Daybreak.
If you can call this dirty, gauze-filtered grey light "daybreak."
I woke up freezing. The metal shell of the bus had zero insulation. The morning chill cut right through the broken windows and into my bones.
I curled up, trying to pull my coat tighter, but my arms were wrapped around something hard and cold.
Looked down. Black scabbard. Ancient patterns. The katana.
Memories flooded back like a tide. Transmigration. Zombies. Killing. Leveling up. The Roulette. Not a dream.
I sighed. My breath turned into a puff of white fog.
Shadow was already up. Perched on a seat by the window, staring out through the shattered glass. His back looked arrogant, lonely... almost like a lone wolf of the apocalypse. If you ignored the fact that he was scratching an itch with his hind leg.
"Up?" Shadow didn't turn around. "You sleep ugly. Grinding teeth, drooling, talking in your sleep."
I wiped the corner of my mouth. Embarrassed. "What did I say?"
"You yelled 'Manager, don't fire me,' and 'Vivian, don't go.'" Shadow turned, golden eyes full of contempt. "Pathetic."
I froze. Stung. Yeah. In that world, I was just a discarded loser.
"But," Shadow hopped off the seat and walked over to me, "you said something else later."
"What?"
"You yelled 'Go to hell.'" Shadow grinned—or at least, bared his teeth in something that looked like a smile. "That part was decent."
I blinked, then shook my head with a bitter smile.
I grabbed the remaining half of the compressed biscuit and forced it down with cold water. With food in my stomach, I finally felt a little warmer. I glanced at the rusty machete, hesitated, then shoved it into my belt. Having a backup never hurts.
"Let's go." Shadow saw me finish. "Time to work."
"Work?"
"Find shelter. Find food." Shadow trotted to the door, looking back at me. "Too drafty here. And that corpse smells. My nose can't take it."
I looked at the zombie I killed last night. Blood had turned black, reeking of rot. Flies were buzzing over it.
Fought back the urge to puke. Gripped the katana. Followed Shadow out of the bus.
The world outside was even more desolate than I imagined. Skyscrapers looked like they'd been chewed on by giant beasts. Ground was stained with dried blood, littered with clothes and shoes. Occasional skeletons—picked clean by zombies or wild dogs, I couldn't tell.
We moved cautiously down the street.
Shadow took point. He moved light as a feather, paws silent. At every intersection, he'd stop, sniff the ground, ears swiveling like radar dishes. Only when he gave the clear did he signal me to move.
I was the clumsy apprentice, crouching low, trying to mimic him.
"You walk like an elephant," Shadow's voice echoed in my head. "Too loud. Noise is death here."
"I'm trying..." Palms sweating.
Twenty minutes later. Crossroads.
"Stop." Shadow froze. Lowered his body. Hackles raised.
I turned to stone. Didn't dare breathe.
Fifty meters ahead. Two zombies wandering. Wearing tattered construction uniforms. One was dragging a shovel, scraping it against the pavement. Scrape. Scrape.
"Two of them." I swallowed hard. Knuckles white on the sword handle. "Go around?"
"Can't." Shadow analyzed calmly. "Only way through. Besides... you need practice."
"Practice?" My eyes bulged. "You want me to fight them? Two on one?"
"Is that a stick in your hand?" Shadow glanced at my katana. "That is a Premium-grade weapon. Those are bottom-tier walkers. Slow. Dumb. As long as you don't scare yourself to death, cutting their heads off is easier than slicing a watermelon."
"But..."
"No buts." Shadow's voice went cold. "You got lucky last night. If you don't learn to fight head-on, you will die. Sooner or later."
He was right.
I took a deep breath. Heart pounding like a war drum.
"What about... the Character Card?"
"Save it." Shadow cut me off. "Don't use a cannon to kill a mosquito. If you use your trump card on trash like this, we're dead when the real threats show up."
He stepped back, sat on a rock, and gave me a look that said: Please, start your performance.
"Go on. I'm watching."
I gritted my teeth. Stared at the two zombies. Screw it.
I stepped out from behind the wrecked car.
The zombies saw me instantly. Stopped. Cloudy eyes rolled. Then came the excited shrieks. They dragged their broken bodies and charged.
Face to face with them, the fear actually faded, replaced by a vicious will to live.
Ten meters. The smell of rot hit me.
Five meters. I could see the maggots wriggling in their faces.
"DIE!!"
I roared, raised the katana, and swung down at the lead zombie with everything I had. No technique. Just instinct and brute force.
SHING!
The blade didn't disappoint. It sliced through the skull like tofu. Blood and brain matter splattered all over me. The zombie didn't even make a sound. Just folded.
Fast! Sharp! Confidence surged.
But as I pulled the blade out, the second zombie was already there. It swung the shovel at my head.
I tried to dodge, but I'd overcommitted on the first swing. Body locked up.
THUD!
The shovel slammed into my shoulder.
Pain blinded me. I stumbled back, nearly falling. If the shovel hadn't been dull and rusty, my arm would've been gone.
"RAH!"
The zombie dropped the shovel and lunged, trying to tackle me.
Panic took over. I lost all form. I didn't let it get close—I just gripped the sword with both hands, closed my eyes, and swung wildly.
"AAAAAHHH!!"
I screamed like a maniac. The blade flashed in the air.
Hack! Hack! Hack!
Meat chopping sounds. Over and over. I didn't stop until my arms were too heavy to lift. The resistance was gone. I opened my eyes.
The zombie was on the ground. Hacked to pieces. Neck almost severed, head hanging by a thread of skin. Black blood everywhere.
I stood in the puddle of gore, gasping, shaking. Shoulder burned like fire. Probably bruised the bone.
"Ugly."
Shadow walked over. Looked at the minced meat on the ground. Shook his head.
"First cut was okay. Had some force. The second one... looked like a catfight."
He looked up at me. "If you hadn't closed your eyes, a simple sidestep would have dodged that shovel. A backhand slash would have finished it. No need to waste energy swinging like a lunatic."
I wiped blood off my face. Didn't argue. He was right. I was weak. Not just physically. Mentally.
"However," Shadow added, "you didn't wet your pants. And you're alive."
Ding!
[Ding!][System Energy Charge Complete.][World Channel Activated.][Return to Reality immediately?]
"Return?" My eyes lit up. I snapped my head to Shadow. "We can go back? Really?"
"Duh." Shadow rolled his eyes. "You think I want to stay in this stinking dump? Not even a fresh bone here. Let's go."
"Shadow, let's go!" "System, Return!"
The blue rune on Shadow's forehead flared. A pillar of dazzling light crashed down, piercing the concrete ceiling, enveloping us.
Space twisted. The rotting corpses, the dark ruins, the distant screams... everything faded into the light.
"Woof! (Goodbye, hellhole!)"
Vision blurred. Weightlessness hit me.
GASP!
I sucked in a huge breath, bouncing off the ground like a drowning man breaking the surface.
Car horns. The sound of a store loudspeaker nearby: "Great news! Great news! The Jiangnan Leather Factory has closed down..."
That tacky noise sounded like a heavenly choir.
No rot smell. Just exhaust fumes, cumin from a barbecue stall, and the humid, suffocating scent of the city.
I opened my eyes.
I was standing in a dim alley. Streetlight casting a yellow glow. In the distance, the CBD skyscrapers lit up the night sky with neon.
I looked down.
My suit was shredded rags, caked in black blood and mud, smelling like death. My hand was still white-knuckling the bloody katana.
And at my feet, a ridiculously clean Shiba Inu was sitting there, looking up at me with a smirk in his eyes.
"We're back," Shadow's voice echoed in my head. "Welcome back to your kennel, Poop Scooper."
I leaned against the wall and slid down until I was squatting on the ground.
I watched a couple walk past the alley entrance. Clean clothes, holding hands, discussing what movie to watch, what bubble tea to drink.
They had no idea. Just seconds ago, in a parallel hell of this city, I was wading through blood.
I killed something. (Okay, a zombie). I saw death. I almost didn't make it back.
"F*ck."
I swore softly. Eyes stung. Not sure if it was self-pity or relief.
Checked my pocket. Phone was there. Screen was smashed before the trip, but the power button worked. It lit up. 19:30.
"Stop whining." Shadow walked over and patted my knee with his paw. "You're alive. You have a chance. Now, take me home. I'm hungry enough to eat a cow."
I looked at him and laughed. Yeah. At least I have the dog.
"Let's go home."
I wrapped the katana in my tattered jacket, hugging it like it was my lifeline.
"Still broke... but at least something changed."
I stood up, dragging my exhausted body out of the shadows, walking into the city that was still indifferent to me, but full of life.