CH 2

Five years ago, Hao Jian was enrolled to a well-known university in Southern City. Southern City was more than 700 kilometers away from her hometown and lived there alone to study, only to drop out half a year later. She went back to her hometown and work to take care of her seriously ill mother.

After half a year living this kind of life, her mother committed suicide two days after her birthday with a suicide note:

‘I can’t take it anymore, but I wanted to spend my last birthday with you.’

She could still taste the last cake she ate as if it was stuck in her throat. It wasn’t because it was sweet, but it was so bitter that she vomited everything in her stomach on her mother’s grave.

“Reminding the host that it’s the second day since the zombie virus outbreak level has risen to 3. For the sake of your physical and mental health, please start the survival mission and increase your level as soon as possible.”

Yesterday, the auditory hallucinations in her mind reappeared. Hao Jian shook her head and looked around the cemetery again. Surrounding this barren and lonely cemetery, there are only small hills covered with weeds, while the more luxurious ones are just monuments. Apart from her and Zhiye, there are no other living creatures?!

“Reminding the host that it is disrespectful to vomit filth in front of other graves.”

Hao Jian looked down, She hadn’t eaten anything since last night. How could there be any filth? It was just saliva at most.

Suddenly, she reached and patted her head.

“What is this auditory hallucination? Is it because I have split personality?”

The more she thought about it, the more likely it was. She grabbed a shovel and shoveled away her vomit and weed apart.

“According to system results, the host ahs very good physical health and no record of mental illnesses. Otherwise, how could an advanced system like me and my high-end doomsday survival system version 2018 be bound to you!”

Hao Jian’s heart gradually grew heavy. She became more and more certain that either she’s experiencing auditory hallucinations, or something strange was attached to her.

If it was auditory hallucinations, then her condition could be serious, convincing her of going to the hospital as soon as possible. If something strange is attached to her then she has to do two things; first is to publish a paper confirming the existence of ghosts and monsters, second is to go to Huang Daxian 1.

Thankfully, the sound never appeared again. Hao Jian paid homage to her mother with peace of mind. She went back down the mountain and went home before the forest lost its luster.

Hao Jian arrived in a two-story red-brick house, with mottled walls on three sides like dividing a territory and a rusty iron door. Although she went to Southern City to earn a living after her mother died, she still returns to this home several times a year and is no stranger to all this.

The valuables in the house were either given away by Hao Jian or taken to Southern City. She carried with her a suitcase when she came back this time since she planned to stay a few days, otherwise she would’ve only brought with her a backpack.

Hungry, she ate some snacks left over from her worship to her mother then took out the book she brought back from the suitcase and looked through it. After ten o’clock, the dogs in the village stopped barking. The scattered lights that looked like stars were also extinguished. Hao Jian went to bath before sleeping.

—–

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

The neighbor’s big yellow dog suddenly broke out loud barking that woke Hao Jian from her sleep. She stared at the dim ceiling for three seconds before turning to look out the window.

The sky was faintly bright and one could see a strange trace in the blue sky at this time. She grabbed her watch and glanced at the date; Saturday, July 28, 2018, 5:34.

The fan still blew from the soles of the feet to the head, but it couldn’t dispel the still mood and her sweat all over her body.

“Reminding the host that it’s the sixth day since the zombie virus outbreak level has risen to 3. For the sake of your physical and mental health, please start the survival mission and increase your level as soon as possible.”

The voice of the system rang in her mind almost at the same time.

“Thank you for being humane as to not bother me when I was asleep.”

Hao Jian wiped off her sweat and quickly got up and wore her underware.

“If the host wants the reminder function, kindly start the survival mission and upgrade your level. That way the system can appear at any given time.”

The system tries to tempt her.

“You say that but for the sake of my beauty sleep, I can’t do what you want.”

“You little minx.”2

The barking stopped ang Hao Jian walked towards the window and saw her neighbor aunt drag the big yellow dog desperately back into the house. She then locked the brand new stainless steel door. The lights in the house soon went out, and only vaguely revealed a figure on the second floor peeking from the window facing the road.

Hao Jian went to the window and saw two beams of light swaying on the uneven road in a distance, it looked like a car heading towards the village.

After a few minutes, the sound of the motor stopped. A figure went to the neighbor’s door, banging it while calling out anxously.

“Mom, I’m back! Open the door!”

The neighbor’s lights went on as the aunt looked out to see who it was. After seeing the figure outside the yard, she ran downstairs excitedly and opened the door.

“Son, you’re back! You called me and said that there was an illness outbreak everywhere and told me not to contact anyone. I called you for two days straight but you didn’t answer it. I’m worried you’ll catch it too. What kind of illness is it?! Why is your face so pale? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

The man properly parked the car in the yard and said.

“Mom, there’s no time to stand outside the door and explain. Quickly go in and lock the door!”

They left the lights on after heading inside and Hao Jian didn’t hear any more sounds.

She filled the kettle with water and plugged it in to boil. After Hao Jian brushed her teeth and washed her face, she made some tea and cleaned the moldy and old mountaineering bag. After wiping the surface mold off, she stuffed some folded clothes, laptop, and two books inside. The rest of the things she brought back were unnecessary for her.

“System version 2018 in good conscience would like to remind the host that laptops and books will only increase the load. Please consider it carefully.” The system paused for thee seconds before continuing. “Of course, if the host begins the survival mission and upgrades to the corresponding level, things will be much more convenient.”

“You should be familiar with the saying ‘There Is No Pie in the Sky’. You appear all of a sudden and promise so many attractive benefits, but I don’t believe you don’t have conditions for them.”

“The question involves the secret of the Doomsday Survival Systems. System version 2018 cannot obtain corresponding permissions to answer and the host’s level is too low. The host currently has no permission to learn the corresponding secrets.”

Hao Jian finally found something interesting from the system on the sixth day of its appearance and asked.

“What level do I need to be to obtain the corresponding confidential authority?”

“The host hasn’t even reached the lowest level and has no right to know.”

The system’s voice was very robotic, but Hao Jian could feel that its mocker her no matter how she hears it.

All of a sudden, the neighbor’s dog barked frantically. A scream was heard and the neighboring aunt cried. “Son, what are you doing?! What’s wrong with you?!”

Hao Jian’s heart almost stopped and hurried towards the window. Through the light of dawn, she saw the aunt with her back against the window with a hideous scratch on her right arm. Hao Jian then knew then and there that the aunt have been infected.

“It hasn’t been ten minutes since she was infected, is there any way to rescue her?” Hao Jian asked the system.

“Once infected, no matter how long its been, they will inevitably turn into zombies. There’s no turning back.”

Hao Jian’s brows shot up and the still atmosphere made her a little anxious. Before seeing the so-called zombies, she was still calm and indifferent, but now that she saw it with her own eyes, she had to accept it as a fact.

“What happens if I get infected?”

“I regret to tell the host that you will also become like them, a zombie.”

Hao Jian clutched her chest, her heart beating violently in her chest, banging against her palm. She exhaled heavily and grinned.

“If what you say is true, then I can at least trust you a little bit more.”

“This system is having trouble understanding what the host is thinking, kindly speak human language.”

“If you tell me that you have a way to resist the virus, then I’ll have to suspect that all of this is the ghost of your doomsday survival system.”

In this world here zombies are rampant, I’m afraid there’s nothing more tempting than resisting the zombie virus. Although the motive of this system is still unknown, as long as it still has some use, I can at least trust it a little.

“Unfortunately, the system does not have this function.” The system replied solemnly

The screams turned into wailing, Hao Jian leaned on the window and witnessed a bloody and gruesome scene. The neighboring aunt was pinned down by her zombie son on the ground, her neck ripped open with blood spreading on the messy ground…