CHAPTER 58: CHAPTER 58: BIRDS OF A FEATHER

"Brother, are you a melee profession? I’m a level 12 mage. If you don’t mind, we could team up because our abilities complement each other, which would help us get through this dungeon."

Standing before Wang Zhifan was a somewhat handsome young mage. He was dressed in a black, exquisite robe, wore a pointed black wizard’s hat, and held a white magic staff in his hand. Each of his hands also sported a ring, indicating a considerable level of power.

"Sorry, I don’t plan to team up. You should find someone else."

Wang Zhifan’s first impression of the young mage was actually not bad, feeling that this player was likely both skilled and cultivated. Nevertheless, he decisively rejected the team-up offer because he found working solo to be more convenient for now.

"I’m sorry to bother you... if you need any help, feel free to ask me."

With a courteous remark, the well-equipped mage player then turned to seek other team-up partners.

Wang Zhifan, no longer dawdling, held his fine layer pistol in one hand and his rare-level Wolf-Slaying Blade in the other, fully equipped as he headed toward the exit of the underground parking garage.

"To survive for three days, I guess I’ll need to first gather some water and food, then find a safe place to hide and take things as they come."

Before reaching the exit, Wang Zhifan mentally mapped out a basic plan of action — first gather essential resources, then hide securely, and finally confront whatever comes when the Corpse King or other threats arrive on the last day.

Wang Zhifan was confident that there were water and food supplies available in the dungeon because he had read posts on the virtual forum about the Great Catastrophe dungeon and was familiar with some basic information.

Unfortunately, he learned that the Great Catastrophe dungeon required players to be at least level 10 to enter, which seemed a bit out of reach for him at the time, so he hadn’t paid it much attention. As a result, he couldn’t remember more detailed information clearly.

"It seems the first day is relatively safe, with mostly ordinary zombies appearing. The dungeon is designed as an adaptation and preparation period for players... the subsequent two days will get progressively harder, with quite a few bizarre zombies appearing..."

Straining to recall relevant content from the forum, Wang Zhifan approached the exit of the underground parking garage. It was an upward passageway leading to the ground, with lighting slightly brighter than the garage, but Wang Zhifan could already hear irregular footsteps and faint growls from within.

"A total of five zombies... should all be ordinary kinds..."

He slowed his pace as he reached the side of the exit passageway, first using his hearing to make a rough judgment, then discreetly allowing his sight to peer inside, clarifying what was in there.

As he had anticipated, five seemingly ordinary zombies roamed in the slope leading from the underground parking garage to the surface.

Two of them were middle-aged security guard zombies holding black rubber batons. Their bodies were bloated with bulging purple eyes, looking like half-decayed corpses, yet they continued to hunch back and forth on the slope.

The other three were a pair of male and female zombies and a little boy zombie. They appeared to be a family but had become similarly horrid in appearance, moving slowly and stiffly.

"There’s no need to waste my fine-layer bullets on such ordinary zombies. Wolf-Slaying Blade... attack!"

In an instant, Wang Zhifan, following the basic moves of the Great Dream Saber Scripture he was practicing, swiftly dashed into the sloped passageway in a curved path.

Then, like a blur, he moved past the two security guard zombies at an incredible speed and trajectory, and as he passed, their heads were severed from their necks by the glinting blade.

Wang Zhifan recalled from the forum posts that the weakness of most zombies was the head, and generally cutting off the head would be considered a kill, although some variations might occur.

To confirm whether the two guard zombies he had just killed were indeed dead, Wang Zhifan paused midway up the slope, turning to observe the situation of the decapitated zombies while keeping an eye on the attacking route of the family of zombies ahead.

This preliminary research during the early stages of the dungeon was somewhat necessary, enhancing his understanding of zombies to prevent a delay in recognizing special ones later.

As expected, he soon saw the headless zombies he had felled collapse straight to the ground, lifeless, like wooden figures, without any further movement.

However, he then noticed something that didn’t match his expectations: the three zombies he was closely watching at the front showed no obvious signs of aggression, let alone charging at him.

"Is it because I’m too far away from them? Do these zombies have such poor senses? That can’t be right..."

Wang Zhifan felt utterly perplexed. He remembered the forum posts never mentioned such a scenario, stating that when players are exposed to a zombie’s sight, they would be relentlessly pursued, with some special zombies even being able to chase without seeing or hearing the players. This situation, where the zombies remain indifferent despite being less than ten meters from them, was not mentioned.

To further investigate the unusual situation, Wang Zhifan continued to move closer step by step toward the three zombies in the passageway ahead.

Yet, as he approached the zombies, their behavior and reactions showed no significant change, continuing to shuffle as they had when Wang Zhifan had not yet appeared. Soon, the little boy zombie among the three even walked past Wang Zhifan absentmindedly, casting a dull glance at him en route, yet still exhibiting no aggression.

"This is really baffling..."

The level of surprise Wang Zhifan felt now was akin to witnessing a sow climbing a tree. He was sure the three zombies in front of him were peculiar.

"Could it be that these three zombies retain some semblance of will from their previous lives, restraining the urge to attack me?"

Wang Zhifan started to speculate on the possible causes of the current situation but immediately realized such an explanation was wishful thinking and didn’t hold up.

"If it’s not these zombies... then it might be due to myself... I... I understand!"

In that instant, Wang Zhifan suddenly figured out the true reason why the zombies were ignoring him — it was the Chapter of Obscurity pendant he had been wearing all along!

This rare-level item possessed a passive feature called "Shared Illusions," which allowed non-boss level evil creatures to perceive him as one of their own, preventing them from attacking him!