Wang Haoyu had always spent his free time as a chef reading novels and watching sci-fi movies. He had heard of apocalyptic scenarios, but experiencing one firsthand was something he never imagined, and now, he was struggling to accept this harsh reality.
To confirm his suspicions, he pulled out his phone, only to see the words "No Service" displayed where the signal bars should have been. With a bitter smile, he slumped onto the bed.
The fanged dog and the oversized rats he saw outside were stark reminders that this place was worlds apart from where he had lost consciousness.
After a while, Wang Haoyu stood up and moved to another room. He wiped the dust from the window with his sleeve and peered outside.
Similar to the front yard, through this window, he could see three more of those enormous rats about thirty meters away, scurrying back and forth as if searching for food.
"Trapped like a rat in a cage!"
The thought popped into his mind as he realized his situation. He was stuck in this house, surrounded by these giant rats, which he assumed were mutated creatures from some sort of apocalyptic world.
Wang Haoyu began to grow anxious, searching the room frantically for anything that could help him.
The room contained only basic furniture, nothing useful. The house in the front yard had nothing but the gun and the knife he had found earlier.
The living room and bathroom were similarly barren, offering only simple household items.
As for the kitchen... Looking at the rusty, dull knives, Wang Haoyu doubted their effectiveness in combat.
If he couldn't find a way out, he would be trapped here until he starved. Even though the system seemed capable of upgrading the house, it required those so-called "magic crystals" from the mutated beasts to power up. In the system's exchange menu, Wang Haoyu noticed there was no food available, only some seasonings. But what good were seasonings if he had nothing to eat?
Returning to the window, he noticed the glass was sealed with tape.
"Did the previous occupants seal the windows to prevent anything from detecting their presence inside?" he muttered to himself as he touched the tape.
Regardless of whether this was the legendary apocalypse, he needed to find food to survive. The only weapon he had was the gun, which held just six bullets.
Wait... the gun!
Suddenly, a thought struck him. He quickly removed the magazine from the gun and extracted one of the bullets.
This isn't a traditional bullet!
Although he had never handled a real gun, Wang Haoyu knew enough to realize that real bullets were made of metal. However, the bullet in his hand was small, blue, and felt like it was made of plastic or resin. It was also much lighter than he expected.
What kind of gun is this?
Wang Haoyu's mind raced, trying to comprehend what he was holding. But there was no one here to give him an answer. He forced himself to stay calm.
After a moment of thought, the system menu appeared in his mind again.
He opened the item exchange section and found a weapon listed under the first category.
Pulse Handgun: Uses 7.62mm pulse rounds, effective range 100 meters, low power. Exchange price: 10 energy points.
Wang Haoyu quickly skimmed over the description and focused on the image of the gun. It was identical to the one in his hand.
Pulse Handgun!
The name stunned him for a few seconds. He had never heard of such a weapon before, which explained why it looked so different from a normal gun.
Now, Wang Haoyu was more convinced than ever that this wasn't a prank; he was no longer in his original world.
He continued to scroll through the system, finding items like pulse rifles, optical weapons, and other bizarre gear he had never imagined. The prices varied, and all of them required energy points.
"It seems that everything in this system requires those damn energy points," Wang Haoyu muttered, recalling the blue crystal he had retrieved from the mutated dog, which had given him just one energy point.
Thankfully, he had the pulse handgun, which had saved him from the mutated dog. But with only six bullets left, he couldn't afford to rely on it for long.
He noticed that the system allowed him to exchange one energy point for twenty pulse rounds. But with only six bullets remaining and an uncertain future, he hesitated to spend his sole energy point.
At that moment, Wang Haoyu noticed a small, grayed-out option in the system menu, almost easy to miss.
Time-Space Return!
His eyes locked onto the words. What does this mean?
"After the first upgrade of your world, you can spend 100 energy points to return to your original world. Subsequent returns do not require energy points."
A line of gray text beneath the option explained its function.
The possibility of returning to his original world filled Wang Haoyu with renewed hope. He had feared he might never return, but now, a glimmer of light shone through the darkness.
However, the cost was steep—100 energy points. That meant he would need to kill at least 100 mutated dogs like the one before, just to get back home. And that was only after upgrading this house.
The initial excitement drained from him as he realized how distant that goal was. The immediate concern was finding food. Without it, he wouldn't live long enough to gather 100 energy points.
To search for food, he needed to deal with the two mutated rats in the front yard. If there had been just one, he might have managed with the pulse handgun. But with his subpar shooting skills, taking on two was risky. The sound of gunfire might attract the three rats in the backyard, leaving him surrounded.
How to deal with the mutated rats? Wang Haoyu paced around the room, searching for a solution.
After a moment, his eyes settled on the bed in the second room. He walked over and lifted the mattress.
Beneath the mattress was a steel frame. Seeing this, Wang Haoyu's eyes lit up. This steel frame was exactly what he needed.
After struggling to dismantle the steel frame, Wang Haoyu was drenched in sweat. He regretted his past indulgences that had led to his current weight, making even the slightest exertion exhausting.
But there was no time to dwell on that now. With the steel frame dismantled, he used the rusty knife to cut open the mattress, pulling out the springs inside. He also removed the iron bars that lined the bed frame, laying everything out on the floor.
Surveying the materials, Wang Haoyu began to work.
An hour later, a makeshift large rat trap was completed.
Luckily, during his time as a chef, Wang Haoyu had learned to make simple rat traps with his mentor in the restaurant, where rats were a common nuisance. Now, that skill was coming in handy.
The trap was straightforward in design. Two steel plates were separated and held in place by iron bars, with springs from the mattress positioned at angles. It was simple but required some technique.
With the first trap done, Wang Haoyu moved to the first room and began crafting a second one using the bed there.
The second trap was easier to make, taking him just forty minutes to complete.
After taking a few deep breaths, Wang Haoyu armed himself with the gun in one hand and carried one of the traps to the front door.
Peeking through the peephole, he saw that the area outside was as barren as the back, with no creatures in sight. He quietly opened the door and cautiously stepped outside with the trap.
As he moved, Wang Haoyu kept a close eye on the two distant rats. Seeing that they hadn't noticed him, he relaxed slightly.
He set the trap near the window of the first room and then returned to retrieve the second one.
With both traps in place, he retreated back into the house.
The traps were set, but he needed bait. Glancing at the mutated dog's corpse, Wang Haoyu decided against using it as bait.
Instead, he headed to the kitchen and began searching through the cupboards. To his delight, he discovered a small stash of rice in one of the drawers.
Back in the room, Wang Haoyu placed a steel plate from the trap onto the bed, propped it up with a few wooden sticks, and used his lighter to ignite the wood. He spread the rice onto the steel plate. Soon, the sound of rice popping filled the air.
Rats love rice, and Wang Haoyu hoped to use the cooked rice as bait. His culinary instincts kicked in, and he even stir-fried the rice a bit.
Three minutes later, Wang Haoyu carefully carried a small handful of the cooked rice outside, placing it on both traps. Then, he quickly retreated back inside.
With the door shut, he rushed to the window and peered through the small, cleaned patch of glass, watching the traps intently.
One minute, then two passed, with no sign of movement from the rats.
Just as Wang Haoyu began to lose hope, the two rats suddenly lifted their heads, staring directly in his direction.