"Christianity has its Final Judgment, Buddhism has the Five Decays, and every civilization has myths about world-ending floods or fires from the heavens. All of humanity has an indescribable feeling about the apocalypse—a mixture of fear and fascination, panic and excitement. Perhaps it's related to the self-destructive tendencies encoded in our very genes..."
On the podium, history teacher Old Li was spitting everywhere as he spoke, the content of his lecture a million miles away from the textbook. This was exactly why he'd earned the nickname "Li Dabaihua."
It was the last class of the day. Shen Feng sat in the classroom, listening to Li Dabaihua's rambling and nodding frequently.
Putting his teaching skills aside, Li Dabaihua's diatribe on the apocalypse deeply resonated with an enthusiast like Shen Feng.
Suddenly, the beat-up Xiaomi phone in Shen Feng's pocket buzzed violently. He cautiously took it out and saw a message had conspicuously appeared on the screen:
"True Apocalypse Game. Welcome."
Shen Feng froze. 'What the hell is this?'
'Spam ad?'
The name alone screamed trashy browser game, the kind that advertised with slogans like "Reach Level 99 in one hit!" or "If you're my bro, come chop me down!"
'The background data collection on phones these days is terrifying. How did it know I have a thing for the apocalypse?'
With that thought, Shen Feng casually tapped the message, intending to delete it.
But the moment his finger touched the screen, an app icon—a giant, blood-red eye—immediately appeared and began to install itself!
'Holy crap, it's malware hijacking my phone!'
'What the fuck is this thing?!'
Shen Feng seethed. This game software was going too far!
He immediately pressed and held the icon to delete it, but to his surprise, nothing happened.
Then another message popped up:
"Installation device Level is too low. Initiating environmental modification of device..."
Immediately after, the phone screen went black!
'It's a virus!'
A wave of fury washed over Shen Feng. Though his beat-up Xiaomi was mediocre in performance, its main advantage was its low price. It was a phone he'd had to save up for a long time to afford!
Just as he was about to pry the battery out, the phone screen lit up again, returning to normal.
And the "True Apocalypse Game" app now showed that it had finished installing.
'Is it my imagination?'
'The phone's performance seems... a little smoother?'
Shen Feng was baffled, but he found that the "True Apocalypse Game" still couldn't be deleted.
'Might as well see what this thing is...'
He tapped it open. A selection screen similar to a standard mobile game appeared instantly. There wasn't even an opening cinematic. Definitely a trashy browser game.
The selection screen was pitch black, with only two options: "Start" and "Load." It didn't even have an "About Us" section.
Thankfully, there was a short description:
"Player of this Doomsday World, welcome to the True Apocalypse Game. After selecting Start, you may enter a random Doomsday World to experience it, complete tasks, and obtain rewards. The disasters of different Doomsday Worlds vary, with danger levels broadly categorized as: Beginner Doomsday World, Intermediate Doomsday World, Advanced Doomsday World, and Black Death Apocalypse. We hope the player plays carefully and avoids permanent death."
"New players can unlock the world: Stone Statue Apocalypse."
Shen Feng couldn't help but chuckle. This piece of crap game was really trying to act like the real deal. The copy was pretty intimidating, but 'if you're really so amazing, couldn't you have made a better game interface? At least hire some D-list celebrity for an ad.'
"...the strength of humanity's apocalyptic obsession is strongly correlated with the overall global social climate. When the economy is strong and the atmosphere is optimistic, this obsession weakens. When the economy is in a downturn and pessimism spreads, the obsession with the apocalypse spreads as well... Alright, class dismissed!"
The moment Li Dabaihua finished speaking, the classroom erupted into a clamor as students packed their bags and headed for the door.
"Old Shen, be careful after school. I heard Li Chang and his crew are waiting for you at the school gate. I think it's because you beat them up last time they were robbing the younger students. They're looking for revenge..." a short, chubby teenager said softly as he approached Shen Feng. It was his best friend, Ji Xin.
Shen Feng's eyes sharpened. Then he smiled, patted Ji Xin's shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, Old Ji. That bunch of losers can't do anything to me."
Shen Feng grabbed his backpack, pushed his bike along with the flow of students to the school gate, and just as expected, saw Li Chang with a dozen or so others standing there furtively, scanning the crowd for him.
Shen Feng put on his hat, kept his head down, and quickly pushed his bike toward the gate. Just as he was about to pass Li Chang's group, he leaped onto the bike, turned his head, and shouted with a grin, "Sun Thief, waiting for your grandpa?"
Before Li Chang and the others could even react, Shen Feng was already far away, having sped off on his bike in a flash.
"Shen Feng, you just wait! You can run today, but you can't run tomorrow! You'll get what's coming to you!"
The furious curses faded into the distance behind him, and Shen Feng couldn't help but break into a triumphant smile.
It wasn't that he was afraid of a real fight, but he couldn't be late for his part-time job today.
「Twenty-something minutes later.」
Shen Feng had arrived at a barbecue stall next to his rental apartment.
"Brother Hai, Brother Wang, Brother Zhou, Old Chang!"
A group of shirtless men was busy setting out grills, tables, chairs, and meat skewers, getting ready to start grilling. The "One Skewer BBQ" sign was blackened with smoke.
"Xiaofeng's here!"
"Haha, our head chef has arrived!"
"Quick, get the chef his battle armor!"
The men laughed and joked as a brawny, bespectacled man came over with a white apron and helped Shen Feng put it on. This was the owner of "One Skewer BBQ," Brother Hai.
Shen Feng had been working here for over two months. He was originally just helping thread meat onto skewers, but one time the grill master—the owner, Brother Hai—got too drunk to get out of bed. Shen Feng tried his hand at grilling and unexpectedly unlocked a talent for it, earning him the position of head chef.
Over the days, he had become one of the guys, growing fond of their straightforward and unpretentious nature. Scarfing down a few of his own grilled skewers and downing a glass of draft beer after closing up shop each day was one of the great pleasures of a sweltering summer.
Customers had already started taking their seats. Shen Feng chatted with a few regulars while his hands moved nonstop, grilling up glistening skewers of pork belly, lamb, lean pork, beef, tendon, kidney, heart-vessel, marrow, beef tongue, chicken wings...
The neighborhood gourmands knew the routine. They'd show up with benevolent smiles, plant their feet on a keg of draft beer, and start with salted peanuts and edamame. They would drink and devour skewers, often finishing with a grilled flatbread or a small bowl of wontons before rubbing their bellies and heading home, completely satisfied.
After closing up shop in the early hours of the morning, he had another drink with Brother Hai and the others. Only then did Shen Feng return to his small rental room, wash up, and lie down on his bed, completely content.
As an orphan, being able to support himself through his own labor made him very satisfied with his current life.
He casually grabbed his phone, planning to browse the news before bed, when he suddenly saw that giant eye icon.
'This crappy game still isn't uninstalled.'
He tapped it open. It was still the same crude start page with the same block of text.
'Whatever, I'll just see what this stupid game is actually like...'
With that thought, Shen Feng pressed the "Start" button. His vision blurred, and he fell into a deep sleep.
An unknown amount of time passed before Shen Feng was jolted awake by a cold gust of wind. He snapped his eyes open.
It was morning, and the weather was unreasonably cold. Shen Feng sat up with a start, only to realize he was completely naked. His clothes and blanket were gone.
And this wasn't his bed at all!
Looking around, he saw an unfamiliar room covered in a thick layer of dust, with cobwebs strung up in the corners. He had no idea what was going on.
'I've been kidnapped?!'
That was Shen Feng's first reaction. All the news stories he'd seen about gigolos and organ thieves flashed through his mind.
'My phone is still here!'
He leaped off the bed, snatched his phone, and rushed to the window to look outside.
Outside, it was broad daylight. Below was a street that was both bustling and dilapidated. Bustling, because it was lined with all sorts of shops with magnificent, opulent decorations. Dilapidated, because the street itself was full of cracks, overgrown with weeds. Various signs were rusted and toppled over, making it look like a no-man's land. Many cars were stopped on the road, surrounded by weeds and covered in rust.
He had definitely never seen this place before!
'Am I dreaming?!'
Shen Feng pinched himself hard, wincing from the pain.
'Not a dream...'
At the same time, he faintly saw the silhouette of a person standing outside the door.
'Who is it? The kidnapper?'
Ignoring the fact that he was naked, Shen Feng grabbed a large ashtray from a dusty table and crept cautiously to the door.
Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the doorknob, yanked the door open, and viciously smashed the ashtray toward the person's head.
"CRACK! SHATTER!" The person didn't even try to dodge. The ashtray struck their head and instantly broke apart, the impact sending a painful shock through Shen Feng's hand.
Staring at the figure's appearance, his mouth fell open, unable to believe his eyes.
It was... a stone statue!