Chapter 1 Transformation into the Apocalypse System

"Take these discharge receipts and go to the cashier on the first floor to pay the bill."

A stack of papers was stuffed into his hand.

The nurse across from me lowered her head to answer the phone that never stopped ringing.

Li Nai's eyes were glazed over. The familiar, cold, mechanical voice echoed in her ears.

"Apocalyptic System connection to physical body countdown: 60 seconds..."

Huh? That voice is back. Is the auditory hallucination still not over?

She shook her head in surprise.

The countdown in my head is still going on.

Li Nai turned around and decided to go back to see the doctor again.

She casually glanced at the people in the corridor and noticed that there were more people today than yesterday.

There's a huge crowd blocking the way.

"Doctor, my son suddenly vomited blood today, what could be the cause?"

"Doctor, my dad is also vomiting blood and hasn't woken up yet."

"My sister's the same. It's driving me crazy!"

"And my two elderly relatives are vomiting a lot. Weren't they told they'd get better after taking medicine?"

Hearing the anxious words, Li Nai slowed her pace. As she passed through the crowd, a strong smell of blood wafted from inside the ward.

She glanced sideways and saw bloodstains on the floor, a crumpled white hospital sheet, and a patient lying there, blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth.

The patients around me all looked much the same, exhaling more than inhaling, as if they would stop breathing in the blink of an eye.

Everyone in the ward was vomiting blood? Could it be that the virus is making a comeback?

Li Nai frowned and quickly covered her mouth and nose. Just as she was about to leave, the voice appeared again, bursting out of her mind and echoing in the busy corridor.

'10 seconds left...'

Huge numbers flashed before my eyes.

Li Nai had a splitting headache and tinnitus. She pressed herself against the wall, looking around for help.

The people behind the blurred numbers are completely unaware.

Some people noticed the gazes and gave her only a strange look.

The nose sniffs.

The smell of blood was getting stronger.

『1』

The large number jitter gradually faded.

The hairs on the back of Li Nai's spine stood on end, and before everything went black, he shouted, "Doctor, help me—"

"Hello! This is System Customer Service 08. Congratulations on becoming the first lucky participant to experience the initial test of the system's integration with humans."

Li Nai was drowsy and couldn't open his eyes: Congratulations on what? Congratulations on becoming a guinea pig?

Let me give you a brief introduction to the system's responsibilities and penalties.

1. Select any living host without restriction and assist them in completing the mission where four characters vie for the host and turn against each other.

2. Protect the host; if more than three hosts die, the attempt is considered a failure.

3. If the target dies, the corruption value reaches the maximum for three days, and there is no progress for seven days, it is considered a failure.

IV. System identity is publicly exposed, which is considered a failure.

5. Successfully obtain the apocalyptic rampage buff; failure will result in being erased from existence.

The apocalyptic mode has been activated. Please select a host as soon as possible.

Selected host —

Host--

As soon as Li Nai regained consciousness, a cacophony of panic and noise flooded her ears like a tidal wave.

She lifted her heavy head from the hospital bed and slowly opened her eyes.

Select a host as soon as possible!

Select a host as soon as possible!

Several red warning words kept flashing repeatedly in front of my eyes.

I don't know if it was because I got up too fast, but I felt dizzy and my vision blurred. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I fell sideways against the wall.

He walked towards the door, supporting himself against the wall, and grasped the round-headed doorknob.

Pull the half-open door back.

"Aaaaaaah! Help!"

"It's biting! It's biting!"

"Run! Someone's dead! Someone's dead!"

The screams were piercing, and there were many figures. Li Nai, who was already dizzy, suddenly felt the world spinning. Except for a row of red words that kept flashing steadily in front of her eyes.

She leaned against the doorframe, sticking half her body out, and growled at them in frustration, "Yeah, you guys are driving me crazy!"

—A strong man rushed over and shoved her into his arms from behind.

"My goodness, are you in such a hurry to be reborn?"

After Li Nai finished cursing, he looked up and thanked the person behind him.

Hmm? It smells awful.

A distorted, bluish-gray face loomed overhead, its gaping, foul-smelling mouth nearly swallowing the flashing red text, the blood vessels connecting its two rows of teeth clearly visible.

Li Nai shuddered, "Mom, what the hell is this?!" She pushed the other person's face hard with both hands.

The ghostly thing turned its face away, its dull eyes locking onto its new target as it chased after it, baring its teeth and claws. It didn't notice Li Nai, who was crawling forward with trembling limbs.

Please select a host as soon as possible!

Please select a host as soon as possible!

"Host, host, stop calling me host, sis! I'm about to die! Use this cheat code!"

I carefully crawled over several "corpses".

Li Nai discovered that they were all vomiting blood and convulsing.

Looking back at the woman who had just been screaming in pain, she was now unconscious, vomiting blood and convulsing.

She recalled the scene in the hospital ward she saw before she fell into a coma, and it was exactly the same as it was now.

Three months ago, an unknown disease broke out in a neighboring city, affecting everyone from newborns to centenarians. The disease quickly spread to surrounding towns, causing panic. It was only brought under control after the emerging Green Rose Company developed a new drug.

Li Nai was not hospitalized due to an infectious disease, but was hospitalized because she was hit by a flying rock while walking on the street.

Luckily, she survived the accident and, after a week in the hospital, was so distressed about her dwindling savings that she rushed to be discharged today.

If she doesn't find a host soon, she'll be driven crazy by this damned, incessantly shouting mechanical voice.

For now, let's escape to a safe place first and then look for it.

He looked up at the entrance to the passage, put his legs over the corpse, and was about to get up when...

Suddenly! Something tugged at her shoe.

She turned her head and saw that her hair stood on end as if struck by lightning, feeling a tingling, cold sensation.

Good heavens! The corpses that were lying haphazardly have come back to life!

Li Nai was so anxious that he tried to pull his foot out, but he couldn't.

As the riot drew to a close, there was no one else alive in the corridor except her. The corpses lay piled up one on top of the other, obscuring the exits at both ends and converging on her.

Li Nai took a deep breath, then bent down to untie her shoelaces, her fingers trembling as she tied the bow into a tight knot.

The game is over!

A shadow of fear loomed over her, a low growl mixed with a foul stench, and hands reached out to pull at her hair.

Damn it! She forcefully pulled off her shoes, dodged backward, and bumped right into a hospital room door. She kicked her legs hard, pretending to be a corpse to avoid being pounced on.

"Sister, older sister?"

A child's innocent voice rang out behind me.

She looked up and saw a girl, about three or four years old, with pigtails and a floral dress, sitting on the ground, blinking her bright, watery eyes at her.

The little girl stood up curiously, clearly intending to walk towards her.

"Little sister, hide quickly!"

Lying on her back on the ground, Li Nai kicked the "corpse" with even more force. She could feel their bodies trying to break in.

"Warning! Due to the host's prolonged failure to select a host, the system's life, along with its physical body, will be destroyed in three seconds. Three..."

Ah! Wait, wait a minute.

Host, host.

Her eyes darted around nervously, finally locking onto the curious little girl who was staring at her at the last second.

Choose her!

"Host No. 1 has been identified. Destroy order lifted."

The safety aura will take effect after 30 minutes.

The Apocalypse System has officially commenced operation.

Customer service representative Tongjie wishes you success in assisting the host to complete the final task.

goodbye. "

Li Nai sat up and faced the wide-open door. The "corpses" seemed to be stuck in place, as if separated from the ward by a transparent wall.

The upper right corner of the field of view displays 00:29:15.

Is this the halo effect of safety?

Snap!

He decisively slammed the door shut, cutting off the "corpse's" bloodthirsty and greedy gaze.

I feel more at ease with the door closed.

She got up from the ground and quickly locked the door.

Double the peace of mind.

Turning around, the little girl who had been some distance away was now sitting at her feet.

Two chubby little white hands clung to her calves.

“Host?” she tried calling out.

The little girl looked up with her tender face, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Sister, I want Grandma."

"Grandma? I don't have a grandma."

A little girl shouldn't need to be breastfed at that age.

The little girl pouted, tears welling in her eyes. She clenched her chubby little hands, sobbing silently. Her pitiful, tearful expression was incredibly endearing.

"My sister is still the eldest daughter, she really doesn't have a grandmother."

Li Nai had never been in contact with children before, let alone a toddler who had just started eating.

She patted her forehead in annoyance, then looked down at the girl, where a list of personal information appeared.

[Host #1, nicknamed Mimi, 3 years and 9 months old, obedient and patient, parents unknown, abandoned at birth, adoptive mother was Grandma Wang, a cleaning lady at the hospital, confirmed dead 45 minutes ago.]

Li Nai squatted down, picked up Mimi, and wiped away the falling tears with her thumb.

"So you're looking for your grandma."

Mimi looked at her, her moist, expectant eyes like those of a pitiful little puppy.

Li Nai's heart was almost melting.

"Mimi, your grandma went back to her hometown for some business, and she asked me to take care of you for a while."

Mimi nodded, seemingly understanding, "Will Grandma come back?"

The girl's clear black and white pupils stared straight at her.

Li Nai looked away. "Yes, I'll be back."

My mind is alerting me to new information.

Silently say "receive".

Suddenly, everything went blank, and the weight of the child's body on my arm disappeared.

She was trapped in the white room.

A white wall faded, revealing the ward she had just left. She looked down at everything in the room from a third-person perspective.

Three hospital beds are placed against one wall, with a wardrobe on the opposite wall. One of the glass windows on the right is open, and the bed closest to the window is surrounded by a curtain, with four thin bed legs showing underneath. A beige curtain hangs still beside it.

But Li Nai could subtly observe that the white curtain was moving, swaying extremely slowly.

A hint of suspicion arose in Li Nai's eyes. He shifted his gaze to outside the ward, where the "corpses" were also completely motionless.

She observed for a few minutes and noticed that the "corpse's" feet were raised one millimeter.

Has the passage of time slowed down?

Returning to the main perspective.

She happened to hear her own monotonous, emotionless voice.

Huh? The speaking speed is normal, there's nothing unusual about it slowing down.

"Friendly reminder: Your host level is only 1. 90% of the functions are unavailable, and you cannot unlock the level 3 main storyline quests. Please level up as soon as possible. The points exchange shop function will be available at level 2."

There are two ways to level up: First, kill zombies. Each zombie grants 50 experience points, with more experience points awarded for each difficult zombie killed. Second, complete designated missions. The more difficult the mission, the more experience points are awarded. The current mission is to escape the hospital, which grants 3000 experience points and bonus points. Both methods can be performed simultaneously, and experience points gained upon completion will not be duplicated.

The little girl in her arms held her expressionless face in both hands, looking around, completely unable to understand the long string of words she was uttering.

Li Nai, sitting in the white room, was speechless and wanted to punch the wall. She really wanted to spit on her own face, which was standing like a wooden statue.

"Oh God. She's just a child! Sending a child who's barely run to school to kill bloodthirsty, flesh-eating zombies? What will she use? Her soft, juicy little fists? Ugh, the pressure is immense. How am I supposed to level up?"

The thought that the main goal was to make the four villains fight over the baby's love made Li Nai unable to resist punching the white wall that served as a TV screen a couple more times.

"The system is 60% integrated with humans and is temporarily uncontrollable. Please wait patiently."

A single sentence jumped to my face.

Control?

Li Nai tried to wave her hand.

A panel appears.

The above details everything about the system: levels, functions, tasks, rewards, items, and special system abilities.

Special abilities?!

Li Nai's eyes were practically glowing green.

Click to open.

[System Special Ability: The post-apocalyptic world is treacherous and unpredictable. To better protect the host's life, the system can possess the host and operate on their behalf, with a safe usage period of 100 minutes per day. During possession, the system's physical body possesses an invincible buff and only obeys the host's commands. Note that exceeding this time limit will result in random penalties, with the penalty increasing for every 10 minutes exceeding the limit.]

Wow, wow, wow!

Li Nai danced with joy.

Looking at the progress bar on the panel again, which showed 62%, it immediately became deflated.

"So slow, when will it be 100%?"

Li Nai suddenly felt a suction force around him, then his vision went white as the chubby face of a little girl drew closer.

The aroma of milk is irresistible.

Mimi rubbed her eyes and sleepily nestled her face into her neck.

Li Nai gently patted and comforted Mimi's soft back.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the halo in the upper right corner at 00:28:02.

She placed the sleeping host on the bed and began rummaging through drawers and cabinets to prepare.

The halo effect will eventually expire, and as an adult, she must find a way to save herself.

I rummaged through a few clothes, several sheets to change, some basic toiletries, and finally found a fruit knife on the bedside table.

He picked up a knife and brandished it at the door: "Even if I hack and slash, I still can't break through the encirclement. Besides, the system isn't fully integrated yet. If I get bitten, I'll mutate into a zombie, right? Turning into a zombie is no different from being wiped out; it's all the same—death."

Li Nai shook his head and ruled out the first plan.

She turned around and caught a glimpse of the only open window.

I walked over and stuck my head out to look.

They were on the 13th floor of the hospital building; jumping would undoubtedly be suicide.

Um?

A row of windows on the first floor open outwards.

Judging from the noise, there shouldn't be anyone inside.

She pulled her head back, patted the stainless steel window frame, gripped it, and shook it forcefully. Hmm, very sturdy.

A plan B formed in my mind.

Li Nai used a fruit knife to cut up the bed sheets that had been changed, tying each strip together with a knot. She had enough fabric to make a rope; now she just needed a strap to tie the doll to its body.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and shifted her gaze to the airtight bed curtains behind her.

Just as my fingers were about to touch it, I heard the little host sobbing softly.

"Host?" She went around the bed curtain and saw the little girl sitting on the bed, her little hand touching a red spot on her forehead, her little body twitching, clearly trying to hold back her tears.

She picked up the little host, pouting at the small bump slowly swelling on her forehead: "Sister, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt."

Li Nai was coaxing the little child when she glanced up at the snow-white ceiling. Something had woken up her host.

The eyes are looking diagonally to the upper right corner.

00:08:59

I can't worry about anything else.

Li Nai picked up the strips of cloth from the ground while holding the host, and wrapped them around his body one by one, tying about a dozen colorful ribbons of different materials and thicknesses.

Then, with the handle of a fruit knife in his mouth and a sheet wrapped around his waist as a rope, he climbed onto a chair and onto the window, his veins bulging, and slowly began to fall.

The top of my head disappeared behind the windowsill.

A gust of wind came in through the window, stirring the bed curtains.

A foot peeked out, and a long, straight leg slowly moved aside the curtain, revealing a woman with a graceful figure lying on her side on the bed.

The woman propped her head up with one hand, her fingers playing with her smooth, black hair.

Her peach blossom eyes drooped slightly and slowly narrowed.

"Suzhu? Shouldn't it be called Mimi?"

Her face, as pure as a white flower, turned into a fox-like grin.