Chu Yian quickly backed away from the balcony, her legs nearly giving out at the screams coming from the room next door. In the distance, across the field and near the cafeteria, people were still fleeing. Every corner of her view was a vision of hell.
Terror. Confusion.
Her clothes clung to her body, soaked with sweat. She was trembling uncontrollably, as if she'd just been pulled out of a freezing lake.
Her ears were ringing.
She couldn't hear a thing.
Her mind went blank.
Her vision blurred.
She didn't know how long it took before she remembered—she still had her phone.
Her messaging app had exploded with notifications.
One group chat caught her eye: "Class of 2022 Geology".
[4:12 PM] Help, someone—
[4:06 PM] I'm in the office building at Lab 4. I can't get through to the police—
[4:06 PM] Is anyone out? I'm hiding in the 3rd floor restroom of the teaching building. I'm so scared—
[3:59 PM] If you hear the emergency broadcast, hide! There are lunatics attacking people outside the school. The guards can't hold much longer—
[3:55 PM] Why are the air-raid sirens going off? I was napping. So loud—
[3:43 PM] Heard there's chaos near the high-speed rail station. Mall is locked down. Anyone know what's happening?
The earliest message was only twenty minutes ago.
Twenty minutes—from the first signs of violence to now. And yet to Chu Yian, it felt like a lifetime had passed.
But at least… she wasn't alone. Others had survived too.
She began dialing every emergency number she could think of. None of them connected. She tried looking for official news.
Got one.
A stark blue-and-white webpage appeared, displaying only two lines of text:
A large-scale riot has broken out in Shigang City.
Citizens are advised to stay indoors, avoid all contact with rioters, and prepare at least three days' worth of food and water while awaiting rescue.
Chu Yian stared at the notice, then immediately began following the instructions. She plugged in her phone and began taking inventory of everything in the dorm.
Fortunately, a girls' dorm never lacked snacks.
She gathered: four mangos, half a bag of powdered milk, a pack of dried dates, and a snack box bigger than her pillow packed with chips, dried fruit, twisted dough sticks, and jerky.
Enough to survive for a while.
Wait.
She suddenly froze.
She wasn't supposed to just wait for rescue.
She'd almost forgotten—this wasn't real. It felt real, but she was in a twisted survival game. And the end condition of the game was clear:
Reach the evacuation point within five days.
But where was it?
How was she supposed to get there like this?
Panic started creeping back in. She picked up her phone and frantically searched for any mention of an evacuation site—until exhaustion overwhelmed her and she collapsed onto the desk, falling asleep.
Day Two
Chu Yian woke with a start from a nightmare.
The sky outside was gray and heavy. Everything was unnervingly quiet, except for the occasional low groans and slow, dragging footsteps of the infected.
It was 5:00 a.m.
Her phone had no signal. No internet. No calls.
The power had gone out.
Luckily, she'd left her phone charging all night. 97% battery.
But without signal or power… what good was a phone?
She washed her face and sat back down, nibbling on snacks while swiping through useless apps. With no connection, her phone was basically just a flashlight.
Hopeless. Claustrophobic. Isolated.
She almost gave up and put it down when she spotted something she hadn't noticed before—a small icon tucked in the corner.
Radio.
A sudden spark of hope.
Radio—aka wireless signal reception.
One of the few technologies that didn't rely on the internet or cell networks. Anyone who knew a bit about radios understood: when all else fails, radio still works.
Chu Yian jolted upright, energized. She opened the app and began fiddling with the frequencies.
At first, just static.
But she had nothing better to do. She spent hours scanning frequencies, trying again and again.
And finally—just before 10 a.m.—the static cracked, and a voice came through:
"Hello listeners. This is Zone 11 Broadcasting."
"A global viral outbreak is currently underway. Anyone bitten will become infected within seconds. Symptoms are rapid. The infected die within ten seconds of being bitten… then reanimate as zombies, targeting uninfected humans."
"Key traits of infected:
Normal vision.
Hearing five times sharper than average.
When in transmission mode, they attack at peak physical condition.
When no targets are nearby, they enter a dormant state."
"Important: There is no known cure. Avoid the infected at all costs."
"Repeat: Fulun County in City X is the only known safe evacuation zone in Zone 11."
"This message will repeat."
An evacuation zone!
Chu Yian sat bolt upright. She had a destination. A goal. Finally, something to hold onto.
But—where the hell was Fulun County in City X?
Her eyes scanned the desk—and landed on a pile of campus flyers. In the bottom corner of one of them were the words:
"Published by the Guangda College Publicity Department, City C."
She flipped through some old bus tickets she'd found in her drawer. All of them were from other cities to City C.
Which meant...
She wasn't in City X.
Shit.
Chu Yian inhaled deeply, dread sinking in. She had to leave. She couldn't just hole up in the dorm for five days—she'd lose anyway.
She glanced at the pile of supplies and started packing. Water, snacks—anything that would keep her alive.
Wait.
A thought hit her.
Before she'd entered the game… she'd drawn a random item.
She looked at her palm.
A faint heat spread through her skin—and suddenly, a small box appeared in her hand.
It was tiny, barely the size of a pair of earbuds.
But with a single thought, the box expanded into a glowing golden cube, one meter wide. Bright letters hovered above it:
Would you like to activate skill: "Something from Nothing"?
Skill: Something from Nothing
Generates one random item from the Treasure Box. 3-day cooldown after use.
Right. She remembered now.
Finally—something that felt like a game.
She chose "Yes."
The box opened. Blinding white light filled the interior. She reached in, fingers brushing against something cold and heavy.
A transparent screen appeared before her eyes:
[Item Acquired: 9mm Single-Shot Pistol with Infinite Ammo]
Note: Will be recovered when this round of the game ends.
Item Description: "Having me? Girl, you're blessed."
Chu Yian raised an eyebrow.
"Having you? I guess I'll admit—you're pretty damn useful."