Volume One: Mutation Chapter Six: A Year in a Dream

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The humanoid monster before him was engulfed in black flames, its agonized roar ending only as it crumbled into a heap of ash—a spectacle so shocking it defied imagination. In the pitch darkness, the black fire flickered like a sinister shadow, swaying with the wind. Even Liu Cong couldn’t help but take two steps back.

After the ear-splitting howls ceased, Liu Cong heard something odd behind the security door a few meters away. His expression hardened as he approached, the events that had just transpired still vivid in his mind.

He didn’t know why things had changed so drastically, but it was obvious that the monstrous turn Hang City had taken was connected to the humanoid he’d just destroyed. If another one lurked behind that door, he wouldn’t hesitate.

Liu Cong pressed his ear to the door, listening carefully. From within, he could only make out strange, uneven breathing—sometimes rapid, sometimes calm.

Black flames slowly wrapped around his palm. Liu Cong resolved to break in. If the room was filled with monsters like the last, he could handle them easily enough with his current strength; if not, escape would be just as simple.

He aimed at the door frame and kicked hard. With a thunderous crash, the frame splintered, leaving a gap between door and wall. The sound echoed far into the silent night.

Another crash—this time, Liu Cong sent the security door flying into the room, where it bounced noisily across the tiled floor.

Guo Fei, Li Jing, and Zhang Han were all students at Jiangzhe University. Their lives had been ordinary but fulfilling. In their spare time, the three had rented this apartment together and opened an online snack shop.

Half a year ago, a torrential rain began to fall. The trio packed up numerous parcels, intending to mail them once the weather cleared. But the downpour persisted for three whole days and nights.

For three days, the rain fell in sheets. Visibility in the downpour was less than ten meters. Black clouds smothered the sky so completely that, without a clock, there was no telling day from night.

Finally, on the fourth morning, the rain ceased and the sun returned. That day, Guo Fei drew back the curtains, planning to open the window for some air, only to find the once-smooth glass pitted and thin as paper in places.

As he puzzled over this strange transformation, screams—shrill and blood-curdling—rose from the street below. The agony in those cries was unimaginable.

Guo Fei gingerly opened the window, careful not to shatter the fragile glass. Leaning out, he saw the scene below—startlingly vivid in red. Two men in suits crouched over a woman’s corpse, their heads bobbing up and down in a grotesque rhythm. Had someone jumped?

Suddenly, a woman’s piercing scream rang out from a third-floor window—the resident of that apartment, it seemed.

Her scream caught the attention of one of the suited men. He looked up toward the source of the noise, and in that instant, Guo Fei understood why the woman had shrieked.

The man’s face was smeared with blood, his eyes glowing like crimson lanterns, and his mouth—slashed ear to ear—still gnawed at something.

My god! Guo Fei clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his own cry. The upper half of the woman’s body had already been half-eaten, a gory, unrecognizable mess. A monster—a man-eater! Instantly, his mind leapt to the zombies of horror films.

The next moment, the suited creature leaped five meters into the air, clung to a second-story security grate, and rapidly climbed into the third-floor woman’s apartment. Another scream split the morning.

Guo Fei collapsed in terror, then scrambled up and yanked the curtains closed, his whole body shaking with fear.

In a society governed by law, most people rarely see even a pool of blood. Witnessing a fatal accident is enough to feel seasoned. But here, before his very eyes, was a scene of raw, brutal cannibalism. The monsters were real, straight out of a nightmare—how could anyone not be terrified?

Struggling to suppress his fear, Guo Fei rose and gently knocked on Li Jing and Zhang Han’s doors to warn them.

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When the two girls learned there was a man-eating monster in the building, they were startled and hurried to Guo Fei’s window. Peeking through a crack in the curtains, they saw the remaining monster still gnawing on the corpse below. The sight chilled them to the bone. Only their prior warning kept them from screaming.

The three deliberated and decided to call the police. After two hours of only busy signals, they turned to the internet and discovered such monsters had appeared all across Hang City. Posts about these creatures and their attacks flooded the forums. The trio resolved to stay barricaded in their apartment and wait for rescue—they had plenty of food, after all, and no intention of opening the door for anything.

And so, they waited. Half a year passed.

One day, Li Jing, unable to stand the smell of piled-up garbage in the apartment, opened the door to take out the trash. In doing so, she made a faint noise, quickly shut the door, but still managed to attract a monster.

The creature repeatedly tried to break through the security door, but the sturdy steel held fast. Despite its enhanced strength, its human body was no match for metal.

Inside, the three huddled in fear. The noises outside fell silent for a while, until suddenly, they heard a voice.

“What the hell—!”

Someone? The three exchanged glances; hope flickered on the girls’ faces. Had rescue finally arrived?

Bang! Bang!—Two more loud crashes, then no further human sounds—only the monster’s inhuman howls. The three turned deathly pale.

In their despair, the solid security door was suddenly blasted into the room, slamming against the wall before crashing to the floor.

In the darkness, a figure strode in with overwhelming presence, lowering his foot after the kick. Panicked, the three scrambled under the dining table, trembling.

Liu Cong’s vision pierced the dark. At a glance, he saw these were ordinary humans, not monsters—a relief. But their terrified reaction made him chuckle silently as he dismissed the black fire from his hands.

He cleared his throat. “Come out. I’m human, not a monster,” he announced, feigning a cough.

But the memory of his dramatic entrance lingered, and with the two girls sobbing under the table, none of them caught what Liu Cong said.

“Come out! You’re safe now!” Liu Cong called more loudly.

Guo Fei poked his head out, half in doubt, and switched on his flashlight. In the beam, he saw a figure with long, flowing hair. Though the face was indistinct, the fair skin and normal-sized mouth looked nothing like a monster.

He nudged Li Jing and Zhang Han under the table. “Stop crying, I think it really is a person, not a monster.” With that, he crawled out first.

The two girls, seeing Guo Fei unharmed, followed suit.

Liu Cong glanced around and spotted a desk lamp on the coffee table. He flicked the switch, and the lamp came on. He quipped inwardly: Black fire is impressive, but useless for lighting.

In the sudden glow, the three finally saw Liu Cong clearly—a man in a casual suit, his clothes spotless and neat. Long, silky hair fell over his shoulders; his fair skin and handsome features gave him a magnetic, almost otherworldly charm.

The trio stood dazed, their hearts pounding.

Guo Fei thought, Wait—why am I feeling attracted to a guy?

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“What happened here? Where are all the people in the city?” Liu Cong asked directly, his voice low and steady.

Unbeknownst to him, though he appeared calm and collected, inside he was shouting his gratitude to the heavens. This world hadn’t abandoned him—there were still survivors.

Guo Fei and the girls exchanged glances. “Where did you come from? This is almost a ghost town now. Most people fled after the disaster. Are you here to rescue us?”

“Fled? Fled where? And what was that monster? I’ve been unconscious for a long time—I don’t know what’s happened. When I woke up, everything was already like this,” Liu Cong replied, confusion in his voice.

Hearing this, the three looked at each other again. “You ran into a zombie? Where is it now?”

“That thing is called a zombie? Don’t worry, I burned it to ash. Tell me more about this disaster you mentioned,” Liu Cong said, finding a chair and sitting down.

Guo Fei swallowed nervously. “Um—brother, can I ask how long you’ve been unconscious?”

Liu Cong frowned, thinking hard. It felt like just a nap, but his memories were hazy, as if he’d slept for too long.

“It must have been around July fifteenth. What’s today?”

“What? But today is only July ninth! Are you sure?” Guo Fei exclaimed in shock.

Liu Cong was stunned. “What year is it?”

“It’s 2016. Nearly a year has passed since the Cataclysm began. If you were unconscious before it started, you might have been out for a whole year,” analyzed Zhang Han.

Liu Cong felt as if struck by lightning—a whole year gone? He forced a bitter smile. He had slept through an entire year.

In a year’s time, everything had changed. Were the people he once knew still alive?

Composing himself, Liu Cong asked more questions. Through the trio’s piecemeal explanations, he finally understood what had transpired over the past year.

During that year, the oceans and rivers became forbidden zones. The emergence of the Black Sea in the Pacific led to massive mutations in marine life. Once-docile creatures grew bloodthirsty and aggressive. Any living thing near the Black Sea became their target.

Many small sea creatures grew to monstrous size. Even the tiny fish that once fed on plankton now stretched over a meter, bristling with sharp teeth and craving flesh and blood.

Larger animals and fish grew even larger. Over the year, people reported sightings of three-hundred-meter giant octopuses, sharks eighty meters long, swordfish with razor-sharp heads spanning twenty or thirty meters, and countless other abominations.

These creatures shared more than just immense size; they were all fiercely aggressive, attacking anything on the sea’s surface. Even tossing a plank of wood into their midst would provoke a frenzy, as if they had lost all reason.