The world did not end with an explosion.
It ended with a sound.
A dull, distant chime echoed across the sky, soft enough that most people mistook it for tinnitus, static, or stress. Lin Yuan heard it clearly. He always had.
That sound…
His pupils shrank.
The air froze.
For a single heartbeat, the entire city stalled—cars idling mid-turn, birds locked in flight, voices suspended halfway through speech. Then the chime rang again, louder this time, vibrating through bone instead of air.
Windows shattered.
People screamed.
Lin Yuan stood on the balcony of his cheap rental apartment, fingers gripping the rusted railing as memories flooded back like a knife pushed into an old wound.
Day One.
Below him, traffic slammed into chaos. A bus jackknifed across the intersection, crushing a sedan beneath its weight. Somewhere close, a woman shrieked as if her lungs were tearing themselves apart. Dogs barked wildly, then fell silent.
The sky darkened—not with clouds, but with something far worse.
Text.
Translucent, enormous, written across the heavens in cold, indifferent script.
SYSTEM DESCENT CONFIRMEDWORLD PHASE: INITIAL APOCALYPSEALL LIFEFORMS WILL BE EVALUATED
Someone nearby laughed nervously.
"What the hell is this, some kind of prank?"
Lin Yuan turned away from the railing.
He didn't answer.
He already knew how this ended.
Twenty years of blood, starvation, betrayal, and slaughter pressed down on his mind, but his body—young again, unscarred—remained steady. No shaking hands. No racing heart. Fear had burned out of him long ago.
He walked back inside.
The apartment smelled the same as it always had: instant noodles, dust, stale air. A laptop sat open on the desk, paused mid-video. His phone buzzed violently on the table.
Messages stacked up in seconds.
"DUDE ARE YOU SEEING THE SKY??""WHAT IS GOING ON""BRO ANSWER ME"
Lin Yuan silenced it.
Outside, screams multiplied.
He pulled open the drawer beneath the bed and retrieved a backpack he had packed the night before. Inside were supplies that made no sense to anyone else: bottled water, protein bars, a crowbar, duct tape, gloves, a folding knife.
Preparation without explanation.
Good. I didn't change that.
The System rewarded early action. The first few hours separated the living from the dead more effectively than any monster ever would.
Another chime rang out.
This one was closer.
Inside his head.
PLEASE REMAIN CALMMONSTER SPAWNING WILL COMMENCE IN: 00:04:59
"Fuck," Lin Yuan muttered.
He moved.
The stairwell reeked of sweat and panic. People poured downward in a screaming mass, some clutching phones, others half-dressed, one man dragging a suitcase so heavy it bounced off the steps with every impact.
A mistake.
Lin Yuan stepped aside, letting the tide rush past him. He went up, not down—two floors higher, to the rooftop access door he already knew would be unlocked.
Someone grabbed his arm.
"Hey! Where are you going?! They said monsters—!"
Lin Yuan shook him off.
"Run if you want," he said flatly. "Just don't come back."
The man stared at him like he was insane.
Lin Yuan didn't look back.
The rooftop greeted him with wind and sirens. Fires had already started somewhere to the east, black smoke crawling upward like a living thing.
The countdown ticked lower.
00:03:1200:03:11
Lin Yuan scanned the surrounding buildings, calculating distance, elevation, blind spots.
Same spawn zones as last time.
Hospitals. Schools. Subway entrances. Underground parking garages.
Anywhere people gathered.
Anywhere fear fermented fastest.
He crouched and slipped the backpack straps over his shoulders.
His hand brushed against the iron ring on his finger.
The Legendary Nurturer Ring looked unimpressive—dull, scarred, ancient. In his previous life, he'd almost thrown it away, assuming it was vendor trash after nearly dying in a sealed dungeon vault.
He didn't make that mistake this time.
"Once is enough," he whispered.
The ring felt warm.
00:01:00
The city howled.
Sirens cut out mid-wail. Power flickered, then failed completely. Somewhere far below, a transformer exploded, showering sparks like fireworks meant to mock the dying.
Lin Yuan jumped.
He didn't hesitate.
His body remembered the fall, rolled on impact, absorbed the shock cleanly. Pain flared through his legs, sharp but manageable.
He was already running when the timer hit zero.
The scream that followed wasn't human.
It came from the subway entrance across the street, a wet, tearing sound like meat being pulled apart by rusted hooks. The ground shook as something forced its way upward.
A man stumbled out first, face pale, eyes wide.
"Help—!"
His words cut off as his chest burst outward.
Blood sprayed the pavement.
Something crawled out through him.
It stood upright slowly, vertebrae cracking into place, skin sloughing off in strips. Its jaw unhinged too wide, teeth jagged and mismatched.
A Rot Walker.
Level 1.
Weak.
Fresh.
Lin Yuan watched calmly as it sniffed the air, head twitching toward the nearest cluster of people.
Same as always.
He didn't attack.
Not yet.
Three more erupted from the subway entrance. Then five. Then ten. People scattered in blind terror, shoving each other aside, tripping, screaming.
A woman fell.
The Rot Walker pounced.
Lin Yuan turned away.
Mercy was a currency he couldn't afford.
He sprinted down an alley, boots splashing through filthy runoff. His destination wasn't random—it never was. A small electrical substation squatted between two abandoned storefronts, fenced off and forgotten.
Inside that perimeter, something waited.
He vaulted the fence, tearing his jacket but not slowing.
The air tingled.
A faint crackle brushed against his skin.
Lin Yuan smiled for the first time since waking up.
"There you are."
The trash pile behind the substation shifted.
Two glowing blue eyes snapped open.
A shape burst free in a spray of sparks and debris, landing lightly atop a broken transformer casing. It was small—no bigger than a housecat—but power rolled off it in visible arcs.
Fur stood on end, black and gold streaked with static. Whiskers hummed like live wires.
An Electric Mouse.
Uncommon.
Extremely rare on Day One.
In his previous life, this creature hadn't survived past its first hour.
This time—
Lin Yuan dropped to one knee.
The mouse hissed, electricity snapping dangerously.
"Easy," he murmured. "I'm not here to kill you."
The System pulsed.
RARE MONSTER DETECTEDSPECIES: VOLTWHISKER (JUVENILE)THREAT LEVEL: LOWPOTENTIAL: EXTREMEDO YOU WISH TO FORM A CONTRACT?
"Yes," Lin Yuan said instantly.
The ring burned.
A thin crimson line traced itself across his palm. Blood dripped onto the concrete, steaming as it hit the charged ground. The Voltwhisker's eyes widened.
Then it leapt.
Pain flared as sharp teeth bit into his skin.
Lin Yuan didn't flinch.
The blood vanished.
The world pulsed once.
CONTRACT ESTABLISHEDCOMPANION ACQUIRED
The Voltwhisker froze.
Then it lowered its head.
Electricity settled into a steady hum instead of wild arcs.
Lin Yuan exhaled slowly.
"Good," he said. "You made the right choice."
The mouse chirped softly.
A strange warmth spread through his chest.
A scream cut short behind him.
Lin Yuan turned.
A Rot Walker had stumbled into the alley, drawn by the energy. Its movements were clumsy, eyes clouded, jaw slack.
Level 1.
He picked up the crowbar.
"Watch," he told the Voltwhisker. "This is how you eat."
He stepped forward.
The Rot Walker lunged.
Lin Yuan pivoted, swung low, and crushed its knee with a clean, practiced strike. Bone shattered. The creature collapsed, shrieking.
He brought the crowbar down again.
And again.
And again.
The body stopped moving.
Silence returned.
Blood pooled around his boots.
MONSTER SLAINEXP GAINEDITEM DROPPED: ROTTED FLESH (COMMON)
ITEM DROPPED: SKILL CRYSTAL (MINOR — TOUGH SKIN)
The crystal rolled to a stop at his feet, glowing faintly.
Lin Yuan picked it up.
Already?
Luck was smiling on him.
Or maybe—
He glanced at the Voltwhisker, whose whiskers twitched excitedly as it sniffed the air.
—Maybe I finally brought the right predator to the hunt.
He crushed the crystal in his hand.
Not for himself.
He extended his palm.
"Eat."
The Voltwhisker hesitated once.
Then it devoured the light.
Electricity surged violently, arcing up the walls, blasting scorch marks into concrete. The creature screamed—not in pain, but in exhilaration.
COMPANION EVOLUTION IN PROGRESS
Lin Yuan grinned, teeth white against blood-splattered skin.
Outside the alley, the world burned.
And this was only the beginning.
The electricity did not fade gently.
It exploded.
Blue arcs tore through the alley like living veins, crawling across walls, snapping against metal, shattering glass that had already survived the first wave of chaos. The Voltwhisker's small body convulsed mid-air, fur flaring outward as if each strand had become a wire plugged directly into a generator.
Lin Yuan stepped back—not in fear, but calculation.
Don't interrupt an evolution.
That rule had been carved into him with blood the first time he broke it.
The creature hit the ground hard, its claws digging into concrete. Its scream sharpened, no longer the thin cry of a juvenile beast but something deeper, layered, carrying an echo that didn't belong to a creature its size.
The system responded immediately.
EVOLUTION COMPLETESPECIES: VOLTWHISKER → VOLTWHISKER (ALPHA VARIANT)RANK: UNCOMMON → RARENEW SKILL ACQUIRED: STATIC MARKNEW TRAIT UNLOCKED: TREASURE-SEEKER (PASSIVE)
The light vanished.
Smoke curled upward.
The Voltwhisker straightened slowly. Its body had grown—not much, but enough to matter. Muscles were more defined beneath its fur, and its eyes burned brighter, the blue tinged now with a predatory gold.
It looked at Lin Yuan.
Not like a pet.
Like a partner assessing its handler.
"Good," Lin Yuan said quietly. "You're smarter already."
The mouse tilted its head, then scampered forward, stopping just short of his boots. Electricity pulsed between its whiskers, controlled, disciplined.
A low chitter echoed from its throat.
Lin Yuan nodded.
"Scout."
The Voltwhisker vanished.
Not metaphorically.
One second it was there—the next, the alley was empty, save for fading sparks and the corpse cooling at Lin Yuan's feet.
Static Mark plus stealth movement, he thought. Perfect for Day One.
The system window hovered briefly, then faded. Lin Yuan wiped blood from his crowbar against the Rot Walker's tattered clothes and exhaled through his nose.
One kill. One evolution. Zero mistakes.
So far.
The world didn't give points for optimism.
He stepped out of the alley into a street that no longer resembled one.
Cars burned in erratic patterns, some smashed together in wrecks that looked staged by a madman. Bodies lay scattered—some unmoving, others twitching as the infection raced through them.
A man crawled across the pavement, clutching his stomach, intestines slick in his hands.
"Help me… please…"
Lin Yuan passed him without slowing.
Behind him, the man screamed as something tore into his back.
Rule One: Don't look back unless you intend to kill what's behind you.
Lin Yuan headed toward the hardware store three blocks down. The building had survived the initial chaos in his last life, though it hadn't stayed that way for long.
He moved quickly, but not recklessly.
Rot Walkers were only the first layer.
The real danger was people.
The hardware store's glass front had already been smashed. Inside, shelves were overturned, tools scattered across the floor. Three men stood near the back, stuffing bags with whatever they could grab—hammers, machetes, a coil of heavy chain.
One of them turned, eyes widening.
"Hey—!"
He froze when he saw the blood on Lin Yuan's clothes.
"Don't come closer," another said, raising a pipe. "We found this place first."
Lin Yuan stopped just inside the doorway.
"You're loud," he said. "And you're blocking the exit."
The man with the pipe scoffed. "You think you can scare us? There's three of us."
Lin Yuan nodded slowly.
"Yes," he agreed. "That's the problem."
The pipe swung.
Lin Yuan moved.
The crowbar cracked against the man's wrist, snapping bone. The pipe clattered to the floor. Before the scream could fully escape, Lin Yuan stepped in, drove his knee into the man's chest, and shoved him backward into a display rack.
Metal collapsed.
The second man lunged.
Lin Yuan ducked, caught his ankle, twisted.
The man hit the ground face-first.
Lin Yuan brought the crowbar down on the back of his skull.
Once.
Twice.
The third man bolted.
Lin Yuan didn't chase him.
Instead, he reached down, grabbed the fallen pipe, and hurled it.
It struck the fleeing man between the shoulders with a wet crunch, driving him forward into the shattered glass. He slid down the frame, leaving red streaks behind.
Silence returned.
Lin Yuan stood still for a moment, listening.
No system notification.
Human kills don't count.
Not yet.
He looted quickly—rope, gloves, a hatchet, a small box of nails. Practical things. Then he turned to leave.
A buzzing sensation brushed the edge of his awareness.
Treasure-Seeker.
He followed it to the storage room behind the counter, pried open a half-buried locker, and found a small, steel-bound chest wedged behind cleaning supplies.
Inside:
A dagger.
Not impressive at first glance—short blade, worn grip—but the moment his fingers wrapped around it, the system flared.
EQUIPMENT ACQUIREDITEM: BUTCHER'S FANG (UNCOMMON)EFFECT: BLEED (ON HIT)BONUS: +5% DAMAGE TO INFECTED
Lin Yuan smiled faintly.
Good start.
He sheathed it and exited through the back.
Outside, the city screamed louder.
The first elite appeared an hour later.
Lin Yuan smelled it before he saw it.
Copper. Rot. Ozone.
The Voltwhisker reappeared on a traffic light above him, fur bristling.
Three short chirps.
Elite threat.
Lin Yuan crouched behind a flipped truck and peered around the wreckage.
The creature stalked down the avenue on elongated limbs, its torso twisted, spine protruding like a serrated ridge. One arm had fused into a blade of bone, slick with gore. The other dragged uselessly behind it.
An Aberrant Rot Walker.
Level 5.
Early elite.
It butchered a screaming couple with lazy efficiency, then paused, head cocking slightly.
It sniffed.
Lin Yuan held his breath.
The Voltwhisker didn't move.
The elite snarled and charged.
Lin Yuan stepped out.
He didn't wait for it to close the distance.
The Butcher's Fang flashed.
He slashed once—shallow, fast—then rolled beneath the sweeping bone blade. Blood sprayed, black and thick.
Bleed proc'd.
The elite howled.
Lin Yuan rose, crowbar smashing into its knee. The joint shattered sideways, folding wrong. He drove the dagger into its neck, twisted, and ripped free.
The creature collapsed.
He didn't relax.
Not until its skull cracked beneath a final blow.
ELITE MONSTER SLAINEXP GAINEDITEM DROPPED: MUTATED BONE CORE (RARE)ITEM DROPPED: SKILL CRYSTAL (UNCOMMON — ENHANCED STRIKE)
Lin Yuan picked up the bone core, feeling its heat pulse against his palm.
This one he kept.
The skill crystal he tossed to the Voltwhisker.
"Eat," he said.
The mouse devoured it eagerly.
Electricity surged again—but controlled this time.
COMPANION SKILL UPGRADEDSTATIC MARK → STATIC MARK (CHAIN)
Lin Yuan exhaled.
Too fast.
Things were accelerating.
That only happened when—
Gunfire cracked from the west.
Lin Yuan's head snapped up.
Automatic fire.
Controlled bursts.
Military.
Or what passed for it now.
He climbed onto a burned-out bus for a better view.
Down the street, armored vehicles rolled forward, painted with faded insignia. Soldiers moved in formation, rifles raised, executing Rot Walkers with precision.
A banner hung from one truck.
LGC — LOST GOVERNMENT COALITION
Lin Yuan's expression hardened.
They moved early this time.
A loudspeaker crackled to life.
"This is the Lost Government Coalition! All civilians are to lay down their weapons and approach slowly! Protection and rations will be provided!"
Lin Yuan laughed quietly.
He'd seen their "protection."
He dropped back down and slipped into the shadows.
A scream echoed moments later—sharp, cut short.
Lin Yuan didn't need to see it to know what happened.
Someone didn't comply.
Or complied too slowly.
By nightfall, the city belonged to monsters.
And men pretending they weren't.
Lin Yuan reached the edge of a residential block he remembered well. In his previous life, this place had become a neutral trade zone—until the Hero-Class Coalition burned it to the ground.
Lights flickered inside one building.
Voices murmured.
Survivors.
He approached cautiously.
A woman peeked through a cracked door, eyes wild.
"Please," she whispered. "We have children."
Behind her, someone shifted.
A man with a sword.
A Hero-class aura, faint but unmistakable.
Lin Yuan stopped.
The Voltwhisker growled softly.
The hero stepped forward, smiling.
"Good timing," he said. "We could use another strong one. Hand over your weapon, and you can stay."
Lin Yuan met his eyes.
Saw the hunger there.
Not fear.
Not hope.
Ownership.
"No," Lin Yuan said.
The hero's smile vanished.
"Then you're a threat."
The sword came up.
Lin Yuan moved.
The alley erupted in lightning, steel, and screams.
When it ended, the door hung open.
The hero lay dead, eyes glassy.
The woman stared at Lin Yuan, shaking.
"You… you saved us…"
Lin Yuan wiped blood from his blade.
"No," he said. "I chose not to kill you."
He turned away.
Behind him, the system chimed softly.
HIDDEN CONDITION METDOMINION SEED PLANTEDTERRITORY INFLUENCE: INITIALIZED
Lin Yuan paused.
Then smiled.
Outside, thunder rolled.
Not from the sky.
From something far worse, stirring far away.
Six World-Eaters still breathed.
And somewhere in the dark, they had noticed.