She wasn’t a total newbie when it came to the internet. Having dealt with it frequently, she was no stranger to the concept of cyberspace. The words “apocalypse” and “space” were often linked together in online discussions. So, after some experimentation, she discovered that the Rubik’s Cube was indeed a storage space!

This realization filled her with both joy and sorrow.

She was thrilled to have gained a massive storage space, yet deeply troubled by the confirmation that the world was truly becoming abnormal.

Once she recovered from her shock, the Rubik’s Cube stopped spinning, as if the initial movement had been nothing more than a ceremonial activation.

Now, the cube space rested quietly within her sea of consciousness.

Xu Duoduo finally regained her composure.

Her dizziness subsided.

She walked to the window and looked down at the people strolling below. Unaware of what the future held, they went about their lives as usual.

Some hurried home after work, while others took post-dinner strolls with their families.

Delivery riders zipped through the streets.

The streetlights bathed everything in a warm glow, creating an atmosphere of contentment. It was just another ordinary night, the kind she had experienced countless times before. She couldn’t help but wonder if she would ever see such a scene again.

Xu Duoduo remained tense. Then, she drew the curtains and proceeded to transfer all the supplies by the door into her space. Retrieving and storing items was effortless.

She then turned and opened the door to the room on the right side of the entrance. It was a storage room equipped with three massive shelves and a large freezer.

Due to a previous epidemic, her residential community had been locked down, leading to food and water shortages.

Being a survival enthusiast, Xu Duoduo had stockpiled a significant amount of food. After the epidemic ended, her urge to hoard supplies only intensified.

As a result, she had created her own personal “granary” for security. Inside were twenty boxes of canned food with a ten-year shelf life, containing both meat and vegetables.

There were also ten boxes of various flavors of compressed biscuits, ten boxes of high-calorie energy bars, five fifty-pound bags of rice, and an assortment of instant noodles, rice noodles, and self-heating meals. She had even stocked up on ten boxes of bottled water.

As for perishables like milk and vegetables, she replenished them periodically.

The kitchen’s large refrigerator still held a decent amount.

Inside the storage room, there were also some seasonings. She had three entire boxes of salt, while for other condiments like soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and aged vinegar, she had a few of each.

Then there were survival supplies—a backpack containing an extensive set of survival tools and a single-person food ration.

Outside the backpack, she had an electric chainsaw, a battle axe, and a dagger.

She also had three boxes of gasoline, primarily for powering her household generator in case of a blackout.

Of course, she hadn’t neglected medical supplies either—several large boxes filled with wound dressings, antiseptics, painkillers, bandages, and both oral and topical medications, including vitamins.

These were things Xu Duoduo had casually stocked up on over time. But now, looking at the fully stocked storage room, she couldn’t help but feel conflicted. She had never expected all of this to actually come in handy.

She swiftly moved everything into the cube space. The deep connection she felt with it reassured her, giving her confidence to store her entire stockpile inside.

There was a sense of kinship between her and the space—so long as she was alive, the items would remain intact. Moreover, only she could retrieve or store things inside.

It gave her a profound sense of security.

After completely emptying the storage room, she headed to the bathroom.

Inside, there was a large barrel she always kept filled with water. When she tested whether she could store water in the cube space without using a container, she found that she could.

She turned on the faucet, planning to periodically transfer the water into the space.

She intended to use one section of the cube to store water. Upon closer examination, she estimated that each face of the space had a capacity of about 200 cubic meters—and the Rubik’s Cube-like space had countless faces.

She couldn’t even calculate the total storage capacity!

Xu Duoduo suddenly felt much more at ease. However, she decided against going downstairs to stock up on more supplies for now. The night was always more dangerous than the day.

She chose to wait and observe.

With that in mind, she decided to have dinner. She turned toward the kitchen.

Though she worked at an internet company, she was lucky enough to have alternating weekends off. On weekends, she would prepare pre-made meals and store them in the freezer. That way, when she wanted to eat, she only needed to microwave them for three minutes.

Soon, a steaming bowl of eggplant and shredded pork rice was ready.

She also washed a small bowl of blueberries—extra-large ones that were good for eye health.

Finally, she carried everything to the coffee table in the living room.

She turned on the television.

While many young people preferred projectors nowadays, she still liked watching TV. It reminded her of the times she spent watching the news with her grandparents, filling her with a sense of comfort.

She tuned into the local news channel they used to watch together.

[Welcome to the latest daily news. This is reporter Xiao Wei bringing you today’s report.]

[According to citizen reports, an incident of rabies infection occurred at Fei Kuai Internet Company, located on the third floor of Software Park Phase II, Building B. The infected individual was a young woman who was bitten by her colleague, Liu XX. Unfortunately, despite receiving a rabies vaccine last night, Liu’s condition progressed at an alarming rate.]

Xu Duoduo had just taken a bite of her food when she heard this and froze. She snapped her head up to look at the screen.

The female reporter on-screen regretfully delivered the news before shifting the topic to the importance of keeping dogs leashed.

The “Daily Latest News” segment always provided updates on the city’s most recent incidents.

That’s why even something that happened just past six in the evening had already made it to the news.

As the reporter spoke, the top-left corner of the screen played a video taken at the office.

From the camera holder’s perspective, the clip started when Liu Jie suddenly went berserk, biting a colleague. At first, the person filming, Colleague B, joked, “Haha, it’s over! Liu Jie must’ve gone mad from overtime!”

But as soon as Colleague A screamed in pain and Liu Jie tore out a chunk of their flesh, Colleague B shrieked as well.

The rest of the video was a chaotic blur of people running in terror. The atmosphere shifted from casual curiosity to sheer panic.

[Many netizens claim this is a zombie attack, but those are just rumors. Liu’s teeth were unusually sharp, which is why the injury appeared so severe.]

[To prevent unnecessary panic, please do not believe or spread misinformation.]

After the reporter finished speaking, the host smiled and proceeded with the closing statements.

Xu Duoduo suddenly lost her appetite.

She immediately cast her phone screen to the TV and tried opening Weibo’s trending topics.

Sure enough, her company’s incident was already trending.

#ZombieOutbreakinKCity
#EndoftheWorld

She reconnected to her home Wi-Fi and refreshed multiple times before the signal improved.

At the same time, as if the messages had been delayed, her phone suddenly pinged with a flood of notifications.

One was from Colleague C.

– Holy crap, Xu! You must have crazy luck! You left right before Liu Jie lost it!

– Wait, no, she didn’t “lose it”—she had a rabies outbreak.

– Good thing you left when you did!

Colleague C had joined the company around the same time as her, just one day apart.

They got along fairly well.

Xu Duoduo had no energy to reply.

Her appetite was gone.

Cold sweat broke out across her skin.

She had barely escaped. Just a little more, just a little—if she hadn’t left in time, she would have been the one bitten.

Because she had been the closest to Liu Jie.