Chapter 3

Chapter 3

From beside me came Sun Jiayi’s voice, clicking her tongue. “Tsk, boring.”

Lin Yu stared straight at me. “Sister, I was right, wasn’t I?”

Hearing that voice-exactly the same as it had been during our university years-a surge of anger flared up in my heart.

I shoved him away. “Get lost!”

While Lin Yu looked on in confusion, the first knock suddenly echoed through the hallway.

*Thump-*

Everyone froze at the same time.

“Five times,” Lin Ke’s voice trembled. “The system said it would come in after five knocks-”

*Thump-* The second knock.

*Thump-* The third knock.

Lin Yu glanced at his hands, then at the items in the dorm-a jar of chili sauce, a cartoon Plunger, and a Trash Can.

*Thump-* The fourth knock.

*Thump-* The fifth knock.

The door was burst open.

A grayish-white, festering hand with upturned knuckles slapped the doorframe.

The thing squeezed through the door-its skin was rotting, its eye sockets were sunken, and the corners of its mouth were torn back to its ears. Saliva mixed with black blood dripped onto the floor. It let out a wet gasp and took its first step toward us.

We all froze.

It was only at this moment that we truly realized the system was telling the truth.

This was a real Zombie.

Just as the words “we’re finished” flashed through my mind, Lin Yu moved.

He stepped in front of Lin Ke and snatched the bottle of Drain Cleaner from her hand.

He glanced at the ingredients on the bottle, then turned and dashed toward the bathroom at the back of the dorm.

Three seconds later, he rushed back out, a bottle of Toilet Cleaner in his right hand.

“Everyone, get back!” he practically roared.

He twisted off the cap of the Drain Cleaner, then the cap of the Toilet Cleaner, and poured the two liquids together.

The Zombie took its second step.

Timing it perfectly, Lin Yu raised his hand and slammed the bottle of mixed liquids hard against the Zombie’s chest.

The moment the glass bottle shattered, a violent chemical reaction exploded-thick white smoke billowed out, accompanied by the sizzling sound of high heat searing flesh. Pale blue tongues of fire flared up from the Zombie’s chest, spreading upward along its torso.

The Zombie let out a piercing howl, twisting and struggling as the flames burned black furrows into its flesh.

Three seconds.

It collapsed.

The grayish-white body curled into a ball amidst the flames.

The dorm fell silent.

“No way… did we actually survive?”

“Holy crap! The Zombie is dead? He fucking killed it with Drain Cleaner and Toilet Cleaner?”

I looked at the boy standing in the middle of the dorm. He was only seventeen, yet he remained exceptionally calm in a situation like this.

Then he turned his head and looked at the four of us, who were all wearing expressions of utter shock.

He gave a light chuckle. “High school chemistry.”

“Drain Cleaner is sodium hydroxide, a strong base,” he said, his tone as flat as if he were reciting answers in class. “Toilet Cleaner is hydrochloric acid. The neutralization reaction between a strong acid and a strong base is highly exothermic-enough to denature proteins.”

He suddenly turned to look at me again. “Sister, how is it that you university students have a smaller knowledge base than a high schooler?”

I rolled my eyes at him again. “Scram!”

I looked at the current, somewhat cocky high school version of Lin Yu.

It suddenly occurred to me that although I hadn’t met him until university, I had heard a bit about his high school days.

Lin Yu.

First prize in the provincial high school chemistry competition.

Recommended for admission to the chemistry department at university.

Even though he was only in high school right now, it didn’t change the fact that he was a straight-A student.

Beside me, Sun Jiayi finally closed her mouth, which had been hanging open for a long time.

“Badass.”