Capítulo 22: Chapter 22: Men and Women Working Together, Work Never Feels Tiring
The alarm buzzed at precisely 7:00 AM.
Zhang Yue sprang out of bed, quickly washed up, and headed downstairs to buy two steamed buns and a cup of soy milk. After receiving the 400,000 yuan from Su Jinya, he had transferred 390,000 yuan to the hospital. The remaining amount went toward covering his overdue three-month rent of 1,800 yuan and paying off his utility bills, leaving him with about 8,000 yuan. That should be enough to last until his next paycheck.
After finishing his breakfast, Zhang Yue opened the rift to the alternate dimension and stepped into the otherworld.
———
[Ding! Welcome to the Second World: Zombie City.]
After restocking his supplies in Notting City, he set out alone toward the west side of the city, where the garrison was stationed.
Yesterday, he had spent the entire day killing Flame Zombies to collect the 100 fire-element corpse cores needed for his quest.
Today, his target was the Ice Zombies, to gather ice-element corpse cores.
Passing through the territory of Level 11-13 Flame Zombies, he now faced the Ice Zombies, which were at Level 14-16.
In stark contrast to the Flame Zombies, the Ice Zombies possessed the [Ice Shield], capable of blocking 50% of ice-based attacks.
This actually gave Zhang Yue a slight advantage, as two of his three skills were fire-based, and only one was ice-based.
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[Mutant Ice Zombie] (Physical Type · Common Monster)
Level: 14
Physical Attack: 184
Physical Defense: 150
Magic Defense: 140
Health: 1,240
Skills: Ice Slash, Ice Shield
Description: Have you ever seen a zombie exuding cold mist like an ice pop? Don't try to attack it with ice or water, as the cold will only excite it further…
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Compared to the Flame Zombies, the Ice Zombies had significantly better stats.
Wasting no time, Zhang Yue grasped his [Doombringer Frost Staff] and launched into action.
Locking onto one of the ice-enveloped zombies, he unleashed his skills.
Super Fireball!
Super Flame Missile!
Boom!
Boom, boom, boom!
-448 Burn Damage! -25 Frost Damage!
-176! -264 Critical Hit! -264 Critical Hit! -25 Frost Damage!
Thanks to the [Icefire Swift Boots] granting 55 agility points, Zhang Yue's critical hit rate was absurdly high!
In a single combo, the Ice Zombie's health bar plummeted to zero.
With the Flame Missile dealing 54 burn damage per second, the Ice Zombie didn't even have a chance to get close before it collapsed mid-charge.
[Ding! You've slain a Level 14 Ice Zombie. Experience +80! Energy +140,000.]
Compared to the 50-60 experience points from the Flame Zombies, the Ice Zombies were a significant upgrade in reward.
After picking up the six copper coins dropped by the Ice Zombie, Zhang Yue summoned his Silver Armored Scorpion and continued the hunt.
With the Silver Armored Scorpion taking the frontline, Zhang Yue focused on ranged attacks.
Master and pet worked seamlessly together, dispatching one Ice Zombie after another.
Before long, a golden light shone down.
Having started at 91% of Level 12, Zhang Yue finally reached Level 13.
It was now 8:30 in the morning.
Zhang Yue, having collected 11 ice-element corpse cores, received a message on his communicator.
[Suyan]: "Good morning!"
[Suyan]: "Are you awake?"
"I've been up since seven, already grinding zombies for an hour," Zhang Yue replied. "Just woke up?"
"Ah, I..." Su Jinyan was suddenly embarrassed. "I forgot to set my alarm last night and overslept…"
"Wait there, I'll come to you right now!"
Twenty minutes later, Su Jinyan appeared at the garrison camp in a white mage's robe.
Zhang Yue exited the Ice Zombie area and returned to the Flame Zombie zone to meet her.
He noticed that she had changed her outfit since yesterday—she was wearing a blue robe then, and now she was in white?
It must have been another expensive high-stat outfit her CEO sister bought for her.
Money really does make life easier.
The two formed a party and began hunting Flame Zombies together.
Zhang Yue had already gathered all the fire-element cores he needed, but Su Jinyan was still short.
So now he was helping her collect the remaining cores.
The 20% drop rate made their progress frustratingly slow.
It took the entire morning just to gather the 100 fire-element corpse cores she needed.
In the afternoon, they headed back into the Ice Zombie territory.
Despite only knowing each other for a day, they found their teamwork surprisingly smooth.
Su Jinyan seemed like the pampered princess type who didn't know much, and Zhang Yue had assumed that her power was only due to her epic-class profession and expensive gear.
But to his surprise, her skill and awareness were impressive.
It seemed she had put in a lot of effort.
Her control spells were always perfectly timed.
She wasn't just randomly casting; she waited for the right moments, interrupting the zombies just as they were about to attack.
Her accuracy was over 70%.
Though it seemed like overkill for small mobs, this level of precision would be invaluable in boss fights or PvP battles later on.
As they say, "When men and women work together, work never feels tiring."
By using the afternoon and evening effectively, they both managed to collect 100 ice-element corpse cores!
By this time, Zhang Yue had reached Level 15.
Su Jinyan was now at Level 13.
Now, all that remained were the 100 poison-element corpse cores needed to complete the quest.
At eleven o'clock that night, they agreed to meet again the next day to hunt the Venom Zombies and collect the poison-element cores.
Then they both logged off.
Late at night, in the Su family villa.
Su Jinyan was unusually cheerful. Even after her bath, she didn't go to bed but instead wandered around her room, hugging a pillow and smiling like an idiot.
Seeing this, the maids preparing her late-night snack were stunned.
"It's been three years since we've seen Miss so happy."
"Yes, seeing her like this truly warms this old servant's heart."
———
Two days had passed since the opening of the Otherworld this year.
Gradually, many new profession holders had already cleared the First World and were now moving into the Second.
At 7:30 the next morning.
When Zhang Yue returned to the Otherworld, the chatroom in Notting City was bustling with activity:
[Likes to Play Despite Being Bad] (Female, Level 10 Common Archer): "Anyone doing the Level 11 Zombie Forest quest? Take me along."
[Cai Xukun] (Male, Level 10 Common Mage): "Need one more for Level 12 Zombie School quest, we have tank and DPS, need a healer."
[Emperors and Generals] (Male, Level 10 Common Warrior): "Recruiting for Emperor Guild. We offer insurance and a base salary of 5,000 yuan. Guaranteed pay…"
As the levels of profession holders increased into the double digits, the demand for quest groups skyrocketed.
Zhang Yue's Level 13, one-star priest robe, looted from the Zombie Leader, had finally sold on the exchange market.
The trading platform took a 10% commission, leaving him with 270 yuan, which was immediately transferred to his account.
At the same time, he received a message from his guild's group chat.
___________________________________
[Rain Pavilion Guild Chat] (Group 194):
[Rain Pavilion, General / Level 11 Elite Royal Archer] (Group Leader): "Who hasn't cleared the First World yet? If you don't clear it by today, you're out of the guild!"
[Rain Pavilion, General]: "Remember, our goal is to rank in the top three in Zhening Province. Rain Pavilion doesn't support slackers. Everyone in the Second World must reach at least Level 12 today."
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So, this "General" must be the head of the Rain Pavilion's Linhai branch.
He sounded imposing enough, but who knew about his actual strength.
Zhang Yue was still standing in Notting City, reading the chat when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
He turned to see Su Jinyan, smiling brightly at him.
"I'm early today, aren't I?"
"Yeah, you're early," Zhang Yue replied. "Let's go do the quest."
"Alright."
The two of them headed towards the garrison camp.
As they walked, they couldn't help but notice the passing profession holders sneaking glances at them and whispering:
"Look. That mage girl in white is so beautiful."
"Isn't she the second daughter of the Su family in Linhai? The one who awakened as a Calamity Mage three years ago."
"I heard she broke her class restriction yesterday and awakened an epic core profession. Could it be that the guy beside her helped break it?"
"How's that possible? A beast tamer breaking a Calamity Mage's restriction? Still, to be in a party with Su family's second daughter, he must be someone special."
"Indeed! Everyone knows the Su family's second daughter is both beautiful and talented. In all of Linhai City, she's in a class of her own."
"Hey, let's not talk about it anymore. People like us could never reach her level. And I've heard that the Su family's second daughter, Su Jinyan, is known for being so aloof that even those who are her equals can't get close to her."
Hearing the crowd's gossip, Su Jinyan immediately blinked her eyes at Zhang Yue, who was walking beside her, and said, "Zhang Yue, don't listen to them. I'm not cold at all."
Zhang Yue glanced at her earnest expression and chuckled. "Yeah, I can tell."
Su Jinyan felt relieved at first, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt something was off.
'What does he mean by 'I can tell'? And why was he laughing just now?'
'Could it be because he's thinking about seeing me dance in the zombie camp the other night…'
'Ah! This embarrassing moment is going to haunt me forever…'
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