Strangeness and Familiarity

Ning Yu stood at the highest point of the Ark Base, overlooking City A shrouded in the night.

The cold autumn wind made Ning Yu's skirt flutter slightly.

Behind her, the moon was as bright as a knife placed on a crystal-clear ice block, casting the light it borrowed from the sun onto her back.

Ning Yu didn't hold Blood Kite, but it gently floated beside her, hovering up and down as if breathing.

She tapped her smartwatch, which had a loaded digital map of City A.

This watch was exchanged from the system space and was part of the same set as the button device previously used to track Lin Hao's whereabouts.

Now, there were three glowing dots on the map, representing Lin Hao, Shen Yiyue, and Shen Qianqian.

Ning Yu looked at the dot belonging to Shen Yiyue in the residential area, using it to gauge whether Shen Yiyue would chase after her tomorrow.

But only Ning Yu knew Shen Yiyue's whereabouts; Shen Yiyue had no way of tracking Ning Yu.

At this moment, Ning Yu searched the map, planning to find a suitable temporary shelter.

According to Ning Xuan's intel, trouble would soon come her way. Although she didn't know how they were tracking her, she could always interrogate them when the time came.

For now, before the enemies found her, she could continue hunting zombies to gain experience for Blood Kite.

She could also look for survivors to see if any system tasks could be triggered.

The frequency of task triggers in the Ark was lower than Ning Yu had imagined, but the rewards were indeed substantial.

It was still better than staying in one place waiting for trouble to come to her.

As a workaholic, unless it was about romance, Ning Yu wouldn't waste time that could make her stronger.

When Shen Yiyue was by Ning Yu's side, she even got caught up in the workaholic vibe, a phenomenon Ning Yu called the "workaholic contagion law."

After browsing the map for a while, Ning Yu chose a place likely to be infested with zombies—the City A Wetland Park.

It was a popular spot for relaxation, free of charge, with ample greenery, basic fitness facilities, and long jogging paths.

The more popular it was before, the more zombies it should have now, making it an excellent place to earn points and weapon experience.

Ning Yu glanced again at the residential area, where almost no lights were on. She still spotted the small apartment where the three of them lived, and the window of Shen Yiyue's room.

It was time to go. Solve things quickly and return.

Ning Yu no longer hesitated, leaping down and summoning a grappling hook device.

She disappeared into the endless night, blending into the silent city.

...

When Ning Yu opened her eyes, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

The air smelled faintly of dust, making her uncomfortable as she sat up. Blood Kite lay beside her on the left.

This was an unfamiliar room, a temporary shelter Ning Yu had found last night.

The room was small, likely used for rentals, with very basic amenities. The contents of the refrigerator had long since rotted.

Now that she had left the Ark Base, Ning Yu realized how precious life with water, electricity, and gas was:

Being able to eat hot meals under lights whenever she wanted, and take a hot shower after being tired.

But these were now impossible for Ning Yu. City A had been without water or electricity for a long time.

Fortunately, it was still early autumn. If it got colder in the winter, things would only be worse.

The room was empty, with just Ning Yu inside.

This feeling was both unfamiliar and familiar.

Since coming to this world, she had always been with Shen Yiyue, even if not in the same room, they lived in the same place.

Usually, when she woke up in the morning, Shen Yiyue would smile and greet her.

Either Ning Yu or Shen Yiyue would prepare breakfast, and they would eat together at the table.

But Ning Yu was equally familiar with this lonely feeling because her previous life was spent waking up in dimly lit rooms, facing each new day alone.

Ning Yu got up and stretched, walking to the window and pulling back the curtains.

The early autumn sky was overcast, but it wasn't raining yet, perhaps it would start later.

Ning Yu used to care little about the weather, so she always kept the curtains closed, uninterested in the outside world.

But she suddenly realized that, unknown from when, she had started to like sunny days, to enjoy bright rooms, and conversations with cheerful people.

This feeling of being both unfamiliar and familiar gave Ning Yu a sense of dissonance.

She took out a bottle of bottled purified water from the system space, drinking almost half of it before putting it back.

Opening her smartwatch, Ning Yu found that even though she had left the Ark Base over 10 kilometers away, she could still see the positions of the trackers.

She had no idea what the principle behind this tracker was. Did her system even launch a satellite into space?

It was incredible that it could still display the location from such a distance.

Ning Yu replaced the old solar lithium batteries with a new pair from the system space, glancing at the overcast sky and thinking that today's charging might be difficult.

The trackers for Shen Yiyue and Shen Qianqian were still in their old positions, meaning she had seen Ning Yu's message and hadn't rushed out to chase after her.

Ning Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling reassured.

But for some reason, there was an undetectable sense of loss in her heart.

She shook her head, dismissing the messy thoughts in her mind, then took out a loaf of bread and a box of strawberry milk from the system space.

Ning Yu counted, there were more than ten boxes left, enough for her to drink for quite a few days.

Although drinking water was fine, today Ning Yu decided to have a box of milk no matter what.

Sitting on the chair she had wiped clean last night, Ning Yu quickly finished her breakfast. The only convenience now was that she didn't have to deal with trash.

She discarded the packaging in the room and pushed the door open, ready to leave.

A group of zombies had gathered outside the door, probably attracted by the noise Ning Yu made yesterday, without anyone knowing exactly when they had appeared.

Seeing these troublemakers coming to her door, Ning Yu summoned Blood Kite in her hand.

"Ugh..."

"Ah..."

The zombies turned their heads, glaring at Ning Yu with malicious eyes, growling hungrily, yet somewhat listless.

It seemed they hadn't eaten in a long time.

Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't be eating today, and never again.

Ning Yu took their heads off one by one in just a few seconds.

The corridor was splattered with black zombie blood, but Ning Yu carefully avoided getting splashed, as this dress was one of the several picked out by Shen Yiyue.

Ning Yu quite liked it.

When she reached the downstairs, the motorcycle she "borrowed" last night was still parked there. It wasn't as expensive as the Ducati they rode to the Ark before.

But Ning Yu wasn't one to be picky.

Just as she put on her helmet and sat on the motorcycle, a drop of rain gently landed on the back of Ning Yu's neck.

The early autumn rain began to fall.

Recommend Series

The Bullet Chat Claims I’m Devoted, While I Level Up With My Alt Accounts

The Bullet Chat Claims I’m Devoted, While I Level Up With My Alt Accounts

e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"

Reborn and Snuggled into the Arms of My Yandere Female Tycoon Wife

Reborn and Snuggled into the Arms of My Yandere Female Tycoon Wife

orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"

Every Sect Member Gives Me One Year of Cultivation Every Day

Every Sect Member Gives Me One Year of Cultivation Every Day

transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”

I Feed Myself to the Demons in the Demon Suppression Bureau

I Feed Myself to the Demons in the Demon Suppression Bureau

pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"