Shenzi sat in his small apartment, lazily flipping through the news on his phone. Strange weather patterns again. Record low temperatures. Heavy snow warnings across the country. He snorted and took another sip of tea.
Then the world spun.
A violent dizzy spell hit him like a hammer. Everything went black.
When Shenzi opened his eyes, he was lying on a freezing floor. Frost covered the large windows. Harsh wind howled outside, rattling the glass. His breath came out as thick white mist.
He was only wearing a thin shirt and pants. No coat. No gloves.
"What the hell..."
Shenzi pushed himself up, teeth already chattering. The temperature felt far below zero. His fingers stung from the cold.
He rushed to the window and wiped away the thick frost with his sleeve. Outside, the entire city was buried in snow. Streets were white wastelands. Slow-moving figures shuffled through the blizzard — pale bodies with frost-covered skin and icy claws. Zombies.
Some stood completely frozen in place like statues. Others kept moving, joints creaking with ice.
Shenzi's heart pounded. This wasn't his apartment. He was on the 12th floor of some high-rise office building.
Distant groaning and banging echoed from the lower floors. The sound grew louder.
Zombies. Trying to break in.
Adrenaline surged. Shenzi spun around and started dragging heavy office desks toward the stairwell door. He piled chairs, filing cabinets, anything he could find. The barricade wasn't perfect, but it would buy time.
His hands were turning numb. Hypothermia would kill him before the zombies even reached this floor.
Just as he finished pushing the last desk into place, a mechanized female voice echoed directly in his mind.
"Welcome, chosen challengers, to the world of Eternal Frost."
An AR-like interface appeared before his eyes. A backpack icon. Trading window. Chat channel. Mailbox.
Shenzi subconsciously opened the backpack. It was completely empty.
His expression darkened.
No food. No water. No warm clothes. In this freezing hell, he would die of cold long before hunger or zombies got him.
"Ding! You have received a new email!"
Shenzi clicked it immediately.
[The Infinite Resource System has been bound to the host!]
A simple explanation floated in his vision. Every day at dawn, the system would grant him one unlimited resource item.
In the first slot of his backpack, a small icon appeared — a compact portable heater. In the bottom right corner, the ∞ symbol glowed brightly.
Shenzi's hands trembled as he reached into the backpack and pulled out the heater. It was surprisingly light. The moment he set it down and turned it on, strong, steady warmth began radiating outward.
He pulled out another. Then another.
Soon the entire 12th-floor office was filled with portable heaters. The room temperature rose rapidly. The frost on the nearby windows started melting.
Shenzi sat down in the middle of his warm zone, wrapped his arms around himself, and let out a long breath.
It worked. The heaters kept coming. Unlimited.
He laughed once, sharp and excited.
"This is the protagonist treatment… but in a frozen hell. Not bad at all."
The contrast felt surreal. Outside, the blizzard raged and zombies groaned. Inside, he was warm and safe for the first time since waking up.
Shenzi finally calmed down enough to open the chat channel.
Hundreds of thousands of survivors were already active in the same city.
Number 89757: "It's -25°C already! My fingers are turning black! Someone help!"
Number 777889: "Zombies are breaking into my building! And I'm freezing to death faster than they can bite me!"
Number 589345: "The Heavy Freeze is getting worse every hour. Anyone have fire or heaters? I'll trade anything I have!"
Number 450321: "Saw a guy freeze solid in the street. Zombies just walked past his corpse. This is fucked."
Number 112233: "Heavy snow is blocking everything. Can't even find decent shelter!"
Shenzi scrolled slowly, his face calm now that he was warm. This was real. A global catastrophe. Eternal Frost. Zombies rising from the frozen ground. The cold killing as many people as the undead.
He switched to the trading platform.
Desperate offers filled the screen. Coats, lighters, canned food, ropes, tools — all traded for heat sources or food.
Shenzi grinned.
He started listing portable heaters. Unlimited supply meant he could clear out multiple good offers at once.
In minutes, his backpack filled with new items: canned soup, bottled water, thick blankets, some rope, and basic tools.
Shenzi heated a can of soup directly on one of the heater surfaces. The rich aroma filled the warm office. He wrapped himself in a thick blanket and ate slowly, savoring every spoonful.
Outside, the wind howled louder. In the chat, people were still begging.
A small flicker of guilt passed through his mind. He had warmth to spare. Maybe he should share more generously.
Shenzi shook his head immediately.
No. In this world, useless kindness would only get him killed. Only the strong survived. Soft hearts froze first.
He pushed the thought away and kept eating.
His trader ID started getting attention. The chat channel exploded with new messages.
Number 38383: "Who the hell is Number 10086? He just bought out all the good coats with heaters!"
Number 9527: "He flooded the platform with portable heaters! Is this guy a cheater?"
Number 979698: "Doesn't matter. At least someone has resources. But damn, he's hoarding warmth while we freeze!"
Shenzi smirked and closed the chat. Let them talk. He had warmth, food, and time.
With his immediate survival secured, Shenzi carefully explored the 12th floor. Empty offices. Frozen computers. Scattered papers covered in frost. He found a few minor supplies in drawers — pens, tape, some batteries — but nothing game-changing.
He checked the barricaded stairwell door. Heavy banging came from below, but the desks held for now. Going down was too risky.
Shenzi picked up a pair of binoculars from his recent trades and moved to the window. He scanned the snow-covered city.
Tall buildings half-buried in drifts. Distant fires flickering where survivors tried to stay warm. More zombies shuffling through the white streets. Some looked completely frozen, others moved with slow, creaking determination.
This high-rise had potential. Vertical defense. Multiple floors he could clear later. A good temporary base.
Shenzi returned to his pile of heaters and blankets, feeling increasingly smug. While others fought hypothermia and zombies, he was sitting comfortably in a heated room with a full stomach.
He leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he heard it.
Footsteps. Followed by loud, urgent knocking on the barricaded stairwell door.
"Is anyone alive up there?! Please open the door! I have supplies and information to trade! The zombies are climbing the lower stairs and the storm is getting worse!"
A woman's voice. Desperate but clear. Strong.
Shenzi stood up quietly and approached the barricade. He peered through a small gap he had left between the desks.
On the other side stood a beautiful woman. Tall. Sharp features. Athletic build. She wore insufficient winter gear and was shivering violently, her lips already turning pale. A backpack hung from her shoulders.
She looked capable, but the cold had clearly weakened her.
Shenzi's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
Beautiful and resourceful? In this frozen world, both warmth and people were valuable resources.
The knocking intensified.
"Please! Anyone! I won't last much longer out here!"
Shenzi stood silently, watching her through the gap, his mind already turning.