Published: January 31, 2025
Chapter One: A Dream that Spans Ten Years
“Ah!”
As the cold, sharp tentacle of the infiltrator pierced through his body, Ye Zhongming couldn't help but cry out.
In his hazy state, he felt a warm, smooth sensation at the point of contact, accompanied by an overwhelming wave of pleasure.
Familiar panting sounds reached his ears, and a pair of delicate arms wrapped tightly around his neck, mixed with the scent of sweat that flooded his nostrils.
Ye Zhongming's vision gradually focused, and he saw a beautiful face that was once familiar to him.
Her?
Hadn’t she died not long ago?
As if trying to confirm something, Ye Zhongming attempted to rise from this incredibly familiar body, but the woman tightened her hold with her limbs.
“Don’t, don’t go. Stay for a while.”
A soft, slightly unstable voice rushed out, as if she were afraid of losing something.
Ye Zhongming paused, confused, and as he glanced around, he suddenly understood a few things.
A cartoon-patterned cup, a glowing digital alarm clock, lace underwear hanging from the lamp, a Durex package that had been torn open yet remained inside, and the familiar feeling of the woman's smooth body in his arms, along with the rhythmic connection between their two bodies, all transported Ye Zhongming back to a scene he had once experienced.
September 10, 2020, in the afternoon.
One hour before the catastrophic disaster occurred.
Wasn’t he supposed to be on a mission? After being attacked by those damned bugs, he narrowly escaped only to be ambushed by the infiltrators, with tentacles stretching from the ground penetrating his body, undoubtedly a fatal wound by his own experience.
But now... this vivid memory of a passionate daytime encounter seemed to have returned to ten years ago, to that beautiful afternoon just before the disaster struck.
Years of cultivated calm allowed Ye Zhongming to think quickly; in just ten seconds, he confirmed that this was not merely a feeling of returning to ten years ago, but he had indeed returned to ten years ago!
He glanced at the clock: September 10, 2020, 3:35 PM, with still one hour and five minutes until that unforgettable time.
At 4:40 PM on September 10, 2020, a terrifying event would occur, and afterwards, the world would plunge into a cold apocalypse.
Ye Zhongming remained in a daze for a while, with only one thought in his mind — was this heaven’s favor or another punishment for him?
He lay on the naked body of the woman, slowly raising his hands. They were fair and delicate, with clear lines in his palms, healthy in color, in stark contrast to himself ten years later. These were hands used for writing, flipping pages, and typing on a keyboard, while the hands ten years later bore calluses from long holding a gun, along with scars and blood from countless fights.
Had he been given a second chance? Ye Zhongming felt somewhat numb; not everyone would think that reliving was a stroke of luck. Like Ye Zhongming, who had experienced a nightmarish decade, now having to live through it once more, it was hard to say it was fortunate.
Reliving a decade of bloody slaughter with no warmth or hope to be felt? Ye Zhongming let out a bitter smile, truly unsure if he could endure once more, having already experienced the despair of that life.
As for still wrapping his arms around the woman like an octopus, Ye Zhongming could not feel the warmth as he did 'ten years ago.' Instead, he felt repelled, for he knew that in the next moment, his girlfriend would propose a breakup.
Bai Shishi, Ye Zhongming's girlfriend, the one who frequented the small rented room he lived in, they had been in a relationship since their sophomore year, and calculating it, it had nearly been two years now.
For Ye Zhongming, who had lost his parents, he valued this relationship greatly. Any person, a normal kind-hearted individual who wasn't promiscuous, would place extra importance on their first love, let alone being with a beauty like Bai Shishi.
But this significance, when the relationship could no longer continue, would also bring extra depth to the pain.