Chapter 2: Isn’t This World Already Free of Zombies?

"You were gone just now, weren't you?"

Lu Li flung the bird droppings in her hand at the system panel, fury churning in her chest.

"Aaah! Host, that's disgusting! How can you go around playing with poop just because you're upset!"

Her lips twitched. She had no mood to bicker with it.

"And the punishment? The countdown is over. That was the first time I've survived for more than an hour!"

"Host, after I reported the villain's situation to the main system, it decided to abandon the rescue plan. Once you die, I'll be reclaimed."

The moment the system finished speaking, its tone suddenly sharpened into a scream that pierced the eardrums.

"Aaah! Host, I'm running! A huge flock of birds is diving toward the cave entrance. In the short time I was gone, did you go poke a bird nest?"

With bird droppings on her head, Lu Li looked up. The sky above the entrance was a little warped; the walls of the pit were slick, the soil taking on a strange blue-gray cast.

To prevent accidents, she had barely stopped digging the whole time. By now, the distance from the bottom of the pit to the rim was at least the height of four or five stories.

Digging her own grave?

The sound of the flock drew nearer. Amid the system's shrill cries, Lu Li dug her fingers into the pit wall. Gravel crumbled beneath her fingertips, damp and cold earth seeped into her palm, and with a forceful push of her feet, the wall gave way in a rustling slide.

Because she wasn't skilled at climbing, she slipped halfway up and fell back to the bottom.

The stench of bird droppings mingled with the earthy smell at the bottom of the pit, needling her nerves at every moment.

Clenching her teeth, Lu Li tensed every muscle. Planting one foot on a jutting clod of earth, she sprang upward, her whole body hanging in the air in an instant.

By the time the flock arrived, only her head had just broken above the rim. A black-feathered, yellow-beaked bird dived straight toward her face, tilting its head as its dark, round eyes filled with malice.

What did I ever do to you? Why are all of you chasing me to crap on me?

Adrenaline surged. Lu Li reached out and slapped at it directly, while bracing herself with one hand against the pit wall and pushing hard. Sticky warmth slid along her neck, and the bird droppings hit the ground along with her in a series of splats.

Having escaped disaster, she hurled the dead bird away, grabbed up loose stones, and ran while throwing them. Blood streamed from the birds' wings, the flock fell into instant chaos, and she sprinted into the villa at top speed.

"Phew... cough, cough..."

Looking at the birds scattering outside the window, Lu Li felt a wave of lingering fear. She collapsed onto the floor, and before she could even steady her breathing, a violent cough brought up a mouthful of dirt.

She had narrowly avoided being killed by the villain again, only to nearly be drowned in bird shit.

It took a long while before she finally struggled to her feet. The skin on her head was gradually tightening; the droppings were drying.

"System, go check whether there are any birds around. I need to wash my hair."

"All right, Host!" Seeing that Lu Li no longer resisted it, the panel drifted away in delight.

In the unfinished villa, there was nothing but dust. Lu Li had even hoped to find a bottle of shampoo somewhere—expired would have been fine—but all she found was a locked room and a single bed covered in dust.

She resigned herself to it. At least she had a windbreak.

"Host, I found a few soap pods over by those dead birds! Hurry and wash that whole body full of bird shit off."

On her first day in the apocalypse without any missions, Lu Li lived like a primitive.

Following the system, she picked up the first little bird she had killed, pried open its beak, and dug out the soap pods.

"Host, did you kill this mutated little bird?"

Lu Li could strangely hear a hint of schadenfreude in that mechanical voice. Raising an eyebrow, she pinched the panel. "What about it?"

"Blackbirds are famous for being vindictive and holding grudges. Their revenge can include attacking with feces, tracking a target for a long time, and even passing their grudges down through generations. Trigger conditions: stepping on a nest, stealing food, or harming a chick."

"Host, the one you're holding is probably their chick. You may have poop falling on your head every single day from now on!"

"If you keep gloating, I'll use you to block the poop every day."

Looking at the bird in her hand, entirely black with a yellow beak and a yellow eye-ring, Lu Li hesitated, then still did not dare throw it away carelessly.

She tucked the soap pods into her pocket and gathered the dead black birds from the ground, piling them in a corner of the villa.

After confirming there was no trace left behind, Lu Li was just preparing to wash her hair in peace when a black shadow swept past her face. Yellow-brown liquid sprayed over her without warning, and she only had time to shut her eyes.

"Pfut! Damn system!"

"Hahaha! Host, this is a mutated blackbird that has evolved high-speed movement! I only just saw it and didn't even have time to warn you... mm... Host, I'm getting angry!"

Lu Li angrily wiped the bird droppings from her face and smeared them onto the system panel.

"Keep your eyes on them!"

"If I get smeared with shit while I'm bathing, then you can stay with shit every day."

After making sure there were no black-feathered, yellow-beaked birds in sight, she took the barely clean set of clothes in her hands and made her way to the riverbank.

The river reflected the branches drooping overhead. A few silver-scaled little fish moved lazily through the water, stirring up rings of ripples.

Lu Li leaned forward toward the surface. Just as she was about to scoop up water to wash her face, the instant her fingertips touched the cool river water, she froze. The face reflected in the water made her feel as though she had plunged into an ice cellar.

The black hair she remembered had become dry, yellow, and sparse; a few wisps of ragged hair clung to her hollow cheeks. Her skin was deathly pale, her eyes slightly bulging, and in her dark pupils a flash of red sometimes cut across. Her lips were black, and two sharp fangs had pushed through the gaps between her teeth, droplets of water hanging from their tips—whether saliva or mucus, she could not tell.

Her motion of scooping water looked stiff and uncanny in the reflection.

Lu Li opened her mouth. Without the countdown interfering, what reached her ears was only a hoarse rasping sound.

Was that me?

Suspicious, Lu Li waved a hand. The reflection responded with the same stiff motion. Unwilling to give up, she plucked at a spray of flowers. In the reflection, blood-red wild blossoms bloomed quietly, dew still gathered on their petals.

She reached up to touch her chest. Even with the extra flesh in the way, Lu Li could still tell with certainty that her skin was cold and that there was no heartbeat.

"Damn system!"

Lu Li opened her mouth and roared, but saliva poured down in streams to her chest, soaking her clothes. Frightened, she hurriedly shut her mouth; her fangs jabbed into her upper lip, and the pain made her suck in a sharp breath.

"What's wrong, Host? There are no blackbirds nearby."

Under her nearly blazing glare, the panel floated over with cheerful little bounces.

Lu Li did not dare open her mouth. A thought surfaced in her mind:

Am I now the background extra in a novel?

"Of course! This body was carefully chosen by me to match your soul as perfectly as possible!"

If I remember correctly, this world is a hundred years after the apocalypse. Zombies have already gone extinct, the human safe zones are barren, resources are scarce, and it's the time of a food crisis.

"Yes! Host, your memory is excellent!"

Lu Li could no longer suppress her rage. She smashed the protruding rock beside her with her palm, saliva flying everywhere.

"Then what am I now?"

"Don't tell me even a background extra looks like this!"

"No wonder I was killed the second I showed my face. No wonder the villain grabs me and kills me on sight!"

Suddenly, the image of the first time she had met Jiang Linyi flashed through Lu Li's mind—the shock on that enchanting, noble face.

Great. Now she was even angrier!

Who wouldn't be afraid at the sight of her? Who wouldn't want to stab her a couple of times? The righteous ones would probably have her hacked to pieces!

She looked exactly like the extinct zombies described in the book.