The boy on the bed lay with his eyes tightly shut. The cold moonlight poured down on him from outside the window, making it seem as though he were covered in a thin veil, which accentuated a hazy beauty across that pretty face.
Song Chengyu looked at him, bone-deep hatred burning in the depths of his dark eyes.
Had he not experienced it firsthand, he would never have believed that a boy with such a harmless, innocent face could possess a heart as venomous as a snake’s.
Yet fate was nothing if not dramatic. The phantom pain of a heart shredded by a sharp blade still throbbed dully in his chest. The moment he opened his eyes, he found himself unexpectedly back in his university dormitory, with the chief culprit who had caused his death just a short distance away.
His overloaded memories rushed forward like a sponge soaked in water, expanding inside his mind all at once. Song Chengyu pressed his back against the railing, his hands gripping the iron guardrail so tightly they were almost deformed.
He had been reborn, reborn to the very day before the apocalypse descended.
The phantom pain from the moment of his death continuously stabbed at his nerves, screaming for revenge. Song Chengyu looked toward the dagger sitting inside the pen holder on the desk, the only lethal weapon in the room. The moonlight reflected a bone-chilling, cold gleam off the silvery-white blade.
Detecting a sudden, violent surge of killing intent, the system’s alarm bells rang wildly as it flew over to You An’s side in a panic.
“Host, wake up quickly! The protagonist is coming to kill you! Host!” The glowing sphere was so anxious that it sprouted two small wings and screamed at the top of its lungs right next to You An’s ear. It only dared to make a sound because they were using an encrypted channel.
Song Chengyu quietly gripped the dagger’s handle. Just as the system gritted its teeth and prepared to take extreme measures, it was suddenly and pleasantly surprised to notice the boy’s eyelashes flicker.
Why is it so noisy?
You An was still immersed in his dream, his consciousness seemingly floating somewhere in mid-air. From who knows when, something had been buzzing and fluttering around right in front of him, making him feel irritated even in his sleep.
Yet that voice simply refused to let him go.
“Host, ahhhhh, wake up! If you keep sleeping, you are going to get done in! If you die, the mission will fail, and if it fails, we will be sent back!”
The moment he caught the word “sent back,” You An was jolted fully awake by fright.
He instinctively wanted to open his eyes, but seeing this, the system hurriedly shouted, “Don’t move yet, keep your eyes closed.”
You An immediately recognized the urgency of the situation and instantly forced his body to mimic the posture of someone in a deep sleep, communicating rapidly with the system inside his mind.
“You are finally awake.” The system’s voice sounded weak and exhausted as it provided a real-time broadcast of the current situation.
Looking at Song Chengyu, who wore a gloomy expression and was steadily closing in on him with a dagger in hand, You An couldn’t help but sweat slightly.
“Calm down for a second.” You An helplessly tried to soothe the useless little orb, which was flying around erratically due to panic, while his brain raced.
Today was the very first day of Song Chengyu’s rebirth, and he could not wait even a single day to come and kill him.
After all, tomorrow this world would transform into an apocalyptic wasteland where everyone had to fight for their own survival and run for their lives, and all legal order would completely collapse. By then, the life or death of an ordinary college student like him would be utterly insignificant.
As long as Song Chengyu hid his body properly and managed to cover it up for a couple of days, he could kill him without paying any price at all.
Standing from the victim’s perspective, You An strangely understood Song Chengyu’s train of thought.
No matter what, I have to make it through tonight first.
In the silent, dead of night, that barely perceptible footstep sounded like a death sentence. The blade traced a bright, snowy arc through the moonlight, baring naked murderous intent.
“Song Chengyu, why aren’t you asleep yet at this hour?”
You An slowly propped himself up, pretending to have been woken up by the noise as he rubbed his eyes with a dissatisfied expression.
The boy froze in place because of his sudden movement. By the time You An opened his eyes again, the dagger had already been hidden behind Song Chengyu’s back.
You An’s skin was extremely fair and delicate, turning flushed red from a light rub, and his tone carried a slight hint of reproach. “What time is it even? If you aren’t going to sleep, other people still need to.”
Under the silvery-white moonlight, Song Chengyu’s excessively handsome face appeared somewhat gloomy and apathetic due to his lack of expression, still retaining traces of unmasked murderous intent that made You An’s heart tremble.
Beneath the blanket, his five fingers gripped the bedding tightly. At the same time, every muscle in his body tensed up, adrenaline surged, and his ears were filled with the sound of his own pounding heartbeat.
In the original plot, the original host was killed right here. Probably taking into consideration that heavy bleeding was difficult to clean up, the original host’s cause of death had been mechanical asphyxiation.
Though he could not match Song Chengyu’s robust physique, a human’s desperate survival instinct could produce terrifying explosive power. At the very least, shouting loudly to wake up the rest of the dormitory would cause Song Chengyu plenty of trouble.
Tick, tick. The sound of the clock ticking was magnified infinitely. This silent battle of wills ended with Song Chengyu’s voice, which was colder than ice.
“Sorry, I just needed to use the bathroom.” With that, he pushed open the balcony door.
The anticipated physical struggle never took place. With lingering fear, You An discovered that he had broken out in a cold sweat.
His long, thick eyelashes trembled a few times, and facing the wall, he slowly turned onto his side. After going through such an ordeal, he was wide awake anyway, so he simply decided to observe Song Chengyu’s movements through the system while reviewing his mission details.
This world was set against an apocalyptic backdrop. The protagonist gong, Song Chengyu, was a rebirth-bearer, while the original host was a cannon fodder character who had backstabbed the protagonist in their past life in order to climb higher up the social ladder.
The original host and Song Chengyu were both students at S University and college roommates. In the early stages of the apocalypse, they had supported each other, formed a team, and overcome countless hardships to reach the evacuation base closest to S City. Relying on his formidable strength, Song Chengyu won the support of more and more people, eventually even threatening the status of the leader, Xin Jian.
Meanwhile, the original host’s spatial ability became unremarkable and blended into the background among the talented individuals at the base. Comparing his own stagnation to the rising success of his former teammate, Song Chengyu, the original host grew increasingly unbalanced. When Xin Jian approached him, the two of them colluded; using a tier-seven crystal core as a bribe, they lured Song Chengyu into a pre-arranged trap where Xin Jian murdered him.
As a result, not only did Song Chengyu fail to die, but he was reborn five years into the past. With one of the murderers who caused his death right within arm’s reach, hesitating for even a second would be a sign of disrespect to himself, so the original host had been cleanly and neatly dispatched.
Mission objective: Play your role and survive until the ending.
Mission danger rating: SS
After finishing the mission data transmitted by the system, You An fell into silence.
At the time, he had only been thinking about escaping that place quickly and had not carefully read through the contract rules, never expecting that his very first mission would be of this difficulty level.
Sensitively sensing the fluctuation in his host’s emotions, the system wiped away the sweat simulated by its data stream, its round exterior displaying a flattering, ingratiating expression.
You An helplessly patted the little orb on the head. “Since I already promised you, I won’t go back on my word.”
Feeling the soft touch of fingers against its body, the system’s form uncontrollably began to turn red.
Host-daadaa is not only pretty, but also so gentle to me! Wuuwuuwuu, I just knew I picked the right person!
This night was a sleepless one for both people in this dormitory. You An browsed through the plot, deep in thought as he pondered his next countermeasures, while Song Chengyu could only be seen as a blurry silhouette from his angle, with even his profile carrying a cold and rigid edge.
Sharing a room with someone who wanted to kill you was truly a very novel experience.
Before he knew it, the first ray of morning light crossed the horizon, and the sky gradually brightened. His brain, still groggy from pulling an all-nighter, caught the sound of rustling movements, and even the slightest noise made him tense his spine like a frightened bird.
Noticing his host’s stiffness, the system flew onto his shoulder to soothe him. “Don’t worry, the protagonist gong has left.”
On the broadcast screen, the tall male with a single-shoulder backpack twisted the dormitory doorknob and cast a chilling glance back toward You An’s direction.
You An: !
It seemed he still had plenty of time ahead of him to spar with this protagonist gong. He lowered his head and checked the time on his phone; it was just past six o’clock, right when the dormitory curfew lifted. It looked like Song Chengyu had already made his plans during those few hours.
Confirming that Song Chengyu would not be returning, You An got out of bed to double-lock the door. His tightly wound nerves finally relaxed a bit, and fatigue rushed into his limbs like a tide. He slumped limply onto the chair.
The excessive information processing had given him a headache. You An rubbed his temples, prompting the system to ask with a hint of worry, “Does host want to rest for a while?”
To be honest, he desperately wanted to throw caution to the wind, climb into bed, and sleep until he naturally woke up. But twelve hours from now was the exact moment the apocalypse would arrive, and he still knew how to prioritize.
“No need,” You An stood up and put on a jacket. “I need to make some preparations for the arrival of the apocalypse too.”
Barring any accidents, he would awaken his spatial ability according to the settings, which would make stockpiling supplies much simpler. For him, the most important thing was to maximize his combat capability as much as possible, because in the end times, he had to guard against not only zombies, but humans even more.
Therefore, he needed to find a reliable weapon first.
S University was located in the suburbs with a low population density. A shortcoming that was usually criticized in peacetime would turn into an absolute blessing in the apocalypse.
He skipped class, rented a car using the savings in the original host’s account, and purchased various knives, clothing, portable food, and water.
At twelve o’clock noon, six hours away from the apocalypse, a panting and exhausted You An took stock of his supplies in a temporarily rented guesthouse, his tense nerves finally easing slightly.
He tore open a box of instant noodles, and the thought that this might be one of the few hot meals he would eat in the next few years filled him with a sudden, mournful sorrow.
“Host, host! So next can we just safely run away and hide from the male lead until the ending?” The system blinked its electronic eyes and asked.
Stunned into speechlessness by its overly naive idea, You An set down his noodle fork and said gloomily, “No, of course we are staying. Are you an idiot?”
“I am the indirect accomplice who caused his death. What happened in our past life is a ticking time bomb. Later on, Song Chengyu annexed four major bases, and the entire apocalypse was under his rule. Wanting to kill me would just take a single word from him.”
He threw himself onto the soft bed, staring blankly at the ceiling hanging right above him, sunlight filtering through the gaps in the trees outside and spilling across his open palm.
“So, the most dangerous place is the safest place. If I want to stay alive, I actually have to stay by his side and dispel his hatred toward me as much as possible.”
Besides, with his current abilities, it would be difficult for him to protect himself. Rather than being pushed out by others as a human shield during a crisis, it was better to stick close to the protagonist and seek a sliver of survival.
The little orb nodded submissively, then stammered as if remembering something. “Then, host, can you give me a name?” Whatever names other systems had, it wanted one too!
A name? You An pondered for a moment, and an idea suddenly flashed through his mind. “I will call you Tangyuan.”
“Tangyuan?” Two eyes appeared on the surface of the glowing sphere, accompanied by a few flashes of blue data streams.
It checked the definition of a tangyuan: typically made with black sesame filling, rolled into a sphere with glutinous rice flour, which seemed somewhat similar to its own appearance.
“Master is so good at naming things!”
You An curled his lips slightly, a trace of mischief flashing through his sapphire-blue eyes. “Of course.”
He certainly would not tell it that this was just inspired by the supermarket he had just visited.
After resting for a few hours, You An changed his clothes, specifically choosing a multi-pocket top and trousers for easy concealment of knives.
The boy in the mirror had dark hair and blue eyes, with slightly natural curls hanging beside his ears, making his naturally baby-faced cheeks look indescribably cute and naive. His pale pink lips were pursed slightly. He was a pretty teenager who could not help but win people’s good impressions.
This was his own appearance at age eighteen. According to Tangyuan, upon entering the world, all of the original host’s personal information would be replaced with his own, meaning he could retain his original body within this world.
He glanced at his watch. It was a little past four in the afternoon; it was about time for that plot point to arrive.