Reflection of Shadows, Soul of the Dead

A flash of the electronic screen passed through Yang Tian's mind as he shook his head hard, trying to clear his thoughts. After a few moments, he finally regained his composure.

He pushed himself up, his legs still shaky but his mind sharper. Cautiously, he approached the female zombie lying in a pool of blood nearby, bracing himself for any sudden movements. Slowly, he retrieved the fruit knife from her body, gripping it tightly for a semblance of security.

Suddenly, his mind was flooded with familiar knife techniques, as if he had spent years mastering them. His hand moved on its own, wielding the blade with the ease of a seasoned expert. Yang Tian felt a glimmer of hope. Could these skills be the key to his survival? Forgetting his fear for a moment, he practiced a series of moves, his body responding smoothly, like it had been trained for this all along.

"Did I actually get transported into a game?" he wondered, pausing mid-swing, confusion creeping into his thoughts. If he were a game character, then these advanced skills might make sense. But as he glanced at the lifeless corpse on the floor, doubt lingered. "Or… is it just some kind of disease? Maybe the world's still normal?"

Refusing to accept the reality of a zombie apocalypse just yet, he went to the window and pulled back the curtain. The sight outside shattered his hopes—destroyed streets, shattered glass, collapsed buildings, broken trees, and a leaking water pipe spilling over patches of lush grass.

A few battered cars were scattered across the road, with a handful of people moving sluggishly down the street. Yang Tian was about to call out but stopped himself. Their stiff movements and a one-armed figure's complete lack of reaction to pain made his stomach drop.

The scene turned even more disturbing: an elderly zombie knelt beside a corpse, digging its hands into the chest cavity and shoving chunks of flesh into its mouth, feasting as though it were a gourmet meal. Nearby, a little girl gnawed on the corpse's arm.

"Damn!" Yang Tian yanked the curtain shut and leaned against the wall, nausea washing over him. He gripped the knife tightly, trying to steady himself.

"Calm down… stay calm…" he whispered, pressing a hand to his forehead. "First, I need to figure out where I am… is this even Earth? And… who am I here?"

He began searching the room, quietly opening drawers and examining documents. Reading the text fluently, he discovered he was in a place called "Wildcat City" in the United States.

"Wildcat City? Sounds like a knockoff of Raccoon City," he muttered, glancing at the clock on the wall, which read 3:25 p.m. Perhaps he really had entered some parallel world.

He moved on, finding a study-like room and rummaging through drawers. The first one contained police reports, suggesting that the zombie he had seen earlier had indeed been a cop. From the documents, Yang Tian learned he was in Oregon, on the west coast of the U.S.

In the second drawer, he found a travel brochure, "Hawaiian Vacation." He tossed it aside with a smirk, thinking, "Hawaii's probably gone to hell too."

As he opened the third drawer, he found something that caught his eye—a gun. Heart racing, he grabbed it. It was an FN Five-Seven, a Belgian-made pistol with a 20-round magazine. Though he had never handled a real firearm, a strange familiarity took over. As he loaded the magazine, his hands moved as if guided by instinct.

"Ding! Low-level item detected: FN Five-Seven, 3 rounds remaining." The notification in his mind confirmed it—this was indeed like a role-playing game, and he was in some sort of parallel world.

Securing the gun in his waistband, he continued searching for useful items. Suddenly, he heard a faint sound from upstairs, and his heart skipped a beat. Clutching his gun, he moved stealthily toward the staircase, creeping up one step at a time.

Just as he reached the second-floor landing, he caught sight of a figure in his peripheral vision. Instinctively, he spun around, gun aimed at the figure's head—only to find it mirroring his every move. It was his own reflection in a large mirror on the wall. In the dim light, he hadn't even recognized himself.

"Drop your gun! I won't hurt you… I haven't been bitten…" he started, then stopped, realizing the figure was imitating him. He chuckled, relaxing slightly. "It's just me." Stepping closer to the mirror, he studied his reflection and finally noticed: his usual Asian features were gone, replaced by a tall, muscular white man.

While he was still absorbing his new appearance, a door opened to his left, and a middle-aged zombie staggered into view. Its bloodshot eyes locked onto him, its mouth stained with fresh blood, as it lunged forward, jaws wide open.

Yang Tian reacted instantly, firing a shot at the zombie's head.

"Bang!"

The mirror shattered, glass shards scattering across the floor. But in that instant, he felt hot, rancid breath on his neck, and a low growl filled his ears—another zombie was right behind him!