CHAPTER 1

"Tang Yu, please comply with the arrangements..."

"...Two warnings. If you dare to defy orders again, your life will be in danger!"

In a daze, Tang Yu heard someone mentioning her name, saying words she couldn't understand the meaning of.

She wanted to open her eyes but found a force preventing her from doing so. Her consciousness felt trapped, like being submerged in a pool filled with cement. It felt suffocating, and the voices from above were buzzing, unclear.

A wave of unbearable pain pierced through her brain, excruciating and bone-chilling. In the midst of the intense pain, Tang Yu suddenly opened her eyes, and the midday sunlight poured into her eyes unexpectedly, causing her to squint.

Tang Yu realized she was lying in the middle of a crossroads.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, with scattered papers twirling in the air. Tangled vines covered the buildings on both sides, and numerous cars were jammed together on the road, giving off a desolate and terrifying atmosphere.

Her limbs hadn't fully regained their strength, so Tang Yu waited for a while before she could get up. Her temple throbbed painfully, making it difficult for her to understand her situation. It was too quiet here, and the once bustling city seemed long abandoned, showing no signs of human activity.

She tried to raise her hand to press on her temple to alleviate the pain. However, as she lifted her hand, she suddenly noticed something was wrong. Beneath the dirty skin on the back of her hand, there were faint black lines, resembling blood vessels, yet starkly different from healthy ones. They appeared abrupt and glaring. Looking at her own attire, she couldn't tell if it was blood or some brown stains, as if she were a beggar.

With a bewildered heart, Tang Yu looked around. The nearby office buildings were covered in dust, but the glass windows were still clear. Tang Yu approached one of the tall buildings and examined herself through the intact glass. The sight almost made her scream in shock.

She didn't look human, or rather, she didn't appear to be a living human.

The glass window reflected a figure in tattered clothes, disheveled hair, sunken eyes, bluish complexion, and a grotesquely wide mouth, with remnants of blood smeared at the corners. Additionally, her shoulder-length black hair was tied in a messy knot, resembling someone who hadn't taken a bath for a month.

Tang Yu's heart was in turmoil. What kind of hideous creature was this? Was this how she originally looked? Besides still having facial features and limbs, she had no resemblance to a human in any other aspect.

"Ding." Suddenly, there was a soft sound from her wrist, and an electronic screen popped out, displaying large characters in front of Tang Yu.

"Activated zombie identity. Basic objective: survive, avoid being eliminated by humans and other species. Special reminder to the player Tang Yu, your life is linked to reality. If you die in the game, you will die in reality as well. Please abide by the game rules."

A game? What game? Tang Yu was full of question marks, her mind in chaos. Apart from her name, she couldn't remember anything about herself.

And what did the zombie identity mean? Was she a zombie herself? Tang Yu was momentarily speechless. She inspected her left wrist, but couldn't find anything abnormal. The electronic screen disappeared after ten seconds.

Tang Yu subconsciously touched her face, and the sticky sensation mixed with blood made her feel nauseous. Her body emitted a putrid smell, and she just wanted to find a place to take a shower.

Tang Yu randomly chose a direction and walked forward. Fortunately, her walking posture was still relatively normal. Under the cover of tattered T-shirt and work pants, her zombie body appeared intact, which gave Tang Yu some peace of mind.

The entire city seemed deserted for a long time. The streets were covered in overgrown grass, and wild animals occasionally passed by. Deer and rabbits that used to live in the wild had now invaded the deserted streets. They didn't seem to consider Tang Yu as a threat and calmly went about their business.

As Tang Yu was about to crouch down and observe a passing rabbit, she suddenly heard a sudden sound of footsteps. The next moment, a human voice reached Tang Yu's ears. The rabbit at her feet instantly ran away as if facing a great enemy, disappearing without a trace.

She looked up towards the source of the sound and saw a man holding a gun appearing at the street corner. Upon seeing Tang Yu, the man also froze.

Tang Yu was about to greet him but realized that he had already raised his gun and aimed it at her.

"Darn it, I forgot I'm a zombie!" Tang Yu hadn't yet gotten used to her zombie identity, and she let out a scream, rolling and crawling towards the nearby building.

Her eerie posture matched that of a zombie, and the first bullet from the man's gun had already been fired, lodging near Tang Yu's feet.

While running, Tang Yu tried to explain, "Hey! I'm a normal person!" But as she opened her mouth, she realized that all that came out were incoherent sounds.

The man on the opposite side chuckled and muttered to himself, "Oh, it's the first time I've encountered a zombie that can make whimpering sounds and run away. Her kill rating should be quite high."

"Your killing rating, my foot." Tang Yu cursed inwardly. Her survival instinct made her disregard her sorry state, and she dashed into the broken glass door, entering an office building.

The man chased closely behind, firing two consecutive shots. The bullets grazed Tang Yu's arm, leaving a deep gash, but no blood flowed out, and the pain was unusually dull.

Tang Yu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that having a zombie body wasn't all bad. She swiftly climbed over the security checkpoint in the office building and rushed towards the stairs.

But in the next moment, Tang Yu despairingly discovered that the door to the stairs was blocked and couldn't be opened.

Tang Yu silently cried out in her mind: Oh heavens!

By this time, the man had caught up from behind. The dark barrel of his gun was pressed against Tang Yu's forehead. The man provocatively curled his lips, ready to pull the trigger.

In that moment, a thought flashed through Tang Yu's mind: Wait, why am I running away? I'm a zombie. Shouldn't it be the humans who should run?

In the instant that the thought occurred, she suddenly surged forward, grabbing the smug man's gun barrel and using his momentum to pull him towards her, sinking her teeth into his arm.

The man, who had let his guard down seeing Tang Yu focused on escaping, was bitten unexpectedly. His pupils dilated, and he quickly shook his hand in horror, as if he had come into contact with something terrifying.

Tang Yu watched as the man's arm rapidly turned black. The blackness spread across his body at an alarming speed.

Soon, a resounding "ding" echoed in Tang Yu's mind, and a broadcast announcement sounded: "Player Du Xiao has been assimilated by the zombie Tang Yu and has lost game qualification. The entity will soon exit the game."

With the disappearance of the electronic voice, the man seemed to have something taken away from him. He fell to the ground and lay motionless.

Based on the information she had, Tang Yu understood the current situation of the game. She was indeed a zombie and could infect normal humans. Infected players would be immediately eliminated, those were the rules of the game.

Tang Yu pried open the man's fingers, picked up the gun, and weighed it in her hand. It was a single-shot firearm, and Tang Yu didn't know how to use it. Nevertheless, she was unarmed at the moment, so it was better to have it for self-defense.

After strapping the gun to her back, Tang Yu prepared to leave. Just as she lifted her foot, she felt a hand grabbing her ankle. She was startled and took a sharp breath. When she turned around, she saw the man on the ground clutching her ankle, crawling up in a strange posture.

Trembling, Tang Yu pointed the gun at the man and shouted, "Stay away!" However, all that came out were moaning sounds, and her imposing manner instantly diminished.

The zombie on the opposite side hesitated, sniffed the air as it approached Tang Yu, confirmed that they were the same kind, and took a step back. But seeing Tang Yu's aggressive behavior, it approached again.

After a few back and forth encounters, Tang Yu finally realized that this individual had lost their consciousness and turned into a zombie. Her attacking posture had aroused suspicion among her own kind. She cautiously put down the gun and slung it on her back. Although the other party stopped moving, they still stared at her. Annoyed, Tang Yu glared back fiercely.

At this moment, Tang Yu's distorted expression was magnified and transmitted to the terminals of various interstellar audiences. Some people scrolled past without paying attention, while others unexpectedly stumbled upon Tang Yu's hideous face and screamed in fright. There were even daring viewers who clicked into the livestream out of curiosity.

The number of viewers in the livestream went from 0 to 10, but three seconds later, it decreased to 5. Among the multitude of millions of livestreams, this was an exceptionally pitiful result.

A round-faced girl with colorful short hair sat in front of the screen, her eyebrows knitted into two knots. "Boss, didn't you say this livestream would definitely go viral? And that it's the first real zombie in the game 'Dark Earth'? How did the data turn out like this? Looks like I'll be drinking northwest wind next month." [It means that the person expects to face a tough or unpleasant situation soon. It's like saying they are preparing themselves for a difficult time ahead.]

Her green-dyed eyebrows were furrowed together, resembling two caterpillars.

"And why does this player seem to know nothing? They'll die in no time." The girl anxiously twisted in her chair. She was a live streamer whose main task was to livestream for the holographic gaming company. Some companies would have targeted collaborations with their company's live streamers, but as an intern without connections or background, she could only be assigned random tasks.

If the livestream she was responsible for didn't generate enough clicks, she would be eliminated at the bottom next month. Although she could join the group of hooligans and return to the fringe planet to live a hopeless life, she couldn't bear to disappoint the mysterious benefactor who had supported her, no matter how she thought about it.

The man next to her, referred to as Boss, glanced at her and said, "Xiaozhao, did you not read the information? She's not an ordinary player. She's a criminal from Planet 879, and these types of players are different from the others."

After hearing this, Xiaozhao shrunk back with a disgruntled expression. She indeed hadn't read the information.

Sitting back at her workstation, Xiaozhao opened the operating screen in front of her and accessed Tang Yu's information.

A profile picture, seemingly cropped from a larger image, popped up. It showed a young woman with a high ponytail, her forehead exposed. She was smiling brightly, looking to the side with bright eyes, exuding a hint of mischief.

Xiaozhao was astonished to discover that this zombie had such a good-looking appearance.

The information next to the photo indicated the woman's identity: "Tang Yu, 23 years old, resident of Planet 879. Due to repeated violations of the main star's admission rules, she was captured by the Central Government and thrown into the interstellar live-streaming game 'Dark Earth.' Note that this player has repeatedly violated the game rules. As a punishment, her original memories were erased, and she serves as the only zombie player."

This star domain was highly developed. After meeting the demand for resources, billions of people became addicted to interstellar live-streaming or games every day. Some serious criminals were arranged to be cannon fodder in survival games before their execution, providing entertainment for everyone.

And "Dark Earth," where Tang Yu was located, was currently the most popular holographic game. It took the outbreak of a zombie disaster on Earth in history as its setting and attracted many thrill-seeking main star residents with its selling points of no save files, one life, and realistic sensory experience. After all, it didn't matter if these rich kids spent their days living in games.

Everything in the game progressed at normal time speed. Eligible players would enter the game with their consciousness, playing as humans fleeing during the apocalypse. If they died in the game, they would lose their qualification and could never enter again. This hunger marketing strategy made the game exceptionally popular.

However, Tang Yu was the first player to enter the game as a zombie character.

Unlike ordinary players, if a criminal player died in the game, it meant true brain death, serving as a direct substitution for execution. In a star system where they sought more excitement and where human rights were lacking, this wasn't considered much.

"When did violating the main star's admission rules become such a severe punishment?" Xiaozhao muttered to herself. "Being an intern really means getting stuck with these thankless lousy livestreams." Xiaozhao brushed off the strange feeling in her heart, furrowed her brow in thought, and after a moment, she slapped her head, changing the livestream title and ad slogans, and even placed Tang Yu's original photo in a small corner.

"1 billion players want to kill her. Can this real zombie survive for a day?"

"Unbelievable! The former beauty has completely transformed into a zombie?"

"A tragedy! This player is about to die. This livestream can only exist for one day. Watch it now!"

After changing to clickbait titles, Xiaozhao looked at the audience count increasing from 5 to 50 and proudly shook her head. A good start is half the battle won.

......

Tang Yu was completely unaware of all this and was currently in distress. The man named Du Xiao, who had turned into a zombie, had been following her closely. As she walked on the street, the zombie followed her. When she entered an abandoned store, the zombie followed her inside.

Tang Yu understood that this guy didn't have autonomous consciousness like her. Once the player left, he became a full-fledged NPC.

But what was strange was that this NPC reacted to her actions. If she picked up a gun and showed an attacking stance, he would bare his fangs, ready to counterattack.

After a few attempts, Tang Yu patted the zombie's shoulder and said, "Your name is Du Xiao, right? You're my first little brother now!"

Du Xiao didn't react, he only heard Tang Yu making a grunting sound.

Tang Yu didn't mind and found a backpack in the store, filled it with some food. She felt hungry. However, all that remained in the store were some expired low-energy food items tucked away in the corners. Tang Yu sighed and thought, 'Well, it'll have to do.'

She tried to find a bathroom in the store to freshen up. The stench on her body was unbearable, but unfortunately, the bathroom had run out of water long ago. The entire city's utilities had already collapsed, so Tang Yu had no choice but to give up.

With Du Xiao by her side, Tang Yu walked a few more blocks in search of supplies. Along the way, she encountered a few wandering zombies. Du Xiao stood unsteadily and accidentally got too close to them. Tang Yu pushed away the zombies and rescued Du Xiao.

However, these zombies seemed to have gone crazy for some reason and started limping and following Tang Yu. Soon, the two of them became a group of ten, or rather, ten zombies, wandering the streets.

Tang Yu felt a bit strange. Had she become their leader? Although she could be considered a small team leader, it felt awkward to lead this group of limbless and crippled oddities.

Just as she was thinking about this, voices suddenly came from around the corner ahead.

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