“Beep…”
A piercing sound rang out as the undulating waveform on the heart monitor screen flattened into a straight line, marking the passing of a life. The medical staff performing the resuscitation couldn’t help but sigh. They had accompanied this child for five years, witnessing countless scenes like this. Each time, he had clung to life with an incredibly tenacious will, pulling through again and again. It was just a shame…
Yun Huacen felt his body grow light, so light that it seemed to float right out of itself. This lightness wasn’t just about weightlessness, it was a feeling of buoyancy, agility, and relief, a sensation he hadn’t experienced once during his five years of illness. Yet…
Yun Huacen drifted out of the emergency room and looked toward his parents waiting at the door. Though they should have been in the prime of their lives, their hair had already turned white. Leaning against each other, they appeared haggard and gaunt, he had worn them down to this state.
Seeing his parents like this, Yun Huacen felt a momentary daze. He couldn’t help but wonder: Had his struggle and persistence been right or wrong?
At eighteen, Yun Huacen, a recognized medical prodigy, had encountered the most difficult problem of his life.
…
“Bang!”
A violent crashing sound reached his ears. Yun Huacen’s eyes snapped open, taking in a white ceiling and a square energy-saving light. A square energy-saving light? No, that wasn’t right, the lights in the hospital room were round, and the frame color was different too. As his mind began to function again, Yun Huacen sat up and surveyed his surroundings. This wasn’t the familiar hospital room but an unfamiliar bedroom. The room was impeccably clean, with not a speck of dust in any corner. Everything was arranged in perfect order, from largest to smallest, with nearly identical spacing between items, as if measured with a ruler.
“Bang!”
Another violent crash startled Yun Huacen. He turned to see a bird repeatedly slamming into the glass, hitting the same spot over and over with a determination that seemed to say it wouldn’t stop until the glass shattered. Curious, Yun Huacen walked to the floor-to-ceiling window to observe the bird more closely. It was entirely black except for a patch of white on its head, making it quite striking.
Yun Huacen was about to tap the glass to scare the bird away and prevent it from killing itself when suddenly, a blood-stained cat climbed onto the railing outside. Its eyes fixed intently on the bird before it arched its back and pounced. Separated by the glass, there was nothing Yun Huacen could do to help. Just as he thought the bird was about to become the cat’s meal, the bird suddenly opened its mouth and extended a thick, long tongue. The tongue unfurled, revealing sharp teeth that lunged toward the cat. Unfazed, the cat opened its own mouth and spewed a stream of black liquid. As the cat was swallowed, the black liquid disappeared down the bird’s throat as well.
Crunch, crunch, the sound of bones being chewed echoed, sending chills down the spine. Suddenly, the bird let out a mournful cry, collapsing to the ground and thrashing violently before falling still. White smoke began to rise from its body in layers. When the smoke cleared, the bird was gone, replaced by a puddle of black liquid. And standing atop that liquid was the very same cat. Its body was mangled, with torn flesh everywhere, and half of its head had been bitten off. The scene was so gruesome that anyone would assume the cat was dead. Yet, it moved, swaying unsteadily as it stood up, its pitch-black eyes staring directly at the floor-to-ceiling window.
Yun Huacen stared wide-eyed, frozen in place as he locked gazes with the cat until it limped away. Only then did he snap back to reality, his legs giving way as he slumped to the ground, gasping for breath. Everything that had just happened was beyond his comprehension, neither in real life nor on television news had he ever seen birds or cats like that. Where was this place? Hadn’t he died? Why was he here? Countless questions flashed through his mind.
His eyes unconsciously swept over the reflection in the glass, and Yun Huacen froze in shock. He scrambled to his feet and rushed to the full-length mirror, confirming that he hadn’t been seeing things. The face in the mirror was completely unfamiliar, sharp, angular features, distinct and refined facial contours, and slightly overgrown hair that softened the otherwise aggressive appearance. His skin was pale, with dark circles under his eyes and visible red veins, likely from prolonged lack of sunlight and staying up late. Standing about 180 centimeters tall, his slender frame made the silk pajamas hang loosely on him.
Still reeling from the shock, a sudden, intense pain shot through Yun Huacen’s head, interrupting his thoughts. He crouched down, clutching his head and crying out in agony. After spending five years in the hospital, he thought he had experienced every kind of pain imaginable and believed nothing could overwhelm him again, but reality proved him wrong. Unfamiliar memories surged forth like a floodgate bursting open, offering no buffer and directly overwhelming him until he passed out from the pain.
After an unknown length of time, Yun Huacen awoke from his unconscious state, staring blankly at the snow-white ceiling. The owner of this body was also named Yun Huacen, twenty-eight years old, and shared his name and exceptional talent in medicine. However, compared to himself, the original owner was clearly more accomplished, having published multiple papers in renowned medical journals, successfully applied for three national patents, and even stood a chance of winning the NBR Medical Award. By all accounts, he was a true winner in life.
The world the original owner inhabited was not vastly different from his own in terms of technological development or cultural landscape. The only distinction was the sudden outbreak of a zombie virus here, spreading rapidly. The bird and cat he had encountered earlier had mutated due to infection with this virus.
The original owner was reclusive, socially awkward, and suffered from severe mysophobia and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. After earning his doctorate, he turned down numerous offers from various countries, opting instead to affiliate himself with his family’s hospital before retreating to this mountain villa to conduct medical research.
This villa was personally designed by the original owner, built from the inside out and top to bottom entirely according to military base specifications, nearly exhausting all his savings. The three floors above ground were for living purposes, while the two underground floors housed a medical laboratory. Whether it was electricity or internet, both levels had completely independent circuits that did not interfere with each other. Solar panels were installed on the roof, connected to several generators. The stored electricity alone could power the villa for two to three years. To ensure he could stay in the laboratory for extended periods, the original owner built a dedicated cold storage room next to it, stocked with a vast variety of food, enough to open a supermarket. If not for expiration dates, the supplies could have lasted him several years. Finally, there was the issue of water. The original owner dug a well next to the cold storage room and purchased filtration and purification equipment, along with large water pumps for storage, ensuring a worry-free water supply.
Everything in the villa seemed as if the original owner had prepared it for this disaster, but the truth was he had no idea the apocalypse was coming. He made these preparations because he was obsessed with research and didn’t want to be distracted by trivial matters.
Yun Huacen sat up, shaking his still slightly groggy head, and turned to look out the floor-to-ceiling window. The distant sunset was beautiful, painting large swaths of clouds red, appearing so serene and lovely. Who would have thought the world was now in the midst of a bloody apocalypse, with slaughter visible everywhere?
As the sun set, Yun Huacen withdrew his gaze and sighed heavily. The most pressing issue now wasn’t the zombies outside but the group of children in the underground laboratory who were about to be used as lab rats. The original owner was a genius but also a madman. To research the zombie virus, he had resorted to experimenting on living people, reaching a level of sheer insanity. Even though he eventually developed a drug to suppress the zombie virus, before it could enter clinical trials, he met a gruesome end, torn apart by his “lab rats,” dying in the most horrific way possible. Although this world was fraught with danger, where one misstep could turn you into zombie food, since fate had given him a chance at rebirth, he had to struggle to survive. Lying down and giving up simply wasn’t in his nature.
The children locked in the laboratory by the original owner came from the Sacred Heart Orphanage at the foot of the mountain. When the zombie virus suddenly broke out, the orphanage was not spared, and the children had no choice but to flee. After wandering in the mountains for two days, they discovered this villa. The villa’s surveillance system was comprehensive, covering almost every corner except his bedroom. When the children approached, the original owner had already received an alert and was observing them through the monitors.
News of the zombie virus outbreak was everywhere. When the original owner received this information, he had just completed an experiment. While others reacted with panic and fear upon seeing the news, the original owner felt excitement and ecstasy. He even risked going outside to collect corpses that had been bitten by zombies, intending to extract the zombie virus, when he suddenly heard the alarm.
Looking at the panicked, disheveled children outside the door, an idea formed in the original owner’s mind. With his abilities, he couldn’t possibly capture zombies, but with the zombie virus, he could artificially create them. This would allow for in-depth research, and with his talent, he was certain he could develop a drug to resist or even kill the zombie virus.
Once this insane idea took hold, the original owner made up his mind. He opened the door, let the children into the villa, and even prepared food for them. The children thought they were saved, but little did they know that while they had escaped the zombies, they had encountered a demon. After wolfing down the drugged food the original owner had prepared, they fell unconscious one by one. When they woke up again, they were already locked in cages.
Yun Huacen crossed over at the exact moment when the original owner had just locked the children in the cages, before the experiments had progressed further. There was still time to make things right.
“Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning!”
A mechanical electronic voice rang out. Yun Huacen was momentarily stunned before turning to look at the monitor hanging on the wall. The screen had already lit up and automatically switched to a different feed, showing two men armed with weapons, rapidly approaching.
Yun Huacen hurriedly stepped forward, activating all surveillance cameras to check the surroundings. Fortunately, aside from these two men, no other people were detected, and there were no zombies in sight. Even so, he didn’t let his guard down. With the apocalypse upon them and social order collapsed, danger didn’t just come from zombies, it also came from the survivors, like the two uninvited guests outside the villa.