Chapter 1

When I opened my eyes in the cryo-chamber, what I saw was not the white ceiling of the hospital, but a gray-red sky that looked like it had been soaked in blood.

Through the broken ceiling, the eerie sky outside was clearly visible.

Wait, a broken ceiling?

It took me a full ten seconds to realize what was happening.

I was lying in a transparent life support pod, outside of which was a dilapidated underground laboratory that looked like it had been bombed.

A large hole had appeared in the ceiling, with rubble and steel bars hanging down, and a few precarious emergency lights still flickering.

Through the glass enclosure, I saw several people in heavy protective suits frantically bandaging wounds; they looked terrifying, covered in blood.

After their wounds were treated, they leaned against the life support pod , panting heavily, as if they had just escaped from the brink of death .

"Damn it... how did those things suddenly appear..." a man cursed.

"Stop talking, check the wounds first!" The woman pulled out a first-aid kit. "This is the E-7 ruins; there shouldn't be so many strange creatures gathered here..."

Just then, the equipment in the laboratory suddenly lit up.

"What happened?"

Did we just bump into something?

My life support capsule started beeping, the refrigerant inside began circulating, and various values jumped on the screen.

I could feel my body slowly regaining sensation, and a tingling sensation spread from my fingers to my toes.

"Oh my god... there's someone in here!" a young girl exclaimed. "Alive!"

"Don't touch her! Emily, step back!" The woman suddenly grabbed her.

The girl named Emily, who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old and had pigtails , reluctantly took a few steps back.

The woman quickly examined the control panel, her expression growing increasingly grim . "This is a cryogenic chamber from a hundred years ago... Records show he's been asleep since before the disaster..."

"A hundred years?!" A man gasped.

"Either a survivor with a special constitution," the woman said in a low voice, "or... a powerful, slumbering anomaly."

My mind went completely blank.

A hundred years? Weird?

What the heck?

I'm just an ordinary college student, but because I suffered serious injuries , my family sent me for cryotherapy...

And now you 're telling me a hundred years have passed?

What about my parents? What about my friends?

Are they all gone from this world?

"Captain...look outside..." Emily pointed to the door, her voice trembling.

I followed Emily's gaze.

Through the observation window in the door, I saw a sight that nearly caused my heart to stop—

There were seven or eight non-human creatures lying outside the door.

Some were twisted into impossible angles, some had eyes all over their faces, and one was half-suspended in the air with its lower body covered in black mist.

But strangely, they didn't rush in.

He just lay there, as if he was wary of something.

"They don't dare come in..." the male captain muttered to himself, then abruptly turned to look at my life support pod. "Is it because of him?"

" No matter what! " the captain took a deep breath, "we've escaped with our lives now. "

" Everyone, contact headquarters for backup. Also, no one is allowed to touch that cabin until rescue arrives!"

I was screaming internally : Hey! I'm just an ordinary college student! Let me out!

But my body has just woken up and is still recovering; even opening my mouth is difficult.

I could only watch helplessly as they treated me like a dangerous item .

Just then, heavy footsteps suddenly came from outside the door .

"Thump...thump...thump..."

Every step felt like stepping on my heart.

The monsters that had been lying at the doorway let out sharp hisses and scattered in all directions.

"An even more terrifying thing is coming!" Emily's voice changed.

"Everyone, prepare for battle!" The captain suddenly raised his gun.

An even more eerie experience?!

My heart skipped a beat, and I broke out in a cold sweat.

Stop it! I've only just recovered, and I'm already going to be killed by some weirdo?

The footsteps grew closer.

At this critical moment, a young man, due to extreme nervousness, stumbled backward and bumped heavily into the control panel, accidentally hitting a red button with his elbow.

"laugh--"

The hatch popped open.

The freezing liquid gushed out like a waterfall, and I rolled out of it, landing on the ground with a "thud," my whole body convulsing, my teeth chattering from the cold.

"He's out!"

"Raise your guns! Be on alert !"

Seven or eight gun barrels were pointed at me, all glowing red.

I struggled to lift my head, soaked to the bone and shivering with cold, and raised my hands , "No...don't shoot..."

"Don't move! Are you a human or a ghost?!" Emily pointed a gun at me.

"I...I'm a human being..." I stammered. "My name is Lin Rui, I'm 22 years old, a junior at New Eden University...I suffered a fatal wound and was cryogenically frozen...I'm just an ordinary person! Please, put your guns down!"

"Can an average person live to be a hundred years old?!"

"I don't know either!" I almost cried.

The captain stared at me for a few seconds . "Detect his psionic fluctuations."

A man pulled out a scanner, then exclaimed in surprise, "No psionic activity whatsoever... just an ordinary person."

" Just an ordinary person?" Emily scoffed, her face full of disdain. "Turns out he's just a good-for-nothing ? "

"Then why were you so strangely hesitant to come in just now?"

"It should be the protective device of the life support pod , " the captain said, somewhat disappointed.

But as if remembering something, he suddenly looked towards the life support pod—

It has stopped working.

" Everyone, prepare for battle! "

The captain suddenly roared.

The members of the investigation team were on high alert, their faces pale and tense.

Emily glared at me, as if to say, "It's all your fault."

I got up from the ground , soaked to the bone, shivering from the cold , and feeling extremely wronged.

What did I do to deserve this?

The metal door creaked open and slowly came open.

A translucent giant, over three meters tall, appeared in the doorway.

He radiated a ghostly blue light, his muscles clearly defined, but his features were unexpectedly…

familiar?

He had a square face, thick eyebrows, big eyes, and that signature wicked smile on his lips.

My brain short-circuited for a few seconds , and I subconsciously called out a familiar name .

"Marcus...?"

The giant looked at me and couldn't help but grin. "Long time no see, Lin Rui."

Everyone was stunned.

"You recognize it?!" The captain's voice changed , and everyone suddenly moved three feet away from me, as if they were afraid that I was some kind of unclean thing .

Marcus smiled as happily as he always did after winning a basketball game . "Brother, you're finally awake."

His voice was very hoarse, but I was still sure .

He was my college roommate and best friend, Marcus, the captain of the basketball team.

"I've watched over you for a hundred years," he said, "just to see you heal and wake up ."

I was trembling all over . "You...how did you become like this..."

"I'm dead, brother." Marcus came over and knelt down , gently placing his huge hand on my shoulder .

"I didn't survive the disaster a hundred years ago. But I became a monster, and I've been guarding this place, waiting for you to wake up."

His hands were icy cold, but I felt a surge of warmth welling up inside me.

"Now that you're awake," Marcus's voice grew weaker, his body beginning to turn transparent, "I can leave now."

"Wait!" I grabbed his hand abruptly. "Where are you going?!"

" Once the eerie thing fulfills its wish, it will dissipate, " he said with a smile, then raised his other hand, a ball of light coalescing in his palm. "This is my final ripple of spiritual energy; it will grant you an aura of spiritual deprivation , allowing you to see eerie things, but they will have little chance of harming you ."

The ball of light entered my body, and a warm energy flowed through me.

Marcus's body transformed into countless points of light and began to dissipate.

"No!" I rushed forward to grab him, but my hand passed right through the specks of light. "Marcus!"

"Take care of yourself, Lin Rui." His voice trailed off, "And I 'm so sorry you got hit by the car... "

"I stopped blaming you a hundred years ago!"

The light spot disappeared completely.

I knelt on the ground, facing the empty floor, and called out, "Marcus ? "

No one answered.

Only the eerie, low roars echoed in the distance.

I fell silent , tears falling one by one to the ground.

" He cried even after Weird died? " Emily was somewhat surprised.

"Shut up, Emily , that's his friend! " the captain hissed.

Then he walked over to me, gently patted my shoulder, and said, "My condolences."

I shook my head, my feelings were very complicated.

One hundred years.

Marcus has guarded me for a hundred years.

And I don't even know what the world has become.