Chapter 2

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“Ding Ling Ling…!”

Suddenly, a hurried cell phone rang. Tang Zhen picked it up and took a look. It was a friend he had not contacted in a long time. Tang Zhen was surprised, but he still pressed the answer button.

“*&#¥@*%¥#…!”

It wasn’t his long-lost friend’s voice coming from the receiver, but a language with a strange tone.

It was unknown what language it was, but it made Tang Zhen listen to it in a daze for a full minute and felt as if his soul had left his body. In the end, he even said into the cell phone, “Yes!”

After saying this word, the cell phone exploded with white light. Tang Zhen directly fainted and was wrapped in white light.

After the white light dissipated, he had already disappeared from the room without a trace.

…

“Drip… Drip…”

After Tang Zhen recovered his consciousness, he first heard a sound similar to water dripping in a silent room. Then, he saw his black smartphone that had fallen in the dust.

At this moment, he had already remembered that it was it that caused him to faint.

Looking around, Tang Zhen was shocked to discover that he wasn’t at home. Instead, he was lying in a ruins filled with trash.

In a panic, he struggled to sit up from the ground. After confirming that apart from his clothes being stained with a large amount of mud, he wasn’t injured at all, he picked up the cell phone.

However, as soon as he held the cell phone in his hand, he sensed something strange.

The cell phone seemed to have become much heavier?

After Tang Zhen sensed this, he immediately brought the cell phone to his eyes to check. With the dim light, he confirmed that this was his cell phone, but the texture of the shell had become some unknown metal.

With a gentle press, the cell phone screen lit up, but the familiar interface disappeared. In its place was a bleeding skeleton with Purgatory as the background. Its deep eyes emitted a hair-raising aura, as if it was staring at Tang Zhen and sneering.

Tang Zhen recalled his previous encounter and the environment he was in now and couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart. He hurriedly flipped through his cell phone.

He was shocked to discover that there were no contacts left in the entire cell phone. There was an icon with the description “Personal Information” under it and also the icon of the application store.

The last icon was an icon of a vortex and had the description “Teleportation” under it.

After seeing this icon, Tang Zhen’s heart skipped a beat, and he revealed a thoughtful expression.

He first tried to make a call, but a notification from the cell phone showed that he had yet to pay his phone bill. That strange female voice that sounded like a Sadako reminded Tang Zhen to top up with gold coins as soon as possible!

Gold coins?

Since when did they need to use gold coins to top up their phones? Could the communications company be any more scamming?

However, Tang Zhen didn’t think too much about this. After hanging up, he shook his head, as if he wanted to throw that resentful voice out of his mind. Then, he opened the personal information icon.

Tang Zhen

Male

23

Level 0

Experience Points 0/10

Health Points: 100

Account balance: 0 gold coins

After Tang Zhen finished reading this information with a frown, he silently opened the icon of the application store.

A dazzling array of application icons filled the screen. There were a few categories, including battle, life, and entertainment.

Among the various applications, a few applications were recommended and the words “newbie recommendation” were labeled.

[Luck Roulette, earn big rewards with a small bet, is infinitely exciting. The main prize is luck points. Special prizes are randomly produced, and the download price is 0 gold coins.]

[Flashlight, can illuminate. Download price: 100 gold coins.]

[Beginner-level map can display the terrain and monsters within a 100-meter radius. The download price is 1,000 gold coins.]

[Projection, can project the screen image in front of you. You can also control the cell phone through consciousness. 500 gold coins.]

[Beginner-level monster detector, can display monster information no more than three levels above the owner. The download price is 1,000 gold coins.]

[Miniature storage space. can open up a dimensional space with a storage volume of one cubic meter in the cell phone. (Can be folded to store items, the total amount cannot exceed one cubic meter). The download price is 10,000 gold coins.]

[Beginner-level treasure detector. It can detect valuable items within a 100-meter radius. The download price is 100,000 gold coins.]

…

Tang Zhen looked at it for a while and exited the application store skeptically. Although he wanted to download an app and give it a try, the frequent notifications of “gold coins are insufficient” forced him to give up on this idea.

It looked like he had encountered a very strange thing!

Tang Zhen sighed and stood up from the ground. He began to size up his surroundings.

This place looked like an abandoned factory. It looked dilapidated, and almost everything that could be used had been torn down.

After Tang Zhen searched around and was about to find an exit to take a look outside, he suddenly heard the sound of human footsteps.

He silently took a few steps to a corridor and saw a woman.

In the dim light, he couldn’t tell how old this woman was, but her skin looked very rough and old.

The woman was hunched over, wearing a tattered blanket and was walking around with her bare feet.

Her movements were slow and weak. She leaned on a wooden stick and seemed to be searching for something in the trash.

As she flipped through it, the woman seemed to have made a discovery. She picked up a food bag with a slightly surprised expression.

Just as she was about to take a closer look, three human-shaped shadows suddenly rushed out from a dark corner.

The three black shadows bared their fangs and brandished their claws. Their thin, withered vine-like palms immediately landed on the woman.

The woman let out a scream, and a desperate expression appeared on her face. She struggled desperately.

However, it was already too late, because one of the human-shaped shadows had already bitten the woman’s neck and pulled hard.

“Pfft…”

Even her skin, flesh, and throat were pulled out. Blood splattered, and the woman immediately rolled her eyes and fell to the ground.

At this moment, Tang Zhen had already seen the appearance of the human-shaped black shadow, but he didn’t dare to act rashly.

He was shocked to see that this woman was being torn and swallowed by three humans covered in rotten flesh. At this moment, she was already lying on the ground covered in blood and it was already impossible for him to save her.

This kind of human covered in rotten meat and eating human meat seemed to be the legendary “zombies!”

The woman was torn apart by the zombies and her intestines were pulled far away.

Suppressing the urge to vomit in his heart, Tang Zhen quietly retreated from the corridor. At the same time, he tried his best to take a deep breath and calm down.

After his breathing stabilized, he sat quietly for a moment and widened his eyes, trying to find a weapon to protect himself.

However, apart from trash, there didn’t seem to be any suitable weapons in this abandoned factory.

Tang Zhen stumbled for a long time before only finding a half-meter-long rusty wire.

Tang Zhen knew that he couldn’t stay here. He had to find an opportunity to escape. Otherwise, he would be killed by zombies and hunger sooner or later!

He squatted in the corner with bated breath. Tang Zhen felt that time was passing extremely slowly. The fear in his heart slowly gnawed at him like an ant, but he had to forcefully maintain his calm.

After a long time, when there were no more sounds in the corridor, Tang Zhen began to tiptoe towards the place where the woman was attacked.

The zombie had already disappeared. The ground was covered in blood stains and scattered bones.

Tang Zhen picked up two leg bones and a rib without hesitation and returned to his original hiding position.

If he wanted to live, he had to have a weapon. He couldn’t do it bare-handed.

He wasn’t someone who grew up in a greenhouse, but someone who grew up in a poor environment. There was a hint of determination and cruelty in his personality.

He found a place with a hole and inserted a section of the leg bone he was holding onto. Tang Zhen kicked a few times, and the leg bone immediately split open, turning into two sharp bones.

After a little polishing on the cement ground, it became two pretty good melee weapons. He just didn’t know if this sharp weapon was useful against zombies.

“Tap… Tap… Tap…”

At this moment, in the empty abandoned factory, the sound of footsteps dragging the ground came, looking extremely strange. Tang Zhen immediately felt his scalp tingle, and he turned to look at the corridor not far away without hesitation.

Three zombies with big bellies full of human flesh returned and were roaring as they charged at Tang Zhen.

At this moment, Tang Zhen had no way out. He gritted his teeth and waved his pale leg bones to face the three zombies.

A stench hit him, but Tang Zhen couldn’t care less. With the advantage of his agile body, he smashed a zombie to the ground with his first attack.

“Crack!”

One of the leg bones broke, and only half of it was left in his hand. However, he stabbed the remaining half of the leg bone into the eye socket of another zombie without hesitation.

The zombie didn’t feel pain, but it was pushed away by the inertia. Then, miraculously, it tripped over itself.

Tang Zhen thought to himself that he was lucky. At this moment, the third zombie’s sharp claws were already on Tang Zhen’s shoulder, and its smelly mouth bit fiercely at Tang Zhen’s neck.

“Screw you!”

At this moment, Tang Zhen had gone all out. He grabbed the zombie’s withered arm and made a big leap, throwing the zombie out. Then, he rushed out without hesitation.

After running for an unknown period of time, Tang Zhen finally found the exit. After charging out, he saw a vast wilderness.

A faint roar of a zombie came from behind. Tang Zhen didn’t dare to hesitate and continued to run.

However, as he ran, he seemed to feel a numbing itch on his shoulder, accompanied by a hint of pain.

Damn it, was I scratched by a zombie? Am I going to become a zombie like in the movies?

Tang Zhen was worried along the way, and his footsteps became heavier and heavier. When his consciousness gradually blurred, he vaguely saw a camp.

Many people seemed to be gathering around. When they saw him running over, they didn’t seem to be surprised.

“Plop!”

Tang Zhen’s vision darkened and he fainted on the ground. Before he lost consciousness, he seemed to have heard a wave of laughter. Someone seemed to be muttering, “Another unlucky person!”

“Ignore him. I think he’s probably fainted from hunger.”

“Let me see. He seems to be injured. He should have been scratched by a monster. It’s just a small matter. Back then, I…”