HBWnovel Chapter 1: Falling Behind, Death?
Chapter 1: Falling Behind, Death?
Jiang Che knew he was about to die.
This is not a premonition, but a judgment.
On the seventeenth day of the long migration, of the 372 people who set off from Dawn City, less than 200 remained.
Food ran out three days ago, water was exhausted yesterday, and the next shelter—White Rock Outpost—is at least two days' journey away.
Three years into the apocalypse, he also transmigrated to this world for three years. As soon as he arrived, something strange happened.
At the same time, humans have redefined "migration" with blood and flesh.
The word no longer points to hope, but means: abandoning the stronghold, fleeing into the unknown, dying in droves along the way, until reaching another place that may also be undefendable.
Jiang Che walked at the very end of the group.
It wasn't that he wanted to walk here; rather, his body made the choice for him.
His old injury to his right knee flared up again, and every step felt like walking on broken glass; his left shoulder had been pierced by a bone blade, and although the wound had healed, the damage to his tendons made it impossible for him to carry heavy objects.
"Brother, hurry up." A boy named Chen Xiaohe turned around and glanced at him.
Jiang Che told him to go first, and the boy hesitated for two seconds before turning around and walking away quickly.
Jiang Che continued to wriggle for another hundred meters, when the surrounding sky suddenly darkened and a chill ran down his neck.
Without turning around, he immediately took two steps to the side and hid behind a section of collapsed wall.
Then he heard a very faint sound coming from the abandoned building on his left, from at least three directions.
Low-level Shadow Demon.
They are the most common monsters after the apocalypse, lacking full consciousness and driven only by predatory instincts.
It roams in the form of a shadow and is almost impossible to kill with physical attacks. Its only weakness is the core light sphere hidden inside its form.
Jiang Che has no special abilities and no decent weapons, so it would be difficult for him to kill them with just a steel bar.
Three dark figures emerged from the shadows, coalescing into a shape with reversed joints on its limbs, its head having only a horizontal slit filled with trembling bone spurs.
They targeted Jiang Che—a lone, injured, and on the verge of falling behind—the perfect prey.
The first one pounced.
Jiang Che was blocked by a steel bar, and with the force of the impact, he fell backward into the roadside drainage ditch.
A bone spur grazed his left arm, and blood gushed out.
The second one has already gathered above our heads, and the third one is flanking us from the side.
There is no escape route.
He looked toward the rear guard.
Through the gaps in the ruins, the figures of those armed men grew ever more distant.
They noticed the commotion, but chose not to turn around.
In the end times, the choice between one person's life and the lives of two hundred is not a matter of choice.
Jiang Che doesn't hate them, but he won't just die here.
He climbed out of the drainage ditch and dragged his crippled leg as fast as he could.
The first shadow ghost reformed and pounced again.
He suddenly turned to the left, and the steel bar struck the dark ball of light—he was lucky; he hit it by chance.
The shadowy creature shrieked and exploded, the ball of light shattering upon impact with the wall. One of them was dead.
But the second and third attacked from both sides simultaneously.
The steel bars could only block one side; the bone spurs on the other side would pierce his ribs.
The moment the bone spur touched the body.
[Host detected as near death, meeting binding conditions. Affection Evolution System loading... Loading successful.]
[Host identity confirmed: Jiang Che, male, 24 years old, dangerous vitality characteristics. Basic rules unlocked.]
Information flows into the brain.
He instantly understood the core mechanism: gain favor points by increasing others' genuine and voluntary favorability, and the goddess's favorability will double.
Consuming favor points can temporarily or permanently enhance abilities.
Deception or coercion will result in a permanent reset of favorability to zero.
The system interface unfolds in the upper right corner of the view. Most of the data is grayed out and locked, with only one item lit up—Affection Value: 0.
The chamber is loaded, but there are no bullets.
Just then, the system interface suddenly flashed.
[High intensity of positive emotional energy detected! Source: 23 meters ahead, Su Qingyuan, beautiful, meets the conditions for doubling. Extreme fear + hope + determination, overall assessment: urgently needs rescue. Rescuing this target will grant initial favorability points, recommended.]
Su Qingyuan.
A Class B ability user, awakened ability "Spirit Silk" - externalizing life force into fine threads invisible to the naked eye, used for reconnaissance, binding, and cutting, making him a qualified scout.
She was among the top members of the team, but because she felt sorry for ordinary people and was willing to suffer with them, she fell behind.
But at this moment, she was surrounded by five shadow ghosts.
Twenty-three meters away, behind the collapsed building.
The five strange creatures were not scattered individuals, but rather an organized group that bypassed the rear guard line and infiltrated from the flank.
Su Qingyuan was fighting, her spiritual silk weaving a dense defensive net, but her right leg was wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage—the wound was infected, and she was forcing herself to endure it.
The unspoken rule in the apocalypse is that the strong are not allowed to cry out in pain, and this is killing her at this moment.
Two minutes.
I can only hold on for two more minutes at most.
The rear guard was sixty meters away, and no one knew of the danger there.
In this corner, there was only Su Qingyuan and an ordinary person who was on the verge of death and had zero combat power.
Jiang Che looked down at the steel bar in his hand; his right knee was trembling and his left hand was bleeding.
The system notification is still flashing.
He should run—take advantage of the fact that the five shadow ghosts are distracted by Su Qingyuan and escape in the opposite direction.
In the end times, everyone should mind their own business and not worry about what's in front of them; that's the first rule of survival.
He took a deep breath, cursed, and dragged his crippled leg toward Su Qingyuan.
Three years ago, on the day the apocalypse came, my nine-year-old sister also died in the same isolated and helpless way.
At that time, there was nothing he could do.
He is still an ordinary person, but he doesn't want to be someone who did nothing anymore.
The moment he charged into the battle, all five shadow monsters turned towards him simultaneously.
This was exactly what he wanted—to divert the hatred and give Su Qingyuan a chance to breathe.
"Come this way!"
Su Qingyuan looked up abruptly and saw a man covered in blood, limping, and carrying a steel bar rushing towards her. His eyes were not filled with gratitude but with shock—shock that someone would do such a suicidal thing.
But she did not hesitate.
The spirit silk tore apart the two nearest shadow ghosts, then rolled toward Jiang Che and crashed into his arms.
Close at hand.
She was much lighter and colder than he had expected, her body temperature plummeting due to blood loss and overuse of her powers.
Jiang Che's strong heartbeat vibrated on her face, making her blush slightly.
Her long, loose hair brushed against his chin, carrying a faint fragrance.
Jiang Che froze.
It wasn't the stiffness of system binding, but rather a vague, unknowing feeling.
He lived for twenty-four years. Before the apocalypse, he was an ordinary programmer who had never been in a relationship. After the apocalypse, he had no chance to experience any ambiguous relationships.
At that moment, a young woman crashed into his arms, and his mind went blank for half a second.
【苏清鸢对宿主产生依赖，好感度+15×2，亲密度＋1×2。当前好感值：30，当前亲密度：2。】
【亲密度度分陌生0、友善1-20、信任21-50、倾心51-80、死忠81-100】
[Affection points can be exchanged for temporary attribute enhancements (30 points/time), lasting 60 seconds. Confirm consumption.]
Jiang Che used the last shred of his sanity to press the confirmation button in his consciousness.
A surge of scalding heat flowed from my head into my limbs and bones.
The pain in my right knee was suppressed, and the fatigue receded like a tide, replaced by a strength I had never experienced before.
Strength, speed, and reaction time are temporarily boosted to the level of a C-grade superhuman.
Countdown 60 second.
He suddenly jumped up while holding Su Qingyuan.
But when he got up, he found his arms were particularly awkward—he wanted to put her down safely, but he didn't know where to put his hands.
Putting your arm around the waist? That's inappropriate.
Supporting her leg? Her right leg is injured.
Finally, he used an extremely clumsy posture: one hand went under her armpit, and the other hand hung in the air at her waist. He barely dared to touch her, and relied entirely on his waist and abdomen to lift her up, leaping backward three meters into the air, and placing her against the wall.
The moment he put his hand down, he quickly pulled it back, his ears turning bright red.