Volume One: The Apocalypse Begins Chapter 6: A Family Reunion—Turns Out to Be a Little Scoundrel

Hurrying up the stairs to the third floor in quick strides, he saw the security door diagonally opposite the staircase firmly shut, with no signs of forced entry. Xiang Chenguang finally let out a long breath of relief.

When the apocalypse began, his mother should not have had time to leave the house.

He glanced around the corridor, confirming there was no immediate danger. Then he leaned his riot baton against the doorframe and reached into his arm pouch for the keys.

Just then, the security door suddenly swung open. A small figure burst out and threw herself into his arms, crying out in a choked voice, “Brother!”

Xiang Chenguang tensed, hesitating for a moment before gently placing his right hand on the thin back pressed against him. He softly patted her and said, “It’s alright now, brother is back.”

At the same time, he felt a pang of emotion. How long had it been? Ever since this annoying little sister started middle school, the sweet, adorable little tail who used to follow him everywhere calling “Brother” had gradually drifted away from him.

Through the open door, Xiang Chenguang saw the living room was empty; his parents were nowhere to be seen. Considering his sister’s unusual behavior, his heart tightened as he asked, “Xiao Xiao, where are Mom and Dad?”

Xiang Xiao lifted her tear-streaked, delicate face from his chest, sobbing, “I… I was woken up this morning by some sudden apocalyptic system alert. Then Dad told me to stay home because he was going out to look for Mom.

When I came out of my room, the house was empty. I was all alone.” Tears streamed down her cheeks like a broken string of pearls.

Things were clearly worsening. Xiang Chenguang sighed deeply and began, “Xiao Xiao, you—”

She grabbed his hand fiercely. “No, I want to go with you to find Mom and Dad!”

Xiang Chenguang shook his head. From what he knew, the monsters he had encountered so far couldn’t break through doors or windows. The house was still safe for now.

Outside, however, the number of invading creatures was increasing with time—not only crawling monsters like spider beasts and giant centipedes with formidable climbing skills but also the flying creatures he had seen earlier.

Taking Xiao Xiao along in these circumstances would be unwise; she was a liability.

Yet, looking into her soft, pleading eyes, he found it hard to refuse.

At that moment, a noise came from downstairs—a brief startled cry. Probably, the neighbors on the second floor, seeing that the giant centipede had left, had gone out to check and found its corpse split in two.

Then a low male voice sounded: “Old Hu, thanks to your help this time, it might be my boy back. Let’s go upstairs and see.”

The voice sounded like his father, Xiang Dongliang. Before Xiang Chenguang could react, Xiao Xiao shouted joyfully, “Dad!” and dashed downstairs.

Xiang Chenguang exhaled in relief. Judging by his father’s words, he must be with his mother, hiding at Old Hu’s place downstairs.

Watching Xiao Xiao run swiftly downstairs, a sly smile crept over Xiang Chenguang’s face. He picked up the riot baton and followed her at a steady pace.

Sure enough, after only a few steps, he heard Xiao Xiao scream. Coming to the stairwell corner, he saw her, still in pajamas and slippers, running back pale-faced and throwing herself into his arms again. “Brother!”

Judging by her reaction, she had been frightened by the giant centipede’s corpse in the second-floor corridor.

Xiang Chenguang set the baton against the stair railing and gently patted her back to comfort her. “It’s okay. It’s dead now.”

At that moment, a deep male voice called from the second-floor corridor, “Xiao Xiao?” followed by hurried footsteps. Two middle-aged figures appeared at the stairwell.

The man was about 1.75 meters tall, with a crew cut showing some graying hair, wearing camouflage shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, exuding an aura of steadfast reliability.

The woman was just over 1.6 meters tall, with smooth black hair naturally flowing down, dressed in a pale yellow long dress, radiating the gentle warmth typical of southern women.

They were none other than Xiang Chenguang’s parents, Xiang Dongliang and He Wan.

The family of four gathered in the living room, sitting on the sofa, all sharing a profound sense of having survived a great calamity.

This should have been an ordinary morning, yet the sudden apocalypse had thrust this simple family into a struggle for life and death.

He Wan gently stroked Xiao Xiao’s back, who had buried her head silently in her shoulder, recounting the terrifying ordeal she had faced earlier.

That morning, she had gone out as usual to buy groceries, but as she descended the stairs and took only a few steps, she was suddenly startled by the apocalyptic survival system’s alert sound ringing in her mind.

Ahead, on the concrete path leading to the community gate, something flickered in and out of sight. The abrupt change made her instinctively turn back toward home.

But barely two steps in, she heard rustling, quick and faint, behind her. Turning around, she saw a huge centipede writhing rapidly toward her.

The horrifying scene nearly scared her out of her wits, and she hurriedly ran back upstairs.

However, by the time she reached the second-floor stairwell, the giant centipede had caught up.

Fortunately, Xiang Dongliang, who had received the system alert and immediately went out searching for his wife, arrived just in time. He grabbed her and dodged the centipede’s biting attack.

Facing the monster’s renewed assault, Xiang Dongliang grabbed a shoe rack left outside a neighbor’s door and smashed it on the centipede’s head.

As a former soldier now working at the county armed forces department, and still maintaining his fitness routine, Xiang Dongliang was quite strong. The wooden shoe rack shattered into pieces, and the centipede was driven back onto the stairs.

At that moment, Old Hu, their downstairs neighbor, opened his door to check the situation, and the couple took refuge in his home.

While his parents recounted their morning ordeal, Xiang Chenguang opened the apocalyptic survival system. He saw that the character rank had changed: now showing Zero Rank, Level 0 (63/50).

The numbers glowed faintly in golden light. Having experience with online games, Xiang Chenguang knew this meant he was ready to level up.

But he held off for now and switched to the task panel. At the very top, in golden font, was the primary main quest: Apocalypse Survival.

The task was simple—survive for three days in the apocalypse.

From talking with his parents, Xiang Chenguang learned their primary quest was the same—survive three days—and both had awakened talents.

Xiang Dongliang’s talent was the Heart of Protection, which increased his constitution by one when using defensive weapons and accelerated the proficiency growth of protective skills.

He Wan’s talent was Numerical Sensitivity, enhancing her sensitivity to numerical changes and improving her memory for numbers.

Xiang Chenguang then looked at Xiao Xiao, who still had her head buried in her mother’s shoulder, and asked, “Xiao Xiao, what’s your talent?”

After a long pause came her muffled reply, “I don’t have one.”

Xiang Chenguang glanced at Xiao Xiao, who had become distant and cold toward him again since their parents returned, and twitched the corner of his mouth. “So, you’re just a little loser.”