“Ding-a-ling-a-ling…!”
Suddenly, an urgent phone ringtone sounded. Tang Zhen casually picked it up and saw it was a friend he hadn’t contacted for a long time. Tang Zhen was surprised but pressed the answer button.
“*&#￥@*%￥#…!”
What came through the receiver was not the voice of his long-lost friend, but a strangely toned language.
He didn’t know what language it was, but it made Tang Zhen listen blankly from beginning to end for a full minute, his whole being in a state of disembodiment. At the end, he even, as if possessed, said “Yes!” into the phone.
He only said that one word, and then the phone burst into a ball of white light. Tang Zhen immediately fainted, enveloped by the white light.
After the white light dissipated, he had vanished from the room without a trace.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
“Pat… pat…”
After Tang Zhen regained consciousness, he first heard a sound similar to dripping water in a silent room, and then he saw his black smartphone lying in the dust.
At this moment, he remembered that it was this phone that had caused his unconsciousness.
Looking around, Tang Zhen was astonished to find that he was not at home, but lying in a ruin full of garbage.
Panic-stricken, he struggled to sit up from the ground. After confirming that he had not suffered any injuries, except for his clothes being covered in a lot of mud, he picked up the phone.
However, as soon as the phone was in his hand, he felt a strange sensation.
The phone seemed to have become much heavier?
Upon realizing this, Tang Zhen immediately brought the phone closer to his eyes to examine it. Under the dim light, he confirmed that it was his phone, but the texture of the casing had changed into some unknown metal.
With a light press, the phone screen lit up, but the familiar interface was gone, replaced by a bleeding skull with a hellish background. Its deep eye sockets emitted a chilling aura, seemingly staring at Tang Zhen with a sinister, man-eating sneer.
Tang Zhen recalled his previous encounter and his current surroundings, and a chill ran down his spine. He quickly scrolled through the phone.
He was horrified to discover that the phone interface had changed, and the icons for “Personal Information” and “App Store” were unusually prominent.
There was also an icon named “Teleport,” which looked like a vortex, seemingly drawing one’s soul in.
Seeing this icon, Tang Zhen’s heart stirred slightly, and he showed a pensive expression.
He tried to make a call, but a low-balance prompt came from the phone. That eerie female voice, like Sadako, prompted Tang Zhen to recharge with gold coins as soon as possible!
Gold coins?
Since when did phone bills require gold coins? Communication companies, can you be any more ridiculous?
Tang Zhen didn’t dwell on this too much. After hanging up, he shook his head, as if trying to shake that ghost-like voice out of his mind.
Without hesitation, he tapped the “Personal Information” icon.
Tang Zhen
Male
Twenty-three years old
Level: Zero
Experience: 0 / 10
Health: 100
Account Balance: 0 Gold Coins
Tang Zhen frowned as he read through this information, then silently tapped the “App Store” icon.
A dazzling array of app icons filled the screen, categorized into several options: Combat, Life, Entertainment, and so on.
Among the various apps, several were highly recommended and marked with the words “Newbie Recommendation.”
【Lucky Wheel, small stakes, infinite excitement. Main prize: Luck value. Special prizes generated randomly. Download price: 0 Gold Coins.】
【Flashlight, for illumination. Download price: 100 Gold Coins.】
【Basic Map, displays terrain and monsters within a one-hundred-meter radius. Download price: 1000 Gold Coins.】
【Eye Projection, projects screen images onto your vision, allows phone operation via consciousness. Download price: 500 Gold Coins.】
【Basic Monster Detector, displays information on monsters no more than three levels higher than the user. Download price: 1000 Gold Coins.】
【Miniature Storage Space, creates a one-cubic-meter dimensional space within the phone (foldable storage, total volume not to exceed one cubic meter). Download price: 10000 Gold Coins.】
【Basic Treasure Detector, detects valuable items within a hundred-meter radius. Download price: 100,000 Gold Coins.】
…
Tang Zhen watched for a while, then exited the App Store with a mix of doubt and belief. Although he really wanted to download an app and try it, the frequent “Insufficient Gold Coins” prompts forced him to abandon the idea.
It seems I’ve encountered something very strange!
Tang Zhen sighed, stood up from the ground, and began to survey his surroundings.
This seemed to be an abandoned factory, looking dilapidated, with almost everything usable stripped away.
After searching for a while, Tang Zhen was about to look for an exit to go outside when he suddenly heard human footsteps approaching.
He silently darted a few steps into a corridor, where Tang Zhen saw a woman.
In the dim light, he couldn’t tell her age, but her skin appeared very rough and old.
The woman was hunched over, draped in a tattered blanket, and barefoot.
Her movements were slow and weak; she leaned on a wooden stick, seemingly rummaging through the garbage.
As she rummaged, the woman seemed to discover something, and with a slightly surprised expression, she picked up what looked like a food wrapper.
Just as she was about to examine it closely, three shadowy figures, human-like, suddenly rushed out from a dark corner.
The three shadowy figures, with their gnarled, emaciated hands like withered vines, immediately grabbed onto the woman.
The woman let out a scream, a look of despair on her face, struggling desperately to resist.
At this moment, Tang Zhen had clearly seen the appearance of the human-like shadows, but he dared not make any rash moves.
He watched in horror as the woman was torn apart and devoured by three humans covered in rotting flesh. She was now lying on the ground, covered in blood, instantly losing any chance of being saved.
These humans, covered in rotting flesh, devouring human flesh, with their strange and stiff movements, seemed to be the legendary “zombies!”
Suppressing the urge to vomit, Tang Zhen quietly retreated from the corridor, simultaneously taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.
After his breathing stabilized, he sat still for a moment, then widened his eyes, trying to find a weapon for self-defense.
However, in this abandoned factory, apart from garbage, there seemed to be no suitable weapons to be found.
Tang Zhen stumbled and searched for a long time, finally finding only a half-meter long rusty wire.
Tang Zhen knew he couldn’t stay here; he had to find an opportunity to escape, otherwise, he would eventually be killed by zombies and thirst!
Holding his breath and squatting in a corner, Tang Zhen felt like time was passing by like years. The fear in his heart gnawed at him like ants, but he had to force himself to remain calm.
He didn’t know how much time had passed, but when he could no longer hear any sounds in the corridor, Tang Zhen began to tiptoe toward the place where the woman had been attacked.
The zombies were nowhere to be seen; the ground was covered in bloodstains and scattered white bones.
Tang Zhen unhesitatingly picked up two leg bones and a rib, then retreated to his original hiding spot.
To survive, one needed weapons; bare hands wouldn't do.
He wasn’t a hothouse flower; he had grown up in a harsh environment, and there was a streak of tenacity and ruthlessness in his character.
Finding a place with a hole, he inserted a section of a leg bone into it. Tang Zhen kicked it hard a few times, and the leg bone immediately split open, forming two sharp pieces of bone.
After a little grinding on the concrete ground, they became two decent close-combat weapons, though he wasn't sure if such sharp weapons would be effective against zombies.
“Thump… thump… thump…”
Just then, in the empty abandoned factory, a sound of dragging footsteps echoed, sounding extremely eerie. Tang Zhen’s scalp immediately tingled, and he unhesitatingly turned to look at the nearby corridor.
Three zombies, their bellies distended after devouring human flesh, had returned, growling as they ran towards Tang Zhen.
At this moment, Tang Zhen had no retreat. Gritting his teeth, he swung the pale leg bones, meeting the three zombies.
A foul stench assaulted him, but Tang Zhen couldn’t afford to care. Relying on his agile body, his first strike sent one zombie crashing to the ground.
“Crack!”
The leg bone broke, leaving only half in his hand, but he unhesitatingly plunged the remaining half into the eye socket of another zombie.
Zombies felt no pain, but it was propelled more than two meters by inertia, then miraculously tripped over itself.
Tang Zhen inwardly thought he was lucky. Just then, the third zombie’s sharp claws landed on Tang Zhen’s shoulder, and its foul-smelling maw savagely bit towards Tang Zhen’s neck.
“Go to hell!”
At this moment, Tang Zhen was fighting for his life. He grabbed the zombie’s arm, which felt like withered wood, and executed a major back-throw, sending the zombie flying. Then, without hesitation, he charged out.
Stumbling and running for an unknown distance, Tang Zhen finally found an exit. Bursting out, he saw a vast, desolate wilderness before him.
Behind him, he vaguely heard a zombie’s roar. Tang Zhen dared not hesitate and continued to run wildly.
However, as he ran, he felt an itching sensation on his shoulder, accompanied by a faint pain.
Damn it, was I scratched by a zombie? Will I turn into a zombie like in the movies?
Tang Zhen was worried all the way, and his steps grew heavier and heavier. Just as his consciousness gradually blurred, he vaguely saw a camp.
There seemed to be many people gathering around, and they didn’t show any surprise at seeing him running towards them.
“Thud!”
Tang Zhen’s vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground. Before losing consciousness, he seemed to hear a burst of laughter, and someone seemed to be muttering, “Another unlucky guy!”
“Don’t mind him, I guess he’s just fainted from hunger.”
“Let me see, he seems injured, probably scratched by a monster. It’s nothing, back in my day…”