Chapter 1: 180 Days Until Doomsday

On a distant planet, starlight shimmered, and a meteor fell.

Li Yu woke up with a start, habitually gripping the short blade he kept on his chest.

But he discovered that what he was holding was actually an iPad, which was playing a movie.

A "Bang!"—the sound of a gunshot—made Li Yu spring up from the sofa instantly. He looked around nervously, trying to locate the source of the sound.

Another gunshot rang out, drawing Li Yu’s attention to the iPad that had slid onto the carpet when he stood up. The sound was coming from the iPad.

"Where is this?" Li Yu was a bit dazed. He clearly remembered being in the basement of an abandoned house.

He looked around: a bright room, light wood-colored decor, a clean and tidy space. Li Yu felt momentarily disoriented.

Isn't this the apartment I rented in M City before?

Li Yu picked up the iPad with some excitement and saw that the date displayed was still May 2026.

He made a rough calculation; there were still six months until the apocalypse.

????

I.

Have I been reborn? Reborn from 2031 back to five years ago.

In the apocalypse, Li Yu had fantasized more than once that if he were given another chance, he would never choose to stay in M City.

Every time he thought about the family members he could never see again because of a single moment of hesitation—because he didn't choose to return home in time—he blamed himself, crying in the depths of the night countless times.

Without the emotional anchor of his family, Li Yu had lived like a walking corpse in the apocalypse, passing his days in a daze.

Thinking of this, Li Yu’s eyes turned red. He clenched his fists and whispered to himself, "This time, I must make up for my regrets."

Back then, for various reasons, he hadn't returned home in time before the apocalypse broke out.

And the arrival of the apocalypse showed him that it was a terrifying era.

It was an era where many people could truly starve to death.

It was an era where order had completely collapsed.

It was an era where a single piece of bread could be traded for a human life.

After the true apocalypse arrived, order hadn't collapsed in the first few months, but with the continuous spread of zombies and the constant depletion of resources, it finally fell into total chaos.

Li Yu looked at the time on the iPad. It was still early, but he had to buy a ticket to go home as soon as possible.

With that thought, Li Yu shook his head and immediately opened a ticketing app, only to find that grabbing a ticket was still very difficult.

Through a scalper, and at three times the price, he finally managed to snag a train ticket for 11:00 PM tonight.

Not wasting any time, Li Yu packed his luggage. Since he had only graduated a year ago, he didn't have many belongings.

Soon, Li Yu had everything packed.

Seeing the ingredients stocked in the refrigerator, Li Yu swallowed hard.

Five years. Do you know how Li Yu spent those five years?

He spent two hours luxuriously turning all the ingredients in the fridge into a feast.

He looked at the seven dishes on the table: braised pork, scrambled eggs with chives, stir-fried garlic sprouts with meat, yellow-braised chicken, stir-fried spinach, braised eggplant, and spicy shredded potatoes.

Looking at the delicacies before him, Li Yu gave a bitter smile. He considered his cooking skills to be quite good, but after the apocalypse, he never had a chance to put them to use.

Like a whirlwind, Li Yu quickly devoured the food in front of him.

He patted his stomach, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, sniffed it greedily, and took a deep drag.

This is what life is!

In all these years, this was the best meal he had ever eaten.

So happy.

He checked the time: 18:00.

There wasn't much time left; he had to leave early, Li Yu thought.

He should call his family first.

With that, Li Yu opened his contacts.

Seeing the familiar number, his throat felt dry. It had been five years.

His hand trembled slightly as he dialed the number.

"Hello, Mom," Li Yu said, his voice choking up.

Seeming to hear the choked tone in her son's voice, Liu Fanghua said, "Yu-zai, how are you doing over there? Is money tight? I heard last time that things were much better on your end."

"I'm fine... I just missed you all a bit, and I want to come home," Li Yu said.

There was a moment of silence.

Liu Fanghua sighed, then said with a mix of joy and worry, "I told you before not to go so far away. Your university and your job are both so far. Your father and I don't expect you to earn much money; we just want you to be happy!"

"We're all worried about you. Come back soon, okay?"

"And remember to bring your things, don't be scatterbrained. Your ID, your charger—check everything before you leave. And make sure you cancel your lease."

Hearing his mother's familiar yet strange nagging, Li Yu didn't feel the impatience or annoyance he had felt in his past life. Instead, he listened quietly, feeling a sense of overwhelming happiness in his heart.

Liu Fanghua talked for a long while, then noticed that Li Yu hadn't impatiently hung up the phone like he used to.

She asked, a bit puzzled, "Yu-zai, are you still listening?"

"I'm listening, I know everything. I have a train at 11:00 PM tonight, I should arrive tomorrow morning," Li Yu said.

"Take care of yourself, stay safe..."

After hanging up, he checked his balance. Aside from the 1,200 spent on the train ticket, he had less than 40,000 left.

Li Yu made a direct call to his company boss. The company was small, with only a few people, and his boss was the owner.

Li Yu was concise, stating directly that he was resigning.

The boss was a woman going through menopause, and she was always making a fuss about work.

As soon as she heard Li Yu was resigning, she flew into a rage: "You're quitting? Don't want your salary? Did you finish the work I asked you to do this morning?"

After a barrage of shouting, Li Yu remained very calm. Salaries were supposed to be paid on the 20th of each month; the smaller the company, the more disgusting they were.

Li Yu ignored the woman, but when she started spewing profanities, he hit her where it hurt.

"I know you're sleeping with Xiao Han from the office. If you don't pay me, I'm telling President Sun."

President Sun was the woman's husband, and they ran the company together. Who would have thought that not only was the temple small and full of drama, but the office relationships were even more complicated.

The woman froze instantly, like a duck whose throat had been grabbed, unable to speak.

After a while, she said in a gentle tone, "Uh, Xiao Li... don't be impulsive. You said you're resigning, right? What are your plans?"

"Don't try to probe me. I want to go back to my hometown. Don't worry, if you pay me my salary, I'll leave quietly. I have a tight lip and won't talk," Li Yu said, tearing off her mask.

"Okay, fine. You have to keep your word," the woman said, her tone uncertain but with a hint of relief, as if she had survived a disaster.

"Don't worry, send the money! Hurry up. Also, I think I have 40,000 in reimbursements! The 13th-month salary that was promised wasn't paid either! And the social insurance and housing fund haven't been paid for several months—convert all of that into cash for me!" Li Yu said in one breath.

Although he couldn't clearly remember the exact amount of reimbursements in his memory, it definitely wasn't that much, but he clearly remembered that the social insurance and housing fund had indeed not been paid for months.

"Fine! I'll transfer 100,000 to you. We have a deal."

Li Yu saw the 100,000 hit his bank account and didn't feel panicked at all.

Although his salary was originally less than 10,000, there was a slight suspicion of fraud in this situation. But who told him he was short on money now?

Li Yu wasn't afraid at all. Even if the woman sued him, he could countersue the company for not paying social insurance on time. Besides, the 100,000 was her own offer. Furthermore, the apocalypse was coming soon.

Who's afraid of whom?

The 100,000 was roughly what he had expected. After all, the company was small and didn't have much income; he wanted to avoid a "fish dies, net splits" situation that would cause a mess and affect his preparations for the apocalypse.

100,000 was just right.

Li Yu turned around and called his landlord. The landlord was a decent person. According to the contract, there was still a month left, so leaving early was a breach of contract. But the landlord still refunded him half a month's rent.

Li Yu added one more sentence, advising the landlord to stock up on supplies at home, saying that if anything happened, having supplies would be safer.

He said it, but whether the landlord listened was up to them.

In the five years of the apocalypse, Li Yu’s heart had become as cold as someone who had spent ten years gutting fish at a supermarket.

In this life, his softness was reserved only for his family. Beyond that, he was unwilling to trust anyone else.

Embarking on the journey home, Li Yu looked at the scenery outside the window and began to plan.

If he wanted to protect his family before the apocalypse, he had to build a sturdy base.

Money!

Although money would be useless in the apocalypse, it was useful now—very useful.

Building a base, buying supplies—every aspect required money. The less than 140,000 he had was definitely not enough. Even if his family gave him some, what excuse would he use?

Trouble!

He definitely couldn't tell them; explaining would be too exhausting. And if it leaked out, he would face endless trouble.

Having made up his mind, he opened his note-taking app.

He skillfully entered a string of numbers: 12 15 20 26 30 33 16.

That’s right, this was a set of lottery numbers—the winning numbers for the May 28, 2026, lottery.

During the apocalypse, Li Yu had dreamed more than once of returning to six months before the end. He had fantasized about what preparations he would make if he returned to the starting point.

In those dark, sunless days, what sustained him was immersing himself in his own fantasies.

So, for his rebirth, he was fully prepared.

He had even thought about what items to buy,

Where to build the base,

And how to quickly obtain money to fund the construction.

Therefore, during the apocalypse in his past life, he had memorized this string of numbers.

He never expected that he would truly be reborn to six months prior!

After thinking about various other things, his head began to throb. Li Yu placed his bag in front of his chest, facing the aisle. Leaning against the head of the sleeper berth, he began to sleep.

Years of habit allowed Li Yu to quickly enter a state of light sleep. He was used to sleeping while leaning against something because this position allowed him to quickly react to any sudden situation.

The protagonist is a cold man, not a saint, no system, no leveling up. Dear readers, please be gentle with me~

(End of chapter)