Adam's consciousness was yanked upward like a drowning man breaking the surface.
He jolted awake in his dark apartment—
1:25 AM.
Exactly matching the time when the apocalyptic version of him collapsed.
His chest heaved, lungs burning, cold sweat soaking the sheets.
For a long moment, he couldn't breathe.
"That… wasn't a dream."
He pressed a trembling hand over his pounding heart.
The pain.
The hunger.
The zombie.
The crystal.
The collapsing luxury apartment.
All of it was too real.
When he closed his eyes again, something flickered in the darkness of his mind—
a small, dimly glowing space, like a floating cube of shadows.
And inside it—
A box.
A box of gold bars.
Adam's breath caught.
He focused.
Come out.
A faint metallic "Clang!" echoed in his apartment.
He stared.
The box of gold bars now sat on his floor.
Not imagined.
Not hallucinated.
Real. Solid. Heavy. Cold to the touch.
Adam Gray froze… then shook uncontrollably.
"I… I'm not crazy."
His voice cracked.
"The apocalyptic world… is REAL."
He flipped the box open with trembling fingers.
Inside—
Thirty pristine gold bars, stamped and sealed, each half a kilogram.
Total value: roughly two million dollars.
Beneath them—
A velvet case.
He opened it.
Inside lay two pieces of imperial green jadeite, flawless, luminous, the kind only seen in auctions for kings and billionaires.
Each one worth—
at least fifty million.
His mind spun.
In the apocalypse, these were useless trinkets.
Here?
They could buy safety, power, and survival for both selves.
Adam inhaled shakily, wiping sweat from his brow.
He forced himself to calm down.
This wasn't luck.
This was opportunity.
This was the start of his ascent.
The First Experiment
He found a bottle of water on his desk.
Adam stared at it.
Enter space.
The bottle vanished.
His heart skipped.
Come out.
After several attempts—
"Pop."
The bottle reappeared on his palm.
A laugh escaped him—raw, shaky, disbelieving.
"We… are a community of destiny now."
Both versions of him.
Urban Adam.
Apocalyptic Adam.
They would rise together.
Operation: Survival
Adam immediately opened every food delivery app he had.
His last 3,000 dollars… he burned it all in one night.
Orders flooded in:
Roasted chickens.
Ribs.
Burgers.
Peking duck.
Fresh fruits.
Nuts.
Rice.
Bread.
Milk.
Energy drinks.
Bag after bag he stored into the space.
By 3:30 AM, the pile inside the space looked like a survival bunker.
Only then did he collapse onto bed, exhausted beyond reason.
Sleep swallowed him whole.
Return to the Apocalypse
When he next opened his eyes, he was back in the frozen, corpse-ridden world.
He was still lying on the cold floor of Apartment 1901.
But…
The pain was gone.
The hunger though—
the hunger was a vicious beast tearing him apart.
Then he sensed it.
His space.
Full. Overflowing.
Radiating warmth and life.
He swallowed hard.
Come out.
With a soft shimmer—
A roasted chicken appeared in front of him.
Steam rising.
Skin glossy.
Smelling like heaven itself.
Adam's eyes filled instantly.
He didn't hesitate.
He tore into it like a starving wolf, devouring meat and skin and bones with shaking hands. Tears ran freely down his face, mixing with grime and blood.
Then came ribs.
Then burgers.
Then fruit.
He ate until his stomach ached but his soul felt light.
After the last swallow—
He leaned back against the wall and let out a deep, primal belch.
For the first time in two weeks, he felt alive.
"Our lives are real… both sides…"
His voice was hoarse.
"One self got betrayed, cheated on, humiliated, treated like trash…
and the other nearly starved to death."
His eyes hardened, cold, sharp.
"But today…
our fates change."
The First Training
Adam stood up.
He didn't have a gym.
He didn't have proper shoes.
He barely had space.
But he had a body.
And he had will.
He began training.
250 push-ups
Arms trembling.
Sweat dripping.
Breath ragged.
500 sit-ups
Burning spine.
Tightening muscles.
500 jumping jacks
Joints screaming.
Cold air slicing his throat.
200 kicks and thrusts
Legs cramping.
Balance wavering.
By the end, he collapsed, drenched in sweat.
Then—
He ate again from the space, replenishing energy.
But something was different.
His digestion felt faster.
His muscles felt hotter.
His heartbeat felt stronger.
He stared at his hands.
"The zombie crystal…"
The thought trembled through him.
"It didn't just awaken my space.
It's… strengthening my body."
Possibilities surged through his mind like wildfire.
"If I kill more zombies…
If I collect more crystals…"
His apocalyptic-self would grow stronger.
His urban-self would become powerful.
Weight loss? Muscle gain? Enhanced strength?
Both worlds could benefit.
Both selves could evolve.
A cold, ruthless light flashed in his eyes.
"I'll hunt."
Urban Morning — The First Step Toward Power
When urban Adam woke at 7:30 AM, the sunlight was still soft.
On his table lay a mountain of wealth worth more than anything he had ever owned.
Gold bars.
Jadeite worth fortunes.
Proof of the truth.
He clenched his fists.
"This… is only the beginning."
He put one gold bar into a backpack and left.
A Day of Cold Calculations
At a nearby gold shop, the obese owner tested the bar meticulously.
"Real. Pure. Good condition. I'll buy it for 65,200 dollars."
Adam simply nodded.
No bargaining.
No emotion.
He already had a plan:
Sell all bars.
Never at the same shop.
No personal patterns.
No suspicion.
He moved like a shadow through the city.
One shop.
Another.
Another.
Thirty shops in total.
By sundown—
He had sold all 30 gold bars.
His total assets now:
95 million dollars.
Urban Adam stepped out into the evening wind feeling… nothing.
No excitement.
No greed.
Only purpose.
He visited a black market, purchased two machetes and three felling axes, tested their balance, then sent them into the space.
Then he went to a supermarket and bought enough supplies to fill a small warehouse.
By 8 PM, he dragged his exhausted body back to the apartment.
For the first time, Adam Gray did not feel powerless.
He felt…
prepared.