Chapter 22.8: Zombie (Awakened) – Do As You Please
[Zombie (Awakened)] Do As You Please:
“Oh~ safe, safe~ I almost made it late~”
I rushed to the classroom door at maximum speed, braking and simultaneously pushing the door open, then smoothly stepped into the classroom.
Just in time, twenty seconds before I would have been late.
My classmates all looked at me, and I greeted them with a bright smile.
“Hi~ good morning everyone~”
However, no one responded. They all wore strange expressions and looked towards the rostrum.
Teacher Xiaozhen, hands on her hips, puffed out her cheeks angrily and glared at me, shouting. But she wasn’t scary at all; in fact, she looked a bit cute, like a little kitten meowing.
“Good morning my foot! You’re already late! Li Nai! And Juncheng too!”
“Huh?! There are still twenty seconds!”
How could this be! I clearly calibrated the time yesterday, so why am I still considered late!
“The bell rang a long time ago. Li Nai, didn’t you know the school bell rings five minutes early!”
“What! Is that even a thing!”
“How could you not know? You’re already in your second year of high school!”
“Ah, my memory is just not good~ Sorry, Teacher Xiaozhen, I promise I won’t be late again tomorrow!”
“You promised me the same thing last Friday…”
“Hehehe~★”
I wasn’t lying. I really didn’t remember. After all, zombies don’t have very good memories. Maybe only a little better than a fish’s memory.
Juncheng, who walked into the classroom behind me, propped his face on one hand and said dejectedly.
“…Why did I even take the shortcut.”
So that’s why he entered Black Street, because he was going to be late. The same reason as me.
I originally thought it was a fated encounter or something, but it seems we’re just the “latecomers club.”
“I’m going to punish you two! You’ll stay after school to clean the classroom today!”
“Yes~” “…-..-”
The energetic me and the listless Juncheng both replied.
It’s just cleaning, Piece of cake. Q-one Novel.
Juncheng is truly useless, though. He gets so dejected over such a minor thing?
If you ask me, people should look forward! They should look to the future, be open-minded, and…
“Hurry up and get to your seats! Li Nai! I’m going to start class!”
–I accidentally stood there zoning out.
Juncheng had also somehow returned to his seat and was talking to Ji Lianbing behind him, looking as if he’d seen a ghost, his face filled with surprise.
Yes, did he forget about me the moment he saw his girlfriend! He didn’t even remind me. We’re partners, after all!
It seems I need to build up some synergy with him. He’s not cooperating at all, our默契 (mòqì – tacit understanding) isn’t high enough.
I returned to my seat, greeted the students around me, and took out my textbook.
Then I looked to my left, Juncheng’s seat.
He was talking to Jiang Xueqing in front of him, right? The short, quiet girl, communicating with just their eyes.
Then Ji Lianbing behind him kept looking at him, or maybe staring blankly, with a lovestruck expression.
Huh? Strange, was Ji Lianbing like this before?
Well, it’s not strange for a girl in love to act a certain way. She probably really likes Juncheng, that’s why she’s like this.
I could also hear Lanhua’s voice from behind me. Since zombies have sensitive hearing, I could hear her muttering something like, ‘Hoo hoo hoo, seeing Juncheng again. It’s definitely better to see him in person. I should take him home…’ – mutterings with a slightly criminal tone.
II
I didn’t expect Juncheng to be so popular. This is practically a half-harem situation, isn’t it? Wow~ Amazing, my Jun, I didn’t realize my partner was such a heartthrob.
He never entered my field of vision, so I naturally paid him no attention.
If he hadn’t suddenly joined the organization and become my partner, I probably would never have interacted with him at all.
No matter how I look at it, he’s a complete opposite to me. From gender and species to personality and way of thinking, there’s not a single similarity.
But perhaps it’s precisely because of this that interacting with him is so easy?
It was fun talking to him on the way here just now. ‘Worker’ Little 5.
Before, when I acted silly, no one commented. Gouzi was like a block of wood, totally uninteresting. But Juncheng is fun to talk to. Because we’re complete opposites,
We can complement each other.
However, he doesn’t seem to have free time right now.
But it doesn’t matter, there will be plenty of opportunities to talk later, during missions, in Class 6… So I’ll leave the time at school to his girlfriend. It would be awkward for me to initiate a conversation, and it might even cause strange misunderstandings.
Ahaha~ Flirting, how nice, this is youth~
Okay! I’ll enjoy my youth too!
Although I’m already dead, hehe.
After school, part of the students who didn’t have evening study sessions went home directly, while the other part, who had evening study sessions, went to eat. So, it was temporarily just the two of us cleaning the classroom.
“Ah, this is so troublesome, we still have to clean the classroom… Anyway, the night watchman will clean it after evening study, won’t they? So what’s the point of us cleaning it now!”
“Teacher Xiaozhen just gave the punishment because she was angry, Li Nai. After all, you’re a repeat offender for being late.”
“It’s because I have low blood pressure, so I can’t wake up in the morning~”
“Do zombies get low blood pressure too?”
“Of course! Please, Juncheng, don’t look at us zombies with prejudice! If you must know, a zombie’s body is actually superior to a human’s. First, because the pupils are dilated, the eyes look bigger. Second, because there’s no blood flowing, the skin looks very pale. Although I have presbyopia and my memory has declined, I don’t feel pain, and I don’t feel… The most amazing thing is!”
I jumped down from the desk, stepped on a stool, clenched my fist, and said.
“No matter how much you eat, you won’t gain weight! Aren’t you super envious of me!”
Hehehe, that’s also why I, a foodie, can never get fat. Because fat just can’t accumulate. Although it also means fat can’t accumulate in the chest…
Despite my introduction, Juncheng just looked at me blankly. It seems the benefits of being a zombie and the charm of zombies haven’t fully conveyed to him yet.
Sh-mu little play.
“Then why do you have low blood pressure? Isn’t blood not flowing…”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
Juncheng threw the blackboard eraser at me. I caught it easily, but chalk dust scattered, making me cough a few times.
“Wow! You’re cheating!”
“Hey, hey, I didn’t mean to. Just clean the blackboard obediently, don’t cause trouble anymore.”
I pouted and reluctantly started wiping the blackboard. What’s wrong with playing a little longer…
“Since you’re bored, we can discuss the mission. Although Miss Akiko said this mission doesn’t need to be rushed and can be investigated slowly, we should still gather some information first.”
“No need. Speaking of this mission, I think Miss Akiko was just teasing us.”
I threw down the blackboard eraser in my hand and sat on the podium, swinging my legs as I spoke.
Honestly, investigating the ‘disappearing corpses’ incident – she’s just making fun of us.
“Hmm? Why? Could the mission be dangerous?”
If we’re talking about danger, it is indeed quite dangerous. But more importantly…
“Because I did it.”
I thought about it for a moment and then told him the truth.
That’s right, the perpetrator of the so-called ‘disappearing corpses’ incident was me! (Triumphant face)
“What did you say! You did it?”
Juncheng suddenly came in front of me and shouted, assaulting my sensitive ears with sonic waves.
Seriously, it’s a small matter, why are you so surprised?
“Yes, I was in charge of herding the zombies. It’s a super troublesome job… Honestly, why not just leave it all to Xiawen… I’m not a zombie—”
Generally speaking, herding zombies is a duty performed by those who are also zombies.
Newly born zombies basically have no awakened consciousness and act purely on instinct, following the sound of food. Simply put, they are extremely stupid, completely lacking in intelligence, and will dig up and eat any living thing, even a good one.
So, only awakened zombies can drive away the newly born ones and transfer them to the Underworld.
However, they don’t see me as one of their own, so they will also attack me.
It seems that although we are both corpses, I’m still quite different from traditional zombies.
Ah, what did Mama say again?
Zombies are the completely dead, beings transcending life.
But zombies like me are between life and death – that is, I didn’t fully die due to the zombie virus.
I can’t see much difference. At most, the skin color is slightly different. Other than that, there don’t seem to be any major differences.
“No, no, wait, what did you say? Herding zombies? Xiawen? Are you referring to a zombie called Gou Xiawen?”
“Mm? You know him?”
I remember Gouzi doesn’t interact with humans. He stays in his coffin every day, basically a “shut-in zombie.” Maybe his cause of death when he was human was dying from being a shut-in…
“Oh, I remember now. Juncheng, you accidentally stumbled into a zombie herding scene once.”
“That was a zombie herding scene? What kind of nonsense is this! And you guys are creating zombies?”
“No, don’t misunderstand. We’re not creating zombies. We’re just guiding these zombies to where they should go.”
If we let them run around freely, there would be big trouble.
“Wait, the place you’re talking about is…”
“You don’t even know about that? Beneath this city lies another city. Most of its residents are zombies, ghouls, ghosts, skeletons, and various monsters and demons.”
Juncheng was completely stunned when he heard this, pointing at the floor.
“Are you saying there’s a city for Anomalies underground?”
“Mm, that’s right. You can call it the Underworld. Most of them are zombies, so it’s also called the ‘City of the Living’.”
…I never knew there was such a pla–
Hehehe, such an interesting reaction.
If I took him to the Underworld, he’d show an even stranger expression, wouldn’t he?
“Since that’s the case:— I’ll take you to see it!”
I’ve decided~ I’ll take Juncheng to visit the place I live!
