One day, darkness enshrouded the world. According to the Meltdown theory, Earth’s magnetic field faced a change, and along with it, natural laws changed too. Though some laws related to physics could still be applied, a lot of scientific theories and laws had been overturned, prompting everyone to re-discover their underlying principles. Humanity’s scientific foundation was not the only one which faced changes; the field of genetics had transformed too. One of the biggest disasters brought by the magnetic field’s change was the zombification of more than 80% of the world’s population. After years of struggling, a few lucky survivors would evolve and awaken a hibernating power hidden in them. Chu Han was never that lucky… While holding on against the first wave, humans weren't the only ones getting stronger. Soon, phase-1 zombies evolved into phase-2 then phase-3 and so on. Ten years after the mysterious meltdown, the world dominated by humans changed hands. Zombies were the new overlords, and humanity was facing extinction. One day, Chu Han`s consciousness returned ten years before the end of the worlds. A loud noise awakened him in Minqiu University’s dormitory. With only one day to prepare before the Apocalypse’s outburst, he slowly realized that he had been reincarnated! Chu Han’s sudden reincarnation brought an unexpected power, which he hadn’t in his previous hellish world. To be more precise it wasn’t a power, but a system! The Meltdown System! Despite losing his monstrous strength gained through years of harsh training, Chu Han was confronted as the Meltdown System could grant him talents in exchange for credits, which he could get with every zombie he killed. This is a story about a world on the edge of ruins, the Meltdown System, and Chu Han, trying his best to save the people he could not save before.
Cough! Cough! Cough!
Coughing sounds rang out. Chen Shaoye and Lou Xiaoxiao seemed to look around wanderingly, but they occasionally glanced towards that place. There was something wrong with Bai Yun`er`s messy get-up and Chu Han`s sweaty face as their thought wandered into ambiguousness!
Did they touch each other or did they kiss?
Chu Han ignored the three as he bent down and counted his credit points. He didn`t know how to respond to those people. Two crystals were coldly sitting in his bag. The credit points he could earn from killing phase-two zombies was just a meager amount, it was better to hunt phase-one zombies.
Chu Han said nothing as the atmosphere suddenly turned weird. Bai Yun`er was, as always, emotionless and silent. Lou Xiaoxiao and Chen Shaoye seemed to come to a tacit agreement, an air of gossip forming around the two.
"Whose body was the one we saw outside? And the zombies on the way here, who killed them? They had just died!" Shang Jiuti was the only person that said something worthy of asking. She had already forgotten her worry towards Bai Yun`er as it was replaced with confusion, she was full of questions she wanted answers in. Chu Han spending so much time killing the zombies was also something that confused them.
Chu Han patted the two crystals as he then raised his head. He looked at the other members of his group. The three people, except Bai Yun`er, turned cold.
Chen Shaoye and Lou Xiaoxiao trembled as they simply did not think about what Shang Jiuti had said. Gossip made them forget the details. They were only thinking about something that was pertaining to Chu Han. Was he unhappy because he was found out by other people?
"Boss! Boss!" Chen Shaoye tremblingly said, "Why are you looking at me like that? I... I... I am sorry. I absolutely saw nothing." "Stupid!" Luo Xiaoxiao shouted, acting cute in front of Chu Han, "Brother Chu Han is so powerful! You can quickly finish off a very strong zombie! So great! So powerful!"
Shang Jiuti continued, looking at Bai Yun’er. "Bai Yun`er, have you ever met other human beings? Is there something wrong with the zombies?"
Bai Yun`er did not reply, staring at Chu Han`s hands instead.
Shang Jiuti who was ignored by everyone was very angry. The situation was very urgent, but what did these people think about instead? Bai Yun`er falling in love with Chu Han?
Chu Han paid no heed to his surroundings as he looked at Chen Shaoye. He carefully surveyed him from top to bottom. "Boss!" Chen Shaoye hugged Chu Han`s legs, "Boss! I did not do anything!"
"Hey." Chu Han bluntly asked the system, "Can the crystals be used to awaken dormant talent?"
"Black crystal could be traded to five credit points. Two black crystals could also be used to awaken talent." The monotonous voice of the system replied.
Traded for five credits? Chu Han was at a daze. No wonder the credit points he earned when he killed those phase-two zombies were only two, there was actually this special usage!
"Can I awaken a talent if I use it?" Chu Han asked,
"The host has no special talents." The system coldly replied.
Shit! Chu Han cursed but he still continued to ask questions, "What are the chances of Chen Shaoye awakening a special talent when I use it on him?"
Chu Han had thought about it before. Chen Shaoye`s current ability was not enough to make him one of the top 20 hunters. As such, Chu Han had thought that he had a special ability that still haven`t awakened yet.
Ability was the most important aspect to have during the apocalypse. In all actuality, it was called as strengthening. Human beings were classified into two types, Strengthened Humans and Evolved Humans or what are called Mutants. Both of them had different levels that classified fighting ability.
The definition of Strengthened Humans was simple. People with certain abilities who trained those abilities to the peak could experience a breakthrough and reach a new level of extremes. It could be extremely heightened five senses or some other things, like intelligence and metabolism. There were a lot of different ways. Some people who used their fingernails and trained it extensively could achieve extremely sharp and tough fingernails. When an ability reached extreme levels by training, the person with that ability would be called Strengthened Human.
Improvement through evolution was a gentler way. Evolved Humans or Mutants were vastly outgunned by Strengthened Humans which has a frightening ability. Evolution was an improvement in all indexes of human anatomy but it was just a slight difference.
Most of the mutants were weaker than strengthened humans, but when they reach high levels of evolution and mutation; their fighting ability could vastly outstrip strengthened humans. But, mutants who actually reach high levels always find it more difficult to reach the next level, therefore, high leveled mutants were rare, Bai Yun`er being one of them.
"10%!" The sound of the system rang out in Chu Han`s ears.
Only 10%? Chu Han frowned. It was too low!
Strengthened humans appeared later that evolved humans. According to what he knew from his previous incarnation, the first strengthened human appeared three months after the apocalypse started. He appeared by chance. The man wanted to kill himself, so he ate two black crystals. But instead of dying, he awakened a special talent.
Just as what the system said, not everyone had special talents and abilities. Chu Han, for one, was not that lucky.
The conditions for the awakening of a strengthened human`s ability was very depressing. You needed two black crystals that came from phase-two zombies as raw materials, and the awakening could only succeed when that person was exposed to extreme fights where their lives were always at risk. But if one ate those crystals when they don`t have any special abilities, they would become infected. Eating just one crystal was also useless even when you have a special ability. Chances of awakening could also be lost when you ate those two crystals during tranquil times. The chances of successfully awakening special abilities drastically decreased every time you tried to eat those crystals.
For a long time, people studied and experimented until they had successfully came up with the suitable materials and the specific conditions that had to be met. Thus, strengthened humans were quite rare during the early stages of the apocalypse.
"Boss! Woowooo!" Chen Shaoye continued to hug Chu Han`s legs as he said, "You are always thinking about something terrible when you look like that. I never saw you smile even just once, so how about a smile?"
"Fuck!" Chu Han kicked Chen Shaoye as he thought about how to expose Chen Shaoye to extreme fighting conditions to increase his chances of awakening his special ability.
A strengthened human was an indispensable killer in the early stages. Chen Shaoye would become better than during Chu Han`s previous incarnation if he successfully awakened his ability properly.
"You!" Shang Jiuti`s anger flared up as her chest heaved up and down, "Are you guys ignoring me?"
Bang!
After she finished speaking, she hit the wall with her fist in a fit of rage.
I am so sorry! My editor is sick so it will be stopped releasing from this Sunday to Next Tuesday. Apologize!