Even in the Apocalypse, the Lay-Flat System Only Arrives Now?

In a parallel world on Blue Star, China, in the city of Xing City during the sweltering mid-July heat, a young construction worker named Jiang Wu stands at the back of a thousand-man assembly, listening to leaders deliver pompous speeches. A high school graduate, Jiang Wu has spent years toiling on construction sites, his only concern being his paralyzed adoptive sister, Su Ziyu. Suddenly, a system activates in his mind, the Lay-Flat System, promising him a life of ease through accumulating points by lying flat. The system’s interface reveals a mall containing items like a universal antidote, a gene evolution matrix, and a miracle cure for all diseases, all requiring lay-flat points. Before Jiang Wu can fully process this, the system blares urgent warnings: the concentration of a dark matter virus has exceeded safe levels by thirty times, a Great Catastrophe is imminent, and the first wave of infected will arrive in less than twelve hours. The system automatically exchanges the newbie gift pack of 1,000 points for an antidote for Jiang Wu, who consumes it immediately, feeling a surge of relief and clarity. Realizing the gravity of the situation, he abandons the meeting, ignoring the threats of his oppressive foreman, Li Daha, who has deducted thousands from his wages over the years. Jiang Wu rushes home on his bicycle to his rented apartment in the countryside, a four-story self-built house with a backyard and a provincial road in front, which he recognizes as a suitable shelter. The system rewards him with 200 points for finding this hideout but immediately issues a mission to sleep for twelve hours, offering 100 points, a task he finds absurd given the impending doom. Jiang Wu unlocks the master bedroom to find Su Ziyu, a beautiful but horrifically thin girl paralyzed from the neck down after a car accident that killed their adoptive parents eight years ago. He feeds her the remaining antidote, massages her atrophied limbs, and promises to find a cure, leaving her locked in the room while he prepares for the catastrophe. The next morning, the world has transformed: the provincial road is littered with bloodstains, broken bones, wrecked cars, and dozens of pale, wandering zombies. The city burns in the distance, plumes of smoke rising from buildings on fire. Despite the chaos, the system issues a new mission for Jiang Wu to clock in at the construction site office before 9 AM, rewarding 100 points. Frustrated by the system’s apparent naivety, Jiang Wu decides to comply, seeing the points as essential for survival, especially to acquire the gene evolution matrix and especially the universal medicine that can cure any disease or injury, potentially saving Su Ziyu. He gears up with arm guards, a pot lid shield, a steel bar spear, and two cleaving mountain knives. He practices on the landlord, now a zombie, killing it by stabbing through its skull, though the sight of black blood and brain matter makes him nauseous. He forces himself to adapt, acknowledging he must get used to such horrors. After securing the keys and checking the backyard for threats, he ventures out, only to be immediately ambushed by a dark shadow that knocks him to the ground, its unnatural speed and proximity rendering his defenses useless. As his mind goes blank, the outcome of his mission and the safety of his sister hang in the balance, the system’s promise of lying flat clashing violently with the brutal reality of the apocalypse.