A chime woke him.
It was soft. Insistent. It came from inside his head.
Lin Feng opened his eyes. Gray morning light filtered through the office windows. The air was cold and stale. He was still under the desk. His back ached. His mouth was dry.
The blue system screen was flashing.
[Alert: Quest Update]
[Quest: Survive the Initial Onslaught]
[Status: COMPLETE]
[Time Remaining: 00:00:00]
[Reward: 500 EXP, Title: 'The Lucky']
[Claim? Y/N]
He blinked. Twenty-four hours. Had it been a full day? He had slept through most of it. He selected Y.
Warmth spread through his body. It was a gentle, energizing pulse. His aches faded when it did. His fatigue lifted.
Notifications cascaded almost immediately.
[+500 EXP!]
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 2!]
[+5 Stat Points to allocate.]
[Title Acquired: 'The Lucky']
Effect: Slightly increases luck-based outcomes. (Hidden Stat)
[Level 2 Bonus: +20 Max HP, +10 Max MP]
He was stronger. Just like that? He hadn't fought. He had just survived. He pulled up his main status.
[Player: Lin Feng]
[Level: 2 (Survivor)]
[HP: 120/120]
[MP: 10/10]
[EXP: 525/600]
[Title: The Lucky]
He minimized the blue screen. He focused on his green one. The Idle Apocalypse System.
A summary report was waiting.
[Overnight Activity Report - 00:00 to 06:00]
[Asset Z-001 maintained patrol route.]
[Hostiles Engaged: Giant Rat x4.]
[Resources Farmed: Wood x18, Plastic x5, Low-Grade Metal x3, Torn Fabric x12.]
[Idle Points Generated: +42.]
[Current IP: 58/100]
[Hidden Cache is at 34% capacity.]
He had gained resources during his sleep. The concept still felt strange. Powerful.
He opened the asset management screen. Zombie Clone #001 was at [HP: 100/100]. Its durability had dropped to [65/100] from constant use. A repair option was available.
[Repair Z-001 to 100% Durability]
[Cost: 10 Wood, 5 IP]
He approved it. Resources were meant to be used.
He checked his construction menu. New options were unlocked.
[Basic Structures (Unlocked)]
- Hidden Cache (Lv.1) [BUILT]
- Basic Workshop (Lv.1) [LOCKED - Requires: Metal x50, IP x100]
[Asset Production (Unlocked)]
- Deploy Basic Zombie Clone [Cost: 25 IP]
- Deploy Basic Skeleton [LOCKED - Requires: Research]
He could make a second zombie. He had the points. He considered it. More workers meant more farming. More farming meant faster growth. And stronger him.
But more assets also meant more upkeep. More things to manage. More chance of being noticed.
He decided to wait. He needed to understand the world first.
He commanded Z-001 to stop patrolling. He ordered it to [Scout].
A new task menu opened. He could set a destination. He looked at the map of Shanghai. His building was a single point. The rest was gray, a fog of war.
He set a scout destination two blocks away. A small supermarket. The zombie would move slowly. It would avoid combat if possible. It would map the terrain.
[Task Assigned: Scout to designated location.]
[Estimated Round Trip Time: 4.5 hours.]
The zombie shuffled out of the office. Its green dot began moving on the map. Slow. Steady.
Lin Feng was alone.
His stomach growled. He had the rat meat in his cache. The thought made him sick. He needed real food. Clean water.
He looked at his own inventory. It was still empty. He had the [Crude Stone Axe] from the first goblin. He had not claimed it from the system loot. He did so now. A heavy, rough stone axe appeared in his hand. It felt solid. Primitive.
It was a weapon. He was not a fighter. But he had a weapon.
A new quest appeared on his main screen.
[New Quest: Find Shelter]
[Objective: Locate or establish a safe, long-term shelter.]
[Reward: 300 EXP, Basic Building Kit.]
[Failure: Increased vulnerability to environmental events.]
Shelter. This office was not shelter. It was a hiding place. It would not last.
He had two choices.
Choice one: Go deeper. Use his system. Fortify this floor. Build his workshop. Create an army of idle clones. Become a hidden king in a tomb of glass and steel.
Choice two: Go out. Find other survivors. Find a real settlement. Use his system in secret. Have a human cover.
The first choice was safer in the short term. Isolated. Controllable.
The second choice was smarter. Humans were social creatures. They built communities. They shared knowledge. They had numbers. He could hide among them. His zombie could scout from afar. No one would know his power.
He needed information. His zombie scout would provide some. But it was slow.
He made his decision.
He would seek other survivors. But he would be careful. He would not reveal his system. He would act weak. He would observe.
He stood up. His legs were stiff. He stretched.
He looked out the office window. Shanghai was changed. Smoke rose from several districts. The streets were littered with abandoned cars. He saw no people. He saw movement, but it was not human. A large, dog-like creature loped down the center of the road.
The world was dangerous.
To think the world could change significantly within seconds was still somewhat unbelievable to him and seeing all his coworker especially his boss being devoured, made him so happy.
He checked his scout. The green dot was a block away. It had encountered no hostiles.
He needed to move. He would head south. Toward the river. There were old warehouses there. Possible shelter. Possible survivors.
He picked up his stone axe. He felt its weight.
He was Level 2. He had 5 stat points. He needed to allocate them.
He thought about it. Strength was for fighting. He was not a fighter. Agility was for dodging. Vitality was for health. Might intelligence affect his system? Perception was for seeing danger.
He put 3 points into Vitality. Survival was about endurance. He put 2 points into Perception. He
needed to see threats before they saw him.
His HP increased to 150. His PER stat went to 10.
He took a deep breath.
He left the office. He moved into the hallway. It was a mess. Overturned furniture. Dark stains on the carpet. He avoided looking at them.
He moved to the stairwell. The door was damaged. He listened. He heard nothing.
He started down. His footsteps echoed. He tried to be quiet.
On the ninth floor, he stopped. A red dot appeared on his map. Right around the corner in the hallway. [Hostile - Diseased Crow].
He could fight it. He had an axe. He had more HP.
Or he could avoid it.
He chose avoidance. He slipped past the stairwell door. He continued down.
The lobby was a disaster. The glass front doors were shattered. Wind blew through. Papers fluttered across the marble floor. A receptionist's chair was overturned.
He saw his first human corpse since the merge.
It was a security guard. Half-eaten. Lin Feng looked away. His stomach churned.
He moved quickly. He stepped through the broken doorframe. He was outside.
The air smelled of smoke and ozone. The sky was a weird, bruised color. The silence was oppressive. No traffic sounds. No city hum.
He was exposed.
He hugged the wall of his building. He looked south. He started walking.
His map was updated with the terrain his zombie had scouted. A path was clear for two blocks. Then, fog of war.
He walked. Every shadow made him jump. Every sound made him freeze.
After twenty minutes, he heard voices.
Human voices.
They came from a side street. He peered around the corner.
A group of five people were barricading the door of a pharmacy. They used shelving units and debris. They looked tired. Dirty. Armed with makeshift weapons; a fire axe, a pipe, a kitchen knife.
Survivors.
Lin Feng watched them for a full minute. They worked together. They talked in low tones. They seemed organized. Not panicked.
This was it. His choice.
He stepped out from the corner. He raised his empty hand. He held his stone axe low.
"Hello?" he called out. His voice sounded rough.
All five people spun around. Weapons raised. Their eyes were wide with fear and suspicion.
A man with a fire axe stepped forward. He was older. He had a grim face. "Who are you? Are you alone?"
Lin Feng nodded. "Yes. Alone. My name is Lin Feng. I... I just want to survive."
The man looked him up and down. He saw the office clothes. The cheap shoes. The crude axe. He saw no obvious threat.
"Where did you come from?"
"The office building. A few blocks back."
The man lowered his axe a fraction. "You made it this far alone? You're lucky."
Lin Feng managed a weak smile. "Yes," he said, thinking of his title. "I am lucky."
The man nodded toward the barricade. "We're securing this place. We have a larger settlement nearby. At the old shipping warehouse by pier seven. Safety in numbers. You can come. But you pull your weight. No freeloaders."
Lin Feng nodded quickly. "I understand. I will help."
"Good. I'm Lao Chen. Welcome to the group." The man pointed to a young woman checking the windows. "Mei will check you for infection. Then we move."
The woman named Mei turned. She had sharp eyes. She looked at Lin Feng. Her gaze was intense. It felt like it saw too much.
She walked over. She did not smile.
"Hold out your arms," she said. Her voice was calm. Commanding.
Lin Feng obeyed.
The core hook was set. He had his cheat. He had his hidden power.
Now, he had entered the human world. The real game, the game of secrecy and survival had just begun.