu looked at Lai Qingxue and said, “Rest up, we’ll need to make a run for it soon!”

“Make a run for it!? Can’t we stay here?” Lai Qingxue protested. “We have so much food!”

Liang Yu poked her forehead gently, “We can’t stay here forever. The food will run out eventually.”

“What will you do when it’s gone? Wait here to die?”

Given the choice between danger and comfort, people naturally choose comfort—it’s human nature.

Lai Qingxue’s choice wasn’t wrong, and in the past, Liang Yu might have agreed. But now, with countless skills, surviving the apocalypse wasn’t an issue.

“I…” Lai Qingxue was at a loss for words, feeling wronged as tears welled up in her eyes.

Liang Yu gently wiped her tears with a clean hand, looking at her warmly, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you!”