NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 1: Chapter 1 Rebirth
Gu Pan's hands clutched the blanket tightly, her forehead was covered with dense beads of sweat, and she suddenly opened her eyes and sat up.
Her vision shifted from blurry to clear, and her heart went from calm to shock. Wasn't this the bedroom of her bridal chamber before the apocalypse?
She hurriedly looked towards the bedside. The digital clock displayed: September 16, 2028, 8:46 AM.
The strong wind outside was howling, and from time to time, there was the sound of something hitting against something.
She jumped out of bed, pulled open the curtains, and looked outside. Although there was a fierce wind, the streets were still bustling with traffic.
Gu Pan was stunned. Hadn't she died in the cannibalistic apocalypse? How had she returned? Back to seven days before the apocalypse.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringtone of her cellphone, which she hadn't used in over three years. It suddenly felt unfamiliar.
She hurried over to the bedside, picked up the mobile phone on the nightstand, and saw that it was a call from her husband.
Seeing the word "husband," tears streamed down Gu Pan's face. In the third year of the apocalypse, this man had died before her eyes while trying to block a knife for her.
She plunged a dagger into her own heart and followed her husband Lu Ruisheng in death.
It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the chance her husband had fought for her to survive, but at that time, they had already been surrounded by enemies. Rather than dying under someone else's knife, she preferred to end it swiftly.
Moreover, her husband was her only hope born from the apocalypse. With his death, she also lost her will to live.
Her hands trembling, she pressed the answer button, and a familiar voice filled with concern came from the other end, "Panpan, the meteorological station reported a strong cold front and high winds for the next few days. Don't go out today, just order some takeout for lunch. I'm finishing a contract with a client today and probably won't be home until evening. I've ordered some meat and vegetables; you'll get it later, and I'll cook you something delicious when I get back."
Hearing the voice that felt so real, Gu Pan choked up and called out, "Husband, I've missed you."
Lu Ruisheng replied with a doting laugh, "I've missed you too. I'll try to get home early, be good and wait for me at home."
Gu Pan's mind was still in a mess at this moment. She needed to calmly think things over. It was impossible to tell her husband right now about the impending apocalypse and her own rebirth because any normal person hearing this would think she was either joking or would worry that she had a mental problem. If her husband worried and rushed back in this treacherous weather, it would be even more dangerous.
Armed with knowledge from her previous life, she knew her husband's contract today was in a nearby county, not too far away. He would come back safely in the evening despite the bad weather; the journey would be startling but without danger, so she did not want to complicate matters further.
She quickly said, "Ruisheng, the weather is bad, please be careful."
"I know, rest assured. And you take good care of yourself too, dear kiss," he said.
Gu Pan also smiled and returned the sentiment with "hubby kiss," a habit they had during their five years of dating.
After hanging up the phone, Gu Pan sat in front of the dressing table, quietly thinking about everything. Suddenly, she noticed the pendant on her neck, which her grandmother had given her on her deathbed.
Her parents had passed away early, and it was her grandmother who had raised her. She had worn this pendant since she was a child.
It was only the second month of the apocalypse when the pendant was stolen by Zhuang Jie, a friend who had come to their house seeking refuge. Soon after, his entire family disappeared.
In her last moments of consciousness before death, Gu Pan actually saw Zhuang Jie and his wife discussing the secret of the pendant's space. Only then did she realize the pendant held a secret space, and that their home invasion had been arranged by Zhuang Jie.
In her previous life, Zhuang Jie had used this space to thrive during the apocalypse with his wife and child. However, he had been afraid to let the original owner of the pendant survive, so he killed them. Now that everything had started over, she would never let those who had harmed her get away with it.
She took off the pendant, trying to find the mechanism, but couldn't find a clue no matter how much she fumbled with it. In her anxiety, her hand got scraped and blood dripped into the pendant, suddenly transporting her into a strange space.
There was nothing in this space; it was empty and vast, larger than a football field, with murky fog-like chaos surrounding it.
In the center of the space floated an electronic panel with space instructions written on it: 1. If the pendant is damaged it cannot be passed on and will disappear completely with the current owner. 2. The initial usage time for the space is three hours; injecting gold can extend the usage time. 3. The space has a freshness-preserving feature; the owner can control the items inside the space with their thoughts.
Seeing this, she seemed to understand Zhuang Jie's concerns from his past life. He wanted to pass the pendant down to his descendants, so it couldn't be destroyed, but he was also worried that Gu Pan would discover it, so he devised a plan to kill them to eliminate the threat.
Standing in the space, Gu Pan fully accepted the reality of her rebirth and her possession of the space.
Suddenly, a series of urgent knocks sounded at the door. The apocalypse had honed Gu Pan's instincts to be extremely sharp and cautious. She left the space and peeped through the door's viewer.
Seeing the person outside, Gu Pan subconsciously went to the kitchen and grabbed a cleaver, but when she reached the door, she suddenly realized something was wrong. It wasn't the apocalypse yet, there were still laws, and she couldn't just kill someone.
Moreover, killing him was not the ultimate revenge. Watching him suffer with his wife and child during the apocalypse, letting him experience the pain she and her husband had endured in their previous life, was the greatest punishment for him.
Soon, Zhuang Jie's voice came from outside, "Sister-in-law, are you home? Open the door, I have something to discuss with you."
Lu Ruisheng was an orphan who had accumulated his own business and assets bit by bit, only marrying at 30, while Zhuang Jie was younger and had started a renovation company in partnership with Lu Ruisheng using his parents' start-up capital. That's why he called Lu Ruisheng Brother Lu and Gu Pan, sister-in-law.
Gu Pan tried to keep her emotions as stable as possible, "I just woke up, it's inconvenient to let you in. What do you want?"
With such weather, Zhuang Jie's sudden visit could definitely not be for a simple matter.
Outside, Zhuang Jie said, "Sister-in-law, here's the thing, my wife always says your pendant looks good. It's her birthday next month, and I want to borrow your pendant to get a similar one custom-made as a surprise for her."
The pendant? Gu Pan suddenly became aware of something—could he have been reborn as well? Otherwise, why would he be in such a rush, so specifically coming to borrow this object all of a sudden?
She flatly refused, "It's a keepsake from my grandmother, it's not convenient to lend it out."
Zhuang Jie didn't expect the usually agreeable Gu Pan to refuse so bluntly. He followed up, "Sister-in-law, I just want to have a look. Otherwise, how about this, you open the door, and I'll just take a couple of photos, that's all."
Gu Pan couldn't possibly open the door at this time, as doing so could easily lead to a conflict, and if she ended up in the police station, she would be unable to use the seven days before the apocalypse to stock up on supplies.
But she also saw that Zhuang Jie was determined to have it, and if she refused today, if he came back with her husband, Lu Ruisheng, later that evening, it would only bring more trouble.
She thought of a countermeasure and responded through the door to Zhuang Jie, "Let's not beat around the bush, did Brother Lu send you? Does he really not trust me that much? Is he convinced that I have another man in the house? Sending you to trick me, it seems we can't live this life anymore. You can stop pretending; I am not going to open the door."