The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

Su Mu came out of the hotel and quickly crossed the narrow street.

It's called a street, but it's more like the kind of food street you often see next to schools... Various small shops are crammed together on both sides, with signs hanging crookedly on the door, some of which have faded so much that the words are no longer legible.

Spicy hot pot, milk tea shops, jianbing guozi (Chinese crepes), oden... the vibrant atmosphere of pre-apocalyptic life still lingers here, but now only garbage remains on the ground and dried bloodstains on the walls.

The alley was very narrow; in its narrowest parts, it was cramped for two people to walk side by side. The buildings on both sides cast long shadows, making the already dim alley even more gloomy and cold.

Su Mu slowed his pace, holding the M500 in his hand, his eyes constantly scanning the forks in the road ahead and on both sides.

There weren't many monsters in this alley, and their levels weren't high either. Most were level three or four corrupted students and a few scattered zombies, with the occasional lone goblin. They darted out from all corners... some pounced from behind half-open shop doors, some peeked out from behind trash cans, and some squatted at the corner of the alley, gnawing on something.

But for Su Mu now, these things no longer pose a threat.

"puff."

A level-three corrupted student rushed out of the bubble tea shop, but before he could get close, he was shot in the head. The body took two steps forward, collapsed in the middle of the road, twitched twice, and then remained still.

[Killed a Lv3 Corrupted Student, +0.1 experience points.]

"Pfft, pfft."

Two zombies pounced from both sides at the same time. Su Mu didn't even look at them, raised his hand and fired two shots, and both zombies fell to the ground at the same time.

[Killed a Lv2 zombie, experience points +0.05.]

He fought his way through, almost without stopping. His bullets accurately hit the heads of every monster, not a single shot wasted. Occasionally, when he encountered three or four monsters clustered together, he didn't bother using skills, simply switching to his M4A1 and taking them out with a few bursts.

The material collection notification flashed occasionally on the system panel, but most monsters dropped nothing. Monsters below level three had an absurdly low drop rate. Su Mu didn't care... these low-level materials were practically useless to him; their lack of drops actually saved him the trouble.

A dozen minutes later, he walked across the entire food street and stood outside the walls of Ash University.

The school's wall is about two meters high, made of gray brick, its surface covered with the marks of time. But unlike the dense vines seen from the cable car, there are none here... the wall is clean and tidy, without even a single green branch.

Su Mu frowned.

He had clearly seen from the cable car that the school wall was covered with thick, lush green vines that hung down from the top of the wall to the ground, completely enveloping it. But now, standing in front of the wall, those vines had completely disappeared.

Were they cleared away? Or were those vines alive and able to move?

Su Mu didn't think much of it. He climbed over the wall and landed inside the campus.

The school looked completely different from the food street.

Quiet.

It's too quiet.

Su Mu stood still, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings. He was on the edge of the campus, with a row of low bungalows to his left, which looked like storage rooms or bicycle sheds.

To the right was a sparse grove of trees, their canopies casting dappled shadows in the morning light. Directly ahead was a wide concrete road, lined with plane trees whose fallen leaves carpeted the ground.

There are no monsters.

Not a single one.

Su Mu's brows furrowed even more. He had encountered at least dozens of monsters on the snack street; although their levels weren't high, their density was considerable. Yet, within the school grounds just a wall away, he hadn't seen a single ghost.

This is not normal.

According to the information he received from the area perception, the estimated number of monsters in the Ash University area was "medium," and the danger level was "medium." Since it was "medium," there shouldn't be none to be seen.

The number of monsters in the peripheral areas is "few," which aligns with his current observations. But what about the core area?

Su Mu looked towards the depths of the campus. In the distance were several teaching buildings, their gray-white exteriors gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

Further away, he could see the outline of the library, domed and looking quite old. Further still, beyond his sight, lay the student dormitory area… where the golden treasure chest he desired might be, or perhaps that level eight monster.

Those monsters are all concentrated in the core area.

The reason there are no monsters in the edge areas can only be explained by one thing: there are more powerful beings here that have driven away the other monsters. Or, those monsters dare not approach this area.

Su Mu took a deep breath and walked along the inner side of the wall towards the depths of the campus.

He walked slowly, each step light and deliberate. He held the M500 in his hand, his index finger resting on the trigger guard, ready to fire at any moment. His long spear was stored in mid-air, ready to be summoned at any time.

They continued onward, but still encountered no monsters.

The campus was eerily quiet, and Su Mu's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. According to the area perception alert, the estimated number of monsters in this area was "few," but "few" didn't mean "none." He had been walking for almost ten minutes since he climbed over the wall, and hadn't encountered a single monster... This was abnormal.

Just as he was wondering what was going on, a huge tremor suddenly came from ahead.

"boom......!"

It sounded like something was violently pounding against the wall, the dull thud echoing through the empty campus, even the ground beneath our feet trembled slightly.

Su Mu's eyes narrowed, and he paused for a moment.

In the past, he would have chosen to stay away from such noises. Unknown sounds often mean unknown dangers, and in the apocalypse, curiosity is the personality trait with the highest mortality rate.

But this time is different.

That path was the straight-line distance to the golden treasure chest. If he took a detour, he'd need to travel at least two or three kilometers further, and might even enter a more unfamiliar area… He knew nothing about the monsters lurking there. Rather than taking his chances in the unknown, he'd rather investigate the source of the sound. At least the sound could tell him what was there.

Su Mu did not rush over directly.

He moved quietly, following the direction of the sound, quickly moving along the shadow of the building. The sound grew closer, and the vibrations became stronger. Every ten seconds or so, a violent impact would occur, interspersed with the crashing sound of bricks and stones shattering.

A few minutes later, he arrived in front of a three-story building.

From the outside, this appears to be the school's library... Although not large, the bronze lettering of "Ash University Library" still remains on the wall, though some characters have peeled off, leaving only faint traces. The roof is flat, offering a wide view of a large area in front.

Su Mu climbed up the fire ladder on the side, lay down on the edge of the roof, and looked in the direction from which the sound came.