In October, the plane trees at Mingtong University were still lush and emerald green.
The blazing sun hung high overhead, and beneath its harsh light, the gruesome scenes scattered throughout the campus had nowhere to hide.
A week earlier, a black veil had suddenly spread across the sky. Grey dust rose into the air, only to vanish without a trace moments later.
Then people began collapsing to the ground, their bodies burning hot as they convulsed violently.
When they stood up again, they had already transformed into flesh-eating monsters and lunged at the classmates beside them.
The beautiful, peaceful campus instantly became a living hell.
Soon afterwards, all communication was cut off.
The survivors hid in dark corners, waiting for rescue.
At that moment, a hushed argument was taking place inside the university infirmary.
Wang Tianlei looked agitated, terror and panic flickering in his eyes.
“She has a high fever, and the medicine isn’t working. She’s definitely going to turn into a zombie! If we don’t throw her out, all of us will die!”
When no one responded, he could not help raising his voice.
“Do all of you want to turn into man-eating monsters too?!”
“Tianlei is right,” Liu Yizhou said after exchanging a glance with Wang Tianlei. “Keeping Sang Luo here is too dangerous for us.”
“But the place outside is crawling with zombies. Throwing her out would be no different from killing her,” class president Hu Lingling said with a disapproving frown.
Wang Tianlei stared at her coldly.
“She’s about to stop being human.”
“I agree that we should throw Sang Luo out,” Xu Qi said gloomily from the corner. “If it weren’t for her, Yi Fan wouldn’t have died. What’s happening to her now is karma.”
Hu Lingling ignored them.
Sang Luo might not have been likeable, but the way they were dealing with this chilled her heart.
She turned towards the university doctor, Zhang Zhenhua.
“Mr Zhang, do you also think we should throw Sang Luo out?”
Zhang Zhenhua was slightly overweight. He looked at her, then at everyone else, before wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Both sides… make reasonable points…”
That was practically the same as agreeing.
Hu Lingling looked disappointed.
“This is murder!”
Everyone averted their eyes.
Xu Qi scoffed at Hu Lingling.
“Saintess, if you don’t like it, you can go outside with Sang Luo.”
Hu Lingling stiffened.
Then she looked expectantly towards Ning Ziqiu, the only boy who had not spoken, hoping he would stand on her side.
Meeting her gaze, Ning Ziqiu pushed up his glasses.
“Why do we have to throw her out? We can tie her up in the medicine storeroom.”
“If she turns into a zombie, she won’t be able to get out.”
“If she doesn’t, we can release her afterwards.”
Everyone froze.
Apparently, none of them had considered such a compromise.
After a brief silence, they tacitly accepted Ning Ziqiu’s suggestion.
Wang Tianlei and Liu Yizhou immediately walked towards Sang Luo, who was curled up on one of the sickbeds.
The girl’s body trembled uncontrollably from the high fever. Her exquisitely delicate face, no larger than a palm, was as pale as paper. Her brows were slightly furrowed in discomfort, lending her a breathtakingly fragile beauty.
Hearing their approaching footsteps, Sang Luo had no choice but to force open her unbearably heavy eyelids.
The young woman’s long, butterfly-wing lashes slowly lifted, revealing clear amber eyes that stared directly at the two approaching men.
They had probably not expected her to wake so suddenly.
Both of them jumped in fright and hurriedly backed away.
Sang Luo propped herself against the edge of the bed and sat up.
The movement immediately put everyone on guard.
However, when they saw that she displayed none of the traits of a zombie aside from her pale complexion, they relaxed slightly.
Even so, no one dared to approach her.
“Thank goodness, you’re finally awake!” Hu Lingling jogged over, her eyes full of concern. “Are you all right now?”
Sang Luo replied with complete sincerity, “No.”
Hu Lingling froze.
“My head hurts, my foot hurts, my whole body hurts. Everything hurts.”
Hu Lingling looked a little confused.
“…Then maybe you should lie down again?”
Sang Luo nodded and lay back down beneath everyone’s indescribable expressions.
She even politely added, “Keep your voices down.”
She still thought she was some pampered young lady!
Xu Qi’s face turned livid, and she was about to charge towards her.
**Bang!**
A zombie slammed into the infirmary door, making it shake with a deafening crash.
The lock rattled violently, and even the cabinet barricading the door began to tremble. Hoarse snarls came clearly from the other side.
Everyone fell silent in terror.
No one paid any further attention to Sang Luo, afraid that the slightest noise might draw the zombies outside.
The simple act of sitting up had left Sang Luo’s entire world spinning.
This Sang Luo was not the original Sang Luo.
A few minutes earlier, the moment this body had breathed its last, she had transmigrated into it.
Then a system had appeared and informed her that the world she was currently in had been born from an apocalyptic novel.
The original owner of this body was an important supporting character who appeared throughout the entire novel.
Except she had just died.
That was a major bug.
And so Sang Luo had been dragged over to fill the vacancy.
The system said, “The fact that I managed to pull you here means the original you was already dead. Replacing the original owner is basically the same as being reborn. It’s quite a good deal~!”
“Countless people aren’t as fortunate as you.”
Sang Luo replied with lukewarm sarcasm, “Would you like me to give this good fortune to you?”
“…”
The system was rendered speechless.
This was its first mission.
Why was its host so different from the hosts its seniors had served?
The hosts its seniors had worked with had all been delighted to learn that they could be reborn and live another life.
An awkward silence followed.
Sang Luo took the opportunity to assess her new body.
She was weak all over, dizzy, nauseous and short of breath, while her right ankle throbbed with continuous pain.
What could she possibly do with such a feeble body?
She was already exhausted.
Then she heard everyone discussing what they should do with her, every word dripping with dislike.
Clearly, the original owner had been extremely unpopular.
She felt even more exhausted.
…
“Host, Host.”
The buzzing system refused to let her rest.
The system decided it might have been too rigid earlier and had failed to make its host feel its warmth and goodwill.
Its seniors had said that it was essential to build a good relationship with one’s host. That way, missions could be completed more efficiently.
Otherwise, when host and system began working against each other, it was always the poor working-class systems that suffered.
And so it spoke in an especially gentle voice.
“I’ll explain the plot to you now.”
Since she could not mute it, Sang Luo decided to at least spare her ears.
“Switch to a voice that sounds incredibly cool and handsome.”
The system, which felt thoroughly disliked, fell silent.
“…”
Aggrieved, it changed to a domineering Long Aotian-style voice.
Surely this one was cool enough.
After steadying itself, it began explaining the plot.
A virus descended from the sky, turning the unfortunate humans it infected into walking corpses.
Order quickly collapsed. Monsters ran rampant, and the apocalypse descended.
In the brutal struggle for survival, the male and female protagonists grew stronger together, advancing and retreating side by side as they protected humanity’s final hope.
The original owner of Sang Luo’s body was the male protagonist’s fiancée.
She came from a wealthy family and was a fair-skinned, rich beauty—a pampered little drama queen.
Shortly after beginning university, she fell in love with the male protagonist at first sight and aggressively pursued him.
At the time, the male protagonist was quarrelling with his white-moonlight female protagonist. To provoke the female protagonist, he agreed to date Sang Luo and even became engaged to her.
On the day the virus broke out, Sang Luo had been eating with the male protagonist in the university cafeteria when the students around them suddenly turned into zombies and attacked.
The original owner pushed the male protagonist aside, helping him avoid an attacking zombie.
However, she herself was knocked to the ground.
Despite escaping danger, the male protagonist did not attempt to save her.
He spotted the helpless female protagonist among the chaotic crowd, abandoned Sang Luo and went to rescue her instead!
At the critical moment, the original owner’s childhood friend, Yi Fan, appeared. He dragged the zombie off her and pulled her away.
Amid the panic, they took refuge in the university infirmary.
After this incident, the original owner turned evil.
…
At this point in the explanation, the system announced her main mission.
**Integrate into the character and take revenge on the male and female protagonists.**
“I believe Host will definitely complete the mission perfectly~~”
Following the experience shared by its seniors, the system poured encouragement and motivational chicken soup into its host’s mind, hoping to fill her with determination.
Sang Luo remained expressionless.
“Dream on.”
The system fell silent.
“…”
Its motivational speech must have been too stiff and uninspiring.
Sang Luo added, “Block the pain in my body.”
The system froze before honestly answering, “I can’t.”
Sang Luo looked genuinely shocked.
“You don’t have permission?”
The system nodded awkwardly.
It did not even have that function, all right?
Sang Luo looked devastated.
“Then what use are you?”
The system felt deeply aggrieved by her contempt.
The useless system made Sang Luo wonder what sin she had committed to end up in this place.
She swallowed through her burning, painfully dry throat and finally could not bear lying there any longer.
“Is there any water?”
The moment her voice rang through the room, which had been quiet enough to hear a pin drop, everyone glared at her furiously.
“Shut up! There are zombies outside!” Wang Tianlei hissed, wishing he could throw this stupid woman out immediately.
Hu Lingling was closest to her.
Seeing that Sang Luo’s lips were so dry that they were peeling and cracked, she could not bear it. She carefully picked up a bottle of mineral water and handed it to her.
“What are you doing?!”
Wang Tianlei tried to stop her, but he was too late.
Suppressing his anger, he lowered his voice.
“We barely have any water left! What are the rest of us supposed to do after she drinks it?”
Because the infirmary received students who came seeking treatment, it had originally stocked several cases of bottled mineral water.
There was also a large water bottle attached to the water dispenser.
The university doctor, Zhang Zhenhua, happened to be an instant-noodle enthusiast and had stored several boxes in various flavours.
Relying on those supplies, the students had managed to hide there for a week.
The water from the taps now carried a strange, indescribably foul odour. Even after boiling it, no one dared to drink it under the current circumstances, so they only used it to wash themselves.
By now, there was very little bottled water remaining.
“All right, all right. Everyone, stop talking. Zombies have sharp hearing.”
Zhang Zhenhua quietly tried to smooth things over.
He then added, “Sang Luo has a fever. She should be drinking more water.”
“She might be awake now, but who knows whether she’ll suddenly turn into a zombie?”
Wang Tianlei reluctantly threw out those words, but finally stopped talking.
Hu Lingling thought Sang Luo was pitiful.
Sang Luo was famously beautiful.
Not long after entering the university, she had already been voted the campus beauty and gained countless pursuers.
Later, however, her arrogant act of breaking apart a loving couple caused many people to despise her.
Once the story spread, very few of their classmates continued to like her.
But Sang Luo had never cared.
She lived freely and arrogantly, behaving so wilfully that she made people grit their teeth in frustration.
Yet how many of the people who envied her did not also secretly wish they could be like her?
Now, this proud darling of heaven was hiding in an infirmary, growing thin and haggard beneath the torment of a high fever.
Yi Fan, who had always taken care of her, was also gone.
She resembled a rose that had once bloomed magnificently upon its branch, only to be trampled into filthy mud and left to wither.
As class president, Hu Lingling had a gentle personality.
Therefore, even though Sang Luo’s temperament was difficult to like, she could not help softening towards her.
Sang Luo twisted the bottle cap, but her weak hands were unable to open it.
“…”
Seeing this, Hu Lingling reflected on her own thoughtlessness.
She should have realised that Sang Luo would not be able to unscrew the cap.
She hurriedly took the bottle back, opened it, then handed it to her again.
Sang Luo met Hu Lingling’s eyes.
The other girl gave her a kind smile.
“Thanks.”
Sang Luo drank half the bottle in one breath.
The burning heat in her throat finally subsided slightly.
Her mood improved considerably. Once she had finished drinking, she smiled brightly at Hu Lingling.
Hu Lingling was first stunned by Sang Luo’s sudden thanks.
After all, Sang Luo had never been so polite to any of them before.
Then she was dazzled by her smile.
She really was pleasing to the eye when she smiled.
Even in her haggard state, she possessed a uniquely captivating charm that could not be put into words.
Perhaps that was simply the nature of a true beauty.
Hu Lingling’s face inexplicably reddened.
Sang Luo raised her eyelids and casually surveyed her surroundings.
The infirmary was fairly spacious, with three beds lined up in the same direction. She was lying on the innermost one.
There was a smaller door to the right of the main entrance, probably leading to the room where the medicine was stored.
That must have been the room Ning Ziqiu had suggested locking her inside.
There was a sink to the left of the main entrance, with a bathroom directly beside it.
No wonder they had been hiding in the infirmary for so long while still maintaining decent personal hygiene.
They had food, water and a bathroom.
It was a fairly good shelter.
There was more than one zombie outside the door. She could tell from the heavy footsteps.
Every so often, they charged into the door and struck it several times.
It was as though they knew fragrant, delicious meat was waiting inside but could not find an opportunity to sink their teeth into it, so they pounded on the door to show that they had absolutely no intention of giving up the meal already within reach.
Suddenly—
A blood-curdling scream pierced the air outside, shrill enough to cut through the entire campus.
The zombies striking the door found a new target and rapidly ran away.
Everyone’s tightly wound nerves finally relaxed, although their emotions were complicated.
Sang Luo’s bed was beside the window.
She crawled over, lifted a corner of the curtain and looked outside.
A spectacular yet horrifying scene appeared before her.
Several students were running desperately while a horde of zombies chased behind them.
The student at the rear was quickly overtaken and swallowed by the horde.
…Wouldn’t they chew that person down to the skeleton?
That had to hurt like hell.
Sang Luo’s scalp tingled.
The next instant, one of the zombies abruptly turned around.
As though it had sensed something, it bared its teeth and claws and began moving in her direction.
Its breathtakingly “beautiful” face was fully exposed to Sang Luo’s eyes.
Its skin was blue-black and rotting. Its eyeballs were twisted and vicious, while flesh and sinew bulged grotesquely from its wounds.
Dark, filthy blood dripped steadily down its body.
“…”
Sang Luo immediately dropped the curtain, breathing rapidly.
“Don’t look again next time,” Hu Lingling said hurriedly, assuming she had been frightened by the sight of their classmate’s tragic death.
Although Hu Lingling herself was anxiously twisting her hands together, her eyes filled with despair and grief.
Another classmate was gone.
Still shaken, Sang Luo muttered something under her breath.
Hu Lingling’s expression suddenly became strange.
She was not sure whether she had misheard.
It sounded like Sang Luo had said, “Holy fucking hell, you’re so ugly you’ve hurt my eyes.”
The system was shocked.
“…”
The hosts served by its seniors were supposedly all very gentle.
However, it had a feeling that its host had absolutely nothing to do with the word *gentle*.
After calming down, Sang Luo swept her gaze across the others.
Including herself, there were seven people.
An ordinary middle-aged university doctor with a slightly overweight build.
Ordinary young students who had never stepped into society.
Every one of their eyes revealed an unmistakable fear.
Calling them the old, weak, sick and disabled would not be an exaggeration.
She, in particular, had gloriously gathered the categories of weak, sick and disabled all by herself.
She had just felt her right ankle.
It was swollen terribly, leaving her in a genuinely semi-disabled state.
According to the system, the zombies were currently only Level One and had not yet begun evolving.
Even more monsters were still being born.
For ordinary people, dying at the beginning of the apocalypse was probably a blessing.
Sang Luo’s gaze settled on Wang Tianlei.
Suddenly, she said, “You’re right.”
Wang Tianlei did not know what she was planning.
He stared at her warily and frowned in irritation.
“I’m awake now, but I still have a fever. I really could suddenly turn into a zombie.”
The instant she said this, the atmosphere in the room became tense.
Sang Luo climbed out of bed, her weak body swaying like a willow in the wind.
“So you should tie me up in the medicine storeroom.”
…?
Everyone exchanged confused glances.
This considerate version of Sang Luo felt completely unfamiliar.
Seeing that Sang Luo had already shuffled into the medicine storeroom, Hu Lingling finally reacted and tried to stop her.
“Perhaps she can feel her body changing and doesn’t want to accidentally hurt us,” Ning Ziqiu said thoughtfully. “Let’s do as she says.”
“Would she really be that kind-hearted?” Xu Qi asked sceptically.
Ning Ziqiu glanced at her.
Xu Qi pulled at the corners of her mouth and fell silent.
Whether Sang Luo had suddenly discovered her conscience or not, it was ultimately beneficial to them.
Perhaps because of her unexpected thoughtfulness, Sang Luo received relatively good treatment.
They did not bind her tightly from head to toe.
They merely secured her to a chair while leaving both of her hands free.
Then they locked the door securely.
“They really are good children,” Sang Luo remarked.
The system was still wondering why she had caused such a commotion.
Confused, it asked, “What do you mean?”
Sang Luo waved her free hands.
“I showed them the slightest bit of consideration, so they felt too embarrassed to tie me up completely.”
And that was exactly what she had calculated would happen.
The system became even more confused.
“But you aren’t going to become infected or turn into a zombie. There’s no need to isolate you.”
This body merely had an ordinary illness and fever.
The corners of Sang Luo’s eyes curved.
“I will in a moment.”
The system was bewildered.
“?”
Waaah, communicating with its host was so difficult. QAQ
Before it could ask another question, Sang Luo produced a surgical scalpel as though performing a magic trick.
The system was startled.
“Where did that come from?”
“Under the pillow.”
“Oh, right.” The system quickly realised that it was perfectly normal for an infirmary to have a scalpel.
It said happily, “You can use it to cut through the rope.”
Sang Luo curved her lips into an unfathomable smile.
Her slender, beautiful fingers skilfully played with the scalpel.
The small, sharp blade seemed to come alive as it spun between her fingers.
She said to the system, “Actually, aside from being a little ugly, zombies have some pretty cool abilities. They don’t feel pain or heat, and they can continue living indefinitely without any sensation. Isn’t that right?”
The system could barely keep up with her thought process.
“…”
Her tone made it sound as though she quite liked zombies.
Had she not been cursing one just moments ago?
After thinking about it, the system decided to agree against its better judgement in order to establish a friendly relationship with its host.
“They are… quite cool.”
Sang Luo touched her smooth, delicate face.
“This face is so beautiful. Even if I turn into a zombie, I’ll definitely become a sight to behold in the zombie world.”
The system vaguely sensed that something was wrong.
“…”
Absolutely not!
At that moment, the blade spinning skilfully between Sang Luo’s fingers unexpectedly sliced a small cut across her right index finger.
Oh dear.
She had suffered an accident while playing with a knife.
The system wanted to laugh.
It was still considering whether it should comfort her when—
Sang Luo pulled back the sleeve covering her right wrist.
There was an ominous smear of dark blood on the pale skin of her inner wrist.
Then she pressed her wounded fingertip against it.
The system froze.
“?!”
Its domineering Long Aotian voice trembled.
“Wh-what kind of blood is that?”
Sang Luo answered cheerfully, resolving its confusion.
“Zombie blood. I rubbed some onto myself when I was standing by the window~”
The system screamed.
“???”
Its Long Aotian voice completely broke down.
“WHY?!”
“To die, of course.”
Sang Luo’s amber eyes curved with pleasure, yet their depths were covered in a misty layer of coldness.
Heh.
She was not a fucking idiot.
Why would she willingly struggle to survive in an apocalypse?
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