The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

[Brain Storage, Waibi Bab Version]

[Yanzu and Yifei's photo spots]

"Sigh... The fortune teller said I'd have a stroke of great luck soon, so this is what it means?"

Consciousness slowly rose from a chaotic darkness, like a drowning person finally touching the surface of the water.

Before Wu You even opened his eyes, the first thing that flashed through his mind was the red and black road king speeding towards him.

"I think I'm lying down... in a hospital? I'm still alive?"

Before he could even open his eyes to check his surroundings, a flood of unfamiliar memories rushed into his mind like a burst dam.

Those images, those names, those past events that should have been unrelated to him, all rushed into the depths of his consciousness at this moment.

"Wu You, a third-year student at Lanhe No. 5 Middle School in Lanhe City..."

The memories from more than ten years ago had a tremendous impact on his consciousness.

In his previous life, he was just a fragile college student in his early twenties. The memories of these past ten years are almost as long as his original memories!

Just as he was trying to process all of this.

"Ah, this is the taste!"

A sticky, indistinct, eerie sound suddenly pierced the eardrum, like a wet tongue licking the auricle.

"This atmosphere of fear and death... ah, what a wonderful feeling."

"My good deskmate, my good brother."

Do you know?

"You now—"

"It smells so good."

The sound was like an icicle, instantly piercing Wu You's still-unresolved thoughts. He jerked his eyes open: "What the hell?!"

What came into view was a deep, almost viscous darkness. In the distance, a streetlamp cast a faint light, barely outlining the contours of the walls on both sides. The walls were gray, mottled, and peeling like festering wounds.

Wu You quickly realized that he was in a dark alley.

At the same time, the corresponding memory fragments in the mind are automatically pieced together.

"Oh, right... Li Wei asked me to walk home with him after school today."

Li Wei, his deskmate and childhood friend at Lanhe No. 5 Middle School, was an abandoned baby who was adopted by two families in the same community. They grew up wearing the same pair of pants, attended the same school, and were inseparable, even going to and from school together.

But Wu You's brows suddenly furrowed.

My memory ends with the two of us getting off the bus together, and then it's all blank.

When he got off the bus, it was only five o'clock in the afternoon. He even remembered that the orange sunset was lazily hanging on the horizon.

And now...

He looked up, and above him was the unfathomable darkness of night.

It was the height of summer, and it was completely dark; it must have been at least after 8 p.m.

From five o'clock to eight o'clock, a full three hours, he had no related memory at all.

What happened during those three hours?

Whose eerie voice was that?

Wu You suddenly looked in the direction of the sound.

Three or four meters away, a human-shaped silhouette was embedded in the darkness of the alley.

"How could you possibly regain consciousness like that?"

The silhouette emitted a grating laugh, like a rusty door hinge being forced to turn.

"He truly is my good childhood friend and good brother."

"Hehehe, but it's just right—"

"Live ones taste better."

The shadowy figure began to move, step by step, slowly and deliberately, like a cat toying with a mouse under its paws.

Wu You braced himself against the rough, painful cement floor and struggled to stand up.

He only now realized that his legs felt like lead, and that most of his strength had been drained away.

What's wrong? Why isn't my body responding to my commands?

Before I could think it through, the dark figure had closed to within a meter.

The dim streetlights stretched out from the alley entrance, laboriously climbing up to trace the silhouette of the person.

The school uniform of No. 5 Middle School, a familiar figure.

Wu You's pupils suddenly contracted: "You...you are...Li Wei?!"

"My good brother," the figure spoke again, his voice carrying a chilling pleasure, "you smell so good."

The dim light from afar finally reached that face.

Wu You gasped, and a fine layer of cold sweat instantly seeped out from his back.

What a face it was!

The facial features were still Li Wei's facial features, each one barely in its proper place, yet each one mocked the definition of "human".

One eye was wide open like a copper bell, bloodshot and fixed on Wu You; the other eye was half-closed, the corner of the eye drooping down strangely, the pupil unfocused and lifeless like a pool of stagnant water.

His nose seemed to have melted halfway, the cartilage twisted into an eerie arc, and his nostrils flared irregularly with his heavy breathing.

The most horrifying thing was the mouth: the lips were an abnormal purplish-red, and the corners of the mouth stretched out to both sides as if torn, almost reaching the earlobes, freezing into an exaggerated and stiff grin that no human could make. From the crack, jagged, triangular, white teeth were revealed.

At the same time, a putrid stench wafted over.

Wu You instinctively stepped back, his back hitting the cold wall.

But at this moment his legs were weak, and his backward retreat, supported by the wall, was pitifully slow, while the monster was less than half a meter away from him.

He could even see every twisted line on that face.

My breathing was rapid, and my heart was pounding like a drum.

Just then.

A cold, emotionless mechanical voice exploded in his mind without warning.

Ding--

The Sword Manual has been activated.

Sword Master: Wu You

Level: Zero

Swordsmanship: None

Items: None

The Sword Manual has been activated, and basic sword techniques have been distributed.

Swordsmanship: None → Swordsmanship: Basic Swordsmanship

A flood of unfamiliar information rushed into my mind: swordsmanship, footwork, body movements, breathing techniques, the thirteen basic stances...

At the same time, a cool sensation surged from all parts of my body, like a clear spring flowing over parched land, instantly sweeping away the feeling of weakness I had just experienced!

My strength has returned.

Sword manual? Basic sword techniques? Cheat code? System?!

Before I could think about it, that nauseating sound rang out again.

"Ah...that's it, that's it." The monster's gaping maw opened and closed, and an almost intoxicated look appeared in its wide-open, bloodshot eyes. "Fear, it really is the most delicious seasoning."

Wu You's face still wore a look of fear, but he subtly quickened his pace backward: "Li...Li Wei! What happened to you?!"

"My brother..." the monster seemed not to hear him, mechanically repeating as it approached step by step, "You smell so good."

Wu You's brain was working at lightning speed.

The "Li Wei" before him was no longer the Li Wei he knew! He was something in human skin, a completely mutated monster!

As he backed away, he shouted loudly in an attempt to wake the other person: "Li Wei! Do you remember me? I'm Wu You!"

"Li Wei! Didn't you want to go to a sports school and become a sports student?!"

"Li Wei! What the hell have you done, becoming a human machine?!"

"Li Wei! Li Wei!"

"Hehe..." The monster just tilted its head, a trickle of clear saliva dripping from the corner of its split mouth. "Brother, you smell so good."

Wu You stared intently at it, then slowly backed away.

Until his back hit something hard.

It's a wall!

He suddenly turned around.

A gray cement wall loomed behind them, blocking all escape routes.

"Damn it! Dead end!"

He kept staring at the monster in front of him and didn't realize that the alley had no exit at all!

The only exit is behind the monster!

Wu You, unwilling to give up, looked up at the high walls on both sides.

More than two meters.

The wall was over two meters high, and even a tall, agile person would need some time to climb it. But at this moment, he was just an ordinary high school student who had just experienced time travel and was still in shock.

Wu You looked at the narrow alley again; it was only wide enough for two people to stand side by side.

Moreover, the monster is currently blocking the middle of the road, and even if you turn sideways, it's impossible to pass without touching it.

"If we rush over..."

The scene of their encounter was too beautiful for Wu You to imagine.

Moreover, the monster's exact strength and speed are still uncertain, so making contact with it rashly would be too risky.

Anxiously scanning his surroundings, Wu You found no usable tools, not even a stone or a stick.

The monster drew closer and closer, and the stench grew stronger; the situation was now extremely critical.

There's no time to hesitate any longer!

Taking a deep breath, the stench of the alleyway rushed into Wu You's lungs.

His gaze passed over the distorted face and landed on the dim streetlight at the alley entrance.

The light was dim, but at this time and in this setting, it became the only way out.

"so--"

He clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white from the force.

"We have no choice but to give it our all, is that it?"

. . . . . .

The following content requires further reading of the story.

The New Calendar - The Chronicles of the Sword Ancestor - The Beginning of Calamity, Part One

Sword Ancestor, whose given name is unknown, possessed a chivalrous spirit from a young age, was of a fierce nature, and valued friendship. He was a student in high school (meaning he was still studying/not yet finished his studies), and was sworn brothers with Youwei. The two were inseparable, like brothers, and their classmates all envied them.

In those days, there existed a monstrous corpse, named Thousand Faces, of the lowest kind, the lowest of the low among corpses, lurking in the shadows, harming the living. That year, Zu was still young, not yet proficient in swordsmanship, and had not yet awakened. One day, Wei Tu encountered this lowly monstrous corpse, was suddenly attacked, devoured by it, mutated into a corpse, and reduced to a monster, no longer human.

Zu witnessed his dear friend's horrific state—a mangled mess of flesh and blood, his body and soul utterly destroyed—and was overcome with profound grief, his mind shattered. Grief and resentment surged within him, and his unwavering resolve erupted. In his sorrow, he was divinely granted swordsmanship, awakening abilities beyond the reach of ordinary people.

From that time onward, the ancestor abandoned his idle heart, cherishing the ambition to eliminate corpses and save the world. He took up his sword and embarked on a journey, slaying evil spirits and vanquishing calamities. He persevered through countless tribulations and remained steadfast through a thousand hardships. After years of honing his skills, his swordsmanship reached a divine level. He ascended to the highest realm, suppressed the evil corpses of other worlds, and protected all living beings. Later generations revered him as the Sword Ancestor.

Later generations commented: "A thousand-faced, lowly corpse, a mere insignificant creature. Yet this one bite severed the lives of old friends and stirred the heart of the Sword Ancestor. Without this calamity, there would have been no awakening that day; without that awakening, there would have been no supreme Sword Master of later generations. The calamity began small, but the merit endures for eternity; the mysteries of the world are truly thus."