September 24, 2029 — Early Morning
"Ahhh…!"
"Help!"
"Monsters!!"
Countless screams shattered the quiet of the morning.Across the entire campus, desperate cries echoed everywhere.
"What the hell is all that noise…?"
Yang Bin was awakened by the screaming below. Rubbing his aching head, he slowly climbed up from the rooftop floor and walked to the edge to look down.
The moment he looked—
His scalp went numb.
The open space in front of the dormitory building was filled with mutilated corpses. Blood had dyed the entire ground red.
Figures covered in blood were crouching everywhere, gnawing on severed limbs. Their mouths were dripping with gore, their eyes glowing crimson, and their skin rotting in patches.
The horrifying sight sent chills down his spine.
Yang Bin quickly pulled his head back.
Even someone as mentally strong as him felt his heart pounding wildly.
"I must still be dreaming."
He shook his head and pinched a thigh hard.
"AHH—!"
A miserable scream suddenly rang out.
Chen Hao jolted awake.
"Brother Bin! Why the hell are you pinching me?!"
Yang Bin blinked.
"That hurt?"
"Of course it hurts! Try pinching yourself!"
"…So it's not a dream?"
Yang Bin frowned.
Suppressing the fear in his heart, he cautiously leaned out again to look below.
The same hellish scene remained.
The sight was like something straight out of purgatory.
Yang Bin immediately retreated again, leaning against the wall and gasping for breath.
"What's wrong?" Chen Hao asked, confused.
"See for yourself…" Yang Bin said weakly.
Chen Hao walked over suspiciously and stuck his head over the edge.
One glance—
And he collapsed onto the ground instantly, his face pale as paper.
"Ugh—!"
He turned aside and began vomiting violently.
Yang Bin ignored him and quickly pulled out his phone to call the police.
But no matter how many times he dialed, the call never connected.
At that moment, Yang Bin finally realized how serious the situation was.
He opened Weibo.
As expected, countless posts were flooding the internet—people begging for help.
Opening them revealed photos and videos that looked exactly like what they had just seen.
Everywhere were people behaving like walking corpses.
Friends. Family members.
All suddenly turning into monsters that bit anyone they saw.
The situation had spread across the entire world overnight.
The internet was in complete chaos.
Many people were speculating that the apocalypse had arrived—that these creatures were zombies.
The scenes looked almost identical to those in doomsday movies.
This theory quickly gained widespread acceptance.
And so far, no official authority had stepped forward to deny it.
Which only made people believe it even more.
Yang Bin scrolled through post after post.
The photos and videos were mostly filmed secretly from inside homes or from hiding places. The angles were poor, but the terrifying scenes were still unmistakable.
After reading several threads, Yang Bin's heart sank.
He also began to believe the zombie theory.
Perhaps… the apocalypse really had come.
As for why this had suddenly happened—
No one knew.
After vomiting until there was nothing left, Chen Hao finally lifted his head.
"Brother Bin… what… what is going on?"
Yang Bin sighed.
"The apocalypse has begun."
"Apocalypse?!"
Chen Hao stared at him in disbelief.
"Look online."
Chen Hao quickly pulled out his phone and began scrolling.
After a few minutes, his face turned pale again.
"Then… what do we do now?"
"First, we need to block that iron door," Yang Bin said calmly. "We can't let the zombies reach the rooftop."
Yang Bin had survived on his own since childhood. Compared to others, he was much calmer in crises.
After searching around for a while, they found a long ladder left in the corner by maintenance workers.
They dragged it over and wedged it against the iron door—one end against the door, the other braced against the wall at the rooftop edge.
It fit surprisingly tight.
The rooftop was rarely visited.
Zombies probably wouldn't notice this place anytime soon.
For now, they were safe.
"Brother Bin… what should we do next?" Chen Hao asked. "Just stay here and wait for rescue?"
"That won't work," Yang Bin replied.
"From what I've seen online, the entire world is in chaos. The authorities can barely handle their own problems right now. Rescue won't come anytime soon."
"If we just wait… we'll starve to death first."
"Then what should we do?"
"Observe."
Yang Bin looked toward the ground below.
"We need to study these zombies first. Figure out how they behave. This rooftop gives us a good view."
"And keep checking the internet. Maybe someone has discovered a way to deal with them."
"Alright."
By now, the screams below were becoming fewer and fewer.
Most of the people who had screamed earlier were probably already dead.
These zombies seemed extremely sensitive to sound.
Screaming only accelerated one's own death.
Not just their dorm building—nearby dorms had the same situation.
The early chaos had slowly fallen silent.
Now only the growls of zombies remained.
"Brother Bin," Chen Hao suddenly said, "where did these zombies even come from? So many people turned… but we're completely fine."
"Could it be that we have special bodies or something?"
"I don't know," Yang Bin replied.
"Maybe we're just lucky."
"Even though many people turned into zombies, plenty of others stayed normal too. There are only two of us—the probability isn't that low."
After saying that, a thought suddenly flashed through Yang Bin's mind.
The Nine Stars of the Big Dipper they had seen while drunk last night.
And that crimson star.
"Could it be related…?"
He looked up at the sky again.
But there was nothing unusual now.
Shaking his head, he temporarily dismissed the thought.
"Brother Bin… do you think Liu Bo and Wenliang might have…?" Chen Hao asked nervously.
There had been four people in their dorm.
Although he was closest to Yang Bin, he still got along well with the other two.
In a situation like this, it was impossible not to worry.
"I don't know," Yang Bin said.
"Right now, it depends on luck."
"There were only two of them in the dorm. Compared to other rooms, that's actually safer."
"But if one of them turned into a zombie…"
"The other one is finished."
Chen Hao fell silent.
All he could do was pray.
Suddenly remembering something, he grabbed his phone to make a call.
Yang Bin quickly stopped him.
"Who are you calling? That girl—or your parents?"
"My parents, of course," Chen Hao replied. "I'm worried about them."
"Then don't."
"Why?"
"You saw what's happening outside," Yang Bin said seriously.
"If your parents are fine right now, but your phone rings…"
"The sound could attract nearby zombies."
"Then even if nothing was wrong before, something will be."
Chen Hao froze.
"Damn… that's scary."
He quickly put his phone away.
"Good thing you're calm, Brother Bin."
"If you really want to call someone," Yang Bin joked, "you could check on that girl."
Chen Hao shook his head with a bitter smile.
"She may have betrayed me… but I wouldn't go that far."
"Since we broke up… let's just be strangers."
Yang Bin smiled slightly.
"I was just joking. Good to see you've moved on."
"Don't worry," Chen Hao said.
"I'm not that pathetic."
Chen Hao suddenly asked another question.
"Brother Bin… what if phones lose signal later?"
"They probably will," Yang Bin said.
"If zombies destroy the communication base stations, phones will only be good as flashlights."
"So while the internet still works…"
"Download some movies."
"When we're bored in the future, at least we'll have something to watch."
"..."
"And if the battery dies?"
"Then your phone becomes… a brick."