It seems that a young couple who once lived here was sitting at the dining table eating the noodle soup delivered by takeaway.

When they were halfway through the meal, they suddenly encountered something that made them panicked and rushed out desperately.

One of the buckets of soup was spilled on the table.

Because they were so flustered, they kicked the trash can aside and ignored the leather shoes and high heels that they usually wear when going out. Instead, they rushed out wearing slippers.

Ethan looked at the living room in front of him, and the scene of the young couple rushing out in chaos and fear appeared vaguely in his mind.

But what happened to them that would make them so scared and rushed out, even the noodle soup was spilled on the table and kicked out the trash can?

"Could it be... there really was a flood last night? The couple found out, so they rushed out desperately. Because they rushed too fast, the noodle soup was spilled, the shoes were too late to change, and the door was not even closed."

Ethan clasped his hands tightly, and sweat slowly leaked from his palms: "And because I was drunk and slept too dead, I didn't know anything. Could it be that I am the only one left in this whole building? Everyone else escaped?"

This thought made him cold, and the chill in his heart grew deeper and deeper.

"No, what kind of sudden flood can submerge the entire city in half a day? That's totally unreasonable."

Although Ethan drank heavily last night, he still had some impressions. He was at least awake until about 1 a.m., and it didn't even rain at that time. Even if the rain started at 1 a.m., it's only been seven hours now. What kind of flood can submerge a modern city in less than seven hours?

Looking at the living room, Ethan did not rush in immediately. Instead, he felt an indescribable weirdness. It seemed that there was some terrifying monster hidden in the living room, waiting to tear him apart if he stepped inside.

When his eyes fell on the phone on the coffee table in the living room, he shuddered and cursed himself. In his panic, he had forgotten that he could have simply called someone instead of rushing out into the corridor.

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Ethan hurried back to his apartment, found his phone on the bedside table, and tried to contact his girlfriend Janifer.

Janifer was two years younger than him, a native of the city, and they worked at the same company.

Although the two had known each other for more than half a year, they had only been in a relationship for two months. Janifer had not told her parents yet and went home every night to sleep, so she wasn't staying with Ethan.

When Ethan dialed Janifer's phone, he found there was no signal at all.

"What's going on? The signal here is usually very good."

Ethan made several attempts to call other people, including his parents and his best friend Tom, but none of the calls went through.

"How come there's no signal at all?" Ethan tried to call the police, but again, there was no response. Cold sweat slowly appeared on his forehead as the situation grew more and more bizarre.

Not only was there no mobile phone signal, but even the Wi-Fi had stopped working. His WeChat and QQ apps showed as disconnected.

Unwilling to give up, he decided to turn on the TV, only to realize the power had gone out.

Then Ethan remembered the landline phone he had seen in the living room of the young couple's apartment.

Since the mobile phone was useless, maybe the landline would work?

He hadn't touched the landline in his own apartment in ages, so his only option was to check the couple's house.

Ethan once again approached the door of the young couple's apartment.

The front door was still ajar, and Ethan stared at the landline on the coffee table in the living room. He had a gut feeling that it might be just as useless as his mobile phone, but he still walked in.

Despite his doubts, he couldn't ignore any chance of contacting the outside world.

As he stepped inside, a peculiar odor filled his nose, and his eyes fell on the overturned trash can.

A rancid stench was coming from the spilled trash.

Approaching the trash can, Ethan saw moldy leftovers emitting the smell. Looking over at the table again, he noticed the spilled noodles had grown moldy as well.

Ethan touched the dining table and found a thick layer of dust.

"If they really noticed something was wrong and escaped last night, how could there be this much dust and rotting food in just half a day? Have they been gone for several days?"

No matter how much he thought about it, something felt deeply wrong about this apartment. But instead of leaving, Ethan couldn't take his eyes off the landline on the coffee table. Overcoming his unease, he picked up the dusty phone, but found it was silent.

Ethan's heart sank, but he still dialed the police, hoping for some response.

Of course, there was nothing. The phone didn't work.

The last glimmer of hope was gone, but the strange feeling inside the apartment grew stronger and stronger. At last, Ethan couldn't take it anymore. He dropped the phone and rushed out.

Once back in the corridor, he took deep breaths. While the fear diminished slightly, the sense of panic and helplessness only intensified.

"What on earth should I do now? Has everyone really evacuated, leaving me behind? Even if the city has been abandoned, why is there no signal? What's happening? Is Janifer safe?"

Ethan's mind raced, struggling to process the situation. After a while, he forced himself to calm down and raised his head to look at the elevator at the end of the corridor.

Floodwater had completely submerged the lower levels of the building, starting from the 29th floor down.

Even if the elevator was functional, it wouldn't be safe to take it down.

Still, Ethan approached and pressed the elevator button, but there was no response.

The power outage had stopped the elevator from working.

Ethan opened the two wooden doors on one side of the corridor, revealing a stairwell.

Inside, he saw the stairs leading down to the 29th floor had been submerged, and the water was only four or five centimeters below the 30th floor.

The water looked murky, with plastic basins, towels, garbage bags, and other debris floating on its surface. Ethan even spotted a dead rat drifting in the water.

Squatting down, Ethan hesitated before gently touching the water with his hand. Then he pulled back, watching the droplets fall from his fingers and form ripples on the surface. Taking a deep breath, he braced himself for what came next.