#A New Reality
As the alluring aroma of the zombie crystal lingered in the air, Chen Wei felt his stomach growl in protest. The hunger was unbearable, gnawing at him like a relentless predator. Gritting his teeth, he popped the crystal into his mouth. It melted instantly, releasing a faint sweetness that tantalized his taste buds.
But as the crystal settled in his stomach, a burning sensation ignited within him. His body temperature soared, and an agonizing pain coursed through his veins. His skin flushed red, and bulging veins throbbed on his forehead as his eyes turned bloodshot.
"Roar!" Chen screamed, the sound echoing through the empty apartment. He felt as if he were on the brink of transformation, teetering on the edge of something unimaginable.
In a moment of excruciating pain, he felt a violent jolt in his mind—his nerves seemed to snap. With a final roar, he collapsed against the box of gold bars, losing consciousness.
In that fleeting moment before darkness enveloped him, Chen glimpsed a gray space within his mind—small and confined, like a suitcase. He sensed that he had placed something inside it before succumbing to unconsciousness.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Chen jolted awake in his bed, drenched in sweat. The nightmare had felt all too real; every pang of pain echoed in his memory. He glanced at his phone: **1:25 AM**. "The time I experienced in that world felt like 1:25 PM," he pondered. "Is there a connection?"
Had he died in the dream? Or had he undergone some form of evolution? Closing his eyes to recall the events, he was startled by a vision—a gray space appeared again in his mind, with a box nestled inside.
"Is this… the box of gold bars?" Chen gasped, realization dawning upon him. He instinctively reached out to retrieve the gold bars.
With a sudden "bang," a box of gold bars materialized out of thin air and landed on the floor with a heavy thud.
"This is real! This is actually real!" Chen exclaimed, disbelief washing over him. "I'm not mentally ill! Everything I experienced was true! There's really a parallel world where I'm fighting for survival!"
Trembling with excitement, he opened the box to find thirty gold bars inside—each weighing 500 grams. At today's market price, each bar was worth 275,000 yuan; collectively, they amounted to over 8 million yuan.
Alongside the gold bars lay a pair of exquisite imperial green jadeite pieces—priceless treasures worth potentially over 100 million!
"I'm rich!" Chen's heart raced with exhilaration. But as quickly as joy surged through him, caution followed. "This might just be the beginning."
"If I can bring items from that apocalyptic plane into this world, it's like having an infinite treasure trove!" His mind raced with possibilities. "But I need to stay alive in that world; otherwise, all this wealth means nothing."
Determined to make use of this newfound ability, Chen focused intently on collecting items from his surroundings. He picked up a bottle of mineral water and silently willed it into his space.
His first attempt failed; frustration bubbled up inside him. But he persisted through multiple attempts until finally—on the eighth try—the bottle vanished into thin air!
"Success!" Chen shouted triumphantly as another bottle appeared in his mental space.
"Now I can store food and water to ensure my survival in that apocalyptic world," he thought eagerly. "We are connected; I must help him survive!"
With urgency, Chen grabbed his phone and opened a food delivery app. His fingers flew over the screen as he placed an extravagant order:
"Roast chicken? Five servings! Burgers? Ten! Garlic spareribs? Three! Shredded pork with green peppers… and more!"
He ordered everything he could think of until he had spent all three thousand yuan left in his account.
Half an hour later, multiple couriers arrived at Jiangcheng Yuyuan 501 with bags overflowing with food.
"Brother, are you delivering to 501?" one courier asked.
"Yes! Me too!" another chimed in.
"Damn! This fat guy named Li Xuan is ordering way too much food! Isn't he afraid of being stuffed to death?" they joked among themselves as they delivered their loads.
By 2:30 AM, after all deliveries had been made, Chen began transferring each item into his mental space with newfound efficiency.
Exhaustion washed over him after completing this task; sleepiness pulled at him like a heavy blanket. He collapsed back onto his bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
Meanwhile, in the apocalyptic world where survival was paramount, Chen Wei woke from his coma feeling surprisingly refreshed.
"My body doesn't hurt anymore!" he marveled at the strange comfort enveloping him. Yet hunger gnawed at him relentlessly—an insatiable beast demanding attention.
"Did I really order takeout while dreaming?" He closed his eyes again to focus on what had transpired.
To his astonishment, he discovered an expansive space within his mind filled with supplies—everything had appeared out of thin air!
"Bang!" The sound echoed as food tumbled to the ground around him: roast duck, roast chicken, hamburgers, spare ribs—all still warm!
Without hesitation, Chen tore open a takeaway box and devoured a roast chicken like a man starved for weeks.
"Delicious! This is incredible!" He savored each bite as joy flooded through him. "Two months after the apocalypse and I can still enjoy authentic roast chicken! What a blessing!"
As he feasted on the warm food that had miraculously appeared before him, Chen couldn't help but reflect on how drastically life had changed since the apocalypse began. The world outside was filled with danger and uncertainty; yet here he was enjoying what felt like an extravagant banquet.
With every bite of juicy meat and every sip of cool drink from the takeout containers around him, he felt revitalized—not just physically but mentally as well. The warmth of cooked food contrasted sharply with the cold reality outside—a reality where survival meant scavenging for scraps or fighting off zombies.
"This changes everything," Chen thought between mouthfuls. "If I can keep this connection between my two lives intact… if I can continue to gather supplies while staying alive in that hellish landscape… then I might actually have a chance."
His mind raced with plans for future orders and strategies for survival. He envisioned himself not just surviving but thriving amidst chaos—using both worlds to bolster each other for mutual benefit.
After finishing one roast chicken and moving onto another dish—a fragrant garlic sparerib—Chen leaned back against the wall and sighed contentedly.
"I can't believe this is happening," he murmured to himself with disbelief mingled with joy. "I'm really eating like this again."
Yet even as satisfaction washed over him like waves on a shore, there remained an undercurrent of anxiety—the ever-present reminder that danger lurked outside those walls both in dreams and reality alike.
He would need to remain vigilant; complacency could lead to disaster at any moment when facing zombies or hostile survivors who might want what little resources were left available in their ravaged world.
But for now? For now, he allowed himself this moment of bliss—a rare reprieve from hardship where hunger no longer ruled over him but rather filled him up instead until all thoughts faded away into blissful oblivion once more.