The administrators never mentioned there were corpses here, so Leonard was startled.
His "Sanity" stat dropped by 2 points, down to 98.
It seemed that terrifying events could damage sanity.
If the sanity stat dropped too low, the consequences were uncertain.
Leonard quickly calmed down.
He worked at a mortuary and dealt with corpses daily, so he had a high tolerance and wasn't easily scared.
Like a forensic expert, he carefully examined the two bodies.
One male and one female.
The male body was incomplete, with his neck bitten off and multiple claw marks across his body. Much of his flesh was missing, exposing horrifying wounds.
His stomach had been ripped open, guts spilled out, releasing a pungent stench.
The female corpse lay face-down in a pool of blood. Her clothes and skirt were torn, and she was barefoot.
It was hard to imagine what they had gone through before dying.
Ahead, a black backpack lay quietly on the ground, looking quite ordinary.
Was this a dimensional backpack?
Leonard feigned composure, stepped over the corpses, and picked it up.
This action caught the attention of the administrators.
[What's with Zore? His reaction to the corpses was way too calm.]
[I looked him up. He used to work at a mortuary.]
[No wonder.]
[He's used to life and death. That gives him a big edge in this game.]
[Yeah, I can't stand those newbies who freak out the moment they see a corpse.]
Leonard picked up the backpack, and a notification appeared.
[Discovered Level 1 Dimensional Backpack. Capacity: 25 slots. Can only store objects, not living beings.]
It really was a dimensional backpack!
Leonard was thrilled and opened it immediately.
A new interface appeared.
There were 25 empty slots arranged in a grid.
He took the duct tape from his pocket and placed it inside. The tape vanished instantly.
The first slot on the interface now showed a duct tape icon.
Taking it out freed up the slot again.
Just like a game backpack.
"This is great! It'll make resource gathering so much easier."
Leonard felt the thrill of getting god-tier gear early in a game.
Even though he didn't know much about this dorm survival game, he was sure this was one of the best items at this stage!
He slung the backpack on his chest for easier access.
Thinking there might be more useful items, he looked around. The room was much larger than a regular dorm.
A long table stood to the side, covered in various tools, even a welding torch!
This was a major find!
Leonard rushed over, ready to grab everything.
As he touched the table, a prompt appeared.
[Discovered Basic Workbench. Can be used to craft items and equipment.]
A workbench?
He tried moving the tools but found they couldn't be taken. It seemed like they were part of the table.
[To use the workbench, insert crafting materials.]
A new prompt appeared.
Leonard had materials on him. He placed a roll of tape and a box of parts on the table.
[Missing blueprint. This will be a blind craft. Proceed?]
Yes!
As soon as he made the decision, his hands moved on their own, flying across the table.
Truly, the hand speed of a lifelong single man.
After a flurry of motion,a puff of black smoke rose from the table.
[Crafting failed. Materials have been destroyed.]
"..."
Leonard was speechless.
He had just wasted two materials.
"They mentioned blueprints earlier. Looks like you really need them. Without one, it's just blind luck."
He stopped messing around.
Instead, he tried storing the entire workbench.
To his surprise, it worked!
The whole thing went into the backpack, taking up 5 slots.
He'd just tried it on a whim and didn't expect success.
This backpack was incredible. Like Doraemon's pocket!
If the workbench stayed here, anyone could use it.
Now it was Leonard's personal item!
"The admins said it would get dark in an hour. Problem is, there's no timer, so I have no idea how much time has passed, just estimating."
"It's probably been 15 to 20 minutes since I started. I don't have much time left..."
Leonard calculated, growing anxious.
Even if he had a head start scavenging, all he had was a wooden spike for defense.
Against a zombie one-on-one, chances weren't great. Facing multiple? He was done for.
He needed to get stronger fast!
Seeing nothing else useful in the room, he headed toward the door. But just as he reached it—
[He's just leaving? Not even searching the bodies properly. There's good stuff under the male corpse.]
A message from an admin named Peach popped up.
!!!
Leonard hesitated.
The admins said there was something valuable under the male corpse.
No way he was missing that.
But turning around to search would be too suspicious.
Leonard's ability to peek into admin chat was like having a cheat code.
If they figured it out, he'd be exposed.
Time to act.
Leonard channeled his inner actor, pretending to slip and fall, covering himself in blood.
On the ground, he got up cursing, looking furious, and started kicking the corpses.
This made his actions seem natural.
Taking advantage, he grabbed the male corpse's severed arm and flipped the body over.
A flash of light.
Underneath was a gleaming fruit knife!
In the current situation, this was a valuable weapon.
Overjoyed, Leonard picked it up and gave it a few swings.
[Acquired Level 1 Weapon: Fruit Knife.]
Fruit Knife
Type: Weapon
Damage: 5
Durability: 10/10
No matter what, this was better than his wooden spike.
The spike wasn't even a level 1 weapon and only dealt 2 damage. The fruit knife had 5.
Leonard searched the corpses again but found nothing else, just got more blood on his hands, which felt gross.
He remembered seeing a shared bathroom earlier. If the water still worked, he could wash up.
He left the room and headed for it.
At that moment, the group that had gone downstairs returned. They met in the hallway.
They had left as a group of five and come back with eight. Clearly, they'd picked up new members.
They immediately noticed the blood on Leonard's hands and the knife.
Naturally, assumptions were made.
"This guy's got blood on him and he's holding a knife!"
"Did he kill someone?"
"I knew there was something off about him earlier!"
They muttered among themselves, eyeing Leonard warily.
Leonard didn't bother explaining. He simply ignored them and walked straight into the bathroom.
The flickering lights and shattered mirrors inside created a tense, oppressive atmosphere.