Chapter Three: The Mystery Unveiled

Xie Han ran wildly, letting his chest explode with pain from lack of oxygen. Green trees flashed past on either side, receding into the distance, until his limbs felt drained and his mind dizzy from the exertion. Only then did he stop. He was now three or four miles from the small town, beside a winding river that curved away into the horizon.

He collapsed at the roadside, gazing at the abandoned fields. Once, busy figures had moved here; now their traces were gone. On the dike, a scarecrow leaned crookedly in the dirt, its tattered cloak tossed aside. The land was lifeless, and Xie Han no longer naively believed he was in a movie—no film could recreate such stark reality.

"What has happened to this world..." he screamed inwardly, his chest heaving from the run, breath ragged, eyes bloodshot. Yesterday’s ordinary life had, in the space of a single sleep, transformed into apocalypse. He didn’t know if he’d slept for one night or many years, but either explanation failed to account for why he was here.

As he raged within, the black watch on his wrist emitted a sharp beep, its dark color shifting to a deep green, illuminating as a line of numbers appeared on its smooth surface.

July 19, 2059, 13:27:56.

The sight stunned him; he stood motionless, staring at the watch, unable to think. “No, this can’t be real...” Suddenly, heedless of the risk of attracting zombies with his voice, he leaped up from the ground, shouting desperately as if letting out the anguish of a gambler who had lost everything.

He remembered perfectly: the year had been July 18, 2009. After work, he went to the market to buy rice and vegetables, returned to his single apartment, cooked and ate, then played online games for five or six hours before logging off to sleep—he distinctly remembered it was just before one in the morning.

Was he dreaming? He pulled at his hair, pain confirming he was awake. Panic swept over him, as if he’d fallen into a fog. If this wasn’t a dream, could the time on the watch be real?

As his confusion grew, the watch’s glow softened. From the mirrored surface, a beam projected into the air, gradually forming the silhouette of a woman, exquisite in shape and radiant with vibrant color. The light coalesced into a mature, beautiful figure—seductive, alluring.

Xie Han nearly stopped breathing, staring at the projected woman, swallowing hard, hardly daring to believe: “Zhou Ruomeng, Senior Zhou?” He could never mistake her. She was the senior he’d worshipped from afar since university—the moment he first saw her, he had been captivated, unable to forget. Sadly, his introverted nature meant that, though they quickly became acquainted, he never confessed his feelings. After Zhou Ruomeng graduated and moved to another city, Xie Han only occasionally encountered her online.

Now, seeing his secret love appear before him, how could he not be overjoyed?

The projected woman seemed almost alive. She laughed, a sound filled with irresistible charm, and spoke in a voice that was pure temptation: “Zhou Ruomeng? Yes, that is my name. But I am not the Zhou Ruomeng you adored. I am an intelligent program, modeled after your ideal of her.”

Hearing her voice, Xie Han was transported back to campus days, walking with her beneath the leafy paths, her laughter echoing just as it did now. Yet her words were hard to accept. “An intelligent program? Since when did the world develop something like this?” Suddenly, he realized it was 2059—fifty years had passed. Creating such a program was no longer surprising. Thinking of his predicament, he urgently asked, “Where am I? What’s happening here?”

Zhou Ruomeng stretched lazily, and Xie Han noticed she wore a lace nightgown, suggestive and revealing, the low neckline offering a glimpse of two snowy peaks. Though she was but a digital projection, she seemed more real than any HD film.

Xie Han almost couldn’t look directly at her, despite having fantasized about such a scene countless times in his dreams.

Again, she laughed and waved her hand; her background shifted to a living room, her nightgown replaced by a purple dress. She sat on a sofa, sipping steaming milk, and said leisurely, “What do you think? Was my earlier look seductive?”

He nodded, then immediately shook his head, realizing his mistake. She laughed even harder, nearly spilling her milk. Annoyed, Xie Han said, “I don’t care if you’re the real Zhou Ruomeng or not. What is going on? How did I get here? Is the world truly doomed?”

Zhou Ruomeng changed her purple dress for a black professional suit and, with a serious expression, said, “I was created to serve you. First, this is indeed Earth, and the year is as shown on your watch. On December 3, 2055, the United States Federation launched the Rescuer spacecraft, aiming to detonate a massive asteroid 77.61 million kilometers away with nuclear bombs. Based on the speeds of the asteroid and the spacecraft, they were expected to meet on December 10 at 15:22.”

Xie Han asked, “Will the asteroid hit Earth?” Zhou Ruomeng replied, “Yes. According to global astronomers, the probability was 97%. The asteroid was about one third the size of the moon, and its impact would have instantly destroyed Earth and its neighboring planetary belt.”

He was puzzled—if what she said was true, the world should have been peaceful. Why then were there zombies, things only seen in science fiction?

Zhou Ruomeng continued, “The nuclear explosion was very successful. The asteroid shattered into billions of fragments. While a small portion continued toward Earth, the danger was greatly reduced. On December 14, 2055, at 17:05, the first batch of fragments entered the atmosphere; two-thirds burned away, the remaining third scattered across Asia and the Americas—about sixteen thousand pieces. The second batch arrived thirteen hours later, numbering about twenty-four thousand and primarily impacting Europe.”

“On December 15, 2055, at 13:22, the Chinese Academy of Sciences was the first to discover radioactive material on a landing fragment in County X, naming it X-ray. Soon after, other regions found the same X-ray on fragments. At midnight on December 16, before the effects of X-ray were understood, it mutated and produced the XR virus. By December 20, XR virus spread through the air, infecting 85% of the global population—eight billion people. By December 21, governments collapsed, and most cities fell into chaos.”

If Xie Han had felt relieved that Earth escaped disaster, Zhou Ruomeng’s next words plunged him into despair. He realized this global XR virus crisis was far worse than any movie. In just a few days, the death toll reached six point eight billion. Even those who survived, facing hordes of zombies, would be far fewer than the remaining one point two billion.

Zhou Ruomeng showed no emotion, her tone cold: “Based on digital simulations, Earth’s current population is less than seven hundred million. Five hundred million have died at the hands of zombies or other humans, and this number continues to slowly rise.”