Chapter 2: The Apocalypse Begins

The countdown was over.

At exactly 8:00 PM, the world collapsed.

It started in the hospitals. Patients who had mysteriously slipped into comas woke up screaming. Their bodies convulsed, their eyes turned milky white. Then they attacked. Doctors, nurses, visitors—no one was spared.

I wasn't there to see it firsthand. I was in my apartment, gripping a whiskey glass with white knuckles, watching the city below as sirens blared and screams echoed between the buildings. I had lived through this before.

And I had died in it, too.

My breath came slow, measured. My pulse pounded in my ears, but I wasn't afraid. Not this time. I had prepared—food, weapons, an escape plan—but more than that, I had knowledge. The virus spread exponentially. Within the hour, the streets would be swarming. Within the night, the weak would be devoured.

And the ones who betrayed me?

They would suffer.

I exhaled through my nose, picked up my phone, and dialed a number I had sworn I'd never call again.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Hello?" a frantic voice answered.

I closed my eyes. Even now, after everything, her voice still made my chest tighten. Li Mei. The woman who had once held my heart in her hands… before she crushed it and threw me to the monsters.

She was panicking. I could hear it—the tremble in her breath, the chaos in the background. A distant memory flickered in my mind. Her smile. Her lies. The betrayal.

I forced a chuckle, low and slow. "Scared?"

A sharp inhale. "Y-you—?! How did you—?!"

I leaned back against my chair, watching smoke rise in the distance. How poetic.

"You should run," I murmured. "The apocalypse just started."

I hung up before she could speak. Before old feelings could creep in. Before my mind could wander to a past that didn't exist anymore.

I wasn't that man anymore.

Ding!

[ Apocalypse Tyrant System Update ]

[ First Wave Mission: Survive the First Night ] [ Reward: Combat Instincts Upgrade, New Ability Unlock ]

I stared at the glowing text, my fingers tightening around the glass.

Last time, I had begged for my life. I had trusted. I had been weak.

Not this time.

I set the glass down, stood up, and grabbed my machete from the table. Tonight, I wasn't hiding. I was hunting.

The streets were already drenched in screams and blood.

I exhaled slowly, rolling my shoulders, feeling the weight of the weapon in my grip. The fear and doubt belonged to the man I used to be.

Tonight, the real game began.