Volume One, Chapter One: A Livestream Connecting to the Apocalypse

(Page 1/3)

"Qin Yong! Hurry up and find your son a wife! He’s been back for nearly half a year now, and all he does is sleep all day. In the middle of the night, he mutters about livestreams, and I swear it sounds like someone’s tearing the house down."

"Not a single girl has set foot over our threshold. He’s already twenty years old, and I was hoping to have a grandchild crawling about! If he ends up a bachelor, he’ll be the laughingstock of the village—a top student who, after more than a decade of study, comes home just to farm. That’s a first!"

The old woman’s face was surrounded by a faint air of discontent.

"What’s wrong with Xiaofan coming home to farm? These days, even the simplest apartment in the city costs seven or eight hundred just for rent. Besides, farming is a tradition handed down by our ancestors. There are three hundred and sixty trades, and every one can produce a champion," someone else replied.

"What’s so great about that? When I was eighteen, I was already supporting the family and making money. Look at your son—lazy and good-for-nothing, can’t even find a wife. He’s a disgrace to the Qin family!"

"Oh, Mother, he’s your own grandson! Besides, Xiaofan can handle his own affairs. Why should we meddle? Young people these days value freedom," Qin Yong whispered softly.

Meanwhile, inside the room.

Qin Fan was studying his phone. He’d only gotten it by sheer luck—he’d found it somewhere. But no matter how often he streamed, he gained only one follower a day, and sometimes, in the middle of his streams, bizarre things would appear: a bellyband, or the legendary sanitary pad, though they looked crudely made.

Every day he streamed, he wondered if he’d run into a ghost, or if the phone itself was some sort of cursed object.

Sometimes, blood-stained bandages would even appear.

And ever since he’d returned home, his life had been penniless, with the old lady nagging him every day.

He no longer dared to step outside his room.

It seemed his luck couldn’t get worse—penniless, jobless after graduation, not even a girlfriend, and now, tormented by a haunted phone.

Qin Fan felt as if he’d been cursed for eight generations.

Still, he’d tried every solution he could think of. Every day, before he streamed, he’d stick a talisman on the phone to ward off evil spirits.

But after each stream, the talisman would be gone by the next morning.

Finally, gathering his courage, he placed two bottles of mineral water in a basin and submerged the phone.

To his utter disbelief, the entire basin of water vanished before his very eyes.

He rubbed his eyes, unwilling to believe it, and poured in more—over a dozen bottles, but in the end, the basin remained empty.

Damn it, had he really encountered a ghost?

……

Blue Star.

"People of Blue Star, this is the apocalypse. You must stay strong and persevere; from here on, survival is in your own hands."

Buzz—

The broadcast was abruptly cut off.

"The transmission’s dead," said a woman, her face cold and her eyes bright with resolve.

"Damn it, even the central command’s given out. What do we do now?"

"We’re out of supplies. The central government has abandoned us—how are we supposed to survive? Every day brings more zombies, and the weather’s hell—if it’s not a cold snap, it’s acid rain. Now, tens of thousands die every day."

Shen Hui cursed angrily. They were the strongest military unit on Blue Star, but now not only were they out of supplies, Shen Hui was covered in wounds—clawed by zombies, his arms wrapped in bandages.

Though they were awakened ability users and thus strong, the environment and lack of resources meant they couldn’t hold out much longer.

"Captain, if this goes on, even if the zombies don’t eat us, we’ll starve to death. Besides, we haven’t had anything to eat or drink at the base for months," someone said weakly.

"Captain, if something happens to me, please take care of my wife and child," Shen Hui croaked, his lips cracked and hand pressed to his wound.

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Just moments before, a zombie had snuck up on Shen Hui from behind. Luckily, Dongfang Wan’er noticed in time, and he was only scratched on the arm—not too serious.

"Shen Hui, hang in there! You can’t die!" Dongfang Wan’er urged, glancing at her own awakened ability—summoning. The trouble was, what she could summon was a streamer, which was utterly useless in the apocalypse.

She hadn’t eaten in a long time either, her body on the edge of collapse.

But with no resources, all she could do was comfort herself with lies.

Inside the base, people were starting to sell their own children, willing to trade them for a mouthful of water.

Some had even gone so far as to eat their children—if not for her intervention, human flesh and blood would already be their food and drink.

Her eyes grew dim, as heavy as the overcast sky, and her fists clenched tight.

Suddenly.

Dongfang Wan’er felt something strange stirring in her ability. She activated it.

And then, more than a dozen bottles of pure water appeared before her.

"This… Is this water?"

"Pure water?"

"Captain, how did you get so much water?!"

Dongfang Wan’er was stunned; she had no idea where the water had come from.

Could it be the streamer she’d summoned?

Without thinking too much, she hungrily drank some and handed a bottle to Shen Hu. Only after swallowing did color begin to return to their faces.

"Take the rest for now. Let me figure out what’s going on," she said.

She stepped aside. If the streamer really was sending them water, then they might actually survive. In the apocalypse, even a sip of water commanded a king’s ransom—no amount of connections could secure it.

Children wouldn’t have to be sold as food.

And she’d just received so much water at once.

Tentatively, Dongfang Wan’er spoke to her ability.

"Excuse me, was it you who gave us the water?"

……

At that moment.

In his storeroom, Qin Fan was still staring at his phone, about to take it apart to see what was inside when a voice suddenly rang out.

He nearly jumped out of his skin.

Hearing a human voice, he tentatively spoke into the phone.

"It was me! I gave you the water just now!"

"That’s wonderful!" Dongfang Wan’er’s eyes shone. As expected, it was the person she’d summoned.

"Could you give us more water, please?" she pleaded. "I haven’t eaten in almost a year."

"What?" Qin Fan was bewildered. How could a dozen bottles not be enough? Not eaten for a year? She should have been dead long ago. Was this some kind of scam?

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"No… We won’t take your water and food for nothing. We’ll pay you," she insisted. "Or whatever you want, as long as you give us water—I’ll give you anything!"

The voice was sweet—it was a woman.

"Money?" Qin Fan asked. "How much can you pay?"

What he needed most was money. For money, he’d do anything—in this day and age, you couldn’t live without it.

"As much as you want. With enough money, not just water—we can get roast duck, roast chicken, a grand feast," Dongfang Wan’er replied. She hadn’t heard such talk in ages; her cracked lips parted as she swallowed hard.

"I need a lot—however much you have, I’ll take it. The whole world is in ruins now, zombies everywhere, acid rain pouring from the sky. What we lack isn’t money, but food, water, supplies—money can’t buy them. If you provide those, whether you want money, gold, huge diamonds, or even energy cores, I can give you anything," she said.

Qin Fan was stunned. Money was useless? Gold and diamonds were no big deal over there?

If that was the case, how could he refuse such a deal?

"I’ll get you some water first, and then we’ll talk about other things," he replied.

"Let me pay you a deposit," Dongfang Wan’er said eagerly, removing the necklace from her neck. "This is a family heirloom. It may not be worth hundreds of thousands, but it’s definitely worth tens of thousands."

Qin Fan laughed to himself. She was a good talker. He couldn’t even see the necklace.

But in the next instant—

Something heavy dropped into his hand. He looked down.

It was actually a necklace.

What the hell!

He was dumbfounded.

After a moment, he realized—his phone was a link to another dimension.

And over there, they were in the midst of the apocalypse.

He felt the necklace, then bit it—it really was a diamond.

"Don’t worry. Since you’ve paid a deposit, I’ll get you some water to start with. If you need anything else, just tell me—I can help, as long as there's payment."

He was just a recent graduate, with no more than three hundred yuan to his name, no job, and no allowance from home. That three hundred was all he’d managed to save.

"Money isn’t a problem. Here, it’s the most useless thing. What we need isn’t money, but food, water, and resources—none of which money can buy. If you can provide those, whether it’s money, gold, big diamonds, or even energy cores, I can give you anything."

Damn! Money was useless!

Qin Fan was breathing hard—over there, gold and the rest were nothing.

So how could he not take this deal?

"I’ll get you some water first, then see what else you need."