Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World (Final Revision)

A world without you there (2)

Cale wanted a life where he could just laze around all day and stay with his family.

He wanted a life where he wouldn't have to see his friends die.

'It hurts...'

Cale didn't like pain, but he was used to it.

'Raon, On, Hong, Alberu, Choi Han...'

He had wanted to avoid this pain. He should have pushed them all away when he still had the chance.

Maybe, he should've even been beaten up by Choi Han, and this wouldn't have happened...

But Cale knew that it wasn't the case.

Cale wanted his slacker life. He wanted to finally rest, far away from any hunters, deaths, apocalypse or monsters. Was this really an impossible request?

As he died, he felt the excruciating pain of his plate being broken for a few long minutes until he finally lost consciousness.

Then, the record ended...

...And was replayed another time.

"Human! Can I brush your hair?"

Cale was covered in cold sweat.

Even though he knew it was a record, he couldn't extricate himself from this scenario. His eyes were fixed on the scene.

[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' finds your trauma sad.]

[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' empathizes with you.]

[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' enjoys the massacre.]

[The constellation 'General of the Golden Headband' recommends your story.]

[You have been sponsored 500 coins.]

Cale had a big headache.

「He was now only the constellations' toy, being watched and having to complete scenarios for them.」

The record repeated itself for one-hour straight until Cale failed the sub-scenario. Thankfully, the penalty wasn't death but only a few coins.

「...And another part of his mind being broken.」

Cale's eyes dimmed.

His trauma was to have seen all his friends die right in front of him.

His clenched his hand.

To the childhood friend whose name he could not remember anymore, he made a promise...

'Even if I have to finish the scenarios to do that, I will find you.'

Because she was the only person he had left.

At the same time, Xin Jian continued to watch his story.

"Okay."

Some words were thoughts, some words were said, and some words were unheard.

"I'll be waiting for you."

***

Meanwhile, a few days ago:

After killing all the zombies, Zhou Mingrui sighed and raised his head.

[5 seconds remaining before the end of the scenario.]

He immediately activated Creeping Hunger and teleported to the other end of the bridge.

Ignoring the messages signaling the completion of the scenario, he felt the poisonous gas and continued to teleport while searching for an underground entrance, occasionally pulling out some paper substitutes from the pores of history to get rid of the poison.