📖 Prologue — The End They Wrote for Me
Thunder cracked across the burning sky.
Lin Yue staggered through the crumbling alleyway, her arms covered in blood—none of it hers. The city she once knew had collapsed into chaos: buildings crumbling, black smoke choking the sun, and mutated creatures shrieking through the streets like nightmares given flesh. Her breath came in shallow gasps. Behind her, someone screamed. Ahead, only fire.
She should've died that day. Everyone expected her to.
After all, she was just the "fake daughter." The cannon fodder of the apocalypse. Hated by her adoptive family, vilified by the readers of Thorns of the End, and ultimately discarded like trash. In the novel, her death wasn't even dramatic—just a single sentence: "Qi Yue was torn apart by the infected while running away alone."
That was the end they wrote for her.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans.
As the flames closed in and her vision dimmed, Lin Yue whispered with bitterness, "If only I had known sooner… If I had one more chance…"
And then—everything went black.
---
📖 Chapter 1 — A Slap Across Two Realities
PAK!
The sharp sound of a slap echoed through the banquet hall. Lin Yue's head snapped sideways, the sting spreading across her cheek like fire.
Or… not Lin Yue. Qi Yue.
Her eyes flew open, confusion flooding her chest. She wasn't in a burning alley anymore—she was in a glittering ballroom filled with people in formal attire, whispering behind jeweled fingers.
The woman in front of her—the "mother" in this world—glared with disgust. "You ungrateful thing! How dare you speak to your sister like that!"
Lin Yue blinked, dazed. A flood of memories crashed into her like a tidal wave. This wasn't just a dream. She had transmigrated. And not just into any story, but into Thorns of the End, the very novel she'd ranted about online countless times.
She'd become Qi Yue, the cannon fodder fake daughter, moments after her social downfall began.
Right after this banquet scene, Qi Yue would be declared mentally unstable, humiliated in school, and eventually—discarded. And one year from now, the world would end.
> "Oh my god," Lin Yue muttered under her breath. "This really is the worst novel ever."
She took a deep breath. Her cheek throbbed, but her mind had never been clearer.
Fine. If this was her fate, she wouldn't just rewrite it. She'd set the damn pages on fire.
She glanced to the side—there stood Qi Ran, the perfect little white lotus. Pretty. Polished. Smirking behind concerned eyes.
The true daughter. The fake heroine.
And Lin Yue—Qi Yue now—smiled back, blood rising in her mouth like iron and fury.
You don't know it yet, but I've already started winning.
📖 Chapter 2 — Thorns of the End
The banquet continued as if nothing had happened.
Qi Yue sat silently at the farthest corner table, her cheek still stinging, her mind spinning. The opulence of the hall—chandeliers, golden arches, the glint of fine china—felt surreal. It was all just glitter coating rot.
Around her, people whispered:
> "Isn't she the adopted one?"
"She embarrassed the Qi family again…"
"No wonder they say she's unstable."
She tuned them out.
Lin Yue, now Qi Yue, wasn't focused on them. Her eyes followed Qi Ran, who basked in sympathy and attention like a pro. One hand gently held by Old Madam Qi, a delicate pout on her lips.
Just like in the novel.
> "Qi Yue was labeled a troublemaker, then quietly written out of the story. Qi Ran, the real daughter, became the darling of the apocalypse."
Qi Yue's hands clenched beneath the tablecloth.
She had read this novel out of boredom during a depressive slump. And hated it. Not for its premise—zombies and survival? Fine. But the fake daughter angle? The brutal death? The way readers cheered when Qi Yue died?
No.
Not this time.
"I need to get out of here," she whispered.
---
Later that night, she locked her bedroom door in the Qi mansion. Her room was cold and colorless—intentionally so. They'd stripped it bare when Qi Ran returned.
As she sat on the edge of the bed, something inside her pulsed—warm, mechanical, and alive.
> [System Initialization Complete.]
AURA SYSTEM ACTIVATED.
(Auto-Upgrade Resource Archive)
Qi Yue flinched.
Then her eyes widened.
> Was this... a cheat? A golden finger?!
A soft light flashed before her, revealing a semi-transparent blue screen. Words and icons flickered across it in sleek, futuristic design:
[INVENTORY: Empty]
[ENERGY: 10% (Beginner Core)]
[CRAFTING: Basic Blueprints Unlocked]
[FARMING: Locked]
[COMBAT MODULE: Simulation Mode Active]
> [Hello, User. I am AURA. Would you like a tutorial?]
Qi Yue's lips slowly curled into a grin.
This wasn't just a second chance.
It was a declaration of war.
📖 Chapter 3 — No Home to Return To
The AURA interface faded into the air like mist, but the rush it left in Qi Yue's chest remained.
It wasn't just a system. It was freedom.
She didn't sleep that night. Instead, she explored every available menu in the interface, absorbing the details like her life depended on it—which, frankly, it did. She had a year. Three hundred sixty-five days before the virus outbreak. One wrong move, and she'd meet the same fate as the original Qi Yue—torn apart by the infected.
> Not me. Not again.
---
The next morning, Qi Yue descended the grand staircase of the Qi estate, her steps calm. The scent of expensive breakfast drifted through the air—freshly baked bread, brewed tea, and imported fruit. She wasn't offered any.
"Qi Yue," Old Madam Qi called coolly. "Come here."
She walked over, posture straight, gaze unreadable.
"You're no longer allowed access to the inheritance fund," the old woman said with finality, sipping tea. "You've embarrassed this family enough. From now on, all your expenses will be monitored."
Qi Yue didn't flinch. "Understood."
The adults blinked. They expected tears. Pleading. Maybe even a tantrum.
But Qi Yue merely turned, bowed, and walked away.
> So this is how they begin to cut me off.
In the novel, this was the start of her "decline." No money. No power. Just slander and isolation. Until she ran away, and no one looked for her.
She reached her room again and summoned AURA.
> [Inventory Available]
[Blueprint Unlocked: Modular Storage Unit]
[Suggestion: Establish Private Base Location]
A plan formed instantly.
> Fine. If they're going to erase me, I'll disappear first—on my own terms.
---
Two days later, Qi Yue faked an emotional outburst in school—enough to feed rumors that she was "cracking again." She knew her classmates were already wary of her. Rumors were easy to manipulate.
That same week, she made her first move: she bought an abandoned storage warehouse in the industrial district under a fake name she generated with AURA's help.
> Qi Yue is breaking down, they'd say.
She's spiraling. So pitiful…
Meanwhile, she was stocking shelves. Laying down insulation. Installing hidden panels. Smuggling water and solar panels into her new hideaway, bit by bit.
It would take time.
But every step was hers.
---
As she locked the warehouse door one night and stood in the dim interior, surrounded by empty shelves and a cracked floor, Qi Yue felt something she hadn't felt in a long time:
Hope.
📖 Chapter 4 — Quiet Preparations for the End
The warehouse was cold, empty, and silent—but to Qi Yue, it was sacred.
Each day after school, she slipped away from the Qi estate with her school bag filled not with books, but with tools. The abandoned warehouse in the industrial zone slowly began to change under her hands.
One shelf at a time, one box at a time.
Using AURA's blueprint interface and upgrade options, she reinforced the walls with soundproof insulation and layered the concrete floor with water-resistant lining. The place didn't look like much—but soon, it would be her fortress.
> [Blueprint: Compact Storage Cabinet – Crafted]
[Energy Remaining: 7%]
[Food Shelf: 6/50 slots filled]
---
During the day, she was still the "unstable fake daughter" to everyone else—barely tolerated by classmates, ignored at home.
But when she was alone with AURA, she was something else entirely: a strategist. A survivor. A shadow sharpening her blade in silence.
She started visiting local suppliers. With money siphoned discreetly into fake bank accounts, she began buying in bulk—canned goods, rice, instant noodles, salt, water purification tablets.
Qi Yue learned to dress in oversized hoodies and plain caps, blending in as a background figure in public.
One store clerk even called her "uncle" once. She didn't correct him.
> Let them think I'm invisible. It's safer that way.
---
Next came the solar panels and lithium batteries—expensive, bulky, but necessary. Using AURA's small transport drone blueprint (crafted via daily energy accumulation), she moved heavy goods at night, masked under the city's glow.
The first time she powered a basic light inside her base using solar-charged energy, she almost cried.
She wasn't just preparing.
She was reclaiming control.
---
At school, Qi Ran continued playing the pitiful "sister" card. She clung to teachers, cried in front of students, and occasionally offered to "check in on Qi Yue," acting as if she were some tragic charity case.
Qi Yue ignored her.
Let her have the stage.
Because soon, the world she cherished so much would crumble. And when that happened, it wouldn't be love or sympathy that saved people.
It would be food, tools, shelter, and strength.
Things Qi Yue was already collecting.
---
> [Warehouse Stock Status – Week 1 Summary]
Food: 13 crates
Water: 200L purified
Solar Panels: 4 units installed
Batteries: 2 large lithium cells
Energy: 11% (2% gained from passive solar link)
---
She stared at the glowing inventory screen.
One month ago, she was a forgotten footnote in someone else's story.
Now?
She was building a future no one could take from her.
📖 Chapter 5 — Training in the Shadows
The warehouse had become her second skin.
Every shelf she filled, every solar panel she charged, made Qi Yue feel one step further from being the disposable "fake daughter" and one step closer to something dangerous—prepared.
But she knew supplies alone wouldn't be enough.
In the world of Thorns of the End, it wasn't the virus that killed the most people—it was the aftermath. Looters, traffickers, armed survivors, and worst of all—mutated infected who could smell weakness.
> I survived the end once. This time, I want to be strong enough to fight it.
---
That night, back in the warehouse under the hum of solar-powered lights, Qi Yue activated AURA's combat module.
> [Combat Simulation v1.2 Activated]
[Welcome, Qi Yue. Ready to begin training?]
[Simulation Type: Close-quarters combat (Beginner Level)]
[Energy Consumption: 3% per session]
A soft blue glow surrounded her, and in an instant, the dusty warehouse faded into a digital dojo—clean, echoing with silence, its wooden floor polished to perfection.
Then the first opponent appeared.
A tall man, faceless but solid, charged her without hesitation.
---
The first time, she was slammed into the floor.
The second time, she tripped over her own footwork.
The third time, her arm twisted the wrong way—pain shot up her shoulder before AURA ended the simulation with a warning.
> [Minor muscular strain detected. Recommend 10-minute recovery pause.]
Qi Yue gritted her teeth, sweat dripping down her jaw.
She didn't stop.
For the next hour, she repeated the same sequence over and over. Footwork. Dodges. Jabs. Low kicks. Elbow strikes. Everything felt foreign at first, but AURA's real-time feedback guided her—adjusting posture, predicting movement, stimulating realistic muscle memory.
By the time the session ended, her arms trembled—but her stance had become steady.
> I won't be helpless again.
---
Back at school, her body was sore, but her mind sharpened.
When a classmate "accidentally" knocked her bag off the desk, she caught it mid-air without blinking. When a teacher insulted her in front of others, she smiled calmly and didn't rise to the bait.
They thought she was breaking.
But in reality, she was building.
---
That weekend, she returned to the warehouse. The shelves were slowly filling up. Her base was evolving.
She started adding punching pads, wooden dummies, and a compact treadmill from second-hand stores. Every coin not spent on food went to gear. AURA helped her design a custom training setup—disguised in case anyone ever broke in.
No one would.
But if they did?
They'd regret it.
---
> [Combat Stats Updated]
Strength: +1
Agility: +2
Reflex: +3
Endurance: +1
[Skill Learned: Basic Counterstrike]
[Simulations Completed: 12]
[System Sync: 92% muscle adaptation]
She smirked, brushing sweat from her brow.
Qi Yue was no longer the kind of girl who begged to be loved.
She was the kind of girl who would survive.
And take down anyone who stood in her way.