At 5:00 PM, in the clearing west of the cafeteria, the survivors gathered for a sombre funeral to honour the fallen. The ceremony was stark in its simplicity. A large pit was hastily dug, where the bodies of the deceased were laid to rest together. A rough-hewn stone stele stood at the head of the grave, adorned with a cluster of nameless white wildflowers—a modest tribute to those lost. At least they have a burial, a place to rest, Chen Liu thought, his gaze lingering on the silent earth. The world around them seemed vast and still, its silence a heavy shroud over the gathering. Yu Dachao broke the quiet, his voice thick with emotion. “Captain, say a few words.” Chen Liu stepped before the stele, his expression impassive as he faced the surviving the elderly, the women, the fighters. “This won’t be the last time we face a corpse horde. As long as we live, death stalks us. We can’t lower our guard, not for a moment. The era of peace and comfort is gone. All we can do is stand together, fight with everything we have, and defend the last shred of our dignity as humans.” With that, he turned and walked away, unwilling to let even a flicker of vulnerability show. Behind him, the stele bore four carved characters: “Born Human,” a fitting epitaph for those who fought, the fallen.

That night, the dining hall was cloaked in gloom. Though the bodies had been cleared and the blood scrubbed from the floors, yet the air remained thick with the metallic tang of blood and the rancid stench of zombie rot. Appetites withered, and fear seeped into the survivors, keeping sleep at bay for many. On Chen Liu’s orders, the group relocated to the second floor to tighten their defences, wary of another attack. A second Seven-Star zombie could appear any time. His mind was alert to the ever-present threat[^3]. Two sentry posts—one on the third floor and one at the front gate— were established with round-the-clock vigilance. For the eight newly enlisted female recruits, Chen Liu took extra care, arranging for them to share a room to foster unity. Togetherness builds strength, he reasoned, knowing camaraderie could be as vital as skill in their fight for survival. Zhang Chong’s unconscious state weighed heavily on Chen Liu, though a glimmer of hope lingered. He recalled how Fang Ruoming awakened his powers after a coma. Maybe Zhang Chong will turn this into a blessing. He clung to hope.

In the solitude of his room, Chen Liu cast aside distractions and began his nightly training ritual. His first task was to absorb the crystals he had collected: three Six-Star crystals, two Five-Star crystals, and, most prized, a single Seven-Star white crystal, which he had amassed alongside others from the past week. Together, they were sufficient to propel him to the rank of Seven-Star Awakened. This is it. The next step forward. A faint thrill of anticipation coursed through him. As the 4096th strand of origin energy emerged in his dantian, the core trembled and expanded visibly, doubling in size. Within the misty expanse of his dantian, over four thousand energy threads twisted and coiled, a mesmerising yet chaotic mass. Chen Liu remained disciplined, knowing complacency could halt his progress. To advance from Awakened to Evolver, he would need to form a vortex of source energy, untangling and organising the dantian’s threads into a coherent structure. This was an immense challenge. If I wait until nine stars, with 260,000 threads, it’ll be impossible, he thought, dedicating an hour each day to arranging the threads into a vortex-like form.

The leap from Six-Star to Seven-Star Awakened marked a transition from mid-level to high-level status. With his “Body Regeneration” ability, this advancement enhanced his physical strength to rival that of five average adults, giving him the confidence to face a Seven-Star zombie on equal terms. I’m no longer just a pawn in this apocalypse. A sense of hard-earned security settling within him. After absorbing the crystals, Chen Liu turned to visualisation, a practice that felt different that night. The strain of copying an ability left his spiritual sea depleted, like a parched well. As he visualised, it was as if a sponge, wrung dry, began frantically drawing in spiritual energy from an unseen void. Silver threads emerged from nothingness, and the process  was been more than twice as effective as before. At this rate, my mental strength could reach Eight-Star levels soon, he realised, surprised by the unexpected benefit of his copying ability. That ability was his trump card, but his battle instinct, fueled by mental strength, was his true edge in combat. Without it, I’d be dead a dozen times over, he admitted to himself. Now able to visualise for two and a half hours—a significant breakthrough—Chen Liu felt, for the first time, a cautious optimism about the future.

The next morning brought even brighter news: Zhang Chong awakened. To Chen Liu’s chagrin, Zhang Chong manifested the “Berserker” ability, the same as the legendary online figure War God, perfectly suited to his fiery temperament. Unfortunately, Chen Liu, having already copied “Cell Regeneration,”  was unable to acquire “Berserker Body” as well. Overnight, with his stockpile of crystals, Zhang Chong surged to Four-Star Awakened status, though his failure to reach Five-Star was due to insufficient mental strength rather than a lack of crystals. Of all things, his mental foundation is too weak, Chen Liu noted, finding the irony both amusing and frustrating. Physical-type Awakened typically required minimal mental power, making Zhang Chong an outlier in his failure to advance. He’ll have to build it through visualisation, like the rest of us, Chen Liu concluded. With Zhang Chong’s awakening and the addition of the eight female recruits, the squad’s strength was bolstered, though it remained diminished. Given time, we’ll rebuild, Chen Liu insisted in his mind.

Over breakfast, the mood shifted to one of quiet mourning when Zhang Chong learned of Fang Ruoming’s death. He sighed deeply, his usual bravado replaced by grief. He called him ‘scaredy-cat,’ but he cared for him, Chen Liu observed, noting the weight of loss in Zhang Chong’s eyes. Fang Ruoming’s absence struck a chord, especially after they had fought side by side just the day before. Li Dong, across the table,  was lost in his own grief. Of his original squad, only two survived: Zheng Kuncheng, a security guard, and Gao Bin, who miraculously escaped by hiding in the first-floor public restroom, masking his scent with urine. The squad’s losses—Liu Wei among them— left scars that no victory could erase, yet the survivors had no choice but to press forward in the face of an unforgiving apocalypse.

Yuyu: GB really be going through trauma.

thINKer: It's getting really sad. I hope they will be fine eventually.