Chapter 1: No way? You’re really biting me?!
“You’re a zombie! You need to have some basic zombie professionalism!”
Song Yuqing scolded, patting the extra on the shoulder. The zombie extra looked livid, a prosthetic eye drooping down to the tip of his nose. He lowered his head, not daring to meet the director’s gaze. Nearby, an extra in a red superhero cape impatiently kicked at the gravel, sending up faint glimmers of dust.
They were standing in a ten-meter-wide crater, surrounded by a circle of battered-looking “zombies.” The only thing they had in common was the disgusted looks they shot the zombie with the dangling eyeball.
“It’s meat! Delicious human meat! It smells so good it makes your mouth water!” Song Yuqing instructed. “If you’re going to act greedy, don’t just look like a sluggish ghost, okay?”
The zombie nodded obediently. What delicious smell? he thought. All I smell is stale sweat.
“Alright, let’s take it from the top!” Song Yuqing took the crater steps two at a time, marching back to the director’s monitor and sitting down. “All departments, get ready!”
The makeup artist rushed over to quickly touch up the zombie’s face.
“Hold on, we need more light!” the gaffer yelled, running to adjust a reflector.
On the dolly track, the camera operator sat on an apple box, humming a little tune. “Waiting on lighting, waiting on lighting~”
The camera assistant, Lin Han, sighed tiredly and shot Song Yuqing a sidelong glance. “This female director takes way too long to shoot a scene. Tsk…”
“I’ll give you exactly one more minute! Hurry up!” The producer sitting next to Song Yuqing frowned, looking like he was on the verge of tears. He anxiously checked his watch and leaned in to whisper, “Director Song, just make do with this take. We’re running out of time, and we still need to change sets.”
Song Yuqing waved him off. “Okay, okay…”
High above, a meteor streaked across the night sky—the prelude to an incoming meteor shower.
“Look, a shooting star!” someone on set shouted. Everyone glanced up, but they’d already missed it.
A female zombie extra closed her eyes and whispered a quick wish, while the rest of the crew went back to their tasks.
At that exact moment, every phone on set received a blaring emergency evacuation text. But since everyone in the film crew was used to muting their phones during production, no one had a clue about the impending disaster.
“Three, two, one, action!” Song Yuqing yelled, her eyes glued to the monitor.
On the screen, the zombie extras began to swarm the red-caped superhero. The zombie with the missing eye suddenly convulsed. He froze for a split second, then lunged at the superhero, his nose flaring and thick drool dripping from his mouth. His face was a mask of pure, ravenous hunger.
“Push in!” Song Yuqing ordered. The camera operator quickly adjusted the angle while the assistant pushed the dolly down the track, sending the lens right into the heart of the zombie horde.
“Yes! That’s it!” Song Yuqing slapped her thigh in excitement. After shooting for hours, they finally had a usable take!
“Cut!”
But before anyone could relax, the monitor exploded with crimson blood. The one-eyed zombie suddenly snapped its head up and bared razor-sharp fangs at the camera lens. Chunks of raw, minced meat were stuck in its teeth, and a thick string of bloody saliva dangled from its jaw.
Song Yuqing stared in shock. No way… are you actually biting him?!
The zombie pounced forward. An instant later, the camera operator’s severed head rolled away from the viewfinder.
Screams erupted across the set. More than a dozen “extras” sprouted jagged fangs and began hunting down the remaining cast and crew, chasing them like wolves in a flock of sheep.
Did they actually turn into real zombies?! Why?! This isn’t scientifically possible!
Song Yuqing didn’t have time to process it. All that mattered right now was surviving.
“Help!” the producer shrieked. He was already the furthest away, blindly fleeing and knocking over a row of heavy metal C-stands in his panic. One of them toppled straight toward Song Yuqing.
She threw her hands up to block the heavy metal stand, but the moment her skin brushed against it, it simply… vanished. In her mind, Song Yuqing suddenly sensed a dark, three-cubic-meter spatial void. Inside that void lay the missing C-stand.
Before filming this doomsday mini-series, Song Yuqing had done extensive research on the genre. Where there were zombies, there were usually awakened superhumans. Could it be? Did I just awaken a spatial storage ability?!
“Hiss!” The red-caped extra—now fully turned—lunged forward and grabbed Song Yuqing’s arm.
Goosebumps exploded across her skin. She snatched up a prop knife and smashed the hilt into the zombie’s hand to break its grip. Before she could even catch her breath, the gray, rotting claws of the female zombie extra swiped at her face.
Above them, the meteor shower finally hit, slamming into the planet with devastating, unrelenting force.
Five months ago, a massive meteorite had crashed into Bell Street in Chen Town, right where Song Yuqing’s team was currently filming. It had caused a huge media sensation and became a popular tourist spot. The producer thought it would be a brilliant, atmospheric location for their zombie shoot.
While the rest of the world was being torn apart by the sudden meteor shower tonight, Chen Town remained physically untouched. However, the radiation from the meteorite fragments that landed five months ago was now having its true effect. It was reanimating the dead: zombies still wearing their set makeup, zombies hauling light stands, zombies clutching makeup bags…
Song Yuqing couldn’t fight them all. All she could do was run.
From a distance, it looked like a bizarre marathon—Song Yuqing sprinting for her life, trailed by a horde of zombies with twisted necks and broken limbs.
As she ran, she frantically racked her brain. In all those doomsday novels and shows, what else can a spatial ability user do besides hoard supplies?
Wait… is that it? Just hoarding?
She hadn’t run far, but she was already gasping for air, feeling like her lungs were about to burst. Years of working grueling late-night shifts at the production company had completely wrecked her stamina. Was this really how she was going to die? She didn’t want to become a snack for her former coworkers. She still wanted to travel the world. She wanted to direct a blockbuster hit and make her parents proud.
Spotting a narrow alleyway, Song Yuqing darted inside, hoping to find a hiding spot. Instead, she found her path blocked. At the other end of the alley stood a group of bald, middle-aged zombies. They were still clutching mahjong tiles in their rotting hands, drooling as they stared her down.
Song Yuqing was trapped. Zombies blocked both her advance and retreat. She had occasionally joked about dying young before, but she never actually intended to join the “27 Club” on her twenty-seventh birthday!
Suddenly, she noticed a small convenience store tucked into the side of the alley. It emitted a soft, pure white halo of light. Strangely, all the passing zombies instinctively veered away, refusing to step near it.
Operating on pure survival instinct, Song Yuqing bolted for the store. She threw herself inside and used every ounce of her remaining strength to slam the heavy wooden door shut. Once the lock clicked into place, the chaos outside vanished. The convenience store was dead quiet, illuminated only by a warm, swaying yellow light bulb on the ceiling.
Panting heavily, Song Yuqing pulled her phone from her pocket. The screen lit up with over thirty missed calls from her parents and a dozen emergency alerts about the meteor shower. She had zero signal.
The final text message was from her mother.
“Yuqing, survive. Your dad and I cn’t hld—”
It was a typo. The frantic, cut-off letters of parents who couldn’t hold on any longer.
Song Yuqing squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t afford to overthink it right now. She had to cling to the desperate hope that her parents were still alive somewhere.
She aggressively wiped away her tears. Now was not the time to cry. She needed to figure out how to survive.
Bang. Bang.
Someone was knocking on the convenience store door. The knocks grew faster and more frantic.
Song Yuqing dropped to her stomach and peeked through the narrow crack under the wooden door. Outside lay the producer. His face was deathly pale, his eyes bulging, and his jaw hung slack as a pair of jagged fangs slowly elongated from his gums.
But before the zombie producer could smash his fists against the wood again, a blinding flash of white light erupted from the storefront, sending his reanimated corpse flying backward into the street.
Song Yuqing’s heart pounded against her ribs. Summoning her courage, she peeked out again.
Beyond the store’s threshold, a sea of rotting, blue-gray ankles shuffled aimlessly. Yet, despite their sheer numbers, not a single zombie dared to step within a few feet of the convenience store. It was like an invisible, insurmountable border.
In the past, Song Yuqing had never believed in gods or ghosts. But tonight, as she sat on the floor of this glowing shop, she was entirely willing to believe that some divine force existed to protect humanity.
Standing up, she decided to properly explore her miraculous sanctuary.
The store was impeccably stocked. There were neat rows of bottled water and sodas, shelves packed with instant noodles and snacks, sections dedicated to bags of rice and daily necessities, and even a display of camping gear and outdoor cooking utensils. Tucked behind the cash register near the entrance was a comfortable-looking camp bed.
This isn’t just a convenience store, she realized, her eyes wide. This is my new doomsday fortress.
Right then and there, Song Yuqing made a silent vow: she was going to take over this store.
Needing to know if she was truly alone, she gathered her courage and ventured deeper down the aisles. At the back of the store, her path was blocked by a pale green door with peeling paint. She jiggled the handle, but it was locked tight.
Maybe the original owners are hiding upstairs? Or other survivors like me?
Song Yuqing cleared her throat and yelled as loudly as she could, “Hello? Is anyone there?!”
“Keep your voice down, you’re being too noisy,” a young man’s voice suddenly echoed from the other side of the door.
Relieved, Song Yuqing quickly replied, “Hi, I’m sorry! Are you the owner of this convenience store—”
“This isn’t a convenience store!” the boy snapped back, cutting her off. “This is God’s Supermarket! Do you understand?!”
Song Yuqing: “…”
