"Evil Owl, Demon Soul, and Mordred betrayed us."
"Chu Feng, take the captain and break through! Head to the Dragon City Research Institute and find the antidote!"
"The Evil God has cut off our retreat!"
"Then charge! Even if it takes a mountain of corpses, we must clear a path to get the captain out!"
"Captain, live on for us! You are the soul of the Demon Hunters. As long as you survive, the Demon Hunters live on!"
...
Explosions rumbled in Huan Tian's ears, mixed with the shriek of bullets whistling through the air.
The roar of battle cries.
The terrifying howls of agony.
The sickening sound of flesh being torn apart and devoured.
All these sounds tangled together into a nightmarish chorus straight out of hell.
The virus from his wound had begun to ravage Huan Tian's body. He felt unbearably heavy, like he was sinking to the ocean floor, with immense pressure crushing him from all sides—his muscles, bones, and organs all on the verge of collapse.
He wanted to open his eyes—to prove he was still alive—but he couldn't even move a finger.
Inside, Huan Tian screamed:
"My teammates still need me. How can I fall here?"
"Wake up! Wake up, Huan Tian!"
"AHHH!"
He roared in his heart, his vocal cords tearing from the strain.
When he finally managed to force his bloodshot eyes open, the sight before him left him utterly stunned.
Outside the window, the city glowed with peaceful neon lights. Cars moved smoothly through the streets like blood vessels circulating in a living metropolis.
And in front of him: a desk. A computer. Stacks of documents...
Everything felt strange, disjointed—yet oddly familiar, as if space and time had twisted.
Suddenly, something caught his eye. His pupils shrank like a beast sensing danger.
Up above, a meteor blazed across the sky, cloaked in eerie blue flames, ghostly and beautiful against the night.
Huan Tian's hands and feet instantly went cold. His gaze snapped to the bottom-right corner of the computer screen.
June 13, 2078. 8:00 PM.
This was before the apocalypse.
Only thirty minutes remained before the end of the world.
Right now, that meteor—Azure—was passing by Earth. The countless shimmering blue crystals on its surface were about to fall like rain.
They looked beautiful, but they carried death.
These blue crystals contained a substance known as the Nightmare Virus, highly concentrated and unimaginably infectious.
Once they began falling with the heavy rain, any biological lifeform exposed through skin, ingestion, or even contact would mutate.
Zombies. Mutant beasts. Mutant plants. Parasitic fungi, viruses, bacteria...
From that moment on, Earth would descend into a terrifying abyss of mutation.
Humanity would lose 80% of its population almost overnight, falling from the top of the food chain to scurrying in the shadows like rats. The world would belong to the monsters.
Huan Tian had survived those ten bloody years.
He fought on the front lines of the apocalypse, forged unbreakable bonds with brothers-in-arms, and founded the legendary Demon Hunter Squad.
He became the only human in the world to push his genes to Level 8 before turning forty.
People hailed him as the Demon Hunter God.
But just as he attempted to break through to the mythical Level 9, he was betrayed by his comrades—Evil Owl, Demon Soul, and Mordred—all of them elite Level 8 evolvers.
They ambushed him and lured in the only known Level 9 Mutant Beast at the time: the Evil God.
The entire Demon Hunter Squad gave their lives to shield Huan Tian during the escape.
Even so, Huan Tian was infected by the Nightmare Virus from the Evil God and fell, becoming a Level 9 zombie.
The image of his brothers dying in front of him burned into his soul. His eyes turned crimson with rage.
"Evil Owl, Demon Soul, Mordred! Since heaven gave me a second life... I will make you repay your blood debt—with blood!"
"And my brothers... This time, I won't let you die at the hands of the Evil God!"
[Ding! Apocalypse countdown begins: 30 minutes remaining. Demon Hunter System has been activated.]
Name: Huan Tian
Strength: 6
Agility: 7
Constitution: 7
Spirit: 9
[System Level: LV1 | Demon Hunter Points: 0/20 to Level Up]
[Current Mission: Find your first comrade before the apocalypse begins.]
[Mission Reward: Unlock Ammunition Synthesis System — Fast Crafting for Desert Eagle ammo enabled.]
[Note: Fast crafting consumes Demon Hunter Points. Earn points by killing zombies and mutants.]
"The Demon Hunter System? My... Demon Hunter Squad?"
"Could it be that even Heaven took pity on us, and brought them back to me this way?"
Huan Tian's eyes welled with mixed emotions. But now wasn't the time for sentiment.
As a skilled programmer, Huan Tian swiftly hacked into the government server. Using its emergency broadcast channel, he pushed out a warning to the entire country:
"The apocalypse is coming. Stay indoors. Seal all windows and doors."
"Avoid the rain for the next 12 hours. Only consume sealed food and water. Do not touch anything or anyone exposed to rain."
"Most importantly: Do not get injured. Remember that!"
After sending the alert, he shut down the computer and pulled the plug.
A massive plan was already taking shape in his mind—and this warning was only the beginning.
"Evil Owl, Demon Soul, Mordred... we'll meet again."
Bang!
Suddenly, a rolled-up magazine slammed into Huan Tian's desk. If he hadn't turned his head, it might have hit his temple.
"Huan Tian, you lazy bastard! I called you in the middle of the night to work overtime, and you're turning off the computer?"
"You're not leaving this office until you finish the report!"
A fat, greasy man sneered down at him, the flesh on his face jiggling with mockery.
In an instant, Huan Tian's gaze turned razor-sharp, murderous intent flaring uncontrollably.
Jiang Hao.
The project department head and the nephew of CEO Jiang Qing. He constantly tormented Huan Tian, forcing him to work late.
Huan Tian had tolerated it silently, thinking his girlfriend Wang Susu was waiting for him out of love.
But it was all a lie.
Wang Susu had long become Jiang Qing's mistress.
Jiang Hao's overtime orders were just a cover to give her time to sneak upstairs to the CEO's private office, right above Huan Tian's head.
He had worn that humiliating green hat for three whole years, until the day of the apocalypse, when he caught the shameless pair fleeing together. He'd been beaten by security and locked inside, left to die.
But it was that confinement that saved him.
Everyone else got infected and turned. Only he survived those first 12 hours of hell.
Jiang Hao shuddered at Huan Tian's glare. A primal fear gripped him—but only for a moment.
Anger surged up instead.
"What are you staring at? You're just a worker! You want to lose your bonus this month? Keep looking at me like that, and I'll erase your entire performance record! Not a penny for your year-end bonus!"
He waved the magazine inches from Huan Tian's face, spit flying.
In the past, this threat had always worked.
But this time was different.
Huan Tian's gaze didn't shrink—it sharpened. It was a blade.
"Jiang Hao, today we settle the score."
He stood up.
The killing intent from ten years of slaughter enveloped Jiang Hao like a suffocating fog.
Jiang Hao instinctively stumbled back, nearly falling, but pride and rage made him snap.
He swung the magazine down.
Crack!
Huan Tian slapped it aside and grabbed his wrist, twisting outward with expert force.
Snap!
The bones gave way instantly.
You didn't need superhuman strength—just knowledge of where and how to apply force.
"It hurts! You damn mutt, you dare bite your master?! I'll kill you!"
Jiang Hao screamed in agony.
At that moment, four security guards burst in.
"Huan Tian! What the hell are you doing?"
"Let go of Mr. Jiang, now!"
Batons raised, they rushed forward.
But before they could strike—
"GET OUT!"
Huan Tian's roar thundered through the room.
He lashed out with four clean kicks, each one hitting with deadly precision. The guards flew like ragdolls, smashing furniture and hitting the walls with bone-cracking thuds.
Not one of them got up.
Huan Tian stretched his limbs. This body, though not a fighter's, had decent coordination. His movements were rusty, but acceptable.
Jiang Hao now completely panicked.
"Huan Tian... it was just a joke! Don't take it seriously—"
"Then I'll treat this like a joke, too."
Crack!
Huan Tian yanked Jiang Hao's arm again. This time, the shoulder joint was pulverized. His arm dangled like a dead weight, and Jiang Hao collapsed, howling in pain.
But Huan Tian had only just begun.