In one of the apartnts, a young girl nad Mina stepped forward, curiosity flickering in her bright eyes.
’What is happening outside...?’ she wondered, her small fingers gripping the edge of the window as she slowly peeked out.
The mont she looked beyond the threshold, her eyes widened in shock.
"Wow! Wow! The water... it is going down!" she exclaid, her voice bursting with excitent as she began clapping uncontrollably.
Her words spread like wildfire.
Hope ignited instantly among the people.
"They can finally escape this flood..."
"They are saved..."
Voices overlapped as people rushed toward the entrance, their hearts pounding with anticipation.
But the mont they stepped outside and truly looked...they froze.
The flood was receding... but not in the way they had imagined.
The rain had not stopped.
The dark clouds still lood overhead, and the downpour continued relentlessly.
Yet the water surrounding the grocery store was slowly pulling back, as if sothing unseen was forcing it away.
The ground began to reveal itself.
A widening circle of safety ford around the structure.
Mouths fell open. No one spoke.
The sight was so surreal that even breathing felt difficult.
anwhile, Ivy, having completed the separation, did not stop there.
With calm precision, she began constructing.
Another tower rose beside the grocery store.
Concrete and steel seed to assemble themselves, layer by layer, floor by floor, as if guided by an unseen hand.
The citizens stared, their eyes widening further with each passing second.
’Is this... even possible? ’ soone thought, their throat going dry.
A few of them instinctively moved toward the new tower, drawn by the promise of safety.
But as they got closer, they noticed a large poster plastered across its entrance:
"Only survivors without shelter may enter."
The words struck them like a cold slap.
They hesitated.
’We already have a place here...’
’If we leave... what if we lose everything?’
Regret and hesitation tangled within their hearts.
Still, a few of the more greedy individuals exchanged glances.
’Maybe we can still try...’
Driven by desire, three of them stepped out, leaving their current space behind. They walked toward the second tower and attempted to enter.
The mont they crossed the threshold... an unseen force stopped them.
"What is this...?" one of them muttered, panic creeping into his voice.
No matter what they did, they could not move forward.
Eventually, defeated, they returned.
But what awaited them was worse.
Their previous spots had already been taken.
Their belongings shifted aside, their place claid by others.
"What?! That was ours!" one of them shouted, anger flaring instantly.
Argunts broke out, voices rising, tempers exploding.
So of them, unwilling to accept reality, turned toward Ivy.
"This is your fault!" one accused loudly. "Your decisions caused all of this. You should compensate us!"
Another added bitterly, "Your inefficiency led to this ss! You are so unkind."
Ivy let out a soft chuckle, her expression calm but her eyes cold.
"If that is the case," she replied lightly, "then I can simply stop showing any kindness at all... and throw you back into the flood."
The words landed like ice. The color drained from their faces.
"N-No, we were just joking..." one of them stamred quickly, forcing an awkward laugh. "You cannot even take a joke..."
’Pathetic,’ Ivy thought, her gaze lingering on them for a brief second before she turned away.
’If it were not for , they would not even have a place to stand... yet they still act entitled.’
Ignoring them, she continued her work.
Using the remaining zombie crystals, she further cultivated. However, one problem still remained... currency.
They did not use mud coins here.
’Then I need another thod...’
Her thoughts shifted toward the antidote.
She had tried teleporting it to this branch before, but for reasons she still could not understand, it had failed every single ti.
So she had given up.
Until now.
Before arriving, she had stocked nearly a ton of antidote within her temporal storage.
Now, she began taking them out one by one, placing them neatly on the racks.
The mont people noticed her restocking sothing new, they rushed over, curiosity burning in their eyes.
’Is it food? Sothing rare?’
But when they read the label... "Zombie Virus Cure"
They froze. Shock spread across their faces.
"What is this...? Is it real?"
"Can it actually cure soone?"
Questions erupted one after another.
Ivy crossed her arms slightly and spoke with calm confidence. "If you can prove that it does not work, I will give you one million zombie crystals."
The crowd stirred. Temptation flickered in many eyes.
So even exchanged excited glances.
Without hesitation, a few of them dragged a struggling zombie from the flood outside, its growls echoing faintly as it thrashed violently.
They forced the antidote into its mouth.
Then... they waited.
Seconds stretched painfully long.
But before anything could happen, a girl nad Sherry suddenly stepped forward, her expression filled with hostility.
"I have seen many cruel people," she declared loudly, pointing at Ivy, "but never soone as disgusting as you. You dare to lie and play with everyone’s emotions?"
Murmurs spread.
Ivy chuckled softly, unfazed. "How exactly am I playing with your emotions?"
She glanced at the clock. "Give it three minutes."
Sherry opened her mouth, ready to argue further, but her friend Violet quickly pulled her back.
"Think about it," Violet whispered urgently. "Everything here was built by her. If she wanted to deceive us, she could have done it long ago. Why go through all this trouble?"
Sherry clenched her fists, clearly unwilling to back down, but she fell silent for the mont, her glare never leaving Ivy.
Ivy ignored her completely, her attention shifting to her KB points.
Even with minimal activity, the numbers were rising rapidly.
’Just from building the tower... I have already gained nearly three billion points.’
A faint thrill passed through her.
’This... is only the beginning.’
Of course, a portion of it had already been taken by the temporal storage.
Still... It was worth it.
Exactly three minutes later... the zombie suddenly began to convulse violently.
User Comments
0 comments from readers