Chapter 8: What Happened?

Lying on the bed, the fatigue of the day seemed to dissipate. Tom had already taken off his butler outfit and was curled up in the basket, covered with his blue blanket, sleeping soundly.

However, Li Huan was still awake. Perhaps it was because he was young, but he still had energy and couldn't sleep.

He just lay on the bed and pulled out his phone from his pocket. But after a few seconds, he put it down again.

"Damn, there's no network in this world. No signal, no internet..." He sighed deeply, staring at the ceiling. "Even if there was a network, I wouldn't be able to play mobile games. This world probably doesn't even have those games."

Thinking for a moment, Li Huan called out in his mind, "System, are you there?"

The system immediately responded: ["What's up? Something wrong?"]

"Nothing much, just can't sleep. Let's chat."

The system responded somewhat impatiently: ["What's there to chat about now?"]

"Nothing in particular, just talking."

["Alright then, go ahead."]

"This world doesn't seem that different from mine."

["In terms of civilization, this world isn't much different from yours. The same goes for nations."]

"Really? This place is like Japan, right? The language, the food, everything feels the same as back home."

["Yes. By the way, if I hadn't installed a language translation ability for you, you wouldn't have been able to communicate with the locals."]

"Well, thank you for that, no sarcasm intended."

["You're welcome. So what's your plan? Going to keep sweeping floors?"]

"No way. I'll find a way to improve my life, little by little."

["So, you plan to climb the ladder? Get promoted, get a raise, become a white-collar worker, marry a rich, beautiful woman, and become a winner in life?"]

"Hell no…"

["But that's what you were thinking before, wasn't it?"]

"That was just a thought. If I had to describe my ideal... it would probably be something ordinary: having money, a house, a cat, taking care of my parents, living a life without pain or illness. As for marriage, I'll leave that to luck."

["That's a pretty ordinary wish."]

"But it's out of reach, isn't it? Once you start living on your own, you realize that even such a wish is extravagant. A better life becomes a fantasy."

Staring at the ceiling, Li Huan felt a bit melancholic: "After all, just surviving takes everything you've got."

["You're quite the realist. But do you still see yourself as an ordinary person?"] The system's tone became serious. ["You now have me and a top-level companion like Tom."]

"It's not about being ordinary or extraordinary. I just think that no matter what happens, I am who I am, nothing more."

For some reason, Li Huan smiled bitterly: "In the end, I'm just a person with little ambition or desire, without much drive."

["I see. So that's how you think… Interesting."]

"Haah~" Li Huan yawned, feeling sleepiness overtaking him. He ended the conversation with the system, saying, "See you tomorrow."

["Yes, sweet dreams…"]

As Li Huan drifted into sleep, the system continued, ["Though I doubt you'll sleep long tonight."]

But Li Huan didn't hear that.

A few hours passed.

*Knock, knock, knock.*

Suddenly, there was a knocking sound on the door of the sports equipment room.

The knocking wasn't loud, and Li Huan, still in deep sleep, didn't respond. But Tom was awakened by the sound.

"Haah~~" Tom lifted his head, yawning, thinking he might have misheard, and tried to go back to sleep. But before he could settle down, the annoying sound came again.

Tom opened his eyes, frowning, clearly displeased.

Who the hell is knocking at this hour? Can't they see I'm sleeping?

Tom got up, checked on Li Huan to see if the noise had disturbed his sleep, and seeing that Li Huan was still sound asleep, he was relieved.

Tom quietly tiptoed over to Li Huan, and somehow pulled out a pair of earplugs, carefully placing them in Li Huan's ears.

Perfect, now the noise won't wake him.

Satisfied with his work, Tom clapped his hands, then walked to the door with a grumpy cat face.

He walked to the door, put his hands on his hips, grabbed the door of the sports warehouse with one hand, and opened it.

Clang—

As the door to the sports warehouse swung open, Tom saw who was knocking.

It was a security guard.

He appeared to be in his thirties or forties, a man in his prime, short in height, and stocky in build.

However, there was something extremely abnormal about him.

His legs were positioned in an awkward stance, his hands were claw-like and trembled occasionally, and his skin was very dry and pale, as if he had aged by decades.

But the most striking feature was his face.

His eyes were blank, his pupils a purple-black hue, his expression was dull, and saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth.

To describe him, this man looked like—

A zombie.

When Tom saw him, the cat's expression instantly turned to one of sheer terror. His entire body bristled, fur standing on end, as he clung to the doorknob, hovering in mid-air, with his eyes bulging out in shock.

Oh, not just like it—his eyeballs actually popped out completely, gradually splitting into five parts, arranged in a row from largest to smallest.

The man saw Tom and opened his mouth.

"Ah~~~~~~"

His claws suddenly and relentlessly swiped at Tom, trying to grab him.

But Tom was quicker. He grabbed the doorknob and slammed the door shut.

Bang!

With a heavy thud, the door caught the zombie's hand.

Trapped by the door, the clawed hand instantly flattened into a palm, trembling violently.

It looked painful.

Realizing he had caught the man's hand, Tom instinctively opened the door slightly, and the hand quickly withdrew.

Tom quickly slammed the door shut again, grabbed the nearby chain, locked it, and then collapsed against the door, panting heavily.

On his right chest, a heart-shaped object was beating violently through his skin, as if it was about to burst out of his body.

Tom pressed his heart down forcefully and took a deep breath to calm himself.

Meanwhile, Li Huan, still in bed with earbuds in, hadn't heard the earlier commotion.

Tom glanced at Li Huan, quickly ran to his side, and shook him violently to wake him up.

Li Huan, still groggy, was startled awake by Tom's shaking. He opened his bleary eyes and saw Tom, who looked panicked.

Still a bit dazed, Li Huan looked at Tom in confusion.

"What happened?"