Chapter 1: She's Back

Lin Jiu never imagined that her life would end up like this.

Dust and smoke filled the sky, which was a murky gray-black. The once bustling city had long since vanished, leaving only ruins of skyscrapers. Cracked concrete blocks were covered with dense, unknown plants.

The brilliant civilization and technology had been almost completely destroyed in this global catastrophe.

Lin Jiu didn't have time to think much. Her water elemental ability was already depleted, and she had no food supplies. She had to force herself to face the unknown and potentially fatal dangers lurking in the shadows.

The ruins seemed to be free of zombies, but low growls occasionally came from the darkness, constantly reminding her of the danger she was in.

Another Level 3 zombie growled and lunged at her. Lin Jiu dodged, but her movements were slightly sluggish due to prolonged hunger.

The zombie's sharp claws tore a large piece of flesh from her shoulder, and blood gushed from the wound. In the depths of the ruins, the sound of stones being overturned and something crawling out of the darkness could be heard.

More and more zombies were converging on her.

The blood of an elemental user was undoubtedly highly attractive to zombies.

"Rrrr..."

The scent of blood further ignited the ferocity of the Level 3 zombie. Lin Jiu tightened her grip on the damaged Tang knife in her hand.

She wanted to survive... She absolutely could not die in this wasteland!

The Level 3 zombie lunged at Lin Jiu again. Her Tang knife clashed with the zombie's arm, producing a metallic sound.

The Tang knife broke, but the zombie remained unscathed. Exhausted and facing a Level 3 metal elemental zombie, she was doomed.

The zombie's foul mouth opened near her neck, and blood spurted out. Lin Jiu felt her life draining from her body, and her hatred surged like a sea.

She was unwilling to accept it, and she couldn't believe she was dying like this!

She had survived for five years in the apocalypse, escaping death countless times, only to end up like this...

No, she should have seen it coming.

In her mother's repeated complaints and insults, in her brother Lin Ye's constant shirking of dangerous tasks to her.

When Xu Chuchu awakened her second spatial elemental ability and rose to the upper echelons of the base, and when her fiancé, who had once supported her, became Xu Chuchu's subordinate without hesitation...

The so-called family she wanted to protect had drained her of all her value and no longer needed her.

But she didn't want to think about it, didn't want to see it. She had been a coward, a deaf and blind slave, and she deserved it.

The betrayal of her boyfriend, Zhang Yi, was the last straw.

She couldn't understand why, after sacrificing everything for her family, her one attempt to stand up for herself resulted in her being knocked out and abandoned in the ruins by Lin Ye and Xu Chuchu, to be torn apart by zombies!

If, if she had another chance...

The Level 3 zombie eagerly tore at her flesh, and the intense pain made Lin Jiu even more alert.

If she had another chance, she would live only for herself!

If she had another chance, she would no longer chase after the perfect family that wasn't hers, no longer be controlled by her family, and no longer strive for their approval...

If there was another life, if there was another life...

Lin Jiu opened her mouth, her stomach already torn apart, and large amounts of blood mixed with flesh gushed out, making it impossible for her to make a sound.

The zombie's sharp claws reached into her right eye socket, and blood covered her vision. The water-blue energy core was extracted from her head, and the zombie left, satisfied.

Without the energy core, the zombie still craved the flesh of the elemental user. More zombies emerged from the shadows, opening their foul mouths and feasting on her body.

"Ah—"

Amidst the darkness and blood, Lin Jiu felt her soul rapidly descending—she screamed and jumped up from the bed, her mind blank for three minutes.

A moment ago, she had been chewed to pieces by zombies, turned into their food. Where was she now?

Was there a place to go after death... That person must have lived a very hard life...

Lin Jiu's mind was a chaotic mess, with various thoughts colliding. After a long time, her vision refocused, and she looked at the room.

The room was very small, with an old wardrobe topped with plastic storage boxes. The ceiling was damp from leaks, and the wall in the corner was peeling.

This was the small rental apartment she lived in while working, wasn't it?

The apocalypse, yes, the apocalypse!

Lin Jiu jumped out of bed, what had happened?

Struggling to pick up the alarm clock, it read November 1, 2118. 2118... Lin Jiu slowly realized, her head ached, and her stomach felt uncomfortable. In a month, it would be December 1st, a date she remembered well.

This was when the apocalypse began, and she had somehow returned to a month before the apocalypse!

She wasn't dead, she really wasn't dead! She was back!

Lin Jiu pulled open the narrow window, looking at the people walking around the neighborhood. The winter sun brought a hint of warmth to her body, and Lin Jiu finally felt a sense of reality.

The five years of survival in the apocalypse seemed like an unrealistic nightmare.

Heaven had mercy; she hadn't died in the ruins as they wished, but had returned to before the apocalypse... Was this some kind of compensation from heaven?

She didn't deserve any compensation; her death in the previous life was entirely due to her own weakness and self-inflicted suffering.

Sometimes even Lin Jiu couldn't understand herself. In her previous life, she was one of the top 500 elemental users in the base, brave enough to fight a Level 6 elemental zombie...

But in front of her parents, all her strength would fade like an old window paper.

People often want what they can't have, and in Lin Jiu's eyes, her family was a treasure, while in their eyes, she was a burden, a dog to be called and dismissed at will.

She struggled to prove her worth, but in the end, she was still nothing.

Even Lin Jiu was shocked by her own weakness.

If there was another life, she never thought she would really have one.

Lin Jiu touched her aching stomach, pushed open the door, and walked to the communal kitchen. She turned on the stove and cooked three packets of instant noodles.

She couldn't remember what had happened in the month before the apocalypse, or why she was so hungry... The instant noodles expanded in the hot water, and Lin Jiu stopped eating only when her stomach was full.

The junk food that was once common before the apocalypse became a delicacy after six months. Those who hadn't experienced hunger would find it hard to understand Lin Jiu's feelings.

After quickly washing the pot, Lin Jiu returned to her room, took out paper and a pen, and began to organize her thoughts.

What had happened in the month before the apocalypse?

Lin Jiu forced herself to calm down. Compared to the five years of bloody struggle in the apocalypse, her earlier life was almost as calm as still water.

It wasn't a weekend, and she should have been at work or running errands, so why was she lying at home, and why was she so hungry?

Lin Jiu suddenly remembered something and reached for her phone. Communication devices had never been restored in the apocalypse, and it took her a while to get used to the phone again. She opened the ticket app and saw an unused train ticket.

From City B to her hometown, City Z.

She had worked in City B for over three years, and her job was going well, with good earnings and bonuses. Why did she want to go home?

In her previous life, she had encountered the apocalypse in City Z, but she couldn't remember why she had been home for a month.

As she was thinking, two messages popped up on her phone, from someone labeled as "Manager Li."

Manager Li... Li Chaoyang? Her boss.

[Little Lin, how's your rest? I'm looking into the incident at the club...]

[If it doesn't work out, we should report it to the police. As your boss, I support you in seeking justice, regardless of the other party's identity.]

Report it to the police...

Lin Jiu pondered the messages, and her memories slowly returned.

She remembered... Last month, she had successfully secured a major deal for the company, and the entire team celebrated at the Dongye Club.

She usually wouldn't attend such events, but she had heard from the general manager's secretary that she would be promoted to sales manager, so she decided to join the celebration.

Then, the current manager, Fang Jie, got her drunk. She had intended to go to the bathroom but was left in the corridor of the suite. In a daze, she entered a room...

And then, she lost her virginity in a cliché way.

The worst part was that she had blacked out and had no memory of the man!

If it was just a loss, it wouldn't have been a big deal. As long as she didn't say anything, it wouldn't affect her work, but the problem was with Fang Jie.

When her colleagues were about to leave, they couldn't find her. Fang Jie led them to search, and they found her, still drunk and disheveled, coming out of a room.

Her hair was messy, and her suit had a tear... The adult colleagues could easily tell what had happened.

After that, the incident spread throughout the company, thanks to Fang Jie's deliberate spreading.

Lin Jiu, who had been envied by her colleagues for her good performance despite her low education, missed the promotion and eventually resigned due to the gossip, returning to her hometown.

At that time, Lin Jiu didn't have the courage to seek justice.

Now, thinking about it, there was no justice to be had. The people who could stay at the Dongye Club were wealthy and powerful, and she had been the one who got drunk and entered their room.

Even if she reported it, it was unlikely that anything would be found after a week, and if the person had any influence, what could she, a common worker with no connections, do?

Besides, the apocalypse was coming in a month.

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The first volume has been revised multiple times, and some parts may be out of place. Please bear with us, dear readers. Love you all!