"Sharpening?!" The shopkeeper was taken aback by Chu Han's request. He stepped into the shop, picked up a hammer-axe in silence, then dropped the request for sharpening. Once it was done, that axe would be incredibly powerful and sharp!
"Sharpen it—the sharper, the better," Chu Han said calmly, unaware that his steady voice and intense gaze from the post-apocalyptic world were making the shopkeeper uneasy.
"Young man…" the shopkeeper began.
Clang! Suddenly, a dagger landed on the counter. Chu Han quickly interjected, "Sharpen this dagger for me too. I'll pay you two thousand in total. I'll come back tonight to pick them up, and here's a thousand as a deposit." He cut the shopkeeper off, even offering a much higher price for a dagger worth no more than two hundred. The shopkeeper swallowed hard, deciding it wasn't worth arguing over the money.
Without wasting any time, Chu Han headed out to gather more supplies; he needed to get moving. The axe was meant for taking down zombies, while the dagger was for defending against other humans. At first, things had been manageable in the apocalypse, but once the zombies began appearing everywhere, all sense of morality vanished. People were killing entire families just for a cookie, and some desperate folks were even resorting to cannibalism.
Truthfully, he would have preferred a trench bayonet over a dagger, but most available on the market were poorly designed and practically useless. A good trench bayonet, much like a military hammer, wasn't something you could easily find.
Next, Chu Han grabbed a hiking backpack—it was waterproof and tear-resistant because he wanted to be ready for the long haul. Even though the government would eventually send rescue troops, he needed to hurry back to Anluo City to find his parents. He stripped the backpack of all straps and loose components since zombies had sharp hearing, and any extra noise could attract unwanted attention.
Then, he treated himself to the most expensive clothing he'd ever bought—a thousand-yuan mountaineering outfit that was dirt-resistant and quick-drying. He didn't want to end up almost naked again like he had in his last life while trying to escape.
After that, he stocked up on medications and bandages—items that were very rare in the apocalypse. He filled the water bladder in his backpack and, with the rest of his cash, bought dried biscuits and dried beef, cramming his backpack full. Chu Han wasn't looking for fancy food; he just needed to survive, and both dried biscuits and beef could last a while.
With limited resources, he had to be careful not to overpack, as carrying too much could slow him down. By the time he finished all of this, the evening had arrived. The sky was clear, the sun warm—there were no bad smells or bloodstains on the streets. He stood at the crossroads, absorbing the last sunset before the apocalypse, feeling a whirlwind of emotions.
Three months into the apocalypse, psychics had begun to emerge, including two of his three roommates. However, he was the one who managed to survive for ten years. Just an ordinary guy, yet he made it through. During that time, he'd witnessed...
Buzz—his phone vibrated in his pocket again. He pulled it out, noting he had around twenty missed calls from the same person.
"Hello," he answered.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" a furious voice boomed from the other end, accompanied by the sound of a cup slamming down on a table. Chu Han moved the phone away and checked the caller ID: Ding Xue.
Honestly, during the ten years of the apocalypse in his last life, he had known at least twenty people named Ding Xue. But now, ten years earlier, he couldn't remember who she was.
"What do you want?" he asked, glancing back at the sunset one last time as he headed toward the weapon shop to pick up the dagger and axe.
"I called you over twenty times, and you didn't pick up!!" Ding Xue shouted angrily. "Why didn't you come to the exam today? Do you realize that if you don't take it, you won't get another chance? You'll have to repeat the course next semester! Are you not going to take your studies seriously anymore? Do you not want to graduate…?" Ding Xue continued to rant.
In that moment, Chu Han finally remembered who she was—his class monitor from university! Her fiery personality didn't match her name at all; when she was angry, she could storm right into the boys' dorm filled with shirtless guys.
"Class monitor, how's it going?" Chu Han said with a nostalgic smile. He had no idea what had happened to Ding Xue in his previous life, as he hadn't seen her since the apocalypse began.