A single-player post-apocalyptic game, but with an all-female teammate mod.

He coughed up blood, but chuckled and wiped his mouth.

"It can't fall..."

General Thunder lasted for more than half an hour; surely his stamina couldn't be less than that of a woman.

An inexplicable competitive spirit spurred him to stand up again and face the tireless zombie monster before him.

Deep within the tunnel, the throbbing of the mycelium's heart and the whooshing sound of General Thunder's blade still continued.

……

Another heavy impact sent Aono flying through the air by the mycelial tentacles, his back slamming hard onto the platform.

The debris fell in a flurry, and he felt a sweet taste in his throat as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

My stamina bar was almost depleted, and my arms were so sore and numb that I could barely grip the axe handle.

Every breath felt like swallowing hot iron filings, my lungs burning with pain.

The roar of the giant zombie shook the entire tunnel, and the nauseating stench pressed down on Aono's chest like a thick fog.

He struggled to sit up, his vision blurring in waves.

"Just... hang in there a little longer..."

Meanwhile, deep inside the tunnel.

The naginata, crackling with purple lightning, pierced through the last intact spot in the heart of the mycelium.

Sizzle—!

The piercing, scorching sound echoed in the enclosed space. The mycelium convulsed and contracted wildly, attempting to regenerate, but was torn apart and carbonized inch by inch by the lightning element.

That heart, which had once continuously supplied life force, finally lost its luster after a half-hour tug-of-war.

The grayish-white mycelial heart disintegrated from the center, turning into fine ash that silently dissipated with the breeze.

23. Collapse

The mycelial matrix has been eliminated.

A system notification appeared in front of Aono's eyes.

Almost at the same instant, the giant zombie suddenly stopped moving.

It emitted a distorted and piercing wail that seemed unlike any living being.

The massive body began to tremble violently, and the grayish-white mycelium withered and peeled off piece by piece, like vines that had lost their support.

At the same time, the sound of structural cracking came from deep within the earth.

Click, click.

It felt like a giant pane of glass was shattering beneath my feet.

"Oh no! This place is going to collapse!"

Aono's eyes narrowed, and he immediately realized what was going on.

This area has long been completely occupied and transformed by the mycelial heart.

As it died, the mycelium that supported this area also completely decayed.

As a result, the riddled tunnels and underground cavities began to collapse.

Almost simultaneously, the mycelial monster, which was not yet completely dead, began its final frenzy.

The giant zombie's withering body suddenly trembled, and the remaining mycelium burst open as if burning wildly.

The shriveled muscles swelled up again, but not to recover; rather, they were like an overinflated balloon on the verge of bursting.

It stopped waving its tentacles and instead took heavy strides, recklessly crushing towards Aono.

Aono tried to turn to the side, but found that the ground had already cracked and collapsed, and there was nowhere to get a foothold.

"boom!"

He was slammed hard against the wall, a sharp pain shooting through his ribs, almost suffocating him.

On the other side, the short zombies no longer relied on their speed to fight.

It no longer dodged General Thunder's blade, letting the purple lightning pierce its body, but still used the momentum to pounce on her side and tear at her with its last bit of strength.

"This monster... has gone mad." Dudu did her best to assist General Thunder, constantly wielding her stone spear to drive back the completely berserk little monster.

The dwarf zombie's movements grew increasingly sluggish, and when Dudu's stone spear slammed it heavily into the ground, its thin limbs finally twitched and came to a standstill.

The charred wound no longer had any fungal hyphae wriggling inside; only dry cracks remained, like burnt-out paper ash.

General Thunder stood still, the tip of his sword hanging down, the purple lightning gradually dissipating.

Her breathing was barely audible, and her face was as pale as an ice sculpture.

The collapse gradually spread to the hollow side, and the hanging glowing mycelium began to fall off with the shaking.

Dudu realized something was wrong. Before she could even pack up her spoils, she grabbed General Thunder and tried to leave.

No matter what she pulled or said, the purple-haired woman remained unmoved.

Dudu was extremely anxious and wanted to carry the person away directly, but she was almost exhausted and had no way to take General Thunder with her.

The roar from deep within the tunnel grew louder and louder, as gravel fell from the ceiling and cracks spread all around like a spider web.

Aono ran away while dodging the attacks of the giant zombie.

After running for several dozen meters, they looked back but still couldn't see Dudu and General Thunder.

"Oh shit……"

He cursed under his breath, and without thinking, he turned back and ran towards the deepest part of the cave.

In the brief few seconds that passed by the giant zombie, he inevitably took a few more punches.

The smoke and dust blurred Aono's vision, but he still spotted two familiar figures in the distance.

One stood still, while the other was anxiously pulling at it.

The roar of the giant zombie approached from behind. Qingye lowered his body and ran swiftly across the crumbling ground, with only one thought in his mind.

There were three of us when we came, and there must be three of us when we leave!

Just as he was less than ten meters away from them, a particularly piercing cracking sound came from above.

The hollow walls began to tilt, and dust instantly engulfed everyone's vision.

Aono suddenly pushed off the ground, ignoring the worsening of his injuries, and unleashed his fastest speed.

The distance of more than ten meters was covered in the blink of an eye.

He grabbed General Thunder's wrist, his hand feeling icy cold, like grasping a piece of cold iron.

The distance at this point also meets the conditions for automatic pickup to take effect.

A barrage of system notifications then began to sound.

All the loot consists of mycelium hearts and dwarf zombie bosses.

Qingye didn't even glance at him, without pausing for a moment, and grabbed Dudu's arm with his other hand, letting out a low growl.

"go!"

Dudu reacted quickly, slamming the stone spear into the ground, using the momentum to leap up, and casually grabbing the other side of the Thunder General.

The two worked together to lift General Thunder into the air in a supporting position.

"boom!!!"

As soon as the three of them left the spot, the wall behind them, including half of the hole, completely collapsed.

Amidst the flying debris, the giant zombie somehow managed to burst out from the side, half of its body smashed to pieces, yet it still dragged its mangled remains towards them.

"This big guy isn't dead yet?!" Dudu exclaimed in surprise.

"Ignore it!"

Aono gritted his teeth and dragged the two of them toward a crack diagonally above.

A faint ray of light shone through, offering the only way out.

It's definitely too late to go back the way we came.

The crack that has now been exposed by the collapse of the cavity, leading straight to the ground, is now the only way out.

Speed ​​is the giant zombie's weakness; if you don't fight it head-on and just dodge or run away, it poses almost no threat.

Its enormous, twisted body shrank continuously during the pursuit.

It went from two floors to one, and finally turned into grayish-white debris, turning into a pile of gold coins and materials.

Then they transformed into streaks of light and automatically entered the system's inventory.

Seeing this, Aono was somewhat grateful for the giant zombie's relentless pursuit.

Otherwise, if the distance isn't enough, the auto-pickup won't work, and no matter how reluctant he is, he'll have to give up the items dropped by the BOSS.

The demise of the giant zombies seemed to be a harbinger, and the entire underground world began to collapse completely.

Hearing the sounds of cracking and collapsing from all directions, Qingye and Dudu ran as fast as they could towards the crack that was shining with light.

"Snap—!"

The ground beneath their feet suddenly sank, like the jaws of a giant beast closing.

Aono could even feel the impact of flying pebbles coming from his heel.

His arms were bulging with veins, and almost instinctively, he channeled his last bit of strength into his legs, pulling General Thunder forward toward the blinding slit of light.

Dudu, riding on the other side of the Thunder General, also accelerated again using this force.

Boom!!!

A deafening roar erupted behind us, like mountains collapsing.

The three of them had just rushed through the crevice and reached the surface when the entire underground world was completely shattered.

Countless tons of rock layers, concrete, and withered mycelium mixed together, devouring the former mycelial nest.

……

"Cough cough..."

After an unknown amount of time, Aono suddenly opened his eyes, his first reaction being to cough.

My lungs were full of ash, and every breath carried the smell of blood and the stench of earth.

He found himself lying on the edge of a ruin, with a completely collapsed crack not far behind him.

"Cough cough..."

Just then, Dudu's weak but rapid coughing came from the side.

The girl was kneeling on the ground, her hands still tightly gripping the cracked stone spear, her shoulders heaving violently.

Beside her, General Thunder still had his eyes closed, his long purple hair scattered on the dusty ground, his face pale to the point of being almost transparent, but his chest was still rising and falling slightly.

"I...I survived..."

Dudu slumped to the ground, her voice hoarse, her eyes staring blankly at the sinkhole that was constantly collapsing and smoking.

Aono didn't speak, but just tilted his head back and gasped for breath.

Since coming into this world, this was the first time he had ever thought that the scenery of being surrounded by ruins was actually quite nice.

The wind at the edge of the ruins swirled with fine dust, slightly dispersing the sticky, fishy smell emanating from the group.

Aono sat down against a cement block with half of its steel bars protruding, took out mineral water and biscuits from his system backpack, and handed them to Dudu.

"Let's replenish our energy, rest for a bit, and then go home."

As Aono spoke, he also took out bottled water and biscuits and started eating.

This game is ridiculously rudimentary; it doesn't even have essential consumable items like health potions, mana potions, and healing potions.

If you can't level up, you can only rely on food and rest to recover your condition.

That's right, although we've defeated the boss, the level cap hasn't been unlocked yet.

It's obvious that you need to upgrade the Ark to unlock the level cap.