Survival in the Apocalypse: Max Level Drop Rate with Abundant Resources

Exploring Science Fiction Genres

He floated above that familiar darkness, looking at the illusory figure standing in the golden pillar of light, his mind churning with countless thoughts.

"Fifteen years ago, at the beginning of the apocalypse, are you reliving the apocalypse?"

What does this sentence mean?

Could it be that my sudden resurrection, returning to the day the apocalypse began, is because of this person inside the jade pendant? Does he have that ability? That's too outrageous. If he had that kind of power, why would he be trapped inside the jade pendant?

Shen Xi recalled everything from the day he was reborn. He woke up on a wooden bed in a dormitory filled with rotting corpses, picked up an axe, knocked on the door, killed Gu Yungui, slew Jiang Luqing, and then the Dominator System descended. He had always thought that it was a change brought about by his rebirth, a compensation from fate.

Now it seems that's not the case at all.

It's this person.

He escaped five years after his own death and then sent himself back to the first day of the apocalypse.

But why would he do that?

Shen Xi stared at the illusory figure, trying to make out the face shrouded in chaotic energy. But the mist was too thick, so thick that even the Eye of Truth could not penetrate it. He could only see a blurry outline, a lonely figure standing on the other side of the river of time.

The man raised his hands, fingers spread, palms down, aiming them at Shen Xi's corpse lying in the tomb. Golden light surged from his palms, like a flood bursting its banks, cascading down and enveloping the entire tomb in a blazing light.

The light was warm and gentle, like the spring sunshine or a mother's embrace. But when it touched Shen Xi's corpse, it unleashed a destructive force.

The corpse was trembling.

In resonance.

The cells, dormant for five years, began to divide, grow, and repair anew under the stimulation of the golden light. The heart began to beat, blood began to flow, and the lungs began to breathe. The corpse that had lay in the soil for five years was visibly regaining its vitality.

But this comes at a price.

The illusory figure grew fainter and fainter as it transferred energy. Its outline began to blur, and its form began to distort, like a wisp of smoke about to dissipate.

As Shen Xi watched this scene, a complex mix of emotions welled up within her.

This person is using his remaining energy to resurrect someone who has been dead for five years.

He continued to channel energy, gradually injecting the golden light into Shen Xi's corpse.

After an unknown amount of time, the mysterious man felt that Shen Xi's body could no longer withstand any more energy, so he stopped.

The figure withdrew its hands, stood there, panting heavily. Its body was almost transparent, and it could dissipate at any moment.

"Enough...enough." His voice was hoarse and broken. "Your body...can only take this much...any more...it will burst..."

Shen Xi's consciousness floated in the void, looking at the corpse that had regained its life, and then at the figure that was about to disappear, her heart churning with countless words.

But before he could speak, the figure moved.

"Backtrack!"

The next moment, the world changed color.

Shen Xi was horrified to discover that everything he had seen over the past five years was rapidly reversing.

The wildflowers that grew among the ruins bloomed, budded, withered, and disappeared. The withered grass that peeked out from the cracks in the tombstones shrank back inch by inch until it was completely buried in the soil. The inscriptions on the tombstones went from blurry to clear, from clear to profound, until finally even the tombstones themselves disappeared, turning into a withered branch stuck in front of the grave.

Then, time began to accelerate and flow backward.

He saw Xiao Potian and Mu Hanqing carrying Gu Yungui away, saw Jiang Luqing's corpse go from weathered to fresh, from bones to flesh, from rotten to whole. He saw the scene where Xiao Potian finally killed her, saw her frantically stabbing her own corpse, and saw Gu Yungui holding her and laughing.

Time is still flowing backward.

He saw the rotting corpse that had surrounded him.

Illusion the monarch.

That was the corpse that died in the counterattack in this life; in the previous life, it had become a monarch of level 90 or higher. Now, it was emerging from the darkness, staring at its own corpse with its scarlet eyes.

Time continues to flow backward.

He saw the Bloodthirsty War God Xiao Potian and the Frost Moon Goddess Mu Hanqing descend from the void, saw Gu Yungui with the long sword that pierced his own chest, and saw the cold smile on Jiang Luqing's face.

He experienced everything that happened in his previous life in a short time.

From a level 90 War God, I plummeted to level 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, and finally 10. From three job changes to two job changes to my first job change. From the late apocalypse to the middle apocalypse to the early apocalypse.

Those years, those people, those events.

Scene after scene, frame after frame, flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern.

He saw himself struggling to survive in the ruins of Starshine City, saw himself being used as a pawn by Gu Yungui and Jiang Luqing, and saw himself fighting to the death in the dungeon.

He saw the faces of those who had already died.

Those comrades whose names he didn't know, those companions who sacrificed themselves in the zombie horde, those strangers who fell to protect him.

Faces, eyes, and smiles.

Shen Xi suddenly fell silent.

Although he had experienced several major battles in this life, he had indeed become somewhat arrogant.

He killed Gu Zhengxiong and wiped out the Lion Legion, thinking he was invincible. He won the Kyoto Championship, thinking he was the best in China. He single-handedly fought his way through a zombie horde, thinking he was omnipotent.

The truth is, I'm simply not strong enough.

Turn the page, and you'll find yourself in another world.

The rotting corpse that besieged him in his previous life, though it died in the counterattack in this life, hasn't fully matured yet. If it grows to a level 90 monarch, can he still kill it easily?

Where is Xiao Potian, the god-level powerhouse who stabbed him in the back in his previous life? What is he doing now? Will he become his enemy again?

And that mysterious person...

Shen Xi recalled the murals she saw when she received the inheritance of the Creation of Heaven. The enormous figure that held up the heavens and the earth, the drop of blood that seeped into the soil, and the giant tree that bore countless fruits.

Pangu.

That was a creation that opened up the world.

The mysterious person who had escaped from the jade pendant was not as terrifying as Pangu, but he was still beyond his current reach.

Those beings are capable of destroying the world.

Compared to them, my own strength is nothing more than that of an ant.

"I must become stronger." Shen Xi silently vowed in her heart, "Strong enough that no one dares to bully me, strong enough that no one can defeat me."

The speed of time rewinding has slowed down.

Those rapidly flowing images began to slow and become clear. Like a rushing river, it slowed its pace at the estuary and gently flowed into the sea.

Finally, the image was frozen in time.

In the beginner mode, in the Corpse Dormitory game instance.

Shen Xi looked at herself sleeping soundly on the wooden bed and felt a little unreal.

That version of myself, in my early twenties, still retained a hint of youthful naiveté. I wore a cheap T-shirt and jeans, my sneakers covered in dust. My breathing was steady, my brow slightly furrowed, as if I were having a nightmare.

That was the first day of the apocalypse.

That's where the nightmare began.

It was also the starting point of his rebirth.

Shen Xi stood there, looking at her sleeping self, at the familiar dormitory, and at the night outside the window, a feeling she couldn't quite describe welled up inside her.

Who is that person?

Why was I chosen?

Do we have to put ourselves back in the first day of the apocalyptic game?

Countless thoughts churned in my mind, but I couldn't find the answer.

Just then, the illusory figure passed through the door and walked in.

His body was almost transparent, nearly merging with the void. Yet he still stood before Shen Xi, looking at him with eyes veiled by chaotic energy.

"Looking back, you have endless possibilities to start over."

His voice was hoarse, carrying a hint of weariness and relief, as well as something else that was hard to explain.

"Here, take this."

The illusory figure flipped its right hand upwards, holding a small, colorful auspicious cloud in its palm.

The auspicious cloud was small, only the size of a fist, yet it radiated seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. Each color was pure to the extreme, intertwining to create an indescribable beauty.

It hovered above the figure's palm, slowly rotating, exuding an ancient and timeless aura.

Shen Xi was all too familiar with that aura.

From the time of her rebirth until now, every time that golden light curtain appears, it has this same aura.

Grand, profound, and imbued with ancient majesty.

It is like the way of Heaven.

"This is..." Shen Xi's voice trembled slightly.

The figure simply pointed, and the small, seven-colored auspicious cloud transformed into a stream of light, disappearing into Shen Xi's mind.

In an instant, Shen Xi's consciousness exploded.

Countless pieces of information flooded in like a tidal wave, churning, intertwining, and reorganizing in his mind. The information was so vast and complex that with his current mental strength, he could only process one ten-thousandth of it.

The rest was sealed deep within his consciousness, awaiting his growth.

Domination System.

This is Shen Xi's guess.

However, I guessed correctly.

That cluster of seven-colored auspicious clouds is the very origin of the Dominion System. It is not a product of a post-apocalyptic survival game, but rather some ancient and more fundamental force.

It took root in Shen Xi's mind, merged with his soul, and became a part of him.

Seeing that the auspicious seven-colored clouds and Shen Xi had perfectly merged, the illusory figure nodded in satisfaction.

"Only then will you be complete."

There was a hint of relief in his voice.

"I've returned it to its rightful owner."

Return it to its rightful owner?

Shen Xi frowned. This auspicious seven-colored cloud, this Dominator System, was it originally his? No, that's not right. It should have belonged to him from the beginning?

That figure gave him no time to think.

He turned around and walked towards the door. With each step, his body faded a little more. By the time he reached the door, his body was so transparent that he was almost invisible.

"Catch up and get stronger."

His voice came from the void, growing farther and farther away, fainter and fainter.

"I’m waiting for you."

The moment the words left his mouth, the illusory figure vanished completely.

Like a wisp of smoke, it was blown away by the wind, leaving nothing behind.

Only that auspicious seven-colored cloud still slowly spun in Shen Xi's mind.

Shen Xi stood there, looking in the direction where the figure disappeared, and remained silent for a long time.

"wait for me?"

He murmured, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"Tell me where you're waiting for me."