Idiot!
Chu Han couldn't help cursing furiously in his heart. Who was making such a racket? Weren't they afraid of drawing in a horde of zombies?!
Stop shouting!
Chu Han suddenly opened his eyes, a savage gleam flashing through them as he prepared to get up and shut those people's mouths!
But the next second, the ferocity in his eyes was instantly replaced by stunned disbelief.
There was no dim sky, no thick stench of blood, no howling zombies, no severed limbs scattered everywhere...
Warm sunlight streamed through the bright glass windows. Four beds, four desks. Two engineering students in striped plaid shirts sat excitedly before their computers, spittle flying as their hands constantly hammered at the mice and keyboards.
A scene that had vanished ten years ago struck Chu Han's eyes. Dirty clothes lay everywhere, foul-smelling instant noodle containers were piled high, and yet this chaotic mess filled him with incomparable nostalgia, stirring up distant memories once more.
Fang Rong, Deng Weibo... his college roommates!
"Why are you making that face? Still dazed from sleep?" Deng Weibo, seated opposite Chu Han, spared him a glance. He had an utterly ordinary face and wore glasses with a prescription of over five hundred degrees. He would awaken an ability later, only to die when the zombies besieged the city.
"Chu Han's up? Damn it, I'm done playing. Lost again!" Fang Rong slapped the Q key several times. He looked slightly sleazy and had likewise died during the zombie siege.
Chu Han rubbed his eyes hard. Something in his mind was growing clearer and clearer, making his entire body tremble with excitement.
If he had guessed correctly, he had returned to ten years ago, before the zombie outbreak, when his three good brothers were still alive!
Fang Rong closed his laptop. "Chu Han, Old Deng and I are leaving first. It's already ten. Old Deng, hurry up and pack. We'll miss the flight soon!"
Ten o'clock? A flight?
What day was it today?
Chu Han sprang off the bed, shoved Deng Weibo—the closest person to him—aside, and moved the mouse to open the calendar in the lower-right corner.
"What the hell are you doing? Hey, that's my computer!" Deng Weibo cursed at Chu Han.
Ten in the morning.
It was already this late?!
The zombie outbreak would begin tomorrow. At six in the morning, the sky would go dark. The sun would reappear at noon. After six whole hours of darkness, everything would have already collapsed, and the great reshuffling would begin.
There was only one day left. A surge of urgency rose in Chu Han's chest, and his heart pounded wildly!
"Move it. The computer's the only thing I haven't packed yet." Deng Weibo had a large backpack slung over his shoulders.
Chu Han stepped aside, swallowing the words that nearly escaped his mouth. Forcibly suppressing his excitement, he changed his wording. "I heard there's been a viral outbreak recently. It's highly contagious. Tell your families to stock up on food and bottled water, and don't go out for the next few days."
"A virus?"
"Where did you hear that?"
"The news." Chu Han knew these two never paid attention to the news.
"You actually watch the news?" Deng Weibo laughed. "Got it. We'll get going, then!"
"Have a safe trip." Chu Han suppressed the longing of their reunion after so long apart. Leaving Mingqiu City before the apocalypse would actually be better for them.
Fang Rong and Deng Weibo were both from Shangjing. They had finished their exams and booked flights for noon today. Although Shangjing had a dense population and many zombies, as the capital, it had military protection. It would have the largest number of surviving humans and could be said to be the safest city of all—at least during the first two years after the apocalypse began.
So Chu Han said no more. He knew the general course of the next ten years, and these two would not come to harm for several years.
Another roommate, Fan Hongxuan, had already returned to his hometown in Nandu. He would die from someone's malicious scheme a year after the apocalypse began. This had always weighed on Chu Han's heart. In his previous life, he had never managed to uncover the culprit.
Nandu also had a military district and received the army's protection when the apocalypse first erupted. Chu Han was temporarily reassured, but going to Nandu to find Fan Hongxuan was imperative. In this life, he would never allow Fan Hongxuan to fall into danger.
His top priority now was figuring out how to survive this chaos first, then grow stronger. Only strength could help his three brothers evade danger. Otherwise, death awaited them no matter where they went.
In the apocalypse, the most important thing was staying alive!
After Fang Rong and Deng Weibo left, the dormitory became empty once more, making Chu Han's heart clench.
Ding—
A shrill phone ringtone suddenly rang out.
Smack!
Chu Han immediately rejected the call, ignored the three missed calls on the screen, and dialed home.
Beep—beep—
After two rings, his mother's delighted voice came through the phone. "Xiao Han?"
Hearing that long-lost voice, even Chu Han, whose heart had become hard as iron after enduring ten years of darkness, could not stop his voice from catching slightly. He had lost contact with his parents after the zombie outbreak and had failed to find them for ten whole years.
He did not dare imagine what had happened to them...
Suppressing his agitation, he asked, "Mom, where's Dad?"
"He's here. What's wrong, son?" His mother could hear that something was off in Chu Han's tone.
"Mom, Dad, you have to do exactly as I say next!" Chu Han's tone was grave—so grave that his mother fell silent for a moment.
"I have a classmate from Shangjing. Yes, Fang Rong. His dad knows some insider information. He said a new virus has appeared in the country. It's extremely contagious, and people can die from it. Hurry and stock up on food and bottled water at home—the more, the better. Go buy them now. The virus has already started spreading." Chu Han knew that talking about zombies would sound too horrifying. His parents would never believe him, so he could only make up a lie.
His parents were in Anluo City, while he was in Mingqiu City. There were no direct high-speed trains or flights between the two cities, and they were far too far apart. Forget one day—even two days would not be enough for him to get back. He could only have them prepare there first and minimize the danger.
Given this second chance at life, he would definitely go to Anluo City to find his parents!
"Oh! What are we supposed to do?" Hearing that people could die, his mother was briefly at a loss. With the SARS outbreak of 2005 still fresh in her mind, she did not doubt Chu Han's words at all.
"Mom! Don't panic. You and Dad just need to stay indoors." Chu Han hurriedly reassured her. "But make sure you prepare enough food. We don't know when the virus will pass."
"Okay, okay. I'll go prepare with your dad right away." His mother immediately agreed. "You need to be careful over there too. Do you need money? Mom can send you some more so you can stock up on food."
"No need. I have enough here. You two should stock up more, but you must finish buying everything before today ends. Don't go out tomorrow, and... don't go anywhere. Stay in Anluo City and wait for me!" Chu Han warned them. His parents were already over fifty; facing zombies would be far too much for them.
After hanging up, the call he had rejected earlier came in again. Chu Han coldly rejected it once more, then dialed Fan Hongxuan's number and repeated the lie he had made up. Fan Hongxuan was doubtful, but he still agreed to follow Chu Han's instructions.
After doing all that, Chu Han immediately put on his jacket, checked the cash in his wallet, and strode quickly toward the door. He needed to buy supplies.
The more, the better. The faster, the better!
Just as Chu Han was about to step out, he suddenly stopped. Turning back, he swept his gaze across the dormitory, his eyes shining brightly. The computers, along with all the miscellaneous tablets, speakers, and other peripherals, could fetch quite a bit of money. Though not all of them belonged to him, they would become worthless junk once the apocalypse erupted.
Chu Han's heartbeat sped up. Now was not the time to charge ahead blindly. He had to reduce the danger as much as possible—family, friends, supplies, and... weapons!
Chu Han quickly began sorting through everything. He did not stop until he had cleared out all the valuable items in the entire dormitory. By the time he dragged an enormous suitcase along a path on Mingqiu University's campus, two hours had passed, and he was drenched in sweat beneath the scorching summer sun.
"Chu Han, where are you going? Don't you have an exam at noon?" someone behind him asked in surprise.
Chu Han turned around but failed to recognize the person for a moment. He could only brush him off casually. "I won't pass it anyway. Might as well skip it and retake it next semester."
An exam? The apocalypse was coming—who the hell cared about an exam!
"At least you know your own limits." Another voice sounded, dripping with contempt.
Chu Han narrowed his eyes. The man wore an expensive white T-shirt, trendy black pants, and shoes whose brand Chu Han did not even recognize.
To run into Duan Ming at a time like this—what a coincidence!
"Duan Ming, your name really suits you." Duan Ming—short-lived.
Duan Ming clearly did not understand what Chu Han meant and gave him several baffled looks.
Chu Han did not spare him another glance. Dragging the large suitcase, he headed out through the school gates while the phone in his pocket, set to vibrate, buzzed nonstop.
He found a shop that bought used electronics and sold the entire suitcase full of items for four thousand yuan. Added to the one thousand yuan already in his wallet, he had five thousand yuan in total. Chu Han's mind raced. Prices from ten years ago had long become blurry in his memories, and he was uncertain how much he could buy with this money.
First, he needed a weapon. It was the most important item of all. Zombies could only be killed by destroying their heads, so the weapon had to be lethal. A war hammer was impossible to get now. An ordinary hammer was not as good as an axe, but axes could easily get stuck and required considerable skill to use.
He walked into a weapons shop. Seeing such a young man enter, the owner instinctively frowned. "This place sells decorative items. If you're not buying, don't interrupt my business."
Chu Han clearly looked like a college student and was dressed ordinarily. The owner did not think he could afford anything in the shop.
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