On December 31, 2012, a day etched in the memories of all survivors, the apocalypse arrived—not just on that day, but rather that year.
In fact, there were already ominous signs of the apocalypse. In early June 2012, torrential rains caused severe flooding in the southern lowlands, submerging countless cities, with landslides ruining roads and crops, while livestock were swept away by floodwaters, leading to the demise of many unfortunate souls.
Just as the south was struggling with flood relief, the north faced raging fires. Some fires broke out deep in the mountains, while others raged in urban areas, prompting immediate mobilization of firefighting teams. Firefighters bravely ventured into the mountains, risking their lives to extinguish the blazes, suffering countless casualties. It took three months to finally eliminate the fires, all during which not a single drop of rain fell.
Next came the earthquakes…
Finally, the outbreak of the zombie virus ensued.
Those lucky enough to survive the onset of the apocalypse established survivor bases across various regions under state and military protection.
By 2013, the first year of the apocalypse, only five bases remained: those in the east, south, west, north, and the centrally-located Hope Base.
As opposed to what was written in novels, there were no supernatural beings emerging.
In the second year of the apocalypse, farmlands ceased to be cultivable.
In the third year, water sources drastically depleted.
By the fourth year…
As much of the world began to desertify and water sources diminished severely, the bases began to relocate underground. Fortunately, most mutated insect species could not adapt to the harsh conditions of the apocalypse and began to diminish significantly, allowing humanity to survive in the underground bases.
However, this led to mutations in physical endurance; most newborns could no longer withstand ultraviolet rays.
By the fifth year of the apocalypse, fewer than 200,000 global survivors remained. In Country Z, the total number of survivors reached 150,000, the highest survival rate in the world.
“It is now the sixth year of the apocalypse, December 5, 2018.
Today, researchers discovered that the rice seeds brought back by the search team had mutated. However, studies revealed that these mutated seeds are edible, plantable, and drought-resistant.
Although the quantity of seeds is scarce and immediate rice production won’t be possible, everyone was quite happy.
We are now also preparing to set off; we must go to the city to seek usable supplies. It would be great if we can find more mutated seeds. Also, I hope to find a new pen; the one left by my father is nearly out of ink.
And I hope everyone can return safely.
Lastly, I make a distant New Year’s wish in advance—hoping that the apocalypse can end next year.”
As usual, the protagonist hid the yellowed diary under the bed assigned in the base, donned his protective suit, and along with his teammates, took the underground elevator through multiple guards and mechanical doors to reach the surface.
—
After accepting the memories, Lin Ya opened his eyes and felt a headache from the current situation.
[Survival Task in this world: Return to the base within 10 days.
Task failure penalty: Deduction of the corresponding survival points x1.
Task Hint: Hidden.]
Returning to the base was a survival task, indicating that some danger, where survival was impossible, was about to occur on the surface, and this time the task hint was surprisingly hidden.
Lin Ya glanced at the countdown in the upper left corner.
9 days 23:50:13 seconds.
There was indeed a countdown.
He climbed up from the sand pile; before him lay an endless stretch of desert. The dilapidated concrete buildings, twisted and tilted, and even the low houses were all collapsed under the shifting sands.
Some structures were partially exposed, with the rest buried beneath the dunes.
Lin Ya had witnessed many shocking scenes, from a world frozen in merciless ice to houses and roads torn apart by a tornado. Now, his memories were overflowing with images of a twisted world littered with ruins.
Once he returned to the real world, he might be able to draw these scenes or write a book about them; it would surely offer others a different visual impact—something that could become popular.
Looking up at the sun, Lin Ya chose a direction and began to walk, adjusting the radio watch in his hand, hoping to contact the base or pull up a map.
Most resource-seeking teams at the base were formed voluntarily, with supplies brought back exchangeable for credit points or usable after inspections, as long as a small portion was submitted.
These spontaneously formed search teams were numerous; the base only provided basic protective suits, while everything else had to be exchanged for credit points.
The original host’s father had once been a soldier who sacrificed himself to protect the base. Therefore, the original host was not only allowed to participate in the official search teams but also received 500 credit points and inherited his father’s radio watch.
Relying on those 500 credit points and the care of others, the original host survived from the age of 14 to adulthood, participating in several search missions. Lately, they had even found strange seeds in the ruins that turned out to be mutated rice seeds.
This time, they packed enough nutrient solution, preparing to search for several days in hopes of finding mutated seeds again.
But unexpectedly, a storm scattered them in all directions, causing the original host to lose his way along with the others.
Lin Ya tightened the zipper of his protective suit, sighed; the greatest function of the radio watch was to contact the base and check maps, but now that it was broken, it was useless.
However…
He looked at the task list, feeling a subtle sensation about this task—returning to the base.
In this world, aside from foreign bases, there were a total of five bases in the country; the original host came from the central Hope Base, yet the task was not to return there—
Moreover, the hidden nature of the task hint also piqued his interest.
Was the hint hidden literally, or did it mean the hint itself was the word “hidden”?
It felt like this task was riddled with traps everywhere.
[Host! Come and draw for a prize!] A lively voice eased his tense emotions considerably.