“Bang… bang…”
A sudden pounding against the door came from outside, shattering the silence in the room.
Huo Mian instantly jolted awake from her sleep. Her mind was still foggy, but her body had already instinctively sprung upright from the bed.
She threw off the covers and hurriedly put on her shoes, turning her head toward the person outside as she called out, “Mom, please wait a moment. I’ll go prepare breakfast right away.”
The moment she finished speaking, the already unsettling pounding on the door suddenly became more frantic, accompanied by terrifying, guttural roars.
The horrifying sounds instantly made Huo Mian’s body stiffen, leaving her rooted to the spot.
Her consciousness immediately snapped out of its daze.
Huo Mian looked around in panic. Seeing the familiar yet strangely unfamiliar furnishings in the room, her eyes widened, and her lips parted slightly.
So she really hadn’t been dreaming last night. She had awakened the memories of her previous life.
She had actually transmigrated into a novel! And not only that—she had been born into it as a baby!
She had entered the world of a sweet romance novel titled My Childhood Sweetheart Spoils Me in the Apocalypse, becoming a cannon-fodder supporting female character who died almost immediately after appearing.
At that moment, Huo Mian felt as though thunder were crashing around her. Her entire worldview had collapsed into dust.
This was the very novel her mortal enemy, Zheng Wanyue, had deliberately mentioned several times in front of her in her previous life just to annoy her.
If she hadn’t awakened the memories of her previous life, and if the characters described in the novel hadn’t actually appeared in reality, Huo Mian would definitely still have assumed that Zheng Wanyue had simply made the whole story up out of thin air to piss her off.
“Bang, bang, bang…”
Outside, the person pounding on the door was like a tireless machine, relentlessly battling the door.
Huo Mian stared nervously at the door, her heart pounding wildly as her hands unconsciously clenched into fists.
In the novel, the original Huo Mian had opened the door without the slightest precaution, only to be attacked by her mother, Lin Yingfen, who had turned into a zombie. In the end, she was bitten to death.
And just like that, Huo Mian’s character was written out of the story.
Thinking of this, panic surged through Huo Mian’s heart.
The dense pounding sounds were like a death knell, striking heavily against her heart again and again, keeping her heartbeat racing.
Under the violent impacts, the door seemed as though it could collapse at any moment.
At this critical moment between life and death, Huo Mian quickly scanned the room. Then, her gaze landed on the desk.
It was a combined desk-and-bookshelf unit, with quite a few books arranged on the shelves.
Huo Mian had no time to think. She rushed to the desk, grabbed its edge with both hands, and pushed with all her strength.
The desk scraped against the floor, producing a sharp, grating sound that made her teeth ache.
Huo Mian paid no attention to it and desperately pushed the desk behind the door.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but she felt that pushing the desk was much easier than usual.
However, the crisis had not yet been resolved, and she had no time to think about it. She simply assumed that her survival instincts had exploded at this critical moment.
After a great deal of effort, Huo Mian finally managed to wedge the desk firmly against the door.
Breathing heavily, she stood behind the door and waited anxiously for a while. When she saw that the door was still stubbornly standing, her taut nerves finally relaxed a little.
She turned around and walked unsteadily back to the bed, sitting down on its edge. A wave of grief surged through her heart, and a sour ache rose into her nose, instantly reddening her eyes.
Huo Mian felt as though the entire world was filled with malice toward her.
At that moment, she only wanted to curse the heavens and every deity she could think of. Why couldn’t they have let her awaken her memories a little earlier?
The moment she regained her memories, she was already facing the threat of death.
This opening was way too difficult…
She wanted to burst into tears, but she was afraid that her crying would provoke Lin Yingfen into pounding on the door even more violently, so she could only shed silent tears.
Thinking about everything she had been through, Huo Mian grew even more sorrowful.
In her previous life, Huo Mian had grown up depending on her grandmother. Under her grandmother’s loving care, she had grown up and, through her own hard work, been admitted to a prestigious university.
However, fate was always unpredictable.
Not long after Huo Mian entered university, her grandmother, worn down by years of hard work, passed away after falling ill.
Huo Mian became an orphan, but fate still refused to let her go.
When she was twenty years old, a sudden car accident claimed her life.
Later, she had no idea what had happened. All she knew was that she had somehow transmigrated into the world of a novel, and she had not inherited the memories of her previous life.
In this life, fate had taken a different turn. She had gained a mother.
What seemed like a beautiful arrangement had instead become her shackles.
Compared with the warm years she had spent living with her grandmother in her previous life, these nineteen long years had been worlds apart.
At the thought of her mother, Lin Yingfen, Huo Mian’s eyes darkened.
Ever since she had developed enough awareness to remember things, Lin Yingfen had begun forcing her to do all kinds of heavy housework.
Not only that, Lin Yingfen often lost control of her emotions. At best, she would curse her, calling her a bastard. At worst, Huo Mian would be beaten with sticks.
Lin Yingfen blamed every misfortune in her life on Huo Mian, claiming that it was because Huo Mian existed that her father had cruelly abandoned her.
Huo Mian had argued back before, but that only resulted in Lin Yingfen beating her even more severely.
Eventually, she learned her lesson. She stopped defying Lin Yingfen and became an obedient puppet.
Thinking about the miserable years she had endured, Huo Mian felt both furious and sorrowful.
Perhaps she really was destined to have no family affection in this lifetime.
From childhood onward, Lin Yingfen’s desire to control her had been suffocating.
Even when it came to the college entrance examination, Huo Mian was only allowed to apply to schools in their own city, and she was forbidden from living on campus.
Now, Huo Mian was a second-year student at F University, and the residential complex where she lived was right next to the university.
The female protagonist, Bai Ningrong, was also a student at F University, but she was one year ahead of Huo Mian.
According to what her mortal enemy, Zheng Wanyue, had told her, after the apocalypse descended, Huo Mian was killed by her mother, who had turned into a zombie. Then, her upstairs neighbor, Xu Mingfan, climbed through the window and escaped into Huo Mian’s home.
After Xu Mingfan dealt with Lin Yingfen, he discovered Huo Mian’s corpse, which had been bitten beyond recognition.
Afterward, Xu Mingfan went to F University to look for his younger sister. He naturally ended up joining the male and female protagonists’ ability team and traveled with them to a survivor base.
In reality, Huo Mian and Xu Mingfan could also be considered acquaintances. Whenever they ran into each other, they would exchange a few simple greetings. They weren’t close, but they were familiar enough to recognize one another.
As if she had suddenly remembered something, Huo Mian quickly lowered her head and glanced at her clothes.
She was wearing cartoon pajamas, which looked incredibly childish. That wouldn’t do.
She hurriedly got up, walked to the wardrobe, took out a gray long-sleeved tracksuit, and quickly changed into it.
It was already the end of April, and the nights were still somewhat chilly, so wearing long sleeves was the safer choice.
Huo Mian walked over to the vanity. Only then did she realize that her bangs had grown ridiculously long, blocking her vision.
She remembered Lin Yingfen saying that she looked very much like her biological father. Huo Mian didn’t want to see this face because it brought her pain.
So, ever since kindergarten, Huo Mian had kept her bangs thick and long.
As she grew older, she had even deliberately gotten a pair of terribly unfashionable glasses to wear, hoping to win Lin Yingfen’s approval.
Thinking about this, Huo Mian’s lips pressed together slightly, and bitterness filled her heart.
She hadn’t expected herself to be so naive.
She picked up a comb and brushed her bangs backward, quickly tying her hair into a bun. She then clipped the strands that hadn’t been caught into place, revealing her full forehead.
The girl in the mirror had a delicate oval face, petite and exquisite features, and porcelain-white skin.
A pair of peach-shaped eyes shimmered with moisture as she blinked, the outer corners slightly upturned and captivating. Her nose was small and delicate, while her diamond-shaped lips were a vivid red, looking tender and alluring.
Looking at this face, a ripple stirred in Huo Mian’s heart.
Her appearance was surprisingly similar to that of her previous life—about eighty percent alike—but this body was much more slender and frail.
Just then, a sudden “thud” came from outside the window.
Huo Mian was startled and immediately turned her head.
She saw a tall figure moving on the air-conditioning unit outside the window.
Before she could react, the person casually pushed the window open and jumped straight inside.
The sudden arrival startled Huo Mian. She shot to her feet and turned to face the newcomer.