Shen Youyou was a zombie.
But she was also a very different kind of zombie. At some unknown point in time, she had regained human thoughts and habits.
For her, this wasn’t exactly a good thing.
For example—today.
She had been walking along just fine when a zombie suddenly bit her on the arm. Annoyed, Shen Youyou shook it off and hurried home, clutching her arm as if protecting a precious treasure.
Along the way, she encountered countless zombies. Looking at the city—now nothing more than ruins—her heart ached.
This place had once been brightly lit, bustling with life and warmth. Who could have imagined it would become like this?
Now, in this enormous city, she was the only zombie with thoughts and consciousness. All she could feel was an endless, suffocating loneliness.
Only after safely locking the door behind her did she finally relax and head into the kitchen to make herself something to eat.
She dumped the bag of potatoes she’d been carrying onto the floor, casually picked out two, and began peeling, slicing, and washing them.
Then she sliced the pork belly she’d taken out to thaw earlier that morning and stir-fried a pan of pork belly and potato slices. Paired with steaming white rice, Shen Youyou ate with deep satisfaction.
After finishing her meal, she entered her once-daily routine of spacing out.
Ever since she regained consciousness, her kitchen had become… different.
No matter how many ingredients she used, the small kitchen would always reset itself to exactly how it looked on the day she turned into a zombie.
She had tested it countless times. Every night, once midnight passed, the kitchen instantly returned to its original state.
This was also the most important reason she had been able to stay sane and survive in the apocalypse for so long.
Although shocked at first, Shen Youyou calmly accepted it.
After all, when the entire world had been overrun by zombies, what was left that could truly be impossible?
She was remarkably composed.
Earlier, out of sheer boredom, she had gone downstairs and wandered through a park where she’d planted potatoes long ago. Unexpectedly, there had actually been a harvest—the potatoes she planted had produced quite a lot.
So she dug them all up and brought them home.
Sitting on the sofa in the pitch-dark living room, Shen Youyou didn’t even know what she was thinking.
Yes—because everyone in the city had turned into zombies, the city had long since stopped functioning. There was no electricity in the living room. In fact, aside from the magical little kitchen, nowhere had electricity or running water.
Only the kitchen was unaffected.
It wasn’t scientific, but Shen Youyou didn’t want to think too deeply about it. She had even set up a simple bed inside the kitchen, because at least there was light there.
She was truly sick of living like this.
No one to talk to. No one to chat with. If this went on any longer, she feared she might even forget how to communicate with people.
Looking out the window, everything was a complete mess.
She missed the old days so badly—green mountains, clear waters, bustling crowds. If only she could go back… how wonderful that would be.
With those thoughts, Shen Youyou lay down on her simple bed and slowly fell asleep.
Ever since she regained normal consciousness, she could feel hunger and exhaustion again. With nothing to do, her daily routine was incredibly healthy. By nine o’clock every night, she was basically fast asleep.
Aside from the abnormal patches of lividity still lingering on her body…
She was no different from an ordinary person.
In her sleep, Shen Youyou was awakened by the sound of birds chirping.
Chirp, chirp, chirp—noisy and disruptive.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she sat up and muttered to herself,
“Where is that bird sound coming from? Am I dreaming?”
Since the city had fallen to zombies, she had never again heard such clear, pleasant sounds.
But when she finally saw her surroundings clearly, Shen Youyou froze completely.
Her mouth fell open wide enough to fit an egg.
She stared blankly at her surroundings.
This place looked like a thatched hut.
There wasn’t much decent furniture inside—only a broken wooden bed and a square table. Nothing else.
Yet none of that truly caught her attention.
What drew her gaze was the hint of green outside the door.
Without even bothering to put on shoes, she ran outside barefoot.
The moment she stepped out of the hut, she was blinded by brilliant sunlight.
Sunlight?
Shen Youyou couldn’t help laughing.
Ever since the apocalypse began, the sky had never again seen such clean, radiant sunlight. It had always been gray and gloomy, as if the world were trapped under a permanent haze.
Once her eyes adjusted, she opened them and saw lush green stretching endlessly across the hills.
She was overjoyed.
Was she dreaming?
This dream was far too beautiful. She was finally seeing a normal world again.
The green mountains, the sunlight, the dense forests—
Shen Youyou felt so moved she wanted to cry.
After running freely through the hills dozens of times, she finally collapsed onto the grass, utterly exhausted.
She breathed deeply, freely, filling her lungs with fresh air that smelled of grass.
Her heart overflowed with joy.
Just as she relaxed, a voice suddenly sounded in her mind.
【Congratulations, Host, on successfully escaping the apocalypse. The farming novel instance has been activated. Please rely on your own abilities to survive in this world.】
Shen Youyou: “???”
What did that mean?
She felt like she’d just heard something incredible.
Having gone a long time without speaking, Shen Youyou cleared her throat and cautiously asked,
“Hello?”
“Are you there?”
“What did you mean just now?”
“Hey? Hello?”
…
But no matter how much she spoke, the voice never responded again.
Shocked, she immediately sat up.
That was when she noticed—her hands were clean.
She rolled up her sleeves. Her arms were clean as well—no trace of blue or discoloration anywhere.
This was…?
Her lividity was gone.
Then she noticed something else. Her clothes felt wrong.
Spotting a river nearby, she rushed over and looked at her reflection in the water.
The person standing there looked exactly like her.
Only… the clothing was strange—like something from ancient times.
As she stood there in a daze, a startled cry suddenly rang out beside her.
“Y-Youyou-jie! Don’t move! I’ll go get my uncle!”
Shen Youyou turned toward the sound instinctively.
She saw two small children, both pale with fear. One ran off into the distance, while the other toddled toward her on short legs.
When the little child reached her, he grabbed her sleeve and tried to pull her upward, crying as he shouted,
“Youyou-jie, don’t die! If you die, you won’t be able to eat good food anymore! The people who call you stupid are the stupid ones! Youyou-jie isn’t stupid at all!”
Before Shen Youyou could figure out what was happening, she suddenly felt a powerful force from behind—
And was dragged away from the riverbank.