Chapter 1: Starting as a D-Rank Personnel

Lin Ye climbed up from the cold white tiles, a sharp pain throbbing in his head as rows of text flashed before his eyes.

Lin Ye sorted through his chaotic thoughts and opened the system interface connected to his consciousness.

Only these four sections existed in the system interface. Lin Ye examined each one with his consciousness.

Lin Ye tapped on his innate ability.

Lin Ye: ‘Huh?’

"So how do I upgrade it? At least write down the upgrade conditions!" Lin Ye complained.

The trade section already had several pages of item exchanges, but they were all junk trades for food and drinks—nothing substantial.

The liveliest was the communication section.

It was divided into three parts: World, Region, and Friends.

The World section couldn't be posted in; despite having over 10 billion people, it was eerily quiet.

Lin Ye had no friends yet, so the Friends section was also empty.

Region (999997/1000000)

"How did three people die already? Didn't it say the shelter is absolutely safe?"

"They went out on their own. There's something weird outside."

"I'm in an apartment. Where is this?"

"Hahaha! I awakened a system! From now on, I don't eat beef!"

"Idiot, everyone has a system."

"There are monsters outside. Don't go out!"

"Bullshit! I've read these kinds of novels. Now's the golden time to gather supplies. Whether you become a big shot depends on this!"

"Oh no, another dozen people died."

"Moron, if it wasn't dangerous outside, they wouldn't give you an absolutely safe shelter."

"Guess you're right. Good thing I didn't go out."

"Damn! So you didn't go out after all!"

"Li Hongwei, are you there? It's your dad."

"Do you all have innate abilities?"

As more people woke up, the group chat flooded with messages. Lin Ye slowed the message flow to read them clearly.

Most were missing person notices, but few knew anyone else in the same region. It was unclear how the system assigned people.

The entire region of 1 million people seemed grouped together, with shelters close enough that Lin Ye could hear noises from nearby units.

Strange footsteps echoed in the hallway, and the peephole only showed part of the empty corridor.

Outside the window floated thick white mist, with occasional massive shadows passing through.

Lin Ye opened the Apocalypse Survival Starter Pack, finding a 500ml bottle of water, a half-kilogram bag of toast bread, and a 30cm-bladed kitchen knife.

The shelter was only about 30 square meters. The door led to a sink and stove, opposite which was a bathroom with a flush toilet and shower. A sliding door separated the bedroom from the sink area, containing only a desk, bed, and a window to the outside—that was all.

Lin Ye turned the faucet—nothing came out.

The bathroom had no water either, as if it had been cut off long ago.

The stove had no gas, and the sockets had no electricity. Daytime was fine, but nighttime would likely rely on the system interface for light.

But since the system was consciousness-linked, it was unclear if it could illuminate the real world.

‘What now? With this little food, I won’t last more than a few days.’

Lin Ye didn’t want to explore outside—after all, no one in the regional chat had returned alive.

Plenty claimed the outside was full of treasures, encouraging others to venture out.

Yet, Lin Ye hadn’t seen a single screenshot of the outside.

Though many were selling lewd images online.

Region (999845/1000000)

Over a hundred dead in under ten minutes. Even if there were supplies outside, Lin Ye wasn’t risking it.

‘Guess I’ll have to try my innate ability.’

Lin Ye scratched his head. The description made it seem less like an ability and more like a shady job posting.

Buzz buzz…

Lin Ye awoke to the steady hum of a moving vehicle, now clad in an orange prison jumpsuit. Four similarly dressed prisoners shared the transport, while four fully armed guards sat up front, separated by a security mesh.

‘Damn it, I knew it!’

Lin Ye cursed internally. One moment he was on his shelter’s bed, and the next, he was here after using his ability.

The scariest part? This wasn’t his body—it belonged to a muscular white youth.

‘What does 10 mean?! Ten tries before the simulation ends, or ten tries before I die for real?’

Lin Ye screamed inside. This ability was as unreliable as he feared. He had no idea what D-Rank personnel did, and only ten chances to figure it out.

"Don’t stress," the guy beside him patted Lin Ye’s thigh, noticing his tension. "Won’t help anyway."

What a comforting guy.

Lin Ye pushed his hand away. "What are we doing?"

He knew nothing and had to risk suspicion by asking.

Suddenly, Lin Ye realized they weren’t speaking any language he knew—yet he understood perfectly.

Like a translator was hardwired into his brain.

"Who knows? Not us, not even those gun-toters outside. Otherwise, they wouldn’t need us as scouts."

The man sighed and closed his eyes, resigned.

Lin Ye didn’t press further. Even his ‘companions’ knew little.

Soon, the transport stopped outside a villa.

Guards and D-Ranks filed out. The squad leader was a tall black man.

"Number 1."

A D-Rank stepped forward. Guards fitted him with a comms helmet sporting a camera and sent him inside alone.

The guards monitored footage on a laptop.

Five minutes later, the leader spoke.

"Number 2."