Los Angeles, California, America.
Evening.
[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: twk.an.c.o.m.com (super reliable).]
Li Wei, having just received food aid on the street, sat in his tent, silently eating.
He had been in this parallel world of America for a long time, so long that he had become accustomed to receiving aid.
When he was transported here, he had nothing with him and was thus granted illegal immigrant status.
"Hey, Li, are you there?"
A familiar voice sounded outside the tent.
"What happened, Jason?"
Jason was a white man in his thirties, one of the few people he knew; the two often went to receive food aid together.
According to Jason, he used to be middle class, but his divorce led to heavy student loan debt, forcing him into bankruptcy and homelessness.
If it weren't for Li Wei taking him under his wing from the start, he probably would have been dead in the street long ago.
Plus, both of them were highly educated, so they quickly became acquainted.
Li Wei put away his half-eaten bread, unzipped the tent, and went outside.
Jason said anxiously, "I just heard from others that someone in the east block went crazy, biting anyone he saw. Luckily, he was shot dead by the gang."
The east block?
No wonder he heard a few gunshots earlier.
"Maybe he inhaled some kind of enhancement agent," Li Wei shrugged, pointing to the people hunched over and swaying like 'zombies' on the street. "There are people like that everywhere here."
Jason still looked anxious. "But I heard that person's eyes were bloodshot! He crawled on all fours! And incredibly fast!"
Then he lowered his voice, "Do you think this could be the end of the world?"
Li Wei was taken aback, wanting to say, "Have you been watching too many movies?"
But then he remembered that even he himself had transmigrated, so he swallowed his words.
"Okay, whether it's true or not, that thing can be killed by a gun, what are you afraid of?"
Li Wei lifted the corner of his shirt to show Jason the Justice sword tucked into his waistband, and was about to say a few words of comfort to him.
At this moment,
several more gunshots rang out from the street in the distance, followed by a crowd running towards them.
"Help!"
"The devil is here!"
Li Wei looked in the direction the crowd was running from, and behind them were several black creatures with red eyes, crawling on all fours.
That thing was just like what Jason had said earlier!
The black creatures pounced on the motionless 'zombie' standing on the side of the street, their claws tearing through flesh, blood spurting everywhere.
"Fuck! I knew it was true!" Jason's legs trembled with fear.
[The apocalypse game has officially begun]
[Night is about to fall, please quickly find a shelter to avoid being killed by the monsters in the darkness]
[The 'torch' in the shelter can block the darkness]
Li Wei was stunned, then immediately reacted, quickly slung his bag over his shoulder from the tent, grabbed Jason's arm, and ran.
"What was that sound?! Is the end of the world real?!" Jason's voice trembled.
"I don't know! I only know we have to run!"
The crowd panicked even more, running around like headless flies.
Fortunately, even though he had been homeless, Li Wei wasn't malnourished and his physical condition was still relatively good.
Suddenly, darkness enveloped the distant horizon, rushing towards him at an extremely fast speed, like a man-eating monster, swallowing the sky.
Was this the arrival of night?
Unlike the usual slow transition between day and night, this night was transitioning extremely rapidly.
The fog on the street grew thicker and thicker, and suddenly, a black monster crawling on all fours appeared from the fog on the distant street!
Murderous monsters really do appear in the night!
Li Wei felt an indescribable trepidation surge into his heart, and he could smell blood in the air.
More and more monsters were appearing on the street!
He had to find shelter quickly to survive!
The fog grew thicker and thicker, and visibility was very low.
Rustling...
He heard the sound of monsters crawling on the ground behind him, getting closer and closer.
Li Wei's heart sank to the bottom.
Suddenly.
In the thick fog, he saw a glimmer of light in the distance.
It's a torch! There's shelter there!
"Jason! Come with me!"
Levi grabbed Jason's arm and sprinted towards the light.
Less than fifty meters felt like hundreds.
The light drew closer, but the unease intensified. Goosebumps suddenly rose on his back; he felt the monster's claws were incredibly close.
Five meters!
Two meters!
One meter!
He dragged Jason and leaped into the light, both crashing to the ground. He scrambled to his feet, drew his pistol from his waist, and pointed it into the thick fog.
He'd picked it up from a corpse; it came with eight bullets.
The monster lingered in the fog outside the light, hesitant to enter its range. It bared its teeth at Levi before disappearing into the fog.
"Gone?" Jason finally began to gasp for breath, his face flushed from holding his breath.
There was no movement for a long time in the thick fog.
"They must be gone." Levi holstered his pistol and turned to look at the shelter behind him.
Calling it a shelter was a bit of a stretch; it was rather rudimentary.
In the center of the shelter sat a burning torch, its light forming a golden halo ten meters in diameter, enveloping the surroundings and isolating them from the thick fog.
Levi walked towards the torch.
[Unclaimed Shelter]
[Occupy?]
"Yes."
[Level 1 Shelter]
[Lord: Levi]
[Building: Level 1 Torch]
[Level 1 Torch: Safe range diameter 10 meters, consumes 1 Exotic Stone per day, upgrade requires 10 Exotic Stones]
[Basic Buildings Available: Torch, Wooden Wall, Arrow Tower, Wooden House, Farmland]
[After constructing five basic buildings, the shelter can be upgraded to Level 2]
Levi glanced at the pistol at his waist, then at the wooden walls, wooden house, and farmland on the shelter's panel.
Can this shelter really be upgraded to keep out those monsters?
Even if it can, the dangers of the apocalypse aren't just monsters; the wooden walls would probably be riddled with bullets in no time.
But if the torch can be upgraded, the wooden walls can probably be upgraded too, maybe after the upgrade we won't be afraid of guns.
But thinking about that now is useless; the most important thing is to survive tonight!
After nightfall, the surrounding fog grew thicker and thicker. Beyond the range of the torch's light, you couldn't see even a meter away through the fog.
"Li! You've become the owner of this shelter?" Jason said excitedly.
"Great! Now we can survive!"
"It's not that easy, Jason, let's survive tonight first!"
Li Wei plopped down on the ground, exhausted from running all the time.
However, before he could rest for long, he heard the rustling sound of some kind of limbs crawling across the ground again in the thick fog.
"Li, watch out! The monsters are coming again!" Jason stood up and cautiously looked in the direction of the sound. "Is the torch reliable? Will the monsters get in?"
However, just as Jason finished speaking...
The monster's dark limbs pierced through the torchlight.
"Jason! You're such a jinx!"
The monster crawled out of the thick fog, letting out a piercing scream.
This monster resembled some kind of reptile, with long claws on its limbs and no facial features, only two bright red eyes.
[Read Taiwanese novels at Taiwan Novel Network, 𝒕𝒘𝒌𝒂𝒏.𝒄𝒐𝒎 Super Reliable]
[The Crawling Demon]
[The most common monster in the darkness; killing it yields exotic stones]
Exotic stones are obtained by killing monsters.
Li Wei, enduring his exhaustion, gripped his pistol, aimed at the monster's head, and pulled the trigger.
Bang—
muzzle flashes, the bullet flying towards the crawling demon's head.
Just as Li Wei aimed, the crawling demon seemed to sense the danger, its body twisting forcefully to the side, but its speed was many times slower than in the thick fog.
The bullet grazed the crawling demon's head and struck its body, causing the crawling demon to howl in pain.
It didn't even hit the head at such close range?
However, judging from the situation just now, the crawling demon's speed was much slower than in the darkness, probably suppressed by the torchlight.
Without hesitation, Li Wei fired several shots at its head. This was a monster that could yield a rare stone upon death; he couldn't let it escape.
This time, the crawling demon couldn't dodge the bullets. Shot in the head, it finally stopped struggling and collapsed motionless to the ground.
"Is it dead?" Jason was about to go forward when Li Wei grabbed his arm.
"We don't know if it's truly dead yet. If it's just playing dead, you'll be in danger."
After waiting silently for a moment, the crawling demon's body slowly dissipated like quicksand, merging into the darkness.
It left behind a stone the size of an egg.
[Rare Stone]
[Can be used to build and upgrade shelter structures]
Li Wei picked up the rare stone and held it in his hand. This was crucial for his survival in this apocalypse.
"Li, what's this?" Jason looked at the unfamiliar stone in Li Wei's hand.
"These are rare stones, the key to our survival!"
He turned to look at the five rare stones in the torch. One of them was smaller than the other four, probably because the torch had consumed some energy.
Excluding the rare stones already used, he now had five.
He opened the shelter panel.
[Building an arrow tower requires 10 rare stones.]
Levi decided to build the arrow tower first; after all, ammunition was limited, and an arrow tower was at least a means of attack.
The biggest problem now was the lack of rare stones, and to obtain them, he had to kill monsters.
He counted the bullets in his magazine; he had five left.
Leaving aside how to find the crawling demons in the dense fog, even if he did, he'd have to kill them one by one to collect 10 rare stones.
He had to think of a way.
Levi surveyed the environment within the torch's glowing circle; it seemed to be a small park.
Some debris was scattered at the very edge of the circle; perhaps they could find something useful.
"Jason! We need to find something to fight the monsters in that pile of debris."
"Okay!"
The two moved towards the edge of the circle.
The impenetrable fog was less than a meter in front of them, black mist constantly surging on the dark surface, creating an incredibly oppressive atmosphere, as if something might leap out at any moment.
When they were near the torch, some distance from the darkness, they hadn't felt this way, but now, up close, it felt as if they were about to be swallowed whole by the darkness.
Levi and Jason gritted their teeth and rummaged through the pile of debris, constantly on guard against the thick fog.
"Levi! Quick, look at this!"
Jason pulled a hollow, thin steel pipe, over a meter long, from under the pile of debris. "This might be useful!"
Levi nodded. "Keep it for now, we'll look around some more."
Suddenly, a crawling demon's scream echoed from within the fog, so close, separated only by a thin layer of mist!
"Ah!!!" In a panic, Jason actually stabbed the pipe directly into the fog.
A metallic sound of metal piercing flesh echoed from within the fog, followed by a piercing scream from the crawling demon.
The other end of the pipe shook violently, and Jason nearly lost his grip.
Li Wei's eyes lit up. He stood up, grabbed one end of the steel pipe, and feeling the resistance, forcefully pushed it into the light circle, pulling a crawling demon inside.
The pipe pierced the demon's skin and sank deep into its body.
Once inside the light circle, the demon's strength diminished considerably; Jason's strength alone was enough to subdue it.
"Jason, hold it down!"
Jason gripped the pipe tightly, pressing all his strength into it, pinning the demon to the ground.
The demon's limbs twitched incessantly, clearly indicating the pipe had caused it considerable damage, yet it didn't die.
"Li! I can't hold it down any longer, kill it quickly!" Jason said anxiously.
The demon's limbs had sharp claws; even a slight touch could cause injury, so it had to be killed from a distance.
"Hold on a little longer!" Just as Li Wei was about to finish off the crawling monster with his pistol, he suddenly noticed a steel pipe in the debris. He picked it up and stabbed it into the monster's head.
Once!
Twice!
Finally, the crawling monster stopped twitching, but Li Wei continued stabbing it with the pipe.
"Dead!"
The crawling demon's corpse slowly vanished, leaving behind another strange stone.
Li Wei's fear of the apocalypse completely disappeared, replaced by immense excitement.
Although he didn't know if he could survive the apocalypse, the power to live filled him with hope.
"Li, can I have a stone?" Jason asked.
Li Wei turned around, took a strange stone from his pocket, and placed it in Jason's hand. "You deserve credit for killing the crawling demon, so you can have it if you want. But what are you going to do with it?"
Jason said, "I don't know why, but I feel like I can absorb this strange stone."
Li Wei was stunned. A strange stone could be absorbed?
He nodded to Jason. "Then try it."
Jason grasped the strange stone with both hands and closed his eyes.
The strange stone transformed into countless threads of light, merging into Jason's body.
"How does it feel?" Li Wei asked.
Jason opened his eyes in confusion, touching the muscles that had suddenly bulged on his arm. "I don't feel anything, but I'm a little stronger?"
Li Wei stared blankly at Jason.
[Jason]
[Ability: Immense Strength]
[Strength: 10]
[Agility: 4]
[Spirit: 6]
[Average adult strength is 5]
Wow, his strength has doubled!
Wait, it really can absorb!
Seeing this, Li Wei was also eager to try. After picking up a strange stone, he didn't know how to absorb it, so he silently chanted "Absorb."
The strange stone transformed into a stream of light and merged into his body. Li Wei slowly exhaled.
"Hoo."
[Li Wei]
[Ability: Lord]
[Unharmed within the shelter's range before the shelter is destroyed]
[Attributes increase with the shelter's level]
[Strength: 5]
[Agility: 5]
[Spirit: 5]
Li Wei looked at his panel with satisfaction. Although his stats weren't as high as Jason's, his were much stronger than the numbers suggested—a true game-changer.
As long as the shelter remained, he was safe.
And the shelter could continue to upgrade; the stronger the shelter, the stronger he became!
Li Wei was instantly full of energy.
"Jason, the hunter and prey roles have reversed! Tonight, we'll take turns hunting the Reptilian!"
Night fell, and from the distant fog came intermittent screams, gnawing sounds, and sporadic gunshots.
His phone had been unusable since the fog rolled in, and with the moon obscured by the thick fog—frankly, he wasn't even sure if the sun was out.
Fortunately, he had passed the most dangerous moment. Now, the crawling demons were no longer dangerous monsters in Li Wei's eyes, but rather precious stones.
He stood at the edge of the circle of light, maintaining a meter's distance from the fog, carefully listening to the sounds emanating from the darkness.
The crawling demons' claws would scrape against the ground as they moved, a sound he could use to determine their presence.
Not long after, a soft
rustling sound...
the crawling demons moved again.
Li Wei's eyes narrowed. He quietly stepped forward, then forcefully thrust the steel pipe forward, sweeping it back to bring another crawling demon in.
Jason, who had been resting nearby, had already stood up when he heard the crawling demons.
As soon as Li Wei brought the demon in, he immediately gripped the steel pipe and stabbed it into the demon's head.
*Sizzle*—the
sound of metal piercing flesh filled the air.
The crawling demon's head was pierced through.
"You're incredibly strong,"
Levi exclaimed, watching Jason stir the steel pipe inside the crawling demon's brain. He was amazed.
He hadn't expected Jason's strength to be so exaggerated after absorbing the strange stone.
Although his strength rating was 10, twice that of an average person, the actual effect was definitely more than double.
This showed that strength rating wasn't a simple linear relationship with actual physical strength.
"This is all thanks to you, Levi! No! Boss!" After killing the crawling demon, Jason bent down to pick up the fallen strange stone, wiped it on himself, and handed it to Levi.
"If it weren't for you, Boss, how could I have gained this power?"
Since his strength increased, Jason had been extremely excited, even volunteering to keep watch and kill crawling demons.
However, at Levi's request, the two took turns resting, as human energy wasn't limitless.
"Boss, do you think I can become Superman?" Jason excitedly waved the steel pipe in his hand.
Looking at the prominent strength rating on his panel, Li Wei joked, "Maybe I can turn into the Hulk."
...
Sizzle—
another crawler fell to Jason's steel pipe.
Luckily, the pipe was of good quality, only bearing many scratches.
Suddenly, the surrounding fog thinned, and Li Wei immediately noticed.
He seemed to realize something.
Dawn broke.
The thick fog surrounding the shelter dissipated rapidly, and then the darkness receded like a tide, instantly transforming night into clear daylight.
Looking at the boundless blue sky, Li Wei even felt that the fog and monsters of the previous night were illusions.
However, the bloodstains on the street and the remains of limbs devoured by monsters told the story of the horror of the previous night.
"Sigh,"
Li Wei sighed, wondering how many people had died last night.
That night, the two took turns hunting crawlers, counting at dawn that they had killed six and obtained six strange stones.
Now he had ten strange stones, just enough to build an arrow tower.
Let's get to work!
He held the ten strange stones in his hand, staring at the arrow tower on the panel, and silently chanted "Build."
The next instant,
the ten stones in his hand suddenly glowed brightly, then transformed into streaks of white lines, intertwining and flying into the air.
"My God!" Jason was completely stunned, rubbing his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Oh my god! Boss Li! What did you do?!"
Countless lines converged in the air, forming the phantom of the arrow tower.
The white phantom of the arrow tower followed Li Wei's will, moving continuously above the shelter.
Until the phantom left the torch's range, the white lines outside the light circle turned red.
It had to be built within the shelter's area.
Since the shelter only had one arrow tower, Li Wei placed it in the center of the shelter, next to the torch.
...
[Level 1 Arrow Tower]
[Attack Range: 5 meters]
[Effect: Automatically attacks enemies entering the range, and can also attack other targets according to the lord's orders. Requires Exotic Stones as energy.]
[Upgrade Cost: 20 Exotic Stones]
...
Li Wei looked at the arrow tower.
A brown wooden arrow tower, about 3 meters high and half a meter long and wide, sat next to the torch in the center of the shelter.
A wooden crossbow was mounted on the attack platform of the tower, gleaming in the sunlight. The crossbow could automatically attack in 360 degrees.
There was a noticeable groove at the bottom of the arrow tower, in which was placed an Exotic Stone as energy.
It came with an Exotic Stone, not bad.
If it weren't for this included Exotic Stone, besides the half Exotic Stone left in the torch, Li Wei would probably be completely out of Exotic Stones now.
Looking at the 3-meter-high arrow tower in front of him, a hint of surprise flashed in Li Wei's eyes.
Originally, Li Wei only thought it was an ordinary arrow tower, but who would have thought that this crossbow seemed to be quite powerful.
"Boss Li! What kind of magic is this?!" Jason walked over, marveling at the suddenly appearing arrow towers.
"This is our guarantee of survival in the apocalypse."
After setting up the arrow towers, Li Wei looked around the shelter.
In just one night, everything on the streets was in ruins.
The areas in the park that were once covered in vegetation were now bare.
The signs along the roads were long gone, making it impossible to tell where this place was just by looking at them.
The exterior walls of the buildings were riddled with holes, probably caused by monsters; it seemed that only those within the torch's glow could have survived last night.
The cars on the road looked corroded, their outer shells mostly rotten, revealing the few remaining parts inside.
"Was this corroded by yesterday's dense fog?" Li Wei looked around incredulously.
The rules of this world might have been altered.
He took out his phone again, but it was still black and wouldn't turn on.
Putting the phone away, Li Wei's face was grave.
Perhaps all electronic devices were unusable; without a phone, there was no way to contact the outside world, let alone ask for help.
But then again, even the American police and military wouldn't have escaped last night's apocalypse, and something even worse might have happened.
"Fuck! I hope that damn bitch was killed by a monster last night!" Jason impatiently pressed the power button on his phone.
"Sigh." Levi sighed.
Since the apocalypse had arrived and he couldn't change it, he could only adapt to it.
Just as he opened his backpack to grab something to eat, Levi suddenly remembered something and shouted to Jason beside him,
"Quick! Jason! We need to hurry and scavenge for food! Otherwise, we'll starve to death sooner or later!"