Chapter One: The College Entrance Exam Results Are Released

The summer heat was oppressive as the college entrance exam results were released. In 2014, the announcement was much the same as in previous years. Liu Chang checked his results online as soon as they were available—519 points. In a small northern city, that was just enough to cross the threshold for a second-tier university, but far from enough for the elite first-tier schools. Not good, not bad, not worth boasting about, nor something to be laughed at—utterly unremarkable, just like Liu Chang himself.

Seeing his score, Liu Chang felt neither joy nor disappointment. Silently, he clicked the "X" at the top right of the website, then sprawled out on his bed.

Ring, ring, ring...

His phone rang. True to form, Liu Chang hadn't set any custom ringtone—plain, dull, and flavorless, just like himself.

He answered. It was his mother.

"Hello, son, isn't today the day you can check your results? I saw that little Wang, the boy from the shop next door, already checked his..."

"519," Liu Chang cut in, giving the score and interrupting her rambling. He exchanged a few more cursory words before hanging up. After a moment's thought, he simply turned off his phone.

July and August were the hottest months. No matter how high he turned the air conditioner, the heat inside his heart wouldn't dissipate. Tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep, Liu Chang finally got up and switched on his computer, opening Qvod with practiced ease...

He kept a steady rhythm, finishing with a release that was neither too close nor too far—yet none of it brought any real excitement or pleasure. Life was monotonous, dry, and so devoid of flavor it felt like a vacuum.

After quickly cleaning up, he shut off the computer and stared blankly at the yellowed patterns on the ceiling. Maybe from exhaustion, or maybe for no reason at all, he drifted off to sleep.

...

When Liu Chang woke again, dusk was already falling. Someone had woken him. In summer, the days were long; for the sky to darken even a little meant it was already past seven.

His parents were home from work.

That meant the family meeting was about to begin.

At the dinner table.

"With your score, it's no problem to get into an average university, but if you only go to a regular second-tier school, what future is there for you?" His mother, Wu Hua, who had always kept a close eye on Liu Chang's studies, was clearly already familiar with this year's cutoff scores.

"Your father and I mean this: we respect your choice. Do you think it's better to muddle through life at a mediocre second-tier university, or to repeat a year and aim for a prestigious one?"

"I'd rather just go to any school," Liu Chang replied, setting down his chopsticks after just a bite.

"Think it over," his father, Liu Hui, said with a wave of his hand. The meeting ended in silence.

Three days later.

"You know our family has always been democratic. Your father and I have never gone against your wishes, and we respect your choice. But you must understand, the job market is tough these days. For ordinary graduates from average universities, it's hard to find work, and your father and I aren't exactly well connected..."

"So, do you want to repeat a year and try to stand out, or just pick any school?"

"I'd rather just pick a school and go..."

"Think it over."

...

Two days after that.

"The important thing is, as long as you're young, don't fear failure. Who succeeds on the first try? Look at Zhao Hui from the house behind us—he's five years older than you. He didn't do well his first year either; after repeating, he got into a great university. Now he's graduated and doesn't worry about finding a job at all... Sometimes, a good diploma is more useful than anything else... So, think carefully—do you want to repeat a year and aim higher, or just settle for any school?"

"I want to go to university."

"Think it over."

...

A day later.

"Son, maybe you think I'm nagging, but sometimes a single choice can determine your entire fate. Heaven and hell can be separated by the thinnest line..."

"Mom, I want to repeat the year!" Liu Chang interrupted her, gritting his teeth.

"Good, you said it yourself, we're not forcing you!" Wu Hua smiled at last, apparently oblivious to his true feelings.

"You know our family has always been democratic. Since you've chosen this path, you need to study hard this year. In fact, your father and I already contacted a prep school for you a few days ago—small classes, quiet, and you can board. We figured all the time you'd waste commuting could be spent memorizing English vocabulary... So, we want you to board there. And since you've decided to repeat the year, you can't slack off anymore. Some students have already started classes..."

...

The next day, Liu Chang packed his things—just basic necessities and a change of clothes—and moved into a small boarding school named "Xingzhi."

Like all underachievers, his initial enthusiasm for studying was burned away by the summer heat within three days, and he soon fell back into his old habits.

Three days were enough for the boarders to get acquainted. After evening self-study, Liu Chang washed up and lay in bed, chatting with the other students in his dorm.

"Hey, did you all choose to repeat the year willingly?" Liu Chang asked, glancing at the other three.

One of them, the bespectacled boy, seemed never to have washed his face, brushed his teeth, or washed his feet. His hair was perpetually greasy, and he always clung to a book behind high-prescription lenses. At a glance, he looked like a hardworking student, but his efforts were misdirected—he read every day, but only random fiction. Clearly, he wasn’t here by choice.

"Of course not. I didn't even make the minimum passing score. I wanted to go to a technical school, but my dad wouldn't let me," the boy said, his eyes never leaving his novel.

"Hey, Glasses, what do you read every day anyway?" The boy above him, a chubby network novel enthusiast, looked down with disdain at Glasses' choice of books.

"Post-apocalyptic stuff."

"Let me see." The chubby one reached down, grabbed the book, skimmed a few pages, and sneered, "Damn, more zombies? Haven't you had enough after more than a decade of this? Every apocalypse is zombies. Damn, it's always zombies."

He tossed the book back, launching into a tirade.

"Resident Evil came out more than ten years ago. This theme has been played to death! And I don’t even think zombies could pose a real threat to the world. If the virus can’t spread through the air, zombies alone are no threat to humans."

"Heavy breathers, slow walkers, dumb as bricks, moaning all day. As long as you aren’t a total idiot, who would get bitten by one of those things? Our ancestors faced much more dangerous and agile creatures in the wild and still survived."

"Not to brag, but even if everyone in this school turned into a zombie, I’d still get out safe. Believe it or not?" He jiggled his bulk for emphasis.

Seeing his bravado, the last roommate finally spoke.

"Actually, the zombie genre didn’t start with Resident Evil. There were European novels about zombies as far back as the Middle Ages. And in 1968, the American film 'Night of the Living Dead' set the tone for the whole genre—only headshots kill, bites are infectious, and so on. That movie started it all."

The last roommate was the only good student among them—Liu Tao. He’d only missed getting into Peking University by a few points and was repeating the year to try again. Unlike the rest, he was not only an excellent student but also dabbled in a wide range of knowledge, and was fond of showcasing it.

"So, even just in modern times, the zombie genre has been around for fifty years—completely worn out. And the chubby one's point is fair: if we’re talking low-level zombies, as long as you’re not scared, they’re nearly no threat to humans."

"Hey, I was asking if you guys chose to repeat the year willingly. Why did the conversation get so far off track?" Liu Chang interrupted, steering things back.

"Obviously, except for me, none of you are here by choice," the good student concluded.

"Yeah. Nowadays, parents are never truly democratic with their kids. It's all fake democracy, just a show. Honestly, all that fake democracy is worse than just laying down the law," Liu Chang said as he lay on his bed, thinking back to the past few days. Then, almost offhandedly, he asked, "Are zombies really that harmless?"

He had scarcely finished the question when the dormitory door was flung open. A teacherly figure with rimless glasses entered.

"Hey, you four, stop chatting and go to sleep. You've got morning reading tomorrow." With that, he closed the door, his voice drifting in through the crack as he left: "Every slow, heavy-footed terrestrial predator in Earth's evolutionary history has been weeded out—let alone something as slow-moving as a zombie. There's no point discussing it. Go to sleep!"