003, The Conditions for Awakening

Three zombies lingered near the elevator entrance.

Before her death in her previous life, Qi Ran had already climbed to the 356th rank among the strongest individuals on Blue Star. Although she had awakened the [A-rank ability: Profound Meaning of Fire] and the [C-rank ability: Recovery], positioning her as a long-range magic-user, her close-quarters combat skills were far from weak. In fact, from the very beginning, before she had even awakened any abilities, it was her melee prowess that had allowed her to slaughter zombies.

Beyond that, after her brother, Qi Sheng, awakened his own powers, he had constantly pestered her to go find Chu Yan. At that time, however, under the protection of her family, Chu Yan had been sent to a different province, only to be trapped there by a stroke of bad luck. In an apocalypse where zombies ran rampant and transportation was paralyzed, inter-provincial travel was incredibly dangerous. Qi Ran had always kept her mother’s dying wish in mind, and to ensure Qi Sheng’s safety, she adamantly refused his demands to head out to find Chu Yan.

Yet, Qi Sheng was determined to court death. When Qi Ran refused to accompany him, he went alone, repeatedly landing himself in mortal danger. This forced Qi Ran to rush to his rescue time and time again. Many times, her mana would be completely exhausted, leaving her unable to cast abilities and forcing her to rely solely on brutal hand-to-hand combat. Later, when Chu Yan died in that distant province, Qi Sheng turned his resentment toward Qi Ran, hating her for ten years. He would deliberately cause trouble for her, and while trying to protect him, Qi Ran was hunted by others. Having escaped death multiple times, she had often squeezed out every last drop of her mana, forced to rely on the terrain and her bare hands to survive. To bolster her self-preservation, Qi Ran had even sacrificed opportunities for talent evolution, choosing instead to repeatedly strengthen her physical prowess.

Thus, whether at the start of the apocalypse or ten years later, Qi Ran’s melee ability had never been weak. Now, although the abilities she possessed in her past life had not returned with her, the decade of rich, visceral combat experience was etched firmly into her mind.

Qi Ran pulled out a baseball bat and a sharp kitchen knife. With the knife in her left hand, the bat in her right, and a bulging mountaineering backpack on her back, she carefully opened the car door and headed toward the elevator. Though her footsteps were light, her pace was rapid. The underground parking lot was vast, and there were far more than just those three zombies near the elevator. As she had driven in, she had witnessed over a dozen scenes of blood-stained zombies chasing and gnawing on humans, as well as zombies trapped behind steering wheels, slamming their bodies against the glass.

Qi Ran needed to be swift. Her car was parked near the elevator, and almost the moment she stepped out, the three zombies by the elevator sniffed the air and turned toward her. Without a word, she rushed forward, swinging the baseball bat in her right hand with lethal force into the fragile neck of one, while the kitchen knife in her left hand hacked into the neck of another. In less than a second, two severed heads rolled onto the ground. The third zombie quickly followed its companions to the grave.

During the first three days of the apocalypse, killing zombies was not difficult. For one, most zombies were merely human shells that had lost their consciousness, still retaining many human physical traits, such as soft skin and vulnerable necks. Based on her past life's experience, in those first three days, severing the head from the torso was enough to immediately incapacitate them. Therefore, as long as one could overcome the psychological terror, slaughtering these newborn Level 0 zombies was actually quite easy.

After finishing off the three zombies, Qi Ran slipped into the elevator and began to sweep through each floor, clearing them out.

The apocalypse had descended suddenly, but it was not intended to wipe out humanity. Ten years later, the entire planet would fully awaken, connecting to a more bizarre and perilous world. In that brutal, blood-soaked reality where slaughter reigned, the only destination for the weak was death. In truth, that harrowing decade was merely a period for the survivors of Blue Star to adapt, develop, and grow stronger. The weak would be eliminated long before the planet connected to that more dangerous world. Only by constantly growing stronger could one hope to survive the increasingly perilous environment and the intensifying competition.

To become strong—or even to become the strongest, an existence that others could only look up to—one had to make perfect use of every awakening opportunity. From the arrival of the apocalypse until the connection to the other world, humanity would have five such chances. Three of these occurred within the first ten days.

The first opportunity for awakening came on the fourth day. Humans who had killed more than ten zombies within the first three days would earn a chance to awaken. During this event, depending on the number of kills, one could obtain talents of seven grades: S, A, B, C, D, E, and F.

The second opportunity occurred on the eleventh day. Humans who had killed more than twenty zombies within the first ten days would receive an awakening chance. This time, based on the number of kills, one could obtain talents ranging from SS, S, A, B, C, D, and E to F, with a few lucky individuals gaining special constitutions or attributes.

As for the third opportunity, few people were aware of it; Qi Ran had only learned of it by sheer coincidence. The first one hundred people worldwide to kill two hundred zombies would receive an additional, exclusive chance to awaken. In this specific event, depending on the time taken to reach that milestone, these top one hundred individuals could obtain SS, S, or A-rank talents.

Qi Sheng was currently hiding in a shopping mall, surrounded by a bustling commercial district. The number of zombies there was indeed high, but they were also densely packed. Even with her ten years of experience, Qi Ran did not dare to be arrogant. The chance at a new life was hard-won, and while she wanted to become strong, she would not risk the life she had fought so hard to reclaim.

Phoenix Garden was a high-end residential complex covering a thousand square meters. With a large population, the number of mutated zombies would naturally be significant, distributed across various floors and rooms. Qi Ran planned to clear them floor by floor. It would take at most half a day to kill two hundred zombies and secure that third awakening opportunity. Once she had awakened and bolstered her strength, she would head to the commercial district to harvest more. This approach would not only significantly increase her safety but also improve her efficiency.

With her mind made up, Qi Ran slashed her knife, decapitating the last zombie waiting by the elevator. Just before the doors slid shut, she lunged forward, slipped inside, and pressed the button for the second floor.