Zombies Apocalypse: Too Late to Run

City S.

Strolling down the street with his hands tucked into his pockets was Hubert Wang. He was twenty years old, but at first glance, he appeared to be only sixteen or seventeen due to his round face, chubby cheeks, and large eyes, which seemed to shave off a few years. Knowing his advantage, he had started his career as a streamer at sixteen, and it had been four years since then.

A devoted gamer, particularly of virtual reality games, Hubert had tried and live-streamed his experiences with all sorts of fun. Over time, he had run out of new games to explore and had played just about every game. Lately, he had been feeling down due to the lack of new games to review for his fans, so he had decided to take a walk outside and get some fresh air while he waited for new games to be released.

Suddenly, he spotted a man dressed in black from head to toe, with hair covering his eyes, holding a sign that caught his attention:

“Virtual Reality Game—Zombie Apocalypse.”

Having played countless types of virtual reality games, from heroic adventures to schoolgirl dramas, Hubert had never tried this genre and was intrigued.

“Hey, are you selling a zombie game?” he asked.

The man nodded and replied: “It’s my only one.”

“No one’s bought it yet?”

“Because it’s a realistic simulation set in the apocalypse of two thousand years ago, anyone asked about it has been too scared to play.”

A chill ran down Hubert’s spine. He had heard plenty about the apocalypse of two thousand years ago, and it was often recreated on television. He knew better than anyone else because his distant ancestors had survived that era, had found a glimmer of hope amidst the death and devastation, and had brought humanity out of darkness and into a brighter world.

The apocalypse was still a haunting memory for all of humanity, a fear that ran deep and crept into their dreams, with the two suns blazing in the sky and zombies roaming like endless hordes. Hubert was not immune to this fear, but curiosity was more remarkable in his case—what was the apocalypse like two thousand years ago? He wanted to know.

“Alright, I’ll buy it.”

“Two J coins.”

The game disc was incredibly cheap compared to others he had purchased, so he handed over three J coins as a tip. The currency system has considerably changed over the past two thousand years. It was 4200, over a century after the apocalypse and two thousand years of reconstruction. The smallest denomination was the F coin, a hundred of which equaled one J coin, and a hundred J coins equaled one Z coin.

Holding the game disc, Hubert immediately rushed home. He was curious about the game, so as soon as he got to his room, he turned on his gaming system and inserted the disc. In less than five minutes, everything around him suddenly brightened, and a voice reminiscent of Go*gle Translate echoed.

“Welcome to the 2060 Apocalypse Simulation Game. From this moment, you have entered this world. Thirty-six billion people in this world will play with you. The game ends when you open a new world and leave the apocalypse behind.

Hubert, please choose your buff.”

Hubert was dumbfounded. Was this still a game? Thirty-six billion people were playing it. What on earth was going on?

“So, the actual world will face a real apocalypse, and out of thirty-six billion people, only ten billion won’t turn into zombies, and out of those ten billion, only one billion will have special abilities. Hubert, you are the one who opened the gates to the apocalypse, so only you receive the game’s buff. After receiving the buff, you will have a unique way of increasing your power, stronger than others.”

“Wait, does that mean the apocalypse is my fault?”

“Please don’t think like that, Master Hubert. An apocalypse is sure to occur once every few thousand years because humanity’s excessive destruction has weakened Earth, causing a side effect that turns humans into zombies. Only by destruction and reconstruction can Earth live again. The mission to save Earth, I’ll leave it to you.”

Hubert was still in a state of confusion. Was it, not his fault?

“Please choose your buff, Master Hubert:

Single Crystal. Fast cultivation, an absolute power of a single crystal.

Seven Crystals. Much slower cultivation, weak initially, versatile force.

After choosing your buff, your physical constitution will remain unchangeable, but your cultivation speed will be much faster than average.”

Being a seasoned gamer who had played countless games, Hubert would naturally not choose an ordinary buff like the first one, so he decisively selected the second one.

“Go with the second buff.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Go*gle Translate rang out again.

“Buff selection completed. Congratulations to player Hubert on a successful game entry. The apocalypse will begin on June 15th after the solar eclipse ends, so please prepare carefully. The game developer sends Master Hubert a hundred square meters of space, and every time you level up, you will unlock an additional hundred square meters. Make use of the freedom to store supplies. Furthermore, the game developer has scanned Master Hubert’s physical constitution. Since you have Yin attributes, the best results can be achieved using a cultivation method that supplements Yin with Yang.”

What? How does one supplement Yin with Yang?

“Since Master Hubert has a Yin physical constitution, the fastest way to level up is to make friends with many different ability users, people with superior energy to act as conduits for leveling up. If those different ability users are male, it’s even more advantageous because men always carry Yang’s physical attributes. The combination of Yin and Yang will yield the best results.”

“Isn’t this a bit evil? Isn’t this like absorbing vitality!”

How could he possibly do something so sinister? Although he wanted to become powerful quickly, he couldn’t just disregard people’s lives!

“Rest assured, Master Hubert, the other party will not be harmed, and this is a ‘shortcut’ cultivation method. If you don’t use it, it’s outstanding, as it’s a bonus given by the game developers to you, the one who opened the game. The game developers also unlock your Yin physical constitution specifically to aid in your cultivation. When cultivating, place your hands onto the hands of the other party to transmit energy.”

Hubert nodded. Anything would be better than nothing. This was a supplementary cultivation method so that it could be used or not. Either way was acceptable.