"Chapter 1: The Biochemical Outbreak

“Lin Chen, what the hell are you doing? This is the third time you’ve been late this month! Deducted pay!”

At the staircase landing, a middle-aged man in a tailored suit scowled, though his stout figure made the expression look almost comical. This was Du Zhiping, manager of the branch office where Lin Chen worked. Though notorious for his sharp tongue, Du wasn’t truly malicious—he just enjoyed bullying newcomers under the guise of his authority.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. If I catch you again…”

“The roads were jammed again today. You know how Zhongping Road is, Manager,” Lin Chen explained helplessly, fully aware he was at fault. “That downpour last night hasn’t dried up yet.”

“I don’t care about your excuses. Figure it out yourself. Get here earlier from now on, or pack your bags for the assembly line!” Du grunted fiercely at Lin Chen, only releasing him when he spotted another latecomer nearby.

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Lin Chen said, masking his relief. He seized the chance to slip into the office, cursing the ""fat bastard"" under his breath.

“Hah! Caught by Boss Du again, huh? Tough luck.”

Zheng Ta, busy sorting reports, glanced up with a sympathetic smile. Zheng was Lin Chen’s senior, also a graduate of Song University. He’d mentored Lin Chen since his entry a few months ago. Almost everyone disliked Du, but his connections high up kept him in place. The manager mostly blew off steam verbally, so they’d learned to tolerate him.

“The traffic’s a nightmare. Can’t find any place to rent nearby either.”

Sighing, Lin Chen settled at his desk to work. But as he sat down, he stiffened. “Zheng Ta? You look terrible—red eyes, pale skin. Did you pull an all-nighter?”

“Not really,” Zheng croaked. He shook his head weakly, eyes glazed as if battling lightheadedness and thirst.

“Maybe you should see a doctor?” Lin Chen frowned in concern.

Not wanting to worry him, Zheng forced himself to stretch his rigid limbs. “Seriously, I’m fine. Probably caught a chill from last night’s storm.”

“You’re not the only one,” Xiao Chen piped up from Marketing nearby. “That storm was insane. Haven’t seen lightning like that in years. Rumors say weird fireballs showed up near dawn.”

Strangely, Xiao Chen himself looked gray-skinned and sickly.

“Fireballs? UFOs?”

“Not UFOs! The Perseid meteor shower! Check the news—it was visible worldwide! Though the colors were weird… couldn’t tell why.”

“Probably meteors or comets. Definitely not aliens!”

“Aliens my ass! A friend at the city observatory confirmed they were meteorites!”

With Du out of sight, the office buzzed with chatter. Work was slow lately—they could afford to slack off.

“Bullshit. Since when do meteor showers show up globally?” Lin Chen retorted idly as he organized new forms. Office banter was routine for him. But today, his mind wasn’t in it. He made multiple errors, and exhaustion weighed on him like lead. His pulse flickered wildly with a nameless dread that left him jittery.

“Something bad’s coming...”

He gulped water and glanced at the old grandfather clock ticking heavily in the corner. The hands dragged themselves to 8:20 a.m.

The office fell eerily silent. Only strained breaths hung in the air.

Alarm prickling through him, Lin Chen set down his work and scanned the room. Zheng Ta’s eyes were bloodshot—bulging like a rabid beast’s—set deep in skin like wet ash. Others turned ghastly too—waxen as corpses.

“Why’d everyone go quiet?”

Ma Tao, who’d been seated farthest in the room, stood up nervously. He looked fine. The sudden quiet unnerved him. Then—

“AAAAH! HELP!”

shriek of agony tore through the hallway.

“Someone’s gone crazy—they’re eating people!”

“Let go of me! HELP!”

“Call an ambulance! It’s rabies!”

Screams erupted across the floor like a dam breaking. Shrieks. Crash of furniture. The calm shattered like glass.

“Something’s wrong!”

Lin Chen’s dread spiked. He stood abruptly, tossing his reports aside to investigate.

“Old Xie! The hell’s wrong with you? Stay back!” Ma Tao’s voice shook with fear.

Lin Chen whipped around. The sight seared itself into his mind.

With dead eyes and grayed flesh, Old Xie staggered toward Ma Tao like a possessed puppet. Blood-red eyes glared madly below a slack jaw. Guttural moans gurgled from his throat.

“Don’t—don’t come closer—” Ma Tao choked.

Paralyzed, he stood trembling as the husk advanced.

“MOVE!”

Lin Chen snapped back to focus—there was no time to reason. He shouted the warning—

Too late.

Ma Tao flinched at the noise, legs locked. A moment’s hesitation was all it took.

Old Xie lunged. Jaws gaping, he ripped into Ma Tao’s neck.

Schlick. A near-silent sound swallowed by the chaos. An artery tore open.

Blood sprayed.

Ma Tao’s cries cut short. Only the wet crunch of tearing flesh remained as Old Xie sank teeth deeper.

Human cannibalism. The reality crashed over Lin Chen.

“L-Lin Chen… help… me—”

Pain jolted Ma Tao into pushing back, but his strength crumbled. He hit the floor. Blood pooled. Silence swallowed his pleas.

CRASH.

Lin Chen spun at the noise. His chair and a stack of reports lay scattered behind him.

He spun again—

Zheng Ta.

Same vacant eyes. Head tilted. Stiff movements carrying him forward. Others stirred too—sniffing the blood, lurching upright. Some crawled toward Ma Tao’s body. Others closed in on Lin Chen.

“Gghhhrr…”

Zheng Ta choked out inhuman sounds. Eyes locked on his prey. Black liquid oozed from his eyes and nose, unnoticed.

This… this is like Resident Evil.

Realization flooded Lin Chen. With Zheng Ta inches away, he acted: spun and kicked his mentor backward. Then he bolted for the hallway.

Run! Get out! NOW!

He threw himself into the corridor—

—and froze.

Blood everywhere. Flecks of flesh smeared on walls. A “feast” of monsters fifteen feet ahead, packed around torn bodies.

Through the gaps, Lin Chen saw mauled remains.

They weren’t people anymore. They were creatures.

Move or stay?

Options raced through his mind. If he rushed them, the stairs were dead ends. Floors below crawled with monsters. Behind him, Zheng Ta stumbled into the hallway—groaning. Time running out.

Du’s office.

The solution hit him. Lin Chen pivoted. Sprinting like a track star, he tore toward the manager’s private room."