Chapter 3: The Betrayal and the Beginning
Yu Chen stepped toward the classroom door.
Each step felt heavier than the last.
Just as his hand reached the handle, a voice stopped him.
"Yu Chen—where do you think you're going?"
It was the teacher.
Her face was pale, eyes filled with fear and exhaustion.
"My sister," Yu Chen replied calmly. "She's in another college nearby. There are zombies everywhere. I have to find her."
"You can't go outside," the teacher said immediately. "The campus is full of monsters. It's suicide."
Yu Chen didn't answer.
For a moment, the teacher hesitated—torn between responsibility and reality.
Then, slowly… she stepped back.
She didn't stop him again.
---
A low chuckle echoed behind them.
"He's weak," Cheng Kung said, lips curling into a cruel smile.
"Just a burden."
His eyes were cold.
Perfect, he thought. If he goes out, he'll attract the zombies away from us.
A living bait.
---
"Cheng Kung!" the teacher snapped. "Do you hear yourself? He'll die out there!"
"He'll die anyway," Cheng Kung replied indifferently.
"Why waste food and space on trash?"
"Yes… teacher," Jia Li said softly, standing beside him.
"Cheng Kung is right."
Yu Chen's eyes flickered toward her.
The same woman who once encouraged him.
The same woman who once protected him.
She didn't meet his gaze.
---
One by one, voices joined in.
"Yes, teacher."
"He's useless."
"A burden."
"A waste."
"He's just a commoner."
Each word stabbed deeper than any blade.
---
"Enough!" the teacher shouted, slamming her hand against a desk.
"How can you all be so heartless?!"
Silence followed.
Yu Chen turned back to her.
"Teacher," he said quietly, "don't worry. I'll be fine."
"But Yu Chen—there's a group of zombies outside!" she pleaded.
"Trash!" Cheng Kung snapped impatiently.
"Why are you still stopping him?"
He wants me to lure them away, Yu Chen realized.
His expression didn't change.
---
Insults continued behind him.
But Yu Chen no longer heard them.
He opened the door.
And stepped out.
---
The moment his foot crossed the threshold—
BANG!
The door slammed shut behind him with brutal force.
The sound echoed down the corridor like a gunshot.
Yu Chen's pupils shrank.
That bastard…
The noise carried far.
Too far.
---
From every direction—
Growls answered.
Footsteps.
Dragging sounds.
Inhuman screams.
The zombies noticed him.
They started running.
---
Yu Chen sprinted.
His lungs burned as he turned sharply into another classroom and slammed the door behind him. Desks trembled as bodies crashed against it from the other side.
Bang!
Bang!
Crack!
The door shuddered violently.
It wouldn't last long.
---
Yu Chen leaned against a desk, gasping.
Yu Ming…
How am I supposed to save you now?
Then—
A growl came from behind him.
Too close.
---
Yu Chen turned.
His blood ran cold.
Two zombies stood inside the room.
Their bodies were twisted, clothes torn, jaws hanging open as foul breath filled the air. Their eyes locked onto him instantly.
He had nowhere to run.
No weapon.
No help.
---
How do I fight this?
His gaze darted around desperately.
Then he saw it.
A metal cleaning rod leaning against the wall.
---
Yu Chen grabbed it.
The zombies lunged.
He swung with everything he had—panic, fear, desperation driving his movements. The rod struck bone. Flesh. But the monsters were strong.
Stronger than him.
His arms trembled. His vision blurred.
I'm going to die.
---
Images flashed through his mind.
Graduation.
His mother's smile.
Yu Ming laughing as she ran ahead of him.
I wanted to live quietly.
I wanted to protect them.
Not like this.
---
"NO—!"
With the last of his strength, Yu Chen thrust the rod forward.
It pierced straight through one zombie's head.
The second lunged—
He twisted, swung again, and brought it down.
The body collapsed.
Silence followed.
---
Yu Chen dropped to his knees.
His hands shook. Blood dripped from his wounds. His chest heaved violently as consciousness began to fade.
I'm still alive…?
---
Then—
A sound echoed inside his mind.
Cold. Mechanical. Absolute.
> "CONGRATULATIONS."
"COMPATIBLE HOST DETECTED."
"SURVIVAL SYSTEM — UNLOCKED."
Yu Chen's eyes widened.
This was not the end.
This—
Was the beginning.