Ye Fan is someone who really knows how to entertain himself.
Self-entertainment means being able to have fun even when you're alone.
To put it nicely, it's called self-entertainment; to put it bluntly, it's being carefree and not knowing worry or stress.
As long as he has a phone or a computer, he can temporarily forget all his troubles and enter a world of his own.
However, self-entertainment doesn't mean being brainless; in fact, Ye Fan is very smart.
Just the fact that he got into an industrial university in H City is enough to prove that this seemingly nonchalant person has a high IQ.
The fact that he's able to attend school is a source of pride for his family. His hometown is in a township in S City, and he's considered highly educated there.
Leaving his parents to study in H City, Ye Fan didn't live on campus but instead rented an old-style flat off-campus, making it convenient for both school and work.
His family's financial situation isn't great; half of his school expenses are covered by his part-time jobs.
School, part-time jobs, and gaming are basically all there is to Ye Fan's life.
If he can avoid asking his family for money, he does his best not to. His parents are honest folks with low salaries, and he also has a sister in her second year of high school, so the family isn't wealthy.
But this time, Ye Fan was about to reach his limit.
Ye Fan performed well during the military training after the university started.
As a child from the countryside, his physical fitness was unquestionable, plus he liked to exercise on his own. On his way to school and work, he always ran. Compared to his urban peers, his physique is definitely exceptional.
However, on the last day of military training, Ye Fan got injured while competing for first place and twisted his ankle.
The twist was quite severe and needed at least a week of rest.
He got his ankle fixed at the school clinic and was prescribed some bone-setting medicine before getting a ride from a classmate back to his rented place.
Recovery might be quicker in the hospital, but the costs were too high.
Ye Fan had some food at his place. Eating out was expensive; even a small basket of dumplings with porridge cost over ten bucks, so he mostly cooked for himself.
Back home, Ye Fan ended up having a rare period of rest, becoming somewhat of a homebody.
The apartment was only about thirty square meters. Newer buildings rarely have such small units now. Besides the bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, there was just a small living room.
There was no TV in the living room, only a computer.
The landlord owned the fridge; the computer was the only thing that belonged to Ye Fan.
An old-fashioned CPU case paired with a second-hand LCD monitor cost very little, but the CPU's specs were decent enough for smooth gaming.
His hard drive held many single-player games that Ye Fan had downloaded. Online games took too much time, and without paying to become a VIP, you'd usually get wrecked, and Ye Fan didn't like the feeling of getting wrecked, so he rarely played online.
Playing a quick single-player game in his spare time was a way to relax.
With a mop handle in hand for support, Ye Fan limped over to the chair in front of his computer.
He opened the web page and saw the news that had been trending these days.
"Ladies and gentlemen, according to reports from the meteorological station, the meteor shower from the Andromeda Nebula will continue, and it will be clearly visible along the coastal areas of our country."
"The meteor shower has been ongoing for three days now; this is unprecedented in the history of Blue Sea Star, potentially the largest since the Cretaceous period."
The meteor shower started three days ago. There weren't any particularly massive meteors, so they shouldn't cause any impact on Blue Sea Star's surface, which is why countries worldwide hadn't taken any action.
But Ye Fan felt there was always a faint acidic smell in the air these days, unsure if it was related to the meteor shower.
Browsing through the usual forums, many people were discussing the meteor shower.
"I'm in the southern coastal region, and the meteor shower is especially beautiful at night here."
"For some reason, my dog has been unusually agitated lately, not eating much and barking a lot. Could it be in heat? Looking for a female dog, online and urgently. My address is XXXX."
"They say if you make a wish upon a shooting star, it will come true. But with so many stars these days, what can you do if you run out of wishes?"
Ye Fan felt a bit bored after a while and didn't feel like using his phone to team up online, so he decided to play a single-player game.
He had many game icons on his desktop and clicked on the Red Alert icon.
This was the second game in a series called National Glory, where you could choose to battle with various nations.
Being from Qin Han, Ye Fan's favorite choice was always Qin Han.
This nation had several advantageous units, including the Black Hawk fighter jet, the Apocalypse main battle tank, the aircraft carrier, and the Army Soldier.
The fighter jet had strong bombing capabilities. Although costly, a squadron could destroy any building.
The main battle tank also had the highest cost but possessed both ground and anti-air capabilities, making it the ultimate king of land warfare.
The aircraft carrier could carry up to ten bombers, making it a nightmare for land-based structures if approached.
The Army Soldier was the most cost-effective unit, especially after a star promotion, it was virtually a bug in ground combat.
Ye Fan also liked many other units from different countries, each with its own advantages, but you could only choose one country, which was sometimes frustrating.
Starting the game, he created a map.
"Let's have an extreme challenge, the largest map, all nations present, all as ruthless enemies, with super weapons. Let's see how long I can last."
Ye Fan had never beaten this game mode before; the only fun was seeing how long he could endure.
The game started, and Ye Fan immediately began operating quickly, placing the base vehicle, establishing the Power Plant, mining, and building the Barracks.
Just after he began setting things up, an unexpected event occurred.
The sky outside the window was bright.
It was noon, and it was a bit cloudy today, but suddenly it was extremely bright!
Unnaturally bright!
Ye Fan looked up in surprise towards the window and saw the entire sky filled with a dense meteor shower.
"What's going on?"
A strong sour smell swept in, and even though Ye Fan had the window closed, it couldn't be stopped, permeating the air.
The intense stinging sensation invaded his mind, and Ye Fan couldn't help but lower his head sharply, biting his lip until it bled.
But the pain was unavoidable, and after just a few seconds, Ye Fan passed out.
Before he blacked out, he instinctively clutched the mouse in one hand, pressed the keyboard with the other, and his body fell to the ground, pulling the computer down with it.
The power supply was exposed in the old-style rental building, and when the computer toppled, a spark flashed, and a pale blue current surged onto Ye Fan's body.
********
When Ye Fan woke up, ten hours had passed.
"Uh.....what happened?"
Rubbing his bruised forehead, he tried to recall the events before his fall.
"I was playing a game, then suddenly a large meteor shower descended, a foul stench rushed in, and then I remembered nothing."
"My head hurts a bit, and my foot hurts even more."
His twisted ankle hurt even more when Ye Fan just tried to touch it, only to see his computer already destroyed.
The computer monitor looked like it had been set on fire, charred and blackened.
The power cable had been pulled out of the wall, seemingly caused by his fall.
"Not good, I wonder if the circuit breaker tripped. If it's short-circuited, it would be a hassle."
The computer breaking isn't a big deal; it isn't worth much anyway, but if the wiring is burned, I'll have to be responsible for repairing it for the landlord.
Ye Fan looked up and saw the light was on, which reassured him a bit.
"Why is it that I'm reacting so slowly?"
As he looked at the light, he also saw the clock on the wall, indicating it was around eleven at night.
He struggled to get up, moved to the window, and looked down because he felt something was off today.
The voice-controlled lights in the community yard were on; by their light, he saw the entire compound in disarray, with his neighbor's electric bikes and bicycles scattered messily on the ground.
Some waste newspapers and plastic bags fluttered in the air, but other than that, there was almost no movement at all.
"What is going on? A crime scene? But this scene is way too big!"
Ye Fan didn't think of immediately calling the police. He wanted to figure out what was actually happening.
He widened his eyes and looked carefully.
In one corner, a group of people were crouching there, seemingly eating.
One of them let out a roar, and the dilapidated face and beast-like roar proved that he was no longer human.
A chill ran straight to his head, and Ye Fan quickly retreated into the room.
"This...this scene...a biohazard!"
As a modern university student, Ye Fan had seen many similar films; the people eating outside were obviously zombies!
He didn't think it was a joke or a prank; no one would create such a big scene just to prank a student like him; this was all real.
After a brief moment of panic, there was worry, and he immediately took out his phone to call his parents.
The call couldn't get through.
He tried calling his sister, but it was also unreachable.
He checked his phone, no signal.
"The apocalypse, such a thing really happening, is terrible."
Ye Fan was somewhat anxious, but he forced himself to calm down, knowing that panic was of no help now.
Trying hard to steady his breathing and heart rate, he knew that his current situation was likely that of a survivor.
No internet, clueless about the outside world, what should he do next?
Though he had no clear idea for now, he was gradually calming down.
Just when his heart rate and everything had returned to normal, a voice suddenly rang in his mind.
"Brainwave analysis...normal...heartbeat analysis...normal...blood pressure analysis...normal, meeting binding conditions."
"Locking in commander candidate, binding blood type...binding DNA...binding successful, confirming possession of highest command authority."
Ye Fan was dumbfounded, the voice was so strange. There was no one else in the room, but it was audible, and it was a voice that sounded elegant and female.
"Who is it?"
"I am your personal secretary and assistant Nana, good evening! Handsome lame commander, sir."