June 21, 2040, 2:03 PM.
Song Yue stared at the date on her phone.
I’m… really back.
Just minutes ago, her boyfriend of six months, Zou Chen, had thrown her from a seventh-story balcony onto the frozen ground. She had died instantly.
Before that, while she was out scavenging for supplies, he had used his honeyed words to win her parents’ sympathy. Then, with his accomplices, he had stormed their home, ransacking it for everything they owned.
When Father Song tried to stop him, Zou Chen had brutally smashed his head with a shovel. Father Song collapsed in a pool of blood, and Mother Song was murdered moments later.
Song Yue had never imagined that the man who had always been so obedient and sweet would instantly turn into a monster when the disaster struck, ruthlessly eliminating her entire family.
Her nails dug deep into her palms. The images—her parents’ corpses, the hard, frozen ground—replayed in her mind like an old film strip.
Standing on her balcony, Song Yue watched the sky darken. A cold, murderous chill settled in her eyes.
If Heaven won’t let me die, then I will live this life to the fullest.
She had one week before the torrential rains began. After that, the city would be engulfed in a massive flood, turning streets into rivers and low-lying buildings into islands. Then, mountain floods and mudslides would ravage the country, followed by a brutal cold wave…
Supply chains collapsed, leaving countless people to die from hunger and cold. Families were torn apart, homes destroyed. The world had become a living hell.
The memory of her past life fueled Song Yue’s resolve. She needed to stockpile supplies immediately. Revenge against Zou Chen would have to wait.
In the kitchen, Lin Xiaojuan was busy preparing a meal. Song Tianyuan was in the bathroom, replacing a broken showerhead.
“Dad, Mom, come here for a second.”
Song Yue didn’t waste time with subtleties. She pulled them into the living room and got straight to the point.
Fifteen minutes later, the room fell deathly silent.
Song Yue stared at them, then summarized, “That’s it. In one week, torrential rains will hit. Then the floods will come, followed by a brutal cold wave. The floods will freeze, and all city supplies will be cut off. Mom, Dad, I’m not being dramatic. If you don’t believe me, I can tell you exactly what tonight’s news will report.”
Though Song Yue knew her mother trusted her, Lin Xiaojuan’s wide eyes betrayed her disbelief.
“Xiaoyue,” her mother said, “Tell me if you’re feeling unwell. We’ll take you to the hospital right now. Don’t try to push through this!”
Something’s wrong with her, her mother thought.
It was too much to ask of them—for middle-aged parents who had spent decades steeped in materialism to suddenly believe their daughter had been reborn and was predicting the end of the world.
Song Yue sighed. She glanced at Song Tianyuan, whose brow was furrowed in deep worry. Great, she thought. He thinks I’ve lost my mind too.
But she wouldn’t give up. She checked the time on her phone, hesitated for a moment, then said:
“In three minutes, someone in Building 6 is going to throw something out their window. It’ll be half an apple. It’s going to hit a child on the badminton court below. The child will end up with a bloody head and will be rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.”
She remembered this incident vividly.
An adult in Building 6 had a habit of tossing half-eaten fruit out the window. For years, luck had been on the side of the children playing below. But this time, the luck ran out. The resulting commotion had been so loud it had woken her from her nap.
Moments after Song Yue spoke, a dull thud echoed from outside the balcony.
It was immediately followed by a child’s piercing screams, adults shouting for help, and neighbors yelling accusations.
Lin Xiaojuan froze, her gaze slowly drifting from the window back to her daughter. Song Tianyuan gasped, then rubbed his face with his hand in disbelief.
No one knew her parents better than Song Yue. She could tell they were processing her words—even if they needed a little time to fully digest them. She was willing to wait.
As long as they believed her, that was all that mattered.
In her past life, the torrential rains and floods had paralyzed transportation first. She couldn’t afford to be without kayaks, and just in case, she needed several.
“Rest up at home for now,” Song Yue told her parents. “I have a few more important things to discuss when I get back.”
She then headed alone to a large sporting goods store on Binjiang Road. There, she selected three 4.7-meter inflatable kayaks. Each had a maximum weight capacity of 790 kg, easily accommodating seven or eight adults.
Because the items were so bulky, the store offered free home delivery. Song Yue filled out the delivery form with her address and contact information.
“Miss, you can pay at the counter on the left,” the sales clerk reminded her kindly.
Song Yue waved her off. “I’m not done yet. I’ll pay for everything at once.”
Under the astonished gazes of the clerk and the cashier, she marched straight to the life jacket section. After a quick scan, she picked out a model with 1500 N of buoyancy, capable of supporting 140 kg. It featured reflective strips for nighttime visibility and reinforced double-stitching at the stress points—far more durable than the standard versions.
She grabbed six items at once and tossed them into her cart, then moved on to the life rings.
There was no need to overthink this. She simply pointed to the most expensive row on the top shelf and asked the sales clerk to bring them all down.
The cart filled up rapidly, drawing curious glances from other shoppers.
The sales clerk, who had never seen such a generous customer before—especially one buying so much water rescue equipment at once—couldn’t contain her curiosity. “Miss, are you planning to start a water sports business by the river? It’s a tough market these days.”
The store faced the river directly. Many businesses had tried that route before, but they all collapsed quickly after a few fatal accidents due to the extreme risk.
Song Yue saw the clerk’s expression—a mix of skepticism and a warning. She paused, then said, “Haven’t you seen the weather forecast? They’re predicting torrential rains for the next few days. C City is right by the river, so we’re at high risk for flooding. I’m just stocking up for my family.”
“Oh, I see…” The clerk blinked, lost in thought.
I’ve done my part by warning her, Song Yue thought. Whether she takes it seriously or not is out of my hands.
After leaving the cart of life jackets and rings at the checkout, Song Yue headed straight for the clothing and accessories sections.
She systematically gathered quick-dry shirts and pants for men and women, ski jackets, thermal underwear, knee-high skiing boots, beanies, non-slip gloves, athletic shoes, snow boots, goggles, waterproof flashlights, climbing rope, binoculars, and high-capacity power banks.
She bought at least three of everything, leaving nothing to chance. They need to be fully equipped from head to toe, she thought.
But it still wasn’t enough. Extreme cold and cold waves were no joke, especially for her parents. At their age, their legs and feet were particularly vulnerable to the cold. She couldn’t risk them suffering lasting damage because they weren’t properly protected.
She planned to hit a larger department store next to stock up on even more thermal gear.
After paying and confirming the delivery address, Song Yue walked out of the store. Her phone buzzed with a notification from the bank:
Account ending in 8516: Withdrawal of 52,987.00 CNY on June 21, 15:58. Balance: 289,847.14 CNY.
She had nearly 290,000 CNY left—every cent of it saved up from five years of grueling work.
As an accountant in a saturated job market, Song Yue had faced low starting wages and stagnation. She’d scraped this sum together by living on a knife’s edge, ruthlessly cutting every possible expense.
In peacetime, it would have been enough for a down payment on a small apartment in C City. But the world was about to change. In one week, a cataclysm would strike the city, order would crumble, and currency would become the least valuable thing of all.
Better to spend it all now, she reasoned. Buy security and survival for my parents and me before this money becomes worthless scrap paper.
With that resolved, Song Yue hailed a taxi to the nearest home improvement market.
C City was in the south, and floor heating was rare here. But she knew the impending cold wave would plunge the entire country, even the low-latitude regions, below freezing. Heating wasn’t an option—it was a necessity.
Under normal circumstances, installing floor heating would take five to eight days, and that was only if the floors were already ripped up. With less than a week until the disaster, there was no time.
Wall-mounted radiators were her only viable option.
The first floor of the building was a home appliance mall. Song Yue selected a renowned national brand, had a brief discussion with a staff member, and promptly decided to buy eight 600mm x 1000mm wall-mounted radiators.
The salesman, a middle-aged man, chuckled at her request. “Miss, your place isn’t that big. Do you really need this many? C City isn’t even that cold in the winter. Four units would be more than enough.”
Song Yue shook her head. She gave the man the same kind of subtle warning she’d given the sports store guide. “This winter will be brutal—probably below freezing. My parents have bad legs, so I want to make sure the house is extra warm.”
“A brutal winter, huh?” the man murmured. “Maybe I should get one for my parents, too.”
Song Yue ignored the comment and asked if he could send an installation crew within the next two days.
Perhaps it was because of her warning, or maybe because she’d placed a large order without haggling over the price. The man nodded repeatedly and promised she’d have an installation crew tomorrow without fail.
After thanking him, Song Yue ordered three electric space heaters.
She already had one at home, but it was old. Her parents had spent their entire lives being frugal and had never brought themselves to replace it. Now, she’d buy three new ones. That way, everyone in the family could have their own. Perfect.
Passing an air conditioner shop, Song Yue remembered that the vertical unit in the living room needed replacing. It had been moved from her parents’ old home and, after years of use, its cooling and heating performance had become embarrassingly poor.
She ordered two 4-horsepower inverter units with both cooling and heating functions, requesting delivery by tomorrow at the latest.
Speaking of cooling, Song Yue decided to buy air purifiers. When the floods hit, the stench of sewage from the streets below would become unbearable, mixed with the smell of corpses drifting in from elsewhere. The odor would be suffocating.
For the sake of her and her parents’ noses, Song Yue hurried into the air purifier section. She bought three units—one for the living room and one for each bedroom—that combined formaldehyde removal, deodorization, and sterilization.
She had actually wanted to install a ceiling-mounted fresh air system, but like the floor heating, there simply wasn’t enough time. She had to settle for portable appliances she could buy off the shelf.
After finishing these purchases, Song Yue darted into another store.
Just then, a mechanical voice echoed in her mind.
[Host, the Beginner Instance has refreshed. Please accept it as soon as possible.]
Song Yue froze.
So it’s finally happening.