Chapter 3 – The Apocalypse Arrives

Chu Jiangyue had no idea how frantic Jiang Zhenzhen was inside at that moment.

She didn’t bear any deep grudge against Cui Hao. Since Cui Hao knew when to back down, Chu Jiangyue didn’t mind giving him a chance. She simply explained to him the steps for exchanging and purchasing items at the Jianglin Hotel.

Cui Hao, being young, quickly mastered the operation after just one explanation.

“Besides food, this hotel also provides lodging. At the moment, it’s limited to ten single rooms, 200 copper coins a day.”

Hearing that the hotel also offered accommodations, Cui Hao’s eyes lit up. But when he heard it was only single rooms, his interest vanished.

There was no way he would let Jiang Zhenzhen out of his sight while resting.

As for Jiang Zhenzhen, upon hearing the conversation between Chu Jiangyue and Cui Hao, her eyes flickered. She lowered her gaze, lost in thought.

Cui Hao didn’t have much of value on him. He simply dragged Jiang Zhenzhen away, planning to search outside for some gold and jewels to exchange for food.

Just before being pulled away, Jiang Zhenzhen turned to Chu Jiangyue with pleading eyes.

But Chu Jiangyue acted as if she hadn’t seen anything, watching calmly as Jiang Zhenzhen was dragged off by Cui Hao.

In her previous life, part of the reason she had been tricked so badly by Jiang Zhenzhen was because of Cui Hao.

After following the base rescue team into B City’s safe zone, she encountered Jiang Zhenzhen, who had long been living there with Cui Hao.

Once Jiang Zhenzhen learned she had awakened a wood-type ability, she started putting on pitiful acts in front of her—claiming that Cui Hao was a pervert with a taste for abuse, especially in certain matters.

She even revealed lash marks and rope burns on her body several times.

As a fellow woman, Chu Jiangyue felt sympathy for her, and each time she had something good, she would share it with Jiang Zhenzhen.

But who would have thought that, in the end, she would die at Jiang Zhenzhen’s hands?

Lowering her gaze, Chu Jiangyue hid the emotions in her eyes.

“Help! Somebody help me! Wuuuuu—”

“Host! Host! Someone’s calling for help!”

The little fox, who had been quiet for a while, immediately piped up upon hearing the cry for help.

Chu Jiangyue didn’t want to meddle, but since the little fox wanted to save people, she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.

She walked out of the hotel’s main doors, went to the place where the electric bikes were parked, pulled one out, inserted the hotel lord’s token, and rode toward the girl calling for help.

After a night of chaos, the ground was littered with corpses, many just severed limbs that couldn’t even be pieced together.

Once outside the hotel’s protective barrier, Chu Jiangyue caught a whiff of the rotting stench and nearly gagged.

The one calling for help was a girl. As soon as she saw Chu Jiangyue open the door, she ran straight toward her.

At the start of the apocalypse, zombies weren’t very fast. The girl easily left them trailing behind.

But by screaming the whole way, she had attracted even more zombies in her direction.

Chu Jiangyue frowned slightly and stopped about ten meters away from the girl.

“Hey! Hurry up and help me drive them away!”

“Ho… host…”

Hearing the commanding tone in the girl’s voice, the little fox realized it might have just landed its host in trouble.

Chu Jiangyue, however, turned her bike around decisively, completely ignoring the girl’s wailing.

With that much energy to scream, clearly, she didn’t need help.

Still, people on the brink of death often found hidden reserves of strength.

The girl watched in shock as Chu Jiangyue turned away, unwilling to die. With no one else to rely on, she could only push herself to keep up, running desperately behind Chu Jiangyue.

“Host, she’s following us…”

Chu Jiangyue ignored the little fox and sped straight into the protective barrier of Jianglin Hotel.

She parked the bike, opened the hotel doors, and stepped inside. At that very moment, the girl who had cried for help also stumbled in.

Apparently holding a grudge for Chu Jiangyue’s earlier indifference, the girl immediately reached out as she stepped inside, trying to push Chu Jiangyue back out beyond the protective barrier.

But Chu Jiangyue lashed out with a sharp kick to the girl’s stomach, sending her flying several meters until she slammed hard into the hotel wall.

“Bang!” The impact rang out loudly.

“You bitch! How dare you kick me!”

“It’s already done, and now you complain? A little late for that.”

“Do you even know who I am?!”

“Host! I know, I know!”

The little fox perched on Chu Jiangyue’s shoulder, eager to answer.

Chu Jiangyue lowered her gaze at it, signaling for it to continue.

“Host, she’s the vicious supporting character of this world. Her name is Liu Yiyi. She lives nearby, in the Shengshi Huadu complex.”

Vicious supporting character?

“Don’t tell me… this whole world is actually a book?”

Chu Jiangyue found that idea absurd.

“Yes and no. The moment you were reborn, this world became real.”

In her previous life, the reason Chu Jiangyue died was because she was influenced by the control of the plot.

“If she’s the vicious side character, then who are the male and female leads?”

Chu Jiangyue had no intention of letting outsiders take the fortune she worked so hard to build.

“Not… not unlocked yet. I need relevant information, or to encounter them in person, before I can know.”

Meaning—they hadn’t yet met the leads.

Hearing this, Chu Jiangyue pressed her lips together, hoping the male and female leads wouldn’t be too outrageous.

She turned her gaze back on Liu Yiyi. “Liu Yiyi?”

Liu Yiyi stared back at her in fear, not understanding how she knew her name.

“Who are you?! Brother Wen’an, help me!”

Brother Wen’an… If even the vicious side character addressed him so intimately, could he be the male lead? Chu Jiangyue wondered.

“He’s here, he’s here! The ‘Brother Wen’an’ Liu Yiyi mentioned is the male lead!”

The moment Liu Yiyi said those words, the little fox’s “world script” unlocked part of the storyline involving Brother Wen’an.

Chu Jiangyue raised her brows—she had guessed right.

“Then what about Jiang Zhenzhen? For me to be killed by her… could she be cannon fodder?”

“In truth… yes, Host. If I hadn’t bound to you, you would have been cannon fodder…”

The little fox’s voice grew quieter and quieter until it was almost inaudible.

Considering that she only lived three years into the apocalypse in her last life, calling her cannon fodder wasn’t wrong.

But what Chu Jiangyue really cared about was Jiang Zhenzhen’s identity. After all… Jiang Zhenzhen had killed her!

That was a grudge she absolutely had to settle.

“She’s just a minor supporting character, Host. Not worth your attention.”

“What about the female lead?”

This was critical. If the female lead turned out to be another manipulative schemer, Chu Jiangyue wasn’t sure she could stop herself from taking her out.

“Not… not unlocked yet…”

The little fox felt guilty. After all, it had managed to identify a vicious side character, but didn’t even know who the female lead was. It made everything it said before sound unreliable.

“Useless!”

The little fox pouted miserably. It hadn’t meant for things to be this way (‘へ’)