Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

”Are you okay?”

Little Hei flipped over and stuck her head out, peeking from above not far away as she stared at the girl and asked. Startled by the sudden voice, the girl jumped, hurriedly lifted her head, and stared wide-eyed toward the source of the sound, only then seeing Little Hei hanging upside down from the eaves.

And after seeing that the girl’s eyes were still black, Little Hei also let out a breath of relief, then flipped down and jumped, landing steadily on the ground.

”Why are you here alone? It’s really dangerous here, you should know what’s happening outside, right.”

”I—I know......”

Seemingly reminded by Little Hei’s words, the girl seemed to gradually come back to her senses. Her eyes were vacant as she stared ahead, muttering to herself.

”I went to eat with Grandfather Master, and then...... those people...... suddenly started attacking us...... Grandfather Master tried to protect me, but they killed him...... I don’t know, I don’t know......”

Saying this, the girl once again covered her face and began to sob bitterly.

”Uh......”

Seeing this, Little Hei was quite annoyed, while Fang Zheng remained silent. To be blunt, in this situation sobbing and wailing is definitely not a good option, it shouldn’t even be an option at all. And you have to understand, the ”Zombies” in this world are not just ordinary Zombies, especially for women—things get a lot more terrifying.

”Now is not the time to cry!”

Little Hei hurriedly reached out and grabbed the girl.

”We have to leave here immediately! Will you come with me?”

”......”

The girl was frightened by Little Hei, but she still instinctively nodded. Then Little Hei grabbed her and quickly headed toward the front of the shopping street.

”Follow me, this way!”

Before coming down, Little Hei had already scouted the surroundings. Those Zombies were completely absorbed in the joy of feasting and weren’t wandering around—this counted as relatively good news. So she dragged the girl along, slipping past the shops beside the shopping street, and came to a five-story building nearby.

”We’re going in and moving through here...... remember, no matter what happens, don’t scream...... no, forget it.”

Saying this, looking at the girl’s pale face in front of her, Little Hei sighed.

”Do you have a handkerchief?”

”Mm...... I do......”

The girl hesitated for a moment, then took a handkerchief from the pocket of her skirt. Little Hei snatched it from her.

”Open your mouth.”

”......?”

Although she had no idea what Little Hei meant, the girl still obediently opened her mouth—then Little Hei rolled the handkerchief into a ball and stuffed it straight into the girl’s mouth.

”Don’t take it out, don’t scream! Move it!”

Before the girl could react, Little Hei grabbed her hand and sprinted up the stairs toward the rooftop. The girl at this point was completely bewildered; one hand was held by Little Hei, while the other flailed helplessly in the air, unsure whether she should pull out the handkerchief stuffed in her mouth.

”Ding——!”

And just as the two of them reached the third floor, suddenly the elevator opposite gave a soft chime. The elevator doors slid open, and a burly man in a sweat-stained tank top rushed out. At first glance he looked no different from an ordinary person, but those bloodshot, bright red eyes already proved what he was—he was infected too!!

”Hahahaha!!!”

Seeing Little Hei and the girl, the man immediately burst into wild laughter, spreading his arms wide as he lunged at them. Witnessing this scene, the girl was so terrified she froze on the spot, completely at a loss for what to do. Luckily, that handkerchief was already blocking her mouth, so even if she wanted to scream, nothing would come out.

Little Hei, of course, wasn’t that stupid. She had been on guard the whole time. The moment she sensed the man’s attack, she rolled to the side, circling around behind him. Her Scimitar flicked out, chopping directly at his knee. His knee buckled; the big man’s massive body immediately crashed down to one knee. At the same time, Little Hei’s other hand swung up sharply, a flash of cold light slashing across the man’s throat. In the next instant, with a spray of blood, the man toppled face-first to the ground, silent forever, his face still twisted into that eerie grin.

”—————!!!”

Seeing the man turn into a corpse in the blink of an eye, the girl’s face went even whiter. She opened her mouth to scream...... well, fortunately she couldn’t.

”Move it, unless you want to end up like them too?!”

Little Hei gave the girl a shove from behind and kept dragging her upstairs. She could already hear the chaotic footsteps rising from below. Obviously that man’s laughter just now had drawn the attention of the other infected nearby—if they didn’t run now, it would be too late!

Like that, Little Hei half-pushed, half-pulled the girl all the way up to the rooftop terrace. Then she slammed the door shut and immediately tipped over the wardrobe beside it and jammed it against the door. After that Little Hei quickly looked around, then dragged the girl over to the edge of the roof.

”Jump over to the roof across from us.”

”......!......!!”

Once she processed what Little Hei said, the girl’s face went paper white and she shook her head desperately. The opposite roof was one floor lower than this one, so strictly speaking it wasn’t that high, and the gap between the two buildings was only about a meter—if you jumped, you could absolutely make it. But for this Young Lady, she’d probably never done anything like a high-altitude rooftop jump in her entire life. Just standing at the edge and looking down at the ground below already made her knees go weak.

”Hurry up!!!”

By now, crashes and furious roars were coming from the other side of the door. Luckily the rooftop space was small, so the barricade could at least hold out for a bit.

But how long it could hold was anyone’s guess.

And these infected weren’t actual Zombies either. Little Hei had observed them before: their behavior was very similar to Zombies, but compared to real Zombies they still retained a certain level of human intelligence. They could speak, they acted like they were still lucid. It was just that whatever rationality they’d once had seemed to have long since gone up in smoke. Now they were like creatures completely ruled by instinct; aside from pleasure, nothing else mattered. And anyone who tried to get in the way of that pleasure would be killed.

Seriously, what kind of bullshit virus infects people into this...

Muttering internally, Little Hei glanced back. The Young Lady was still standing frozen at the edge of the roof, not moving at all.

”Jump already!”

At this point the door was starting to shake, even slowly prying open. After all, she’d only pushed a shabby old wardrobe in front of it; using that as a blockade, the effect was... about what you’d expect.

As for the girl dragging her feet like this, Fang Zheng was totally calm about it. NPCs, right? That’s just how they are. In tons of games, escort-the-NPC missions have NPCs that can piss players off to death. When you need them to move, they refuse; when you need them to stay put, they just have to wander. Tell them to go this way and they’ll insist on darting right under the enemy’s nose, as if terrified the enemy won’t notice them. Anyone who’s ever done rescue-or-escort-NPC quests has probably fantasized about just knocking the NPC out and hauling them over your shoulder.

Little Hei wanted to as well. If she were still a Heroic Spirit right now, she’d just grab the girl by the collar and toss her over. Unfortunately at the moment Little Hei was just an ordinary little girl; she didn’t have that kind of strength. Just like that man earlier—under normal circumstances she would’ve chopped him into pieces long ago, there was no way she’d have left a whole corpse for him.

The problem is, how could a ten-year-old kid possibly dismember an adult’s body?

The situation now was the same, but Little Hei had her own solution.

She eyed the girl standing at the roof’s edge, took two steps back, then sprinted forward. In the next instant she shot both legs out and kicked the girl square in the back. With a muffled grunt the girl pitched forward in a dive, crashing onto the opposite rooftop. Little Hei followed with a roll, hit the ground, and sprang up, grabbing hold of the girl sprawled on the floor.

”Get up. This way. Don’t make a sound.”

Talking as she moved, Little Hei roughly shoved and dragged the girl into the Shadow behind the tool shed at the far side of the opposite roof. Not long after they’d hidden, there was a loud ”bang” as the metal door they’d blocked crashed down, and a group of ravenous men with bloodshot eyes spilled out, prowling all over the rooftop. They looked like they hadn’t seen a woman in several lifetimes.

Seeing them, the girl trembled uncontrollably with fear, and Little Hei quietly pulled out Merlin’s Gun. She was pretty sure the ”Zombies” in this world didn’t have anything like infrared vision or super smell or other such special traits, but just in case... she still had to avoid any accidents.

Luckily, these lust-addled bastards really didn’t seem to have any Special Ability. They stormed around the rooftop for a full circuit, didn’t spot a single human shadow, then turned back and went inside again to keep hunting for their next prey.

”Phew......”

Only then did Little Hei finally let out a long breath and sit down on the ground with the girl beside her. Her physical stats were, after all, just those of a child; after that entire sequence she was exhausted.

”Never thought this not-so-serious Zombie world would be more trouble than the serious ones.”

Thinking that, Little Hei couldn’t help but quietly grumble to Fang Zheng.

”Otherwise it wouldn’t count as a rank-up. Be careful. I have a feeling the real trouble’s still ahead.”

Fang Zheng agreed with Little Hei. To be honest, this world was even more terrifying than the Zombie world they’d gone through before. On the surface, the lethality didn’t seem as high, and the setting itself was pretty dumb, but it was exactly this dumb setting that gave Little Hei an even stronger sense of pressure.

After all, with the body she had now, if she ran into a Licker or a Tyrant, at worst she’d just die. But if she got caught by that pack of beasts who’d lost all reason and were thinking purely with their lower halves, that would definitely not be anything good. Even if Fang Zheng immediately cut the connection and quit the instance, it would probably leave Little Hei with lifelong psychological trauma.

”Compared to them, I actually find Zombies kind of cute. At least they only eat meat.”

Recalling that group of men’s ravenous performance just now, Little Hei shuddered again. From a certain angle, those guys really were far more terrifying than Zombies.

Just as Little Hei finally started to relax, suddenly her stomach let out a low rumble—and at the same time, the girl’s stomach grumbled too.

”.........”

The two of them awkwardly met each other’s gaze. Then Little Hei brushed the dirt off herself and stood up.

”Well, I’d better go find us something to eat.”