Stone Statue Apocalypse

The statue was of a young man, lifelike down to the wrinkles on his forehead. Looking closely, Shen Feng could even make out the pores in its skin.

Every single strand of hair had been painstakingly carved, each one separated individually. Who knew how much effort it had taken to create something like this?

When Shen Feng had smashed it with the ashtray earlier, he had broken off quite a bit of the statue's hair.

The statue's face still wore an expression of terror. From its posture, it seemed to have been looking down at its left arm, while holding a coffee cup in its right hand. The cup was already covered in dust.

It was still wearing clothes, though they had decayed badly and were riddled with holes chewed by insects.

Who had been bored enough to put a statue like this here?

At this level of detail, even a world-class sculptor might not have been able to pull it off.

And who had kidnapped him?

Or had he sleepwalked here last night?

Shen Feng was utterly bewildered. Seeing a fruit knife on a nearby table, he immediately grabbed it and stared toward the door.

Yet despite all the noise he had made just now, no one had come in to check on him. There was not even the slightest sound.

Right, call the police!

Shen Feng hurriedly picked up his phone, only to find that there was no signal at all, as though he were in the middle of nowhere.

Where the hell was this?

Feeling a chill over his bare body, he hurried back into the inner room, opened the wardrobe, and found a pair of sweatpants and a short-sleeved shirt to put on.

They fit reasonably well. They even looked like the clothes worn by the statue outside.

Then, knife in hand, he went to the door. Taking a deep breath, he threw it open—only to find the outside utterly silent. The guards he had imagined were nowhere to be seen.

This seemed to be an old residential complex along the street. The corridor was covered in dust, and weeds had even sprouted from it.

His room was on the second floor. As Shen Feng descended through the corridor, he froze.

A humanoid statue stood in the hallway, just as lifelike as the first one, except this time it was a young girl.

The girl statue's face also bore a terrified expression, and the sculpting was exquisitely detailed.

There were quite a few statues in the residential complex outside as well. All of them looked exactly like real people, their faces twisted with fear.

When he left the complex and stepped onto the street, he saw wormwood growing from cracks in the concrete pavement everywhere. The surrounding walls were streaked with rust, while the cars looked as if they had been abandoned for years, their tires aged and cracked, their paint peeling and rusting.

Where the hell was this? It was practically a ghost city.

There were statues on the street too. Some looked calm, some despairing, some terrified. They stood in all kinds of poses, yet every one of them radiated the madness of death.

This damn place looked just like the end of the world!

Then, like a bolt of lightning flashing through his mind, Shen Feng suddenly remembered something.

Statues. Apocalypse...

Stone Statue Apocalypse!

He immediately picked up his phone and tapped the icon for "Real Doomsday Game." Three large words were displayed on the screen: In Game!

He vaguely remembered tapping Start Game before going to sleep.

He was inside the game now!?

Where the hell was this?

A parallel world?

Why had everyone turned into statues!?

As though it had heard his thoughts, several lines of text appeared on the game interface:

"Player has successfully entered the Stone Statue Apocalypse. This apocalyptic world is an extinction world caused by a Level 7 infectious Stone Statue Virus. Game missions: 1. Find the cause of the large-scale outbreak of the Stone Statue Virus. 2. Search for the final research data on the Stone Statue Virus. 3. Obtain the Stone Statue Disease No. 0 Virus. 4. Find and inject Stone Statue Virus serum to avoid death after infection."

"The Stone Statue Virus has an incubation-to-outbreak period of 15 to 30 days. Please remain alive and avoid permanent death."

Seeing those words, Shen Feng felt as though his brain were about to explode.

He had really entered an apocalyptic world!

And it was a viral apocalypse!

The most fucked-up part was that he had most likely already been infected with this so-called Stone Statue Virus!

"Let me go back!"

Shen Feng forcefully tapped the game icon. Another line of text appeared:

"Players may only end the game, claim rewards, and return to their original apocalyptic world after completing the missions."

He could not go back!

Shen Feng abruptly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then slowly let it out before opening his eyes again.

His heartbeat gradually steadied.

He had fought his way through life alone since childhood and had endured more setbacks than he could count. Now, the ruthlessness buried deep in his heart suddenly surged forth.

If he could not go back, then so be it. He would see just what this Stone Statue Apocalypse was all about!

Besides, he had always been an apocalypse survival enthusiast and had spent plenty of time fantasizing about it. Now that he had entered a real apocalypse, a wish had come true in a certain sense.

Thoughts racing through his mind, Shen Feng began thinking rapidly.

He had no idea how long this world's apocalypse had been going on. The most urgent thing was to learn as much as possible about this world.

With that in mind, Shen Feng crossed a street and quickly found a newsstand, where he grabbed a stack of yellowed, brittle newspapers.

Fortunately, the words on them were Chinese characters he could understand!

"Massive Stone Statue Virus Outbreak! Oceania Completely Petrified!"

"The government's latest martial law order has been issued. A curfew begins today. Looters will be shot on sight..."

"Although the Stone Statue Virus continues to mutate and grow more dangerous, Professor Chen of the National Academy of Sciences says the latest vaccine is nearly complete. Victory over the Stone Statue Virus demon is in sight..."

"Xin City Has Nearly Become a Ghost Town. Is the isolation policy for severely ill patients effective?"

"..."

The dates on the newspapers stopped at July 6, which explained why most of the statues were dressed in short sleeves.

From the reports alone, Shen Feng could feel the panic that had gripped the entire world in the face of such unstoppable destruction.

At the newsstand, in front of a middle-aged man's statue, there was also a yellowed diary.

When Shen Feng opened it, he found that it had been written by the newsstand owner during the Stone Statue Virus outbreak.

"May 6, Sunny

A few customers who came to buy newspapers today seemed a little slow-moving. Old Zhang, who buys scratch tickets, walked like a crab. There are rumors about some kind of mutated flu going around lately. I wonder if it's true."

"May 15, Overcast

The news said a brand-new virus has broken out in the South American rainforest. It spreads through the air, and the symptoms are somewhat like Parkinson's, but much more severe. I hope it doesn't spread here..."

"June 1, Rain

There are fewer and fewer customers. Stone Statue Disease is such a weird name. I wonder which expert came up with it. Bullshit expert. They say an old traditional Chinese doctor in the city has medicine that can prevent it. I'll go take a look tomorrow..."

"June 17, Sunny

Today, I saw a severely ill patient turn into a statue with my own eyes. What kind of damned virus is this? Even a famous old traditional Chinese doctor like Doctor Zhou turned to stone. When will they finally develop the vaccine? They say everywhere else has fallen into chaos, and the Americas have already begun a civil war..."

"July 6, Death

I think I'm in the late stage too. I can barely hold a pen anymore. When you get this disease, your skin starts to lose elasticity, then your joints get a little stiff, and moving becomes harder and harder. But it seems the virus has mutated again. They say the final stage will erupt rapidly within minutes, ro"

After reading the diary from beginning to end, Shen Feng felt a jolt run through him and pressed a hand against his arm.

Fortunately, his skin sprang back.

Through the newspapers and diary, he had gained a rough understanding of Stone Statue Disease, but it was nowhere near enough.

He needed more information.

A library!

Just then, Shen Feng's stomach growled.

He was hungry.

Could the food in the stores still be eaten?

In an isolated, helpless apocalypse like this, the most terrifying thing was not monsters, but all kinds of illnesses when there was no medical care or medicine available.

He might die from nothing more than diarrhea.

Suddenly, a clatter of hooves rang out, and a sika deer burst around the corner of the street!

Shen Feng's heart leaped with joy. Meat!

But the sika deer looked like it was fleeing in blind panic, and it turned toward him and charged straight at him.

Immediately afterward, heavy, pounding footsteps came from around the corner. More than a dozen large, powerfully built wild wolves came racing out after the sika deer!