At noon, under the scorching sun, cicadas cried out one after another.
Su Junxin bought a heated bento box from a convenience store and climbed to the top floor of the school building for some shade. She ate lunch with Xiaoyou and continued to plan the blueprint for her safe zone.
Yes, she wanted to build a safe zone.
She had already struggled for ten years in the post-apocalyptic world, endured countless hardships and injuries, and did not wish to repeat her missteps. Therefore, she decided to use her advantage of being reborn and construct a safe zone for herself. When the end of the world arrives three years from now, it would become the world's strongest defense base!
Thinking about this grand plan, Su Junxin felt an indescribable surge of passion. It seemed like her entire body was instantly filled with inexhaustible power.
She lifted her gaze towards the cloudless sky, her eyes full of ambitions.
Just then, she suddenly perceived a strange breath approaching from behind. She quickly turned around, extending her right hand at the same time to bring Xiaoyou, who was still struggling with a piece of beef, into her arms.
A tall figure appeared in her line of sight.
Because he was backlit, Su Junxin couldn't see the stranger's face clearly, only that he was a very tall man.
With furrowed brows and a wary look, she watched him. Even though she remained seated, she was subconsciously ready to defend herself.
Qin You paused, stopping about two steps away from her, his voice filled with apology, "Sorry, I didn't know this place was already occupied."
Hearing his voice, she figured he was a student and lowered her guard a bit, responding indifferently, "No biggie."
Just as she was about to look away, the sun high in the sky was suddenly blocked by a floating cloud, allowing her to see the stranger's face clearly.
"Clatter."
The chopsticks fell from her hand, and she gasped in disbelief.
"Cloud?!"
*
Su Junxin would never forget that face in her life.
Nobody knew Cloud's real name, but in the ten years during the apocalypse, Su Junxin had heard his name all but every day.
He always wore a butterfly-shaped mask, never revealing his real face or showing the superpower he possessed. Yet at only the age of twenty-five, he built the world's largest safe zone.
Whenever homeless survivors sought his help, he would always open the door for them.
He was praised as the Savior by people worldwide. After his disappearance, people officially named the safe zone after him.
His disappearance has always been a mystery, but only Su Junxin knew that she killed him.
That dusk, she personally took off his mask, watched his body turn into ashes in the flames, and scatter into the cliff.
Only she in this world knew what Cloud actually looked like.
Yet now, a face identical to Cloud's had appeared in front of her.
Su Junxin faced the teenager. It felt like a thunderbolt had suddenly split through her mind. Every nerve in her body was instantly ignited, resulting in a series of intense "crackling" sounds.
Seeing her sudden change in expression, Qin You blinked in confusion.
He took a step forward unconsciously and asked with concern, "Classmate, are you okay?"
Snapping back to reality, Su Junxin quickly stood up, creating distance between herself and him, her voice betraying her nervousness.
"Wait! What's your name and grade?"
"...My name is Qin You, a senior in high school." He paused, and then smiled amicably. The charming curve of his light-colored lips softened his aggressive exterior.
Hearing this, Su Junxin's brows furrowed even more.
A high school senior...about 17 years old. But in her memory, Cloud was five years older than her—now should be about 19 years old and already in college.
Although this boy, Qin You, looked exactly like Cloud, their ages did not match. Upon closer inspection, their eyes and personalities were drastically different as well.
The gaze and personality of Cloud always appeared calm and wise, like an unstained lotus flower emerging from the mud; but the boy in front of her looked at her with the curious and enthusiastic eyes of a deer that just stepped out from the forest for the first time, gullible and talkative—as evident as an innocent child.
With these thoughts in mind, Su Junxin quickly calmed down.
She looked at Qin You and cautiously asked, "Do you have a brother who looks like you?"
Qin You shook his head and answered honestly, "I'm an only child, and I don't have any cousins either."
She nodded in understanding, and quickly found a somewhat plausible explanation in her mind: If she could be reborn in a body identical to her own, then it wasn't too far-fetched for another person to look identical to Cloud in this extraordinary world...
"What about you?" Qin You suddenly interrupted her thoughts.
Su Junxin was taken aback, "What?"
"Your name. I've told you so much, shouldn't you tell me your name too?"
She pursed her lips and succinctly said, "Su Junxin, Jun as in gentleman, Xin as in joy."
Qin You lowered his gaze in thought for a moment, then looked at her with a smile.
"The five tones are varied and many, Junxin is joyful and peaceful. Jun signifies nobility, Xin signifies pleasure... your name is very well chosen."
His expression was sincere, but Su Junxin just slightly curled the corner of her mouth and said thanks with a thin smile.
Not wishing to engage with him further, she collected her belongings and prepared to leave.
Unexpectedly, he stopped her once again.
"Wait, Su… are you injured?" Qin You's tone was filled with evident surprise.
Su Junxin halted, and glanced down at her left arm exposed underneath her school uniform's short sleeves.
The wound scratched by Lou Ya's nails was slowly scabbing over. Although it looked a little scary, she shrugged indifferently, "I was scratched."
"Scratched? By a cat? I used to have a cat that liked to scratch people too." He continued the conversation naturally.
Upon hearing him, Su Junxin turned to look at him, stayed silent for a few seconds, then began to speak with a blank expression.
"No, it was a rat. A very big rat."
Seeing that the talkative boy was startled by her words, she instantly felt better. Smirking triumphantly, she quickly disappeared into the staircase.
Only when the sound of her footsteps finally ceased did Qin You look away.
He lowered his gaze, his long eyelashes concealing the emotions in his eyes, and he let out a resigned chuckle.
"Scratched by a rat... you sure can come up with interesting excuses."
*
There was no evening self-study on the first day of school. After dismissing class, Su Junxin went to the restroom, then returned to her seat to pick up her bag and leave. As she reached into her desk drawer, something fell out. It was a small rectangular box.
She paused for a moment, turned around and picked it up, her eyes quickly scanning the English letters on the packaging.
"Fast-Acting Scar Removal?"
She blinked, somewhat confused, then suddenly remembered the boy named Qin You whom she had met on the rooftop at noon.
Was it a gift from him?
She slightly furrowed her brows, thought about it for a moment, then stuffed the ointment back into the drawer, deciding to return it to Qin You the next day.
Having no evening self-study on the first day of school, Su Junxin quickly arrived home.
However, just as she stepped onto the first stair leading to her house, her keen sense of danger caused her to hold her breath and forcefully push back.
The next second, a large bucket of black blood poured from the sky, landing exactly where she had been standing.
The foul smell of blood instantly permeated the entire front yard.
She looked down at a drop of blood that had splattered onto her shoe, slowly raised her face, met the two pairs of horrified eyes behind the second floor window, and faintly curled her lips.
"Mom, what are you doing?"