Zhang Qi's eyelids twitched wildly for a long moment before he managed to crack them open. They felt heavy as hell, like two five-pound weights were hanging from them. His whole body was weak, limp, no strength at all—like he'd just spent three days burning up with a 104-degree fever. He felt like a puddle of mush.
He knew this deathly feeling. Remembered it from that time he foolishly ran a city marathon. Woke up the next day just like this. Back then, he'd even thought, if the world really ended and all the cars died, he'd have to rely on his own two legs to run. That's why he'd trained for distance running.
But weirdly, this wave of debilitating weakness came and went like a bad omen, vanishing almost as fast as it hit. Zhang Qi propped himself up on the cold bed frame, swaying as he stood. Squinting his half-open eyes, he scanned the dorm room three times over, top to bottom. His jaw dropped. He slapped his own forehead with a loud smack.
"Was I robbed?! Or raided?! Which son of a bitch trashed my place?!"
He scrambled over to his computer desk. One look and his knees buckled. He almost collapsed right there. His precious computer was shattered. The monitor was a spiderweb of cracks. The CPU case was dented and twisted.
"You thieving bastard! If you're gonna steal, steal! Why smash my computer?! What'd my PC ever do to you?!" He trembled with rage, his voice shaking.
The whole dorm was turned upside down, like a typhoon had blown through. Every drawer was yanked out and dumped on the floor, contents scattered. Even the metal frame of the bunk bed was bent out of shape, the mattress tilted. This wasn't some petty theft. This was someone looking for something serious, digging into every corner, practically checking the mouse holes.
Resigned to the computer's fate, Zhang Qi stood up, planting his hands on his hips as he surveyed the wreckage, cursing the thief's ancestors eighteen generations back.
"Wait… What happened yesterday? A real robbery? My brain's total mush… can't remember a thing…" He rubbed his temples hard, frowning, trying to force the memories back. His fingers accidentally brushed against his neck near the shoulder. He felt a few raised scars. The texture was unnerving, totally different from a normal wound.
Suddenly, memories from before he blacked out flashed through his mind like a movie reel, scene after scene, terrifyingly clear.
"I was bitten… The thing that bit me… wasn't right in the head… Those empty eyes… drooling from the mouth… No way… Who just bites someone like that? The fuck was wrong with them?!"
He scrambled to the door, peered through the crack first to confirm the hallway was empty, then slammed it shut. He fumbled with the deadbolt, locking it twice, then shoved a chair under the doorknob for good measure. But before that, he needed to figure out what the hell was going on. His heart was pounding like a rabbit in his chest.
Reaching for his phone, the pendant slipped from his pocket, clattering to the floor, gleaming oddly in the dim light. Zhang Qi bent to pick it up. The central gem was no longer glowing. It was dull and gray, like a common river rock. He slipped the chain over his neck. The cold metal made him shiver. He kept digging in his pocket for the phone.
The phone screen was black, a brick. No response no matter what button he pressed. He plugged in the charger, waited. The screen stayed dead. He flipped the light switch—Sure enough, the power was out. Even the outlet indicator lights were dark.
"If the whole building's blacked out, that's one thing…" Zhang Qi thought, palms sweating. "But combined with yesterday's craziness, and all those weird videos He Yu was watching… This isn't simple. Something big is going down…"
Now, with his phone and PC dead, there was no way to know what was happening outside. Zhang Qi knew perfectly well he had to figure out his own situation before leaving the dorm. Charging out blind was just asking for trouble.
He was worried about He Yu and Zhang Dalong, of course. Wondered if they were okay. But right now, he had to look out for number one. What really freaked him out was that bite mark on his neck—If it was like in the movies and games, where the bitten turn into zombies… then it was game over.
The bathroom was right by the door. To Zhang Qi's surprise, the tap water was still running. He turned the faucet, listening to the whoosh, splashed cold water on his face, trying to clear the jumble in his head.
Weirdly, the water flowing over his skin didn't feel cold like it used to. It was lukewarm, no sting at all. He tugged down the collar of his hoodie, craning his neck to examine the wound in the mirror. What he saw nearly made his heart stop.
They were clearly human teeth marks, two neat rows, deep ones. But the creepy part was, the wound looked days old, almost fully healed, the scab ready to flake off, leaving only faint pink marks. If he hadn't felt them, he wouldn't have known he was hurt.
"This is messed up… Doesn't hurt at all. Like nothing happened. What the hell?!" he whispered to his reflection, a chill running down his spine.
He was staring at the wound when he accidentally caught his own full reflection in the mirror. He stumbled back three steps, almost landing in the sink, his lower back slamming painfully against the cold tiles.
"What the fuck?! Who is that?! What the hell happened to my face?! What is that in the mirror?!"
First, he noticed his skin had turned an ashen, deathly pale, like a corpse that's been in the morgue for three days. No color at all. But even scarier—floating above his head were several colored bars, red, blue, green, like a goddamn rainbow! They had numbers on them and were gently bobbing, exactly like health and mana bars in a video game!
"This is a game UI… But my face… Did I hit my head and start hallucinating? Am I still dreaming? This is too fucking much!"
Common sense said to pinch himself. Zhang Qi did just that. But as soon as he gave his palm a light pinch, his skin split open with a sickening pop, a deep gash revealing the meat underneath. Even weirder, watching the blood well up from the wound, he felt absolutely no pain. None. Like he was watching someone else bleed. He didn't even flinch!
"No… Impossible… This has to be a dream… Someone tell me what's going on?! Am I cursed or something?! This isn't science!"
The thought had barely formed when his grip on the sink tightened, nails digging into the grout. A crisp ding! echoed in his ears, a system notification sound. A semi-transparent interface materialized right before his eyes, like a hologram from a sci-fi flick, glowing faintly:
[Name: Zhang Qi]
[Physical Status: 98% Operational]
[Energy Level: 100%]
[Level: 1]
[XP: 0/100]
[Race: Undead]
The text flickered, reflected on his ashen face in the mirror, looking deeply unsettling, like a special effect from a horror movie. Zhang Qi squinted, reading each line, his lips trembling. He noticed a small circled "!" next to each stat. When he focused on it, a detailed explanation popped up, like a phone app, moving with his gaze.
When he reached the last line, he froze solid. His eyes widened. His jaw literally hung open.
"Did I… read that right? 'Undead'?… Are you shitting me?… Did I turn into a game skeleton warrior or something?!"
He had no idea how long he stood there in front of the mirror. His legs went numb. Then, the number on the Energy bar suddenly ticked down by one point. The sound was unnervingly clear:
[Energy Level: 99]
[Tip: Consume Fresh Human Flesh to Restore Energy! Fresher is better! Slaughter on demand for optimal taste and health benefits!]
[New (Additional) Quest Received]
[Sample Fresh Human Flesh: Begin Your Gastronomic Journey]
[Reward: 10 XP]
[Special Note: Live sourcing recommended for superior texture! Pairs well with soy sauce!]