The woman wore a torn and tattered pajama top, covered in bloodstains.
Crash!
A giant Garfield cat, big as a tiger, crashed through the glass, slowly closing in.
Meow!
The woman screamed, stumbling back to the corner of the balcony:
"LUCKY! Don't come any closer! Help!"
The giant cat stared straight at the woman, stepping closer and closer. Just as it seemed the woman would be bitten to death by the giant cat, a huge blood-red tongue suddenly shot out from the red fog below! The tongue pierced 1 through the balcony floor, instantly wrapping around the woman. 1. www.fanmtl.com www.fanmtl.com
The woman was instantly caught by the giant tongue, her eyes wide with terror. She didn't even have time to let out a single scream before she was pulled into the red fog with lightning speed.
The giant cat's fur bristled all over. It leaped to the edge of the balcony, letting out warning growls at the red fog. From within the red fog came a loud croaking sound of a frog:
"Croak, croak, croak."
The giant cat didn't dare jump down and slowly turned back into the room.
Holy hell!
Jake's pupils sharply contracted. Had even frogs become this terrifying now? A tongue twice as thick as a woman's waist – how big must that frog be!
Just then, the window of the room next door opened. A beautiful woman walked to the window, her face pale as she watched the tragedy across the way. Jake knew her.
Olivia, the most outstanding beauty in the complex, a second-generation official – her dad was the Director of Investment Promotion Bureau. Although they were neighbors, Olivia was usually very proud and never gave Jake a proper look. Olivia was highly noticed in the complex; every time she went to the convenience store, many male customers would sneak glances at her. Jake naturally couldn't help but look a couple of times too. However, he didn't have too many thoughts. He knew that people like him and Olivia were from two different worlds.
But, now was different!
The world had changed!
Jake's gaze was burning.
Olivia noticed Jake's stare. She also recognized this employee from the downstairs convenience store, though she didn't know his name. Olivia said with a cold face:
"What are you looking at!"
After speaking, she sharply pulled the curtain shut.
Whoosh.
This bitch is still so proud! Jake sneered. There will be a time when you beg me!
...
Another day passed, and finally, some women couldn't hold back and began contacting Jake privately.
Apt 303, Bldg A "Rabbit": [Little brother, can you give me an instant noodle?][Pleading][Begging]
Jake's mouth curved slightly.
"Finally they're coming!"
This Rabbit, Jake had never met in person. Some customers would ask Jake to leave the goods outside their door.
Room and board included: [Send a full-body photo, no beauty filter.]
Apt 303, Bldg A "Rabbit": [I'm a bit on the plump side~][Shy]
I like slightly plump the most... Jake clicked open the images, only to feel everything go black before his eyes. Her arms were thicker than his thighs. Her butt was like a washbasin. You call yourself slightly plump? You're clearly a flesh-armored tank!
Just then, the system automatically prompted:
[Sarah] [Age: 29] [Quality Score: 3 points] (Poor) [Character Score: 3 points] (Private life chaotic, 6 ex-boyfriends) [Overall Score: 3 points]
[Ding! Does not meet the system's minimum requirements!]
Jake directly blacklisted her.
Apt 303, Bldg A "Rabbit": [??? Little brother?]
Immediately after, she discovered she had been blacklisted and was furious, swearing loudly in the group chat:
"Sisters, [Room and board included] is just a photo-fishing scumbag! Don't believe him!"
Jake was not polite either and decisively screenshotted the chat and sent it to the group:
"You think you're worthy of using your body to exchange for food, treating me like I'm running charity!"
The group chat exploded. Everyone couldn't believe they were eating such huge gossip in the apocalypse. Some people started mocking Rabbit. Rabbit became furious with embarrassment.
Apt 303, Bldg A "Rabbit": [Room and board included doesn't have much food at all, sisters don't believe him!]
Jake didn't indulge her either and directly took out 100 Snickers bars from his Portable Space, took a few photos, and sent them to the group chat.
Room and board included: [Full food provided, only beauties, serious inquiries only.]
At this time, packaged foods like Snickers bars were hard currency. High energy, long shelf life, they could save lives at critical moments. Rabbit's eyes turned red with anger. She could only go silent and lurk, incredibly frustrated, not daring to speak again.
The group chat was in an uproar.
Apt 509, Bldg B "My Wife Sprung a Leak": [Holy crap! So many Snickers!]
Apt 904, Bldg A "Ms. Liu": [Room and board included big brother, can you give me some food?]
Some people started having ideas:
Apt 901, Bldg C "Aunt Agnes": [Young man, my grandson hasn't eaten for three days, give me a few chocolates.]
Aunt Agnes? Jake remembered this sharp-tongued old woman. Aunt Agnes loved taking small advantages, often stealing others' waste cardboard boxes from the stairwell. Jake had caught her once, but Aunt Agnes flat-out denied it. Selling waste paper was only a few dollars, Jake was too lazy to argue with her and let it go.
Then, another incident happened later. Aunt Agnes had a grandson named Timmy, a typical brat. The brat scratched a cross mark on the seat of Jake's newly bought electric scooter. Jake checked the surveillance and found Aunt Agnes, but she still acted shamelessly and refused to pay a single cent in compensation.
At that time, no matter how angry Jake was, he had no good solution. An old woman like Aunt Agnes, if you dared to even touch her or curse at her, she would pretend to faint and lie on the ground to extort money.
Now... Jake sneered.
Room and board included: [Your grandson is none of my business.]
Aunt Agnes was furious, no one had ever dared to speak to her like that!
Apt 901, Bldg C "Aunt Agnes": [Young man, understand respecting the elderly and loving the young?! You keep so much food yourself, you can't eat it all anyway, why not give it to me!]
Room and board included: [Respect your mom!]
Aunt Agnes was so angry smoke seemed to come out of her seven orifices: "You dare to curse people!"
Room and board included: [Old hag, get lost!]
After saying that, Jake directly muted Aunt Agnes. Aunt Agnes was so angry her three corpse gods leaped (a Chinese idiom for extreme rage), but she couldn't send out a single voice message and could only rage ineffectively.
The group chat was in an uproar. Some women were tempted; their families' food was about to run out, they had to find new food. They were just worried, did this [Room and board included] really have enough food? Most modern city dwellers didn't store too much food at home. Even if there were elderly people who liked to buy a lot of rice, flour, and oil, it had all spoiled by now. The problem of hunger would become more and more serious.
...
Olivia looked at her phone, pressing her stomach in pain. She was really too hungry. She was a little tempted too. But she was also worried that she would be tricked into giving her body. How much food could this [Room and board included] possibly store at home? Could it last a month? What about after a month?
What Olivia worried about even more was, what if right after she gave her body to [Room and board included], the country started rescue operations? Wouldn't she have suffered a huge loss?
There were quite a few people like Olivia who still held onto fantasies about national rescue. Most people were silently enduring, constantly refreshing their phones, waiting for official news.
Afterward, three more women contacted Jake privately. Although they weren't as ugly as Sarah, their overall scores didn't reach 8 points. They were not recognized by the system. Jake refused them all. These three women naturally went to the group chat and cursed Jake out again. Jake was also not polite and directly muted all of them. For women with insufficient overall scores, Jake couldn't care less whether they lived or died. Now was the apocalypse; it was good enough to save his own life. Only an idiot would play the saint. Moreover, before the apocalypse, Jake, a convenience store worker, was a typical low-level male, and he wasn't dissed by women any less. Now that I'm awesome, you can all go die!
Jake opened a bottle of green tea and drank comfortably. He ate ham sausage and braised eggs, took pictures of his meal, and sent them to the group chat, naturally causing another wave of curses.
...
Fifth day since the red fog descended.
90% of the people in the complex were starving. Jake still hadn't gone out. Even above the red fog, the outside was very dangerous. Yesterday, he had heard human screams from a nearby room; it seemed they were attacked by some kind of animal. Sound travels very irregularly in high-rise buildings. Jake didn't know if it was the room next door or a resident on a lower floor.
He ate a packet of instant noodles, did some simple exercises, then opened a game and started a match.
[Buddies still alive?] [Nonsense, how can dead people play games.] [Hurry and start! My stuff is all eaten, probably won't last past tomorrow, gonna play as many games as I can.] [Hehe. How many games do you want to play?] [Get lost!]
After playing for just a few minutes, the microphone of the Luban player in the bottom lane transmitted screams:
"Damn it! My dog's gone crazy! Don't bite me! Get away from me!"
After a burst of struggle and dog barks, the Luban player's voice disappeared. The microphone transmitted the horrifying sound of an animal crushing bones.
Crunch! Crunch! Munch munch!
The teammates were all silent.
Jake's face turned ashen as he closed the game. The world was getting crazier and crazier; even pet dogs were starting to eat people!
Jake looked again at the pot of succulent plants with the black lychees. Would this ghost thing be poisonous?
Should he throw it away?
After a while, another woman sent a private message.
Cpt 3201, Bldg C "Tenderness": [Hello.]
Jake's eyes lit up.
Jake's mouth curved into a mischievous smile. Isn't this the neighbor Olivia? This bitch finally couldn't hold out!