Chapter 1

Kirk felt his eyelids heavy. Last night, he binge-watched the American TV series "The Walking Dead" and didn't fall into a deep sleep until around five in the morning.

The sunlight shone on his face, blinding him, and Kirk was not pleased.

"Mom, why did you pull the curtains again? I’m not eating breakfast today," he shouted.

There was a moment of silence, and Kirk smacked his lips in satisfaction, preparing to fall back into a sweet sleep.

But instead of his mother's gentle hands, a heavy kick landed on the most vulnerable spot below his ribs, causing Kirk to open his mouth wide in pain, even sticking out his tongue. He let out two "ah" sounds but couldn't form any words.

"Damn, who is it? Do you want to die!" The intense pain quickly drove away his drowsiness, and he gritted his teeth to open his eyes.

An American soldier's boot was pressed against his face, making it hard for Kirk to breathe.

Kirk was a bit confused. Shouldn't I be sleeping in my own bed? Yesterday was Friday, so today should be Saturday, a day to sleep in comfortably, right? It should be...

But the heavy foot lifted again and stomped down once more! Kirk's face was battered again, and the back of his head hit the wall, blood flowing happily from his nose. Finally, he let out a miserable scream. "Don't hit me! My family will pay! Big brother, let's talk it out! I will cooperate, reform, and start anew!"

"**! Get up quickly! Next time I’ll kick your shit out of your mouth!" a white European man roared.

Damn, who is this! Kirk got up and glared at the other person.

In front of him was a one-armed European man, standing 190 cm tall, as strong as a lion, and with large feet. (Kirk thought: Oh, can we not mention this?) The most striking and glaring feature was that the man's right arm was cut off at the wrist, replaced by a sharp and shiny wrist blade.

"This looks like Merle Dixon!" Kirk thought to himself, "Could it be that I watched too much 'The Walking Dead' and now I’m dreaming about it? What a miserable dream."

However, soon, a punch from the white man brought Kirk back to reality, confirming that he wasn’t dreaming.

"Why are you hitting me?" Kirk shouted, covering his face, thinking, "Damn, don't hit the face, my handsome face."

"Why am I hitting you?" Merle ground his teeth, still with that evil look on his face.

"For no reason, just because I pulled you out of the zombie crowd and saved your little butt," Merle pressed his rough face against Kirk's and suddenly screamed hysterically.

"What can you do to me, pretty boy?"

Kirk, panic-stricken, backed up to the wall. Merle, a typical villain in the show, naturally scared the timid and fearful Kirk.

"Ah, I knew you were a coward," Merle spat contemptuously, "I don’t know what I was thinking, saving a waste like you!"

Kirk was indignant, how dare he insult him! Just as he was about to burst out, Merle already plunged a sharp knife down!

Kirk screamed, "Don’t kill me! I have no money."

The tip of the knife embedded itself in the cement wall next to Kirk's face, the cold sensation of the blade making Kirk's skin crawl.

Merle still had that carefree look, patting Kirk's face in satisfaction, then let go of the knife handle and said, "This is your weapon, follow me."

Kirk steadied himself, pulled the dagger out of the wall with great effort, and followed Merle silently, his mind racing to recall what had happened.

At that moment, a cold, computer-generated voice echoed in Kirk's head.

"Test subject No. 4444 has entered the TWD-01 scene (The Walking Dead).

Timeline synchronization complete.

Test subject No. 4444, this is your first time entering the space. Do you need to watch the beginner's guide? Yes/No."

"Damn, could it be that I’ve been sucked into a place like the Nightmare Space in Ultimate Evolution? Am I going to get rich?" Kirk quickly chose "Yes."

The cold, computer-generated voice spoke again.

"You are a new recruit, just entering the space. This is your beginner's trial. Cherish this trial, as it will determine whether you can survive and for how long."

"Your current personal attributes are:

Strength 3 (5) — Determines melee damage, carrying capacity, and weapon/armor ratings.

Agility 3 (5) — Determines ranged damage, running/walking speed, and evasion chances.

Stamina 3 (5) — Determines total health, physical resistance, and abnormal status effects.

Intelligence 6 (5) — Determines energy capacity and elemental resistance.

Wisdom 5 (5) — Determines mastery of magic/immortal arts/abilities and affinity for them.

Charisma 2 (5) — Determines NPC attitudes towards you and indirectly affects plot developments.

The values in parentheses are the normal values for a 25-year-old male on Earth.

Skills brought from the real world: None.

After a comprehensive evaluation, your overall strength is rated D- (the normal value for a 25-year-old male is C)."

Stunned for a moment, Kirk burst out, "What a scam! Didn’t I learn self-defense for a semester in college to look cool and attract girls? Didn’t I run for a whole month to lose weight? Don’t others enter the space with innate abilities or full of innate treasures? Am I a complete waste? At least I’m known as a handsome and charming young man; my charisma can’t be this bad, can it? Is it really that bad?"

Thinking about the seemingly gentle but actually cold rejection from the class beauty in college, and comparing it to his abysmally low charisma, the loser Kirk felt tears in his eyes and his heart bleeding...

The space ignored Kirk's hysteria and said coldly and emotionlessly, "These are the fair values based on your physical and intellectual condition. Do you want to view the information about this trial scene?"

Kirk cursed for a while but knew he lacked exercise and didn’t have the basic conditions for high attributes, so he weakly chose "Yes."

Then, a set of data appeared in his mind.

"Beginner's trial scene TWD-01 (The Walking Dead 01).

Scene type: [Free scene][Movie scene].

Scene difficulty: [Beginner's trial difficulty].

Location: United States, Georgia, Atlanta suburbs.

Personal attribute adjustment: Beginner's trial, attributes enhanced by 50%. After adjustment, No. 4444's attributes are:

Strength 4 (3) Agility 4 (3) Stamina 4 (3) Intelligence 9 (6) Wisdom 7 (5) Charisma 3 (2) (Values in parentheses are the original beginner values, already adjusted).

Pain reduction: 80%.

Main mission: Survival. Your task is to survive for 7 days in this hell of the walking dead!

Based on your ability evaluation and this beginner's trial scene, the trial field's advice to you is: Find a way to survive."

"This advice is a scam," Kirk thought, "Not good, the main mission is survival, which seems to mean that just surviving is a victory. It looks like it’s quite difficult."

As he thought, he bumped into Merle's solid back.

Kirk shouted, "I didn’t mean to do the back-to-back thing!"

Merle glared at him fiercely, "Speak again and I’ll kill you!"

Kirk looked up and gasped.

In front of him was a scene of hell on earth.

A long line of cars stretched as far as the eye could see, jammed on the highway leading out of the city. The entrance direction was empty, with no cars at all. But now, there was no traffic, everything was silent.

The cars were filled with dead bodies, blood, and limbs.

Merle led Kirk, moving quietly among the long line of vehicles.

Kirk was terrified. He loved zombie shows, and "Resident Evil" was his favorite. But he never imagined that seeing so many dead bodies would make him so afraid. This hellish scene was something no big production could capture.

In a Hyundai SUV, a family of four was dead inside. The male owner was face up, his throat torn open. The female owner was hugging two children in the back seat, lying on top of each other. The male owner was already decomposing, his lifeless eyes bulging like those of a dead fish, the whites of his eyes filling the entire socket.

A flock of large crows circled in the air, occasionally flying down to tear at the dead bodies, carrying away chunks of rotten flesh. These crows had shiny black feathers, as large as small eagles, with red eyes, clearly fattened by eating dead bodies. Their beaks, sharp as steel drills, were stained with dirty blood, and their talons were covered with human flesh.

Merle's expression was serious as he crouched and moved forward, turning back to make a gesture for silence and a throat-cutting gesture. The meaning was clear: "Be quiet, or I’ll kill you!"

As a seasoned otaku who had watched the entire series of "The Walking Dead," Kirk naturally knew the importance of moving quietly and nodded, tiptoeing behind Merle.

Now, in the stench of the dead, looking at the hated and feared villain Merle, Kirk began to feel a bit more grounded.

Is this the instinct of a weak person to cling to a strong one, or do I have the potential to be a back-to-back partner?

Kirk thought to himself, self-mockingly.

The two slowly walked past the abandoned vehicles, watching the crows pick at the bodies, and a wave of sadness washed over Kirk.

Is this the future of humanity?

Merle gave Kirk a cold glance, and Kirk shivered, starting to pretend to scout around.

The two walked further into the traffic jam and the pile of bodies.

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