PSW – Chapter 6

Last night…

Yu Yinan groggily opened her eyes to find herself in a completely unfamiliar place. She instinctively sat up and saw the girl sleeping on the floor beside her. The memories of the previous night slowly returned.

Right, she no longer had a home. Why did she even come back? It was laughable, utterly ridiculous.

She gave a bitter smile, her eyes falling on the water and towel next to her. For a moment, she didn’t know how to react. Had this girl… taken care of her all night? Yu Yinan instinctively rubbed her sore arm, feeling a pang of guilt for her wariness the night before, while her heart grew cold at the thought that her own family was worse than a stranger.

Perhaps she should have stopped having any expectations long ago.

“You… you’re awake?” Zheng Yi’s voice was a little groggy. She got up and subconsciously stretched, as if sleeping there all night had made her sore. “What would you like to eat? I still have some instant noodles saved up. You had a high fever last night, but thankfully, it wasn’t anything serious.”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you,” Yu Yinan said, feeling increasingly embarrassed and awkward.

“Don’t mention it. I’m all alone, too,” Zheng Yi said with a smile. She turned and walked to the kitchen, took out a small stove, and lit the alcohol block underneath with a lighter. Soon, the water was boiling.

As she worked, Zheng Yi spoke again in a conversational tone, “I’m actually really happy to have someone with me. But, it looks like you were here looking for someone?”

“…Yes. They already left.” Yu Yinan couldn’t help but clench her fists, suppressing the bitterness in her heart. She looked at Zheng Yi. “Don’t bother. Things are so chaotic now, and food is even scarcer. There’s no need… to give it to me. I-I don’t have anything to give you in return.”

“It’s alright, it’ll be ready in a minute.” Zheng Yi quickly tore open two packs of instant noodles and put them in the pot. “I can’t finish this much by myself anyway.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’m a bad person?”

“Hmm~ Are you?”

“…” Yu Yinan lowered her head, but still spoke up. “Being so unguarded is very dangerous… Have you been staying in this house the whole time? Where’s your family?”

“I don’t have a family~” Zheng Yi still wore a gentle smile. She gently stirred the noodles in the pot with chopsticks, and the domineering, irresistible aroma of instant noodles instantly filled the entire room. “But I was able to grow up thanks to the help of many, many people. So, I will also do my best to help everyone.”

She ladled the noodles into a bowl, poured the broth over them, and placed it on the coffee table in front of Yu Yinan, along with a pair of chopsticks. “Here, eat up.”

“…I’m sorry,” Yu Yinan said, her fingers twitching. Then she added, “Thank you.”

The moment the hot noodles, coated in rich broth, entered her mouth, Yu Yinan dazedly remembered that she hadn’t eaten a hot meal in days, not since the apocalypse began.

…And yet, they were just strangers.

Unconsciously, the steam blurred her vision. She avoided Zheng Yi’s gaze and lowered her head, eating every last bit of the noodles in her bowl.

[Ding! Detected that the host has helped others for the joy of it. Gained Saint Points +1]

Zheng Yi considerately said nothing, quietly eating her own portion. Of course, that was only on the surface.

‘You did a background check on me before, so showing me her backstory… shouldn’t be too difficult, right?’

[Do you think this is a game? I went through the trouble of investigating your past for the purpose of binding you. Besides, she never even appeared in the original novel.]

‘My dear Zero One, my most loyal partner, just tell me if you can do it or not.’

[…] Zero One gritted its teeth. [Fine, I can give you this, but don’t ask for a background story for every single person you meet from now on.]

[Also, these backstories are all sourced from the original novel’s world. If there are no other variables, they should be accurate. But with our system’s intervention, plus you as another variable, even the backstories can only be used as a reference. People can change.]

Zero One sighed. [Finally, you have to ask for her name first, right?]

“Can you tell me your name?” Zheng Yi looked over, her eyes full of sincerity. “I’m Zheng Yi.” She simply traced her name on the table.

“Yu Yinan.” Yu Yinan did the same, writing her name on the table. “The ‘Yi’ with the three-dot water radical, and the ‘Nan’ with the wood radical.”

[I’ll send it to you after I look it up. You can read it when you have time.] Zero One wanted to add a few more reminders, like not to act like she knew anything after reading it and not to let it slip in the future. But thinking about Zheng Yi’s “performance,” such reminders seemed unnecessary.

“These…” Yu Yinan looked at the empty bowls and chopsticks, unsure of what to do. Water was also a precious resource now.

“It’s okay, leave it to me.” Zheng Yi smiled and took the dishes, carrying them along with her own to the kitchen. “After getting caught in the rain last night, I think I gained a new ability. You had a fever all night, so you might have changed too. It’s still very safe here, so you can take a moment to see for yourself.”

“An ability?” Yu Yinan was confused. Had something changed in her body? From the moment she woke up, she had been caught up in Zheng Yi’s rhythm and hadn’t had a chance to investigate any changes in herself. Now that Zheng Yi had mentioned it, she looked at her hands in puzzlement.

[Are you planning to pass off the backpack as your ability? That makes sense. The original novel did have a storage-type ability. What is that in your hand!?] Zero One’s voice suddenly shot up. The entire system was stunned as it watched a small stream of water appear out of thin air in Zheng Yi’s palm.

[Didn’t you say you had no symptoms? Why do you, you…]

‘I just discovered it.’ Zheng Yi wasn’t particularly concerned. Even though it was the first time she had used her ability, she wasn’t clumsy at all. She skillfully used the stream of water to rinse the dishes clean. ‘Maybe when a weaker ability awakens, the body’s reaction is also smaller.’

[…Is that so?] Zero One was also becoming uncertain. The original novel had no such setting. But what Zheng Yi said made sense. It wasn’t necessarily that the ability was weak, so the reaction was small. Zero One thought of Zheng Yi’s strength, how she could sever a zombie’s bones with a fire axe… Perhaps Zheng Yi’s physical constitution was so monstrous that the initial adaptation to her ability was like child’s play to her, so of course she wouldn’t feel any discomfort.

When Zheng Yi came out after washing the dishes, she saw Yu Yinan staring blankly at her outstretched hand, where a tiny flame flickered on her fingertip, looking as if it would go out at any moment.

“Wow! Jiejie, you can control fire! That’s so cool!” Zheng Yi came to Yu Yinan’s side, her voice filled with admiration and excitement.

Yu Yinan was taken aback by the praise. The momentary distraction caused the flame on her fingertip to vanish completely. “No, I’m not very good at it… and it’s only this small.”

“It’s already amazing! Once you practice a little, Jiejie, not even zombies will be a match for you!” Zheng Yi excitedly moved closer, sitting beside Yu Yinan. “Jiejie, you’re alone too. Where are you planning to go? Can you take me with you?”

“I…” Yu Yinan lowered her gaze. Where else could she go? Where would she be accepted? “I don’t have a destination.”

“And you, we’ve only just met. You don’t even know me. You trust me just like that?”

“You’re not a bad person, so of course I trust you~” Zheng Yi’s smile was sweet, as if she hadn’t considered what might happen if Yu Yinan had ill intentions.

“This is the apocalypse now. Don’t trust people so easily,” Yu Yinan said. “Food, water, all kinds of resources—no matter what it is, it’s scarce in the apocalypse. Maybe it’s okay for now, but in a few months, or not even that long, this bowl of instant noodles could drive someone mad.”

“The world is in chaos, and we don’t know if the future will get any better. If you meet people, don’t rashly give them your trust. Your own survival is the most important thing,” Yu Yinan said with sincerity. She thought that if she were someone who had been starving for days and suddenly saw a young girl like Zheng Yi with plenty of food and water… she couldn’t even guarantee she wouldn’t have malicious thoughts.

Perhaps Zheng Yi hadn’t been outside since the chaos began, nor had she met anyone else, so she still held onto her pre-apocalyptic values? Or maybe everything had happened too fast, and the chaos had only just begun…

Yu Yinan sighed. Forget Zheng Yi; she herself hadn’t fully accepted this new reality.

“I know,” Zheng Yi replied with a smile. “You’re the brave one, Jiejie, riding a motorcycle around when it’s so dangerous.”

“Those things aren’t as fast as a motorcycle. And there are some small alleys that cars can’t get into, but a motorcycle can pass through quickly,” Yu Yinan explained. “Most importantly, I only had a motorcycle before the apocalypse.”

As she spoke, Yu Yinan quickly thought of yesterday’s storm. She had gained this ability just from being caught in the rain. What about the zombies? Could they have been strengthened as well?

It had only been a few days since the outbreak.

“Jiejie, you’ve just awakened your special ability, so don’t overthink it. Get some rest,” Zheng Yi said, looking extremely well-behaved. “When this rain stops, we can go out and take a look together. You can continue looking for your people then if you want. I don’t have anywhere to go anyway. As long as you don’t mind me and are willing to take me with you, I’ll follow you.”

“How could I possibly mind you? You can create water.” Yu Yinan didn’t know what kind of emotion she was feeling, but the feeling of being completely trusted by someone… was quite nice.

Besides… in a single room like this, to be so clean and tidy after so many days in the apocalypse, with everything neatly organized. Although she hadn’t seen any stockpiled supplies, judging from how Zheng Yi had taken out instant noodles to share without hesitation, it seemed she wasn’t lacking in resources.

Yu Yinan didn’t want to dwell on whether Zheng Yi was truly naive and innocent, or if she was hiding something. They were, after all, strangers who met by chance; it was normal to be on guard. But from Zheng Yi’s attitude and actions toward her, the young girl was definitely a kind person, and that was enough.

If there was anything to worry about, Yu Yinan was a little concerned about what would happen if they really did leave this place and encountered other people… What if Zheng Yi’s kindness got the better of her?

If she and Zheng Yi had a disagreement, given the young girl’s character, she would surely act with the best of intentions. In that case, what right would she have to persuade Zheng Yi otherwise?