Apocalypse Descends: I Win Effortlessly by Turning Trash into Treasure

Based on the recent events, it was almost certain that in addition to zombies, the cruise ship was also infested with Brain-Eater Bugs.

’Wait!’

Perry Yates suddenly shot up in bed. She thought of the body she had just disposed of and felt a pang of regret. She had forgotten to check if the doctor had been infected with the zombie virus.

According to the explanations in novels, people infected with the zombie virus gradually lose their sanity, becoming zombies that operate purely on instinct—biting, drawn to flesh and blood. Other than their humanoid shape, they could no longer be considered human.

The Brain-Eater Bugs, on the other hand, were parasites that grew by infesting a host. Their method was to enter the host’s brain, devour it, and then take control of the body.

’Just imagine: a completely irrational zombie and a Brain-Eater Bug that specializes in devouring brains to control its host. If the two were to meet, would they repel each other, or would they merge?’

Perry Yates hoped for the former. After all, intelligent zombies were considered high-level monsters in the novels.

「Day fifteen of the game.」

Early in the morning, there was another knock on Perry Yates’s door. This time, it was the patrol team, asking if she knew the whereabouts of the doctor.

”We’ve had several reports of people biting and injuring others on the ship. We suspect it’s rabies, but we need a doctor to confirm it.”

As the patrol team described the progression of the illness—biting people on sight, a craving for raw meat, especially the bloody kind, and a particular fondness for living creatures—Perry listened.

This series of symptoms was undoubtedly a sign of the zombie virus taking hold.

But then again.

”Is there only one doctor on this cruise ship?” Perry Yates asked.

’A cruise ship this big, with over a thousand passengers, and only one doctor? What a joke.’

”Er... actually, there were supposed to be two doctors, but the other one got sick right before boarding, so we were only left with Doctor Lynch.”

Previous voyages have always been so smooth. The doctor’s main job was just to hand out some seasickness pills or treat minor issues like diarrhea or digestive trouble. So, we didn’t think much of it.

”But when I went to the infirmary for a checkup, I saw several doctors in there. What about them?” Perry Yates asked.

”Oh, them? They’re just medical students, temporary assistants we hired. They haven’t even graduated. They went to help during the first biting incident, but they were inexperienced and got bitten themselves. They’re in quarantine now.”

Hearing this, Perry Yates nodded with a look of understanding. ”I only saw Doctor Lynch yesterday. She came to check on my condition, and after seeing that my rash was gone, she left me some medicine and departed. I haven’t seen her since, and I haven’t left my room.”

After telling them what she knew, Perry Yates closed the door,

’I wonder if high temperatures can kill these Brain-Eater Bugs.’

Perry Yates thought, wanting to give it a try. However, when she looked up and saw the water heater, her heart sank.

’But a water heater’s temperature is limited. No one boils water to a hundred degrees just to take a shower. So it might still be possible.’

She filled the bathtub to the brim again. After confirming the water contained Brain-Eater Bug larvae, Perry Yates took out a Quick Heat card.

She’d been carrying this card to boil drinking water. ’Now,’ she wondered, ’if I toss this item in, will the water it heats still be drinkable later?’

Despite her thoughts, Perry Yates’s hands moved without hesitation.

Just as Perry Yates was waiting for the water to boil, there was another knock at the door.

’What’s going on? Why have so many people been coming to see me lately?’

Opening the door, she saw a very fashionably dressed young woman standing outside.

The woman stared at Perry Yates’s plain, unkempt appearance for a long moment before speaking, her tone dripping with condescension. ”So you’re the sick tourist?”

Her voice was shrill, as if she wanted to broadcast the fact to the entire world,

Perry Yates looked at the woman, who was clearly looking for trouble, and asked coldly, ”You know I’m sick, yet you’re still here. Are you trying to get infected?”

”What’s that supposed to mean?!”

The woman’s voice instantly jumped several decibels, becoming shrill. She glared at Perry Yates as if she were the most heinous of criminals.

”How could you be so malicious? You actually want to infect the other people on this ship! Someone like you should be thrown into the sea to feed the fish.”

At those words, Perry Yates felt as if she’d lost all energy to speak to the woman before her. She just stared at her as if she were an idiot.

’When someone is determined to cause trouble, any explanation is useless because they simply won’t listen. So...’

Perry Yates’s expression turned cold. ”If you don’t want to get infected, then leave,” she said to the woman. ”Stop barking at me.”

”How dare you call me a dog!”

”If you’re not a dog, then why do you come up to people and start snapping at them for no reason?”

Perry Yates slammed the door with a BANG, leaving the furious, contorted-faced woman outside.

After Perry Yates shut the door, completely cutting off the line of sight, two men and another woman suddenly appeared at her side. ”Shaz, how did it go? Is she the one we’re looking for?”

At their question, the woman named Shaz stiffened. She had been so blinded by rage that she had nearly forgotten her objective.

Her expression soured at the thought.

”I’m not sure. I provoked her so much just now, but there wasn’t any fluctuation of energy from her at all.”

”No fluctuation at all? If that’s the case, then we can probably rule her out. Given how arrogant those Croupiers are, they wouldn’t have stayed quiet.”

Hearing that, Shaz suddenly interjected, ”Wait a second. Isn’t it too soon to rule her out? Besides, don’t forget how we pinpointed this location. This was the last room on our list.”

”If we rule her out too, then there’s no one left.”

The members of her group had all met during the last game.

They were not Dealer Players. Among the four of them, Shaz and a plain-looking young man were non-Dealer Players, while the other man and woman were Dealer Hunters.

A Dealer Hunter was a title obtained by a non-Dealer Player after killing a Croupier. They inherited everything from the Croupiers they killed; the more Croupiers they eliminated, the more powerful they became.

After entering the game this time, the four of them had been relentlessly searching for any trace of the Croupiers. However, the cruise ship was enormous and crowded. Besides the non-Dealer Players, there were also many NPCs. With only ten Croupiers in total, finding them was far from easy.