Chapter 39 - 36 Hope is Always Beautiful

Chapter 39: Chapter 36 Hope is Always Beautiful Chopping down zombies is a physically demanding task that requires not just strength but also technique for any ordinary person—it’s definitely not as simple as just hacking, slashing, and stabbing. But for Lin Fan, it’s relatively simple. The Frostmourne in his hands represents evil and darkness, yet in the just hands of Lin Fan, it exhibits its most brilliantly splendid moment in history. A zombie’s head soared high into the air, spinning, before falling to the ground. Splat! Splat! Swinging his sword one after another, the hoard of zombies snarled fiercely, their strength and speed formidable. For some reason, Lin Fan felt they were much faster than before. But he didn’t dwell on it; those that were fast probably had slender builds and longer legs. Those with great strength were likely more burly. There once was the War God in the elevator, determined in combat. Now there’s the Sword Spirit at the stairwell, wielding Frostmourne, incessantly chopping down the zombies in front of him. The narrow space of the stairway corridor made it hard to fully utilize the power of Frostmourne, but he still had his legs. The weight of his kicks was unbearable for a single zombie. With a kick that could move mountains, the zombies couldn’t advance an inch, tumbling back and piling up into a mountain of corpses. "You bunch, I can chop you down without any legal consequences, you who outnumber and try to bite me with your virus-laden mouths. I’m just defending myself." He wasn’t very familiar with the law, but he had researched self-defense quite a bit. At this moment, all he could do was use his sword to stab into the zombies’ heads. Splat! Piercing through a zombie’s brain and withdrawing Frostmourne, he targeted another zombie. The zombies made of flesh and blood went berserk, roaring as they tried to crawl over the bodies of other zombies blocking their way, gradually clogging up the staircase. It was like using too much toilet paper, throwing it all into the toilet, trying to flush it away, and ending up with everything mixed together—it was essentially that situation. [Zombie Killed] [Points +1] ... Starting from the rooftop passage, he had descended three floors but was unable to proceed any further. Looking at the walls, the bloodstained floor. Dirty, utterly dirty. If the property management of this district saw this, they would be furious. What was a well-maintained hallway had been turned into a mess—if other residents saw this, they would definitely complain. "Sigh!" Lin Fan held Frostmourne and looked at the situation in front of him, shaking his head. It was truly blocked. He could only hear the roars from behind the mountain of corpses. He turned around and headed upstairs. Back on the rooftop, he saw the dust left behind by the fireworks all over the ground. He thought of the man who had just jumped down. He must have been in great pain. Or perhaps it was a release. Reaching the edge of the rooftop, he looked down to see many zombies gathering, all wanting to climb up the stairwell. So many zombies. Really a lot. Chop? No more chopping, there were too many. He didn’t want to dirty someone else’s district, acting unethically. He huddled in a corner, maintaining silence. Silence = staying put + no useless chatter. He understood, quietly waiting for the zombies to leave. The uncle was right, without any sound to attract them, the zombies would leave on their own. In his eyes, these zombies were like onlookers at a scene, setting aside whatever they were doing to gather around and see what was happening, despite being clueless. Yet amid a crowd, they acted as though they had seen it all themselves, sharing and explaining the events to those who arrived later. Until the crowd dispersed when the event was over. The same went for the scene of the incident, which would become completely quiet. The zombies were just like that. Time passed, and the noise below subsided. He peeked out to see that they were indeed gone, just a few scattered zombies left. Continuing to climb down from the upper floors was definitely not an option—it was too dangerous and could set a bad example for kids, or even adults. Falling would mean certain death, with brains splattered and mush everywhere. Leaving the rooftop, he took the elevator straight down to the first floor. Though it might have seemed like there were numerous zombies earlier, they weren’t too smart; they didn’t think to advance in two groups, one by elevator and one by the stairs. But if they did, perhaps conflicts among the zombies would arise, resenting why some got the elevator while they had to take the stairs, leading to overcrowding and a broken elevator. Ding! The elevator doors opened. A zombie stood outside, swaying, appearing quite stupefied. Frustrated by such bewildering behavior, Lin Fan believed in straightforwardness between humans, and even between humans and zombies. Why put on such a dazed act, giving off an utterly foolish vibe? But this feigned stupidity would likely prove useless. Everyone knew the true nature of zombies. How could he be fooled? Roar! The sound of the elevator doors startled the zombie, who lunged with a roar. Splat! Easily dealt with, he stepped over the body, pushed open the security door, and left the building. Sunshine District. "Xiao Qing, when do you think this apocalypse will finally come to an end?" Lin Fan sipped on his Coke, looking at the decaying corpse. Although Xiaoqing had become a corpse, it didn’t hinder his communication with Xiaoqing. "I feel it should be very soon, as long as we work hard, we should be able to end this early. The once bustling Huang Market will come back into our sight." "Oh, by the way, this place is a mess, somewhat dirty; I think I can clean it up for you. No need to pay me, we’re somewhat familiar with each other, so no need for formalities. If you feel bad about it, just let me take something from here to make up for it." "You don’t speak, so let’s just happily agree on that." "Going home now, to cook and eat." One listened, the other spoke. The scene was harmonious, warm, a beautiful moment full of the kindness of human society. Scan code to pay, and head home. Two old gentlemen were waiting at the gate. During his absence, the capable old men had used wooden planks to block the view under the iron gate. If an adult stood in front of the iron gate, they could only see the top of the other’s head. If they wanted to see inside, they would have to stand on tiptoes. Of course, this height was only around 1.7 meters, average height, blocking ninety percent of people. The remaining ten percent, taller than 1.7 meters, could see inside the district. And then there were those who, even standing on tiptoes, would see nothing but the wooden plank. "Hello, two old gentlemen," Lin Fan greeted with a smile. Old Mr. Wang laughed and said, "Look at this fence we made, what do you think? Old Zhou and I were busy half the day to make it like this. It’s mainly because we lacked some tools. If we had them, Old Zhou and I could tinker and make it even better." Lin Fan looked at the finished fence, "I think it’s quite good. The two of you are skillful and creative. If it were me, I definitely couldn’t do as well." One must be modest. Of course, he didn’t know if he could do a good job since he had never tried. So it might be modesty. Or it might be the truth. The two old gentlemen found even more shining points in Lin Fan’s character. He was nice, had a good temper, was friendly, genuine, modest, and willing to help. Just look at these qualities, how many people have them? And what’s more important is... this kid still had an innocent childlike quality about him. Like the sword he carried on his back, it was clearly a toy loved by children. "I need to get back home to cook," Lin Fan said, noticing it was getting late. Lunchtime was approaching; he needed to wash rice and cook a meal, looking forward to a delightful lunch. Lunch was very important; it ensured sufficient energy for the afternoon. "Ah, why bother cooking? Just come eat at our place," said Old Mr. Zhou. Despite being well-read, he was not clueless about the ways of the world, especially with Old Mr. Wang teaching him now and then, he had made significant progress. Lin Fan waved his hand to decline the kind offer, "No thanks, I prefer to eat at home. I like the smell of home cooking." With that said, he hurried off. "Don’t be late going home, old gentlemen," he advised kindly. "Hey, this kid..." The two old gentlemen looked at each other, not expecting the boy to still be so polite to them. Back to home. Lin Fan rinsed the rice, set it in the rice cooker, took the vegetables out of the fridge, and clanged away. The knife and chopping board met, chopped vegetables neatly placed in a bowl. He returned to his computer desk. The internet was still up. He didn’t know why the internet hadn’t been cut off yet. This matter needed an explanation from a professional. He refreshed the LOL forum. No new posts, no new replies. Everything seemed frozen in time. He looked at an old post. [Request for 100k life-saving money, just 100k, will repay by any means] The content was about his mother being ill, urgently needing surgery fees, and everything that could have been sold had been sold, every loan that could be taken was taken... He clicked to open the post. Many people replied, fellow gamers; who doesn’t face hardships? Some transferred a hundred, some twenty, some just five. Lin Fan also transferred a hundred yuan. Although he was very poor himself, he was willing to lend a helping hand. There were comments accusing the poster of being a scammer. But they were met with a barrage of anger. The top liked comment was... "If you’re going to curse your mom and con money, I’ll still donate. Even if it’s a scam, I’ll be at peace knowing your mom is alright." Sitting in front of the computer, he quietly read the comment. A smile appeared on Lin Fan’s lips. Look, so many people were still kind back then. Although there were inappropriate jokes among the gamers, trolls, and those pretending to be Gatling guns, even so, wasn’t everyone still a good baby? He clicked the mouse, returned to the homepage, and posted what might be a thread that would receive no replies. [Everyone, are you still there?] Post. He refreshed the page, but the view count remained ’0’. He opened a movie site and started playing a film. Lin Fan sat there watching attentively. In the living room. The sound of the movie played. "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." PS: Vote for the ticket.