Time passed swiftly.
Only two or three hours remained until midnight on December 31st.
Liven gazed out the window. The streets were crowded with people, and the trees were adorned with colorful lights. Men and women walked together, eagerly awaiting the stroke of midnight to welcome the New Year.
Liven, however, let out a cold snort. While everyone was celebrating the arrival of the New Year, they were oblivious to the fact that they were about to step into a living hell.
"Five minutes left!"
Liven checked the time. The clock was slowly inching toward midnight.
He began counting down in his heart.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6...
Ding, ding...
The sound of New Year's bells echoed outside, and Liven's brows furrowed tightly.
It's coming!
"The world is heading toward its end. The apocalypse has struck. Humans, do you wish to survive? Then, seek the Death Train. Board that train of hope, for it is your only chance to live."
Almost instantly, a voice echoed in the ears of everyone across the world.
The voice was mechanical, cold, and emotionless, as if it were merely reciting a script.
"What the hell?"
"Who's playing this prank?"
"Stop messing around!"
Many people, upon hearing the voice, were momentarily stunned before erupting into curses. At a time meant for celebration, such a joke was anything but funny.
Only Liven knew it was all real.
The apocalypse was coming!
It wouldn't even take a minute. The moment that voice appeared, the world would descend into chaos.
Liven silently geared up, gripping his nail gun. By the time he finished, screams had already begun outside.
Peering out the window, Liven saw the streets in chaos. A middle-aged man was being bitten on the neck by a zombie, screaming as blood poured from the wound.
The people around were still unaware of what was happening. Two men, driven by a sense of justice, shouted and rushed forward to pull the zombie away.
In fact, just moments ago, that so-called zombie had been a woman dressed in a sexy outfit.
"Hey, are you okay?" A young man in a suit approached the bitten middle-aged man, pressing on the wound. "You're losing a lot of blood. Let me stop the bleeding..."
Thud!
Before the young man could finish, the bitten man suddenly sat up and sank his teeth into the young man's neck. Blood sprayed everywhere as the young man gurgled, his eyes wide with shock before collapsing backward.
Liven had seen enough. He closed the curtains and headed for the door.
What had just happened was likely occurring in every corner of the world. Soon, most people would turn into walking corpses.
Power plants would explode due to lack of maintenance, and even nuclear reactors might fail, causing radiation leaks. The land would lose its vitality, turning into wasteland.
Only a few would survive—those who could board the Death Train.
Perhaps many hadn't yet realized that the sudden voice had given them the only clue to survival. Perhaps many still thought it was just a prank.
But Liven knew better. To survive, they had to act according to the voice's instructions, starting now.
Liven quickly left his home. After descending the stairs, he surveyed the chaotic streets and began walking briskly.
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He needed to find the Death Train.
Normally, one would think to look for a train at a railway station. However, Liven knew that wasn't the case.
Otherwise, since he knew the exact time of the apocalypse, he could have simply waited at the station beforehand to board the Death Train.
The truth was, the Death Train appeared randomly in different locations.
For example, in his previous life, like most people, Liven had been terrified when the apocalypse struck. Fortunately, he had been lucky enough to escape quickly, avoiding the zombies. He had hidden in a shopping mall's underground garage for two days until hunger forced him out to search for food. It was then, in a supermarket, that he discovered the Death Train's platform.
However, that supermarket wasn't the only boarding point for the Death Train.
At the time, many people had boarded the train, but not all had entered through the supermarket. Some had found it in malls, others in hidden spots within residential areas.
Thus, Liven couldn't prepare in advance. He could only head to the supermarket first to see if the train was there.
"Help..."
A scream snapped Liven out of his thoughts.
Turning his head, he saw a rather beautiful woman running out of an alley, covered in blood. She fell in front of him, her bloodstained hand clutching his ankle.
Liven glanced at the woman's back, where a deep claw mark was visible. Without hesitation, he raised his nail gun.
Thud, thud, thud...
He pulled the trigger, and nails shot out, piercing the woman's skull.
The woman's eyes widened in disbelief, unable to comprehend how the man before her could be so ruthless.
With a hoarse voice, she gasped, "I'll haunt you as a ghost."
Liven replied coldly, "I gave you the chance to become a ghost. Otherwise, you'd have turned into one of those monsters."
Zombies carried a contagious virus. Once infected, it wouldn't take long for a person to become one of the walking dead.
Of course, whether it was better to become a ghost or a zombie was up to the woman to decide. But Liven wasn't about to let someone who could turn into a zombie at any moment get close to him.
At the same time, several zombies staggered out of the alley. Clearly, they had been chasing the woman, and now their target was Liven.
Thud, thud, thud...
Liven immediately raised his nail gun and fired. In an instant, one zombie's head was riddled with nails, resembling a porcupine, before it collapsed to the ground.
In the next moment, Liven swung the gun like a club, smashing it into another zombie's head and knocking it to the ground. He then pulled out a dagger and plunged it into the zombie's throat.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. After taking down two zombies, the last one charged at him.
Liven leaned back, sitting on the ground, and raised his arm.
The zombie lunged, biting down on Liven's wrist. However, its teeth couldn't penetrate the thick fabric of his sleeve.
"Go Die!"
Liven shoved the nail gun into the zombie's drooling mouth and pulled the trigger. Nails shot out, piercing through the zombie's skull. Its body went limp and collapsed to the ground.