Night of the Apocalypse

“Ah, you can’t blame me! Every time I see such a handsome and charming you, I can’t help but get excited.”
Zhao Wuchang sat down opposite Shen Qiu, smiling as he spoke.

Shen Qiu seemed to have long been used to Zhao Wuchang and directly ignored him, continuing to sip his coffee.

Seeing that Shen Qiu was not paying him any attention, Zhao Wuchang decided not to pursue the topic and changed the subject instead.

“What have you been up to lately?”

“Job hunting.”

Shen Qiu replied simply without raising his head.

“Wow~ How rare! You’re actually looking for a job? Has the sun risen from the west?”

“None of your business!”

“You can’t earn much from a job. Just participate in a few more extreme sports and pull in sponsorships; plenty of cash will come knocking at your door.”

Zhao Wuchang said cheerfully to Shen Qiu.

Shen Qiu raised his head and looked into Zhao Wuchang’s eyes, responding slowly,

“Do you think we still have sponsors?”

Zhao Wuchang’s expression suddenly froze, and he lamented helplessly, “You’re right. People die every day; the sponsors have all run away. Plus, the public opinion isn’t in our favor either; it’s indeed tough now.”

“What do you want to eat?”

Shen Qiu did not respond to Zhao Wuchang’s comment and simply asked,

“As long as it’s something you ordered, I like it.”

Zhao Wuchang propped his chin on his hand, gazing at Shen Qiu with watery eyes, speaking tenderly.

Shen Qiu’s brows were almost twisted into a knot. If Zhao Wuchang weren’t one of the few companions he had left alive, he would have likely splashed his coffee all over him by now.

“Ha ha!”

Seeing Shen Qiu’s furrowed brows, Zhao Wuchang was exceptionally pleased.

Shen Qiu shot Zhao Wuchang a glare, prompting Zhao Wuchang to quickly stifle his laughter and cough lightly before saying,

“Ahem, let’s order two fragrant chicken rice sets.”

Shen Qiu turned to the nearby waiter and said,

“Two fragrant chicken rice sets.”

“Okay.”

The waiter responded immediately.

Before long, two steaming sets were served.

Shen Qiu and Zhao Wuchang quietly focused on their meals.

However, halfway through the meal, Shen Qiu paused with his spoon.

“Spit it out. What do you want from me?”

Hearing Shen Qiu’s words, Zhao Wuchang quickly set down his spoon and spoke up,

“Actually, I came to find you for something important.”

“Speak.”

Shen Qiu didn’t waste any words.

“Due to public opinion and policy factors, there probably won’t be any sponsors supporting us within the Red Alliance. Most of the related extreme activities have been canceled as well. But that’s okay! I heard that there are many big financial groups in the Blue Alliance planning to host a grand extreme sports event in the Gray Alliance, and we can sign up to participate. The sponsorship fees will definitely be very generous. Look, I thought of you first when good things come around.”

Zhao Wuchang said to Shen Qiu with great enthusiasm.

After hearing Zhao Wuchang’s words, Shen Qiu’s expression grew even more silent.

“What are you thinking? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Seeing that Shen Qiu hadn’t spoken for a long time, Zhao Wuchang waved his hand in front of his eyes.

“Let’s talk about this later.”

Shen Qiu finally responded. He didn’t agree to Zhao Wuchang, nor did he tell him that he was planning to withdraw from the scene.

Although Zhao Wuchang was a bit surprised by Shen Qiu’s answer, he didn’t dwell on it, knowing Shen Qiu had a somewhat quirky temperament.

The two of them continued to eat, and soon both sets were cleared away.

“Ah, I’m full! I should be going now.”

Zhao Wuchang glanced at his watch and said with a smile.

“Mm.”

Shen Qiu replied in a nonchalant manner.

“By the way, do you still have some money? Lend me some. You know the sponsorship has been low lately, and there’s not much income.”
Zhao Wuchang said to Shen Qiu with a grin.

Shen Qiu opened his wallet and saw twenty 100-credit alliance bills inside. He pulled out ten bills and handed them to Zhao Wuchang.

“Here, make it last; I don’t have much money left either.”

“Ha ha, you’re really generous! I’ll be on my way! Once I confirm the information over there, I’ll give you a call.”

After taking the money, Zhao Wuchang stood up, waved his hand casually, and left.

Shen Qiu remained seated at the table, not leaving immediately. He gazed through the transparent glass, somewhat lost in thought, staring at the bustling street outside.

After an unknown amount of time, a voice interrupted Shen Qiu’s thoughts.

“Sorry, sir, we are closing.”

A male manager, dressed in a black suit and with neatly combed hair, stood beside Shen Qiu, smiling.

Coming back to reality, Shen Qiu then noticed that not only had it turned dark outside, but the street had also become quite empty.

He glanced at his phone and saw that it was already ten o’clock in the evening, so he stood up.

As he walked out of the Maple Leaf Restaurant, the wind chimes behind him rang with a clear sound.

Ding ding~~

Nighttime · Inside the room.

Shen Qiu sat in front of the computer, fully focused on playing the game “Death Escape.”

Accompanied by intense gunfire, enemy players were being headshot one after another.

Shen Qiu’s game score far surpassed the second place by eighteen streets.

The public chat box on the game interface kept popping up with messages.

“Is that first-place player using hacks?”

“Damn, I just got close and was instantly killed.”

Tick-tock, tick-tock~
The vintage clock on the wall kept ticking, its hands moving step by step toward twelve o’clock.

At the moment when the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand all overlapped at twelve o’clock.

Zzzt~
The lights in the entire room flickered.

Shen Qiu frowned.

“Ah~”

At that moment, a discordant voice came from the rooftop above.

Shen Qiu immediately looked up, only to see the ceiling above shaking with creaking sounds.

At the same time, he could faintly hear intermittent voices.

“Don’t, don’t~”

“Ah~ So pitiful!”

Shen Qiu let out a long sigh. It was already late at night, and the noise from upstairs was relentless, causing so much commotion that even the bedroom lights were malfunctioning.

He then looked down at the computer again.

In the next second, a bloody skull suddenly appeared on the computer screen, the entire skull grinning menacingly, sending a chilling sensation through him.

The moment Shen Qiu saw this scarlet skull, his nerves jolted, and his muscles tensed up instantly; he felt a shiver run through him!
However, he quickly calmed down. He examined the suddenly appearing scarlet skull logo closely, and it gradually transformed into a semi-transparent background. Upon closer inspection, he also noticed a line of scarlet text below the logo.

“Countdown to the Night of Apocalypse · 23: 59: 32.”

Shen Qiu’s gaze shifted to the public chat box.

He discovered countless messages flooding the screen.

“What’s going on? Did the game trigger some special effect? Why did a skull suddenly pop up? I almost peed myself!”

“Same here!”

“Damn, why is there one on my phone too? What the hell is this, a virus?”

Seeing the chat records from everyone, Shen Qiu immediately picked up his phone, opened it, and was met with the same red skull logo on the phone screen, which also had a countdown.

He tried to launch the antivirus software, but unfortunately, it had no effect whatsoever and couldn’t detect any viruses at all.

However, one thing can be confirmed: this red skull logo did not affect any of the phone’s functions; it was just like a stubborn skin disease, stamped onto the screen.

Shen Qiu pondered for a few seconds, then exited the game interface on his computer and opened a browser to search for information on the topic.

As a result, he found that the entire internet was flooded with discussions about this suddenly appearing red skull logo and the countdown.