Apocalypse 01

"By the way." Fang Zhiyi paused and looked curiously at Little Hei beside him, who had now taken on a basic human form. "Why haven’t I seen the male and female protagonists?"

Little Hei shook his head. "There aren’t any. Some worlds are like this—there might be people with stronger luck, but there’s no such thing as 'protagonists.' These worlds aren’t created for them."

Fang Zhiyi asked, "Then what about worlds that are made for protagonists?"

Little Hei mimicked Fang Zhiyi’s habit of stroking his chin. "In those worlds, if you messed with the protagonists like this, you’d probably get struck by lightning."

Fang Zhiyi stared at Little Hei for a long time without looking away. So that’s how it was. The places Little Hei had taken him to were all worlds without a governing heavenly law... and it...

"Host, what’s with that look?" Little Hei felt uneasy.

"Nothing. Let’s go." Fang Zhiyi had grown somewhat accustomed to doing tasks by now. If nothing else, it was at least interesting.

The apocalypse erupted as a strange virus swept across the globe. Those infected exhibited extreme violence and animalistic behavior. They retained some basic instincts, could speak simple words, and this made them far more dangerous. The most terrifying part was that once infected, the transformation took mere seconds.

This time, the protagonist was a woman named Lin Nuan. Like in the novels Fang Zhiyi had read before, she was a reincarnator. In her first life, Lin Nuan had been an obedient girl. When the apocalypse struck, she was trapped in school. A boy who had a crush on her desperately protected her, and the two managed to reunite with other classmates. Lin Nuan’s boyfriend was also among them, and a temporary group of about a dozen formed to survive.

But the journey was far from smooth. First, the boy who protected her pushed her away and got himself bitten by an infected.

Lin Nuan refused to abandon him, leading to arguments with the others. After the boy turned, he attacked two classmates, and the group had to work together to push him off a building. Because of this, the female antagonist grew to hate Lin Nuan and spent the rest of their survival journey sabotaging her at every turn. Lin Nuan suffered greatly, and in the end, the female antagonist and her boyfriend conspired to use Lin Nuan as bait to ensure their own escape.

After reincarnating, Lin Nuan’s first move was to stockpile supplies. Then she obtained a spatial storage ability. She wanted to save the boy who had protected her and stay far away from her ex-boyfriend and the female antagonist.

The original Fang Zhiyi only appeared after Lin Nuan’s rebirth. He was the only son of a wealthy merchant in the city and also attended the same school, though he kept a low profile, so few knew his true identity. Lin Nuan deliberately got close to him. Fang Zhiyi, who had never been in a relationship before, was quickly charmed. Realizing he had feelings for her, when Lin Nuan claimed her father was seriously ill and needed money, Fang Zhiyi lent it to her without hesitation.

Even the spatial storage item Lin Nuan obtained was given by Fang Zhiyi—it was his late mother’s heirloom, meant for his future wife. He handed it over without a second thought.

With the money and spatial storage secured, Lin Nuan immediately began hoarding supplies, building a fortified bunker. On the day the apocalypse broke out, she forcibly dragged the boy who liked her and a few other close classmates out of school, successfully avoiding the high-risk zone.

Fang Zhiyi also escaped school and returned home. Under the protection of his family’s security, he managed to survive for a while. But during a supply run, he ran into Lin Nuan. After exchanging pleasantries, Fang Zhiyi, worried for their safety, asked if they wanted to take shelter at the Fang estate. Lin Nuan refused.

Then, out of jealousy, the boy who liked her pulled a dirty trick—luring a horde of infected toward Fang Zhiyi’s group. Fang Zhiyi was killed on the spot.

When Lin Nuan found out, she had a huge fight with the boy. But remembering how he had saved her in her past life, she forgave him. Still, as they journeyed on, the people around them kept dying one by one. Eventually, they reached a safe base, where Lin Nuan fell in love at first sight with the local leader and lived a carefree life. The boy, meanwhile, remained by her side as a silent guardian.

Fang Zhiyi sighed. "Another dumb original host?"

Little Hei bounced around. "Not that bad, right? I think Lin Nuan’s pretty cute."

"You wouldn’t know cute if it bit you."

The current timeline was set just as Lin Nuan and Fang Zhiyi were in their ambiguous phase. Tomorrow, she would ask him for money.

Fang Zhiyi couldn’t care less. Watching the teacher lecturing at the front of the classroom, he stood up, packed his things, and walked out. Seriously, the apocalypse was coming—why stick around?

He swaggered out, leaving behind a room full of stunned teachers and classmates.

He went straight home. Fang's Father was surprised. "You’re on break already?"

Fang Zhiyi shook his head and rushed into his room, rummaging through drawers.

Fang's Father watched for a moment before hesitantly asking, "Did you get into trouble? Are you running away?"

Fang Zhiyi found the emerald-green bracelet but couldn’t sense any spatial power from it.

"Hey, Old Zhang, arrange a boat—anywhere overseas, fast—" Before Fang's Father could finish, Fang Zhiyi snatched the phone and hung up.

Fang's Father was baffled. "What are you doing?"

Fang Zhiyi put his hands on his hips. "What are you doing?"

"Aren’t you packing to run away?" Fang's Father pointed at the mess. "Your old man’s a law-abiding businessman. I can’t harbor a fugitive, but before the cops come, I can at least get you a boat—"

Fang Zhiyi exhaled deeply. "Listen to me. The apocalypse is coming. The cities will be overrun by the infected. If we want to live, we need to find a place to stockpile supplies and gather people."

Fang's Father looked shocked, then pulled out another phone from who-knows-where. "Hello, hospital? Connect me to the psychiatric department—"

Fang Zhiyi grabbed the phone again. "I’m telling the truth!"

Fang's Father eyed him, then reached into his back pocket and pulled out yet another tiny phone.

Little Hei was impressed. "Is your cheap dad a phone salesman or something?"

"Get all the trucks at the logistics area ready." Hearing this, Fang Zhiyi’s outstretched hand froze mid-air.

Fang's Father gave a few more orders before sizing up his son. "You’ve never lied to me before, so I guess this must be real. But how bad is this 'apocalypse'? And how do you know?"

Fang Zhiyi looked at his unserious father and patiently explained everything—claiming he was a reincarnator, describing how horribly he died in his past life, and so on. Fang's Father listened in silence before suddenly clapping. "Bravo! I never knew my son had such a talent for storytelling! Maybe after this, you should sell the company and start a comedy club—"

Seeing the murderous glint in Fang Zhiyi’s eyes, Fang's Father finally got back on track.

"Alright, from now on, you’re in charge!"