“Shaohua, you’re awake?” Seeing their daughter regain consciousness, Mr. and Mrs. Ye sighed in relief. “Do you feel unwell anywhere?”
Ye Shaohua hadn’t yet absorbed the plot details, so she simply shook her head slightly.
“Uncle, Aunt, there’s something very important I need to tell you,” Ye Xiangxiang said, already knowing Ye Shaohua would be fine—she had only suffered heatstroke from the extreme temperatures, after all. Unlike in her past life, she wasn’t worried about Shaohua this time. “If you trust me, start stockpiling food at home immediately—preferably things like canned goods, bottled water, and compressed biscuits.”
Mr. and Mrs. Ye exchanged puzzled glances.
Ye Xiangxiang had lost her parents at a young age, leaving her vulnerable to greedy relatives eyeing her family’s property. It was Mr. and Mrs. Ye who had taken her in, raised her as their own, and helped her reclaim her inheritance.
They had treated her no differently from their biological daughter. Remembering how horribly they had died in her past life—left outside the safety zone and torn apart by zombies—Ye Xiangxiang clenched her fists.
She hated her past helplessness, hated that she had entrusted them to Ye Shaohua.
“Alright,” Mr. and Mrs. Ye agreed hesitantly, seeing the urgency in Xiangxiang’s eyes. “But you just got home—are you heading back to school now?”
“I need to check on my roommates. I’ll return in a couple of days,” Ye Xiangxiang said, standing up.
Her gaze lingered on Ye Shaohua’s indifferent expression, her eyes darkening.
As much as she loathed Shaohua right now, she couldn’t act rashly—not with her uncle and aunt present. If she told them Shaohua would be the one to get them killed in the future, they’d probably think she’d lost her mind.
But she couldn’t stand being here a second longer. Every moment spent near Shaohua made her want to strangle the girl preemptively, just to prevent the disaster she knew was coming.
Logically, she should stay far away from Ye Shaohua—otherwise, she’d end up dead again, just like last time. But she couldn’t abandon Mr. and Mrs. Ye. That’s why she had come back.
She wouldn’t breathe a word about the apocalypse to Shaohua, though. Who knew what kind of chaos that would invite?
After reiterating her warnings to her aunt and uncle, Ye Xiangxiang left for school.
“Why was Xiangxiang acting so strange today?” Mr. and Mrs. Ye murmured after seeing her off.
Still, Xiangxiang had always been sharp and responsible, never causing them trouble. So despite their confusion, they instructed the servants to stock up on supplies—mostly bottled water and compressed biscuits.
Once Xiangxiang was gone and they confirmed their daughter was fine, they returned to their own affairs.
Ye Shaohua stared out the window at the unnaturally blazing sun and the strange energy in the air. This world might be tougher than expected.
[Host, ready to receive the plot?] 008 prompted.
Ye Shaohua gave a slight nod.
In that instant, a flood of memories surged into her mind.
The original host, Ye Shaohua, was an ordinary medical student. Ye Xiangxiang, the orphaned daughter of her uncle, had been raised alongside her, and the two had been as close as sisters.
Then the apocalypse struck.
Xiangxiang awakened a powerful lightning-based ability. Their classmates and friends also developed powers—even Mr. and Mrs. Ye manifested superhuman strength. Only the original host remained ability-less.
Nearly everyone suggested abandoning her as dead weight, but her parents refused, shielding her at every turn.
Despite having no combat skills, the original host had an uncanny ability to foresee danger. She even deduced that the crystals inside zombie brains could be absorbed to enhance abilities. Her intellect made her invaluable, and eventually, the group stopped protesting her presence.
After a grueling journey, they reached a safe haven in City N—only for the original host to be barred entry for being a normal human.
Her parents chose to stay outside with her.
Then everything spiraled out of control.
The original host was mentally hijacked by a Level 5 zombie and snuck into the research lab. When Xiangxiang and the others discovered her attempting to destroy humanity’s last hope—a critical research project—they mobilized their forces and executed her on the spot.
At the same time, the Zombie King launched an assault on the city. Everyone believed the original host had betrayed humanity out of spite for being excluded.
But no one realized the Zombie King had already brainwashed several weaker ability-users into opening the city gates.
As swarms of zombies overran the base, Xiangxiang watched helplessly as Mr. and Mrs. Ye were torn apart outside the walls. The City N stronghold fell, its defenders nearly wiped out.
That was the past life—the one Ye Xiangxiang had been reborn from.
Now, Ye Shaohua had arrived in the world after Xiangxiang’s rebirth.
And this world was even more messed up.
Three people had been reborn—all of whom had “died because of” the original host in their past lives: Ye Xiangxiang, a wealthy playboy pursuing the female lead, and the school heartthrob the original host had secretly loved.
These individuals had already been formidable in their first lives. Now, armed with foreknowledge, they surged ahead while others still struggled to grasp their abilities.
And of course, since they’d been reborn, they weren’t about to let “the great villain Ye Shaohua” off the hook.
Clueless about any of this, the original host had been terrified when the apocalypse began. She trusted Xiangxiang and her friends completely—only to be lured into a zombie pit and left to die.
As the undead tore into her, she had looked up to see Xiangxiang and the others staring down at her with pure hatred.
She died without ever understanding why.
[Host, your mission this time is simple: protect yourself and Mr. and Mrs. Ye. There’s also a hidden objective—make the apocalypse disappear.] 008’s voice chimed in.
“Brutal,” Ye Shaohua summed up the original host’s fate in one word.
Each life had been worse than the last.
Everyone had assumed she was just an ordinary human with no abilities.
But from the memories she’d inherited, Ye Shaohua knew the truth—the original host had awakened an ability.
In fact, she’d developed the rarest and most formidable power of all: mental domain control.
*Tch… In the apocalypse, a brilliant medical mind is worth more than five Level 5 ability-users combined.*
A lazy smirk curled her lips. “Sure, she had it rough. But it’s fine now.”
Because she was here.
