Chapter 1 (1/2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Ding!!!

The crisp ringing of an alarm sounded. A young man, who was eighteen or nineteen years old, shot up from bed, his eyes flashing open like lightning, making the ordinary young man look as sharp as a sword out of its sheath.

‘A piercing sound like this is enough to attract large numbers of zombies!’ He didn’t have time to curse. He instinctively pressed himself against the wall, nervously and cautiously pushing open the window, then quickly reached for the machete behind him, but the spot he reached for was completely empty…

‘Where’s the knife?’ A hint of nervous confusion flashed in the young man’s eyes, but the next moment, he was completely astonished by the sight before him. Outside the window, there were no enveloping zombies. There was no rotting stench, and there was no dark, wild jungle… The winter sunlight hit his face. Colorful underwear from the neighboring girl’s dorm billowed in the wind. The ringing of bikes heading to different academic buildings lingered in the air.

Shen Chen narrowed his eyes. He was at a loss. After staring at the sight outside the window for a full minute, he finally turned back to the room. There were no zombies, no thick scent of blood. All he saw before him was a small room with melon seeds and ramen on the floor. The disorderly blankets on the four neighboring beds made the room look extremely messy.

‘Is this Room 603 of J University of several years ago…?’ Suddenly, an inconceivable thought rose in his mind, but Shen Chen quickly shook his head unconsciously. After pausing for another half minute, he turned around and returned to his desk, then opened his laptop with trembling hands. His nimble fingers paused noticeably in front of the laptop, then he clumsily pressed down on the keyboard.

With a pleasant melody, the date at the bottom of the laptop screen told him clearly, “Today is February 14, 2116!”

He stared at the date on the computer for a full three minutes, then began gasping for air. If his eyes weren’t lying to him… he had returned to the day… to the start of all the disasters!

Shen Chen took out his phone with trembling hands. He had to confirm his speculation. Looking down at the unfamiliar phone in his trembling hands, Shen Chen dialed a number engraved in his memory with a sense of unease. It was to his family, who he had once lost forever.

His dad’s strong voice came from the speakers. “Hello?” Shen Chen was instantly filled with indescribable mixed feelings. In his previous life, his parents had lost their lives in the beginning of the apocalypse. During the few years Shen Chen had struggled through Doomsday, there hadn’t been a single moment where he hadn’t missed them. And now, the parents he had thought of for years were alive. Even as strong as he was, Shen Chen couldn’t control his emotions.

“Dad…”

“What’s going on, brat? Are you getting bullied at school?” His Dad was always so keen. He immediately sensed something wrong in Shen Chen’s voice. Before he finished his sentence, the phone was quickly taken over, and Mom’s anxious voice came through. “Chen, is school too hard for you?”

Parents are always the ones who care about you most. Shen Chen was incredibly happy that, with his rebirth, he at least had the chance to save his dad and mom’s lives. He calmed himself down, then, after taking a deep breath, his voice took on an anxious tone. “Dad, Mom, I’m all right. I just wanted to tell you that I heard from my friend that a bunch of scoundrels carrying the Ebola virus have fled into our H City. There might be a curfew in the city soon. Don’t go out tonight carelessly. Also, before the city gets closed off, go buy some food and water to store at home. They’ll be hard to buy once they rise in price.”

His mother screamed on the other end of the phone, then she lowered her voice and said, “I’ve been feeling like something is wrong lately. Lots of people have been coughing. Do you think they’re infected?”

Shen Chen was alarmed. Coughing was indeed a preliminary symptom of people infected by the biochemical virus. He didn’t expect Mom to have already noticed.

Shen Chen quickly said, “That’s right, Mom. If you see those people, you must stay away! Also, don’t leave the house. Stay inside the house until I come back to find you guys!”

Shen Chen’s repeated warnings made his mother suddenly very serious. “I understand, I understand. And you, you must be careful on your own in S City!”

Shen Chen answered his mom with a smile, telling her not to worry. He repeatedly warned his parents to follow his instructions, and, after confirming that they would, he hung up the phone. Feeling that his parents believed him without a doubt, Shen Chen let out a sigh of relief.

In his past life, his dad wanted to be romantic with his mom like young people, so they went out for a candlelit dinner on Valentine’s Day. Ever since then, he and his parents had been separated by life and death. Now that he had warned them like this, they wouldn’t go out again and carelessly lose their lives. And H City had the largest human survivors base. As long as his parents could hold out in the beginning, once the military people took over the city, their safety would definitely be guaranteed.

“You are my… little apple…”

Suddenly, the strange yet familiar “Little Apple” interrupted Shen Chen’s thoughts. Shen Chen suddenly came to. He looked at the call. The woman’s name on the screen made him frown. Fang Yi!

Shen Chen slowly picked up the phone and heard a girl’s cold voice from it. “Shen Chen, I’m busy tonight. I won’t be spending Valentine’s Day with you!”

A figure that he had nearly forgotten appeared in his memory… Fang Yi was his girlfriend. She was a freshman in college like him. They had been dating since high school and had been accepted by the same college. On this day in his previous life, he had happily gone to her dorm building to wait for her to spend Valentine’s Day together, but her classmate told him with some regret that Fang Yi had gone to eat dinner with Senior Qian… That was when he found out that the girlfriend he treasured had hurled herself into the arms of a rich second generation senior in school.