Chapter 5

The world outside the window suddenly turned dark.

Just a moment ago, the sun was blazing high in the sky, but the next moment, when you looked up, all you could see was pitch blackness, not even a star or the moon. You would find that boundless fear and loneliness enveloped you like a nightmare from all sides.

The power supply in the apartment was normal, but Chen Mu did not turn on the lights. Instead, he stood by the window, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness.

In the neighboring buildings, lights began to turn on one after another, and then people opened their windows, excitedly shouting and screaming at the strange changes outside. These people had not yet figured out the situation, thinking it was just a total solar eclipse or some other spectacle. But when they craned their necks to look at the sky, they did not see the moon being "eaten" by the "dog."

At that moment, the ground began to shake!

The desk lamp started to wobble, the water in the cups swayed continuously, and some books fell from the bookshelf. However, since Chen Mu had organized things beforehand, most of the items were secured, so the room was not in too much of a mess.

The magnitude of the tremor was roughly that of a 3.0 to 4.0 earthquake. Although the shaking was very clear, it would not cause significant damage—except for shoddy construction.

It's worth noting that, in the previous life, in China, a considerable number of people were killed by collapsing buildings during 3.0 to 4.0 earthquakes. As for the reason... well, you know.

Standing in the room for a while, feeling that he had adapted to the shaking of the world, Chen Mu picked up a flashlight, held a crossbow with a drawn string in his right hand, and left the room.

He did not go far, just up two floors to a door, and then he knocked on it forcefully.

The three days of darkness that enveloped the world were later referred to as the "Dark Period." After the Dark Period, various monsters and supernatural beings from novels, anime, movies, and TV shows appeared, slaughtering and wreaking havoc everywhere. This time was called the "Chaos Period."

During the Chaos Period, various supernatural beings from people's imaginations would randomly appear in different parts of the New Continent. The reason for this, Chen Mu, who struggled for another decade after the Chaos Period in his previous life, still did not know.

However, people had already discovered some peculiar patterns: the higher the popularity, the more complete the system, and the more detailed the presentation of the works, the greater the chance that the characters or monsters from those works would appear.

Secondly, the more the themes leaned towards science fiction, superpowers, the supernatural, and the occult, the greater the chance of their appearance. Romantic and ethical dramas, urban love stories, and the like hardly ever appeared.

For example, characters from the popular TV series "My Fair Princess" from a few decades ago, such as Xiaoyan Zi, Zhiwei, and Erkang, would never appear.

Movies and TV shows began to appear at the end of the 19th century and gradually became popular by the end of the 20th century. In just a few decades, countless films and TV shows were produced.

Anime began to appear in the early 20th century and, after a century of development, produced a vast number of excellent works, like stars in the sky!

As for novels, they have an even longer history. They have existed almost since humans developed writing.

Therefore, in this long river of history, countless strange and bizarre things have been born from human imagination. No one could read all the books or watch all the movies. However, the more you knew, the more advantageous it was during the chaotic period.

The guy living in the room in front of Chen Mu was a super otaku, extremely fond of collecting various movies, TV shows, and anime. On his computer's hard drive, you could find almost all the excellent film and TV works from the past few decades.

He came here for that very reason.

The turbulent experiences of the past decade in his previous life had made him forget the guy's name. He only occasionally regretted not watching more films and TV shows in his free time.

Now, with a second chance, Chen Mu was determined to make up for it.

The room was a mess, with smelly socks and underwear scattered everywhere. The room smelled of salted fish and a strange, pungent odor.

"Chen Mu, what are you doing? Is there an earthquake outside? What's in your hand? Holy crap, a high-quality imitation crossbow? Isn't that a prohibited item? How did you get it?"

The otaku, wearing red pants and a tank top, with a bulky figure, immediately started shouting when he saw what Chen Mu was holding.

Chen Mu ignored him and walked straight into the bedroom. Next to a large bed was a high-end computer displaying holographic images. The pungent smell in the bedroom was even stronger, and the floor was littered with crumpled tissues.

Chen Mu clicked a few times on the computer, and a holographic image popped up. It was a low-volume, 360-degree, high-definition video of a man and a woman engaged in the most primitive human activity. Up close, you could even see the sweat on their private parts.

Clearly, this computer was well-equipped. In comparison, the one in Chen Mu's room was like an ancient relic.

Chen Mu raised an eyebrow, waved his hand to close the holographic video, opened the computer's file system, and browsed through it. Despite the mess in the room, the guy had meticulously organized the film and TV works by year, category, and type, which made Chen Mu nod in satisfaction.

He took out a USB drive from his pocket, plugged it into the computer, selected everything except a certain folder, and clicked "copy." Only then did he turn his attention to the fat guy.

The guy had a strange look on his face, and the flesh on his cheeks and arms jiggled like waves as the ground shook. "Chen Mu, you're not here to copy movies, are you? Hehe, why go through all this trouble? We can watch them together. What kind of stuff do you like? Lolitas, mature women, bondage, dripping wax, hehe, I have everything."

Wu Zhi sighed with a strange look.

This fat guy was a bit rough around the edges. Most people would be terrified by the earthquake, but he was acting as if nothing was wrong, a real oddball.

"Are you not afraid of the earthquake?"

The fat guy laughed and sat on the floor. "What's there to be afraid of? It's just a 3.0 to 4.0 earthquake at most. Our apartment can withstand earthquakes up to 8.0. As long as it doesn't exceed 8.0, let it shake. If it does exceed 8.0, I won't be able to run anyway, so I might as well save my energy."

Chen Mu was speechless.

During the most difficult times of the Chaos Period, people did anything to survive. In extreme hunger, they even ate human flesh; beautiful women offered themselves to powerful men for protection...

But this guy...

Chen Mu shook his head and put down the crossbow. "What's your name again?"

The fat guy grinned. "Your memory is really bad. You called me by my name a few days ago. I'm Li Tianxin. You can call me Xiao Xin."

"Alright, fat guy, I'll tell you..."

Chen Mu had only said half a sentence when Li Tianxin, sitting on the floor, interrupted him seriously. "I know I'm fat, but please call me Xiao Xin."

Chen Mu nodded. "Alright, fat guy. In exchange for copying things from you, I want to tell you that the world outside is very dangerous. You'd better not go out these few days. As for after that... it's up to your luck."

Xiao Xin nodded. "Dangerous? You mean the earthquake? No problem, I don't go out much anyway. But please don't call me fat. You can call me Xiao Xin, Tianxin, or just my name."

Chen Mu glanced at the 5.0 USB drive, which was indeed fast. It took only a few minutes to transfer nearly a zettabyte of data.

He pulled out the USB drive and looked at him. "That's all I have to say. Good luck, fat guy!"

With that, Chen Mu turned and left Li Tianxin's room. Inside, Xiao Xin pouted and waved his chubby fists. "I told you not to call me fat!"