—In three minutes, the people around you will turn into zombies.

Xu Duoduo’s first reaction upon receiving this text message was to scoff. This was just another trending online joke. Many apocalypse-themed influencers had played with this kind of script before. She immediately replied: “Are you Jiajia? Or Yaoyao? Messing with me? It’s not even April Fool’s Day today.”

As soon as she sent the message, the overhead lights flickered, making her heart skip a beat.

Her colleague, Sister Liu, sitting nearby, also glanced up. “Huh, that’s odd. When was the last time K City had a power outage? What’s going on?”

Xu Duoduo was an intern at an internet company. At twenty-two, working overtime was the norm. It was currently 6 PM, and since it was early winter, it was already pitch dark outside. The weather looked ominous, as if it was about to rain. The branches outside the window swayed, their shadowy figures stretching and twisting—like the clawed hands of monsters in dark fairy tales, trying to drag people into the abyss.

Xu Duoduo was usually quite bold, but when Sister Liu turned to look at her, she was startled. Her face had turned pale, her pupils rigid. When Xu Duoduo’s gaze lowered, she noticed that Sister Liu’s fingertips were also starting to take on a bluish hue.

Sister Liu seemed to find Xu Duoduo’s stunned expression odd and leaned in slightly, asking with concern, “Duoduo? What are you spacing out for? Be careful, or the director will scold you again.”

A putrid stench hit Xu Duoduo like a punch in the gut, almost making her vomit. She shot up from her seat.

The other coworkers in the office looked over, puzzled.

Xu Duoduo swallowed nervously and quickly started packing up her things. “I’m not feeling well, I’m heading home. Sister Liu, can you tell the director I’m taking a leave?”

Before anyone could respond, she grabbed her bag and rushed out. Her pale face made it look like she really was sick.

Behind her, Sister Liu muttered in confusion, “What’s wrong with her all of a sudden? Kids these days, so fragile. Look at me! I got bitten by a dog yesterday, got my rabies shot, and I’m still here working! Hey, you better be careful, or the director might just fire you!”

Xu Duoduo had already reached the office door when she heard the last part. “Then so be it! I quit!”

Her heart was pounding violently.

Outside the company, she checked her phone. Two minutes had passed since she received the message.

Thankfully, her office was only on the third floor, so she quickly decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator. With the power fluctuating, getting trapped inside would be a death sentence.

She practically sprinted downstairs. Just as she reached the ground floor, a bloodcurdling scream erupted from above.

The bystanders around her gasped.

“Holy shit, that scared me!”
“What’s going on? Don’t tell me someone’s jumping because of work stress again?”
“Ugh, terrifying. Let’s get out of here!”

Xu Duoduo’s hands were shaking as she checked her phone—exactly three minutes had passed. She didn’t dare look back and immediately swiped her access card to leave the tech park.

Once she was outside, she quickly rented a shared bike and pedaled home as fast as she could. Public transport was out of the question.

No new messages arrived. Her phone signal flickered in and out.

She tried sending warnings to her friends, but not a single message went through. That’s when she knew—the world was really falling apart.

A storm was brewing.

She rode fast, but everything seemed normal on the streets.

Twenty minutes later, she finally reached her apartment complex. Only then did she breathe a little easier. But there was no time to rest—before heading upstairs, she stopped at the supermarket near the entrance.

She grabbed a cart and immediately began stocking up.

Milk, bread, instant noodles, chocolate, and any high-calorie food she could find.

Her mind was still reeling, nerves stretched tight, but her instincts took over.

As she filled her cart, the store’s elderly stock clerk, Auntie Wang, noticed her state and asked kindly, “Young lady, are you alright? You don’t look so good. Bad day at work? You’re not working late today?”

Xu Duoduo often stopped by after work, so the supermarket staff were familiar with her.

She forced a weak smile. “Yeah, I’m feeling down, so I figured I’d binge eat tonight.”

She paused, suddenly realizing something. “By the way, you do deliveries here, right? Can you send ten cases of bottled water to Building A, 8th floor? Just leave them in the elevator.”

Auntie Wang agreed but asked curiously, “Why buy so much water? A young girl like you, how long will it even last?”

As she tossed canned meat into her cart, Xu Duoduo replied vaguely, “I don’t want to keep shopping. I got fired today, so I’ll be busy job hunting. No time to come back.”

The older woman sighed, “Kids these days have it rough. Alright, I’ll ring it up for you. But listen, young lady, you shouldn’t eat so much junk food. Even if you’re upset, binge eating will hurt your stomach.”

Hearing those words of concern made Xu Duoduo’s heart ache.

She had been adopted as a child, but her adoptive parents had passed away. After their house was demolished, she moved here less than a year ago. Being cared for, even by a stranger, felt bittersweet.

She opened her mouth but stopped herself from warning Auntie Wang about the zombies.

After all, she had no concrete proof that the apocalypse was really happening.

So she stayed quiet, paid for her groceries, and let Auntie Wang help her pack everything up. The woman even walked her to the elevator.

As the doors closed, she overheard a conversation between the security guard and Auntie Wang.

“Hey, Wang Jie, delivering groceries again? Why’d that girl buy so much stuff?”
“Ah, got fired and is feeling down. Says she doesn’t want to keep buying water every few days. Kids these days, huh? When we were young, we couldn’t afford to waste money like that.”
“Hahaha, true that.”

Their voices faded as the elevator ascended.

Reaching the 8th floor, Xu Duoduo quickly hauled everything into her apartment before shutting the elevator doors. Only after locking her own door did she finally relax.

She collapsed onto the couch, staring up at the glaring ceiling light. Exhausted, she closed her eyes for a moment—only to be struck by a bizarre vision.

A giant Rubik’s Cube.

It had countless faces, spinning rapidly at an impossible speed.

Her stomach lurched.

She barely had time to react before she gagged and retched.

The spinning was making her sick.