Chapter Four: Elegance

Lin Dong returned to his apartment.

It was a high-rise building, and he lived on the top floor—the twentieth. His home was immaculate, spotless, and everything was arranged neatly, with a minimalist style that made it pleasing to the eye. The windows were fitted with sturdy stainless steel bars, firmly installed to prevent any flying mutant beasts that might attack during the apocalypse. The solar panels were already set up; even though Lin Dong would become a zombie, electricity was still essential.

Because he retained human rationality, boredom was inevitable. He could watch television, play games, or scroll on his phone to pass the time. Moreover, these channels allowed him to gather information. Everything had been prepared. The countdown to the apocalypse had begun!

...

A long night passed, and as the morning sun rose slowly, Lin Dong remembered that the apocalypse would begin at nine in the morning. He glanced at the clock on the wall: 8:59—one minute left!

He walked to the window, looking out onto the street below, still bustling with traffic and pedestrians chatting and laughing. Behind him, the clock ticked. The second hand gradually aligned with the minute hand, heralding the dawn of a new era.

Nine o’clock, sharp.

Suddenly, the bright morning sky was suffused with a crimson haze, turning an ominous blood-red.

A blood-colored sun.

Pedestrians on the street looked up in surprise.

“Huh? Why is the sun red?”

“I don’t know! Is it some astronomical event?”

“Hurry, take a photo—post it on social media...”

As they talked, many people’s vision went black, and they collapsed straight to the ground. Cars began to crash into one another in rapid succession.

Bang! Crack!

Windows shattered, glass fragments flying everywhere, and chaos erupted on the streets. Realizing something was wrong, people grew increasingly frantic.

“Honey! What’s wrong? Wake up!”

A woman on the sidewalk shook her partner desperately.

But when the man opened his eyes, his face twisted into a monstrous snarl, and he bit into the woman’s pale neck.

“Ah—!!”

She screamed in agony, her clothes quickly soaked in blood. Her eyes rolled back and her body convulsed violently.

This scene played out everywhere.

“Ah! There’s a monster!”

...

“It’s... zombies! Help!”

“Mama, please wake up...”

In an instant, screams, cries, and roars echoed throughout the streets. Chaos was everywhere.

At his window, Lin Dong too felt his vision go black and fainted.

When he woke again, he had become a zombie.

He opened his mouth, a hoarse sound rasping from his throat—he had lost the ability to speak.

“So it’s come to this...”

Lin Dong thought to himself. Not only that, but many bodily functions had vanished, including his “invincible, pay-to-win dragon” below the waist, now completely unresponsive.

“Guess I’ll have to evolve slowly to get that back,” he mused.

He turned to the living room mirror. His appearance hadn’t changed, except his skin was now pale and bloodless—a little sickly. As a zombie, his limbs were stiff and numb, his movements sluggish, and his sense of pain greatly diminished. At this rate, he wasn’t even as fast as a normal person. By the standards of his previous life, he was just a lowest-tier “D-rank zombie.”

Yet his hearing and sense of smell had become sharper; his fingernails were now as sharp as steel, his teeth hard enough to tear through flesh with ease.

Lin Dong tried taking out an apple and biting into it. What was once sweet and crisp now tasted like wax in his mouth.

“Disgusting...”

He felt no fullness at all; instead, his hunger grew more intense.

He craved flesh.

He shuffled to the dining table. Though his body was stiff and slow, he picked up a spotless napkin and tied it around his neck. Then, from his storage space, he produced a slab of fresh beef and placed it on a plate.

He picked up his knife and fork, just as if he were eating Western cuisine, and cut the raw beef into neat cubes. Using his fork, he lifted a piece and slowly placed it in his mouth.

He was an elegant zombie.

Lin Dong’s hardened teeth tore the meat apart with ease. The raw flesh, once pungent, now tasted incomparably delicious. The blood and juices in the beef were now sweet as nectar.

“Mmm! Delicious!”

He sighed inwardly.

Outside, the street was still a chaos of screams and roars, but Lin Dong sat at home, eating his meat with elegance.

As he ate, energy was being absorbed and his body steadily strengthened.

Once he became a zombie, his appetite increased dramatically—his stomach felt bottomless. It took ten plates of meat before his hunger finally lessened, but he kept eating.

A zombie with an ample supply of flesh grows at a terrifying rate.

After eating, Lin Dong felt much more agile. His strength had grown as well.

Even the steel knife and fork in his hands no longer seemed so sturdy. With a gentle squeeze of two fingers, he could bend them with ease.

But he kept eating—one plate after another, absorbing energy.

Time passed. Outside, the street grew much quieter; the cries and screams gradually faded. Now, there were more zombie roars than anything else. The city had fallen and was now overrun by zombies, with only a few survivors clinging to life.

But Lin Dong paid no attention to the world outside—his focus was solely on the fragrant meat before him.

In the early days of the apocalypse, the internet and communication systems hadn’t yet completely collapsed. On television, the news anchor’s eyes were red and brimming with tears, yet she carried out her duty:

“Breaking news! A sudden zombie virus outbreak has struck today. Humanity is facing a massive crisis. Survivors, please protect yourselves! If you’re alive, head to the city’s shelters for safety!

“This station reports: Not only are there zombies—animals and plants are mutating to varying degrees. Even your pets at home must be treated with caution!

“Please stay away from crowded areas! Everyone, you must survive!

“...”

All across the land, tragedy unfolded mercilessly.

But Lin Dong remained oblivious—still eating meat.

He had no idea how much he’d consumed, but it was roughly the equivalent of two entire cows.

Finally, he was full.

He set down his knife and fork, untied his still-pristine napkin, his movements now deft and nimble.

After so much meat, his body was no longer numb; his agility now surpassed that of an ordinary human.

“I must have advanced... Probably a C-rank zombie by now...”

Lin Dong reflected.

But at this level, a zombie’s capacity to digest flesh was limited, so after two cows’ worth, he felt satisfied. As his rank increased, he’d be able to consume even more.

He stood up and went to the window, gazing at the scene outside.

Everywhere he looked, there was devastation. The streets were strewn with shards of glass, blood, and dismembered bodies.

Countless zombies ran about, hunting for prey; others knelt in groups, fighting over the remains of humans, snarling like rabid dogs.

Some survivors, driven to despair, leapt from tall buildings, their bodies shattering on the pavement, only to be swarmed and devoured by zombies.

The sun remained blood-red, its scarlet light casting a desolate hue over the horrifying scene.

But what did any of this have to do with Lin Dong?

He leaned on the windowsill, letting the breeze caress him, picked up a wineglass, swirled the red liquid inside, and took a small, refined sip.

Then, with a pristine towel, he gently wiped his mouth.

Elegance—never out of style.

...