Chapter 97: Am I the Chosen One?

Kangwang Community, Apartment 701.

Bai Wenbin lay on the bed, barely clinging to life. What he’d suffered these past few days was more than just a little hardship…

It was simply a fate worse than death!

Ever since the day of the extreme heat, after walking for hours to get home from that pervert Brother Zhang’s place, he’d unfortunately come down with heatstroke.

Every day he was dizzy, nauseous, dry-heaving—utterly miserable.

To make matters worse, the temperature kept rising. His heatstroke symptoms didn’t ease up at all; instead, they only got worse.

The little bit of water he had at home had long since been finished.

At first, he was sweating buckets from the heat, but later his body stopped sweating altogether.

Bai Wenbin knew in his heart that this was a very dangerous sign.

It meant his body was starting to shut down.

But there was nothing he could do—he could only watch helplessly as his body temperature climbed higher and higher, his whole body burning up.

He knew he was suffering from heatstroke—no, heat exhaustion.

He wanted to go out and get help, maybe find some water to drink, but he realized he couldn’t even get out of bed.

He couldn’t help but resent Qian Ying’er in his heart.

He’d told her to stay with him for a while, but she insisted on going back to watch An Nan’s misfortune. Now he was suffering like this, with no one around to look after him!

After passing out several times, Bai Wenbin’s consciousness grew more and more muddled.

Scenes from his life began to flash through his mind.

Getting beaten up as a kid for stealing his deskmate’s snack.

The pride of getting his PhD and showing off in front of his relatives.

The stunning first glimpse of An Nan.

The wild joy when he learned she was a rich girl.

The carefully orchestrated “chance” encounters.

The anger at being stood up in a sudden downpour.

The torment from that pervert Brother Zhang…

Bai Wenbin’s hand clutched the bedsheet tightly.

Is this… my life flashing before my eyes?

Could it be that my time is up?!

He forced his eyes open, trying desperately to stay awake.

But it was all in vain.

He struggled for a while, his breathing growing more and more labored, as if something was slowly slipping away from his body.

Before long, he finally closed his eyes.

The room fell silent.

The man on the bed had no heartbeat, no breath.

……

Five minutes later.

The corpse that had been lying motionless twitched a finger.

“Ah—!”

Bai Wenbin screamed and opened his eyes.

He gasped for air, looking wildly around.

This is…

Kangwang Community!

The apartment he’d rented before the apocalypse!

What’s going on? Wasn’t he killed by thugs out on the street?

How could he… be alive again?!

Bai Wenbin looked around once more, confirming that this was indeed where he’d lived before the end of the world.

Had he been reborn before the apocalypse began?

Thinking of this, Bai Wenbin tried to get up in excitement, only to find his body was so weak he couldn’t even get out of bed.

And the temperature around him was scorching, waves of heat battering him.

It didn’t feel like before the apocalypse at all—more like… the extreme heat period?

Bai Wenbin clutched his head in pain as unfamiliar memories flooded his mind.

After he’d finished sorting through all the memories, he finally understood:

He really had been reborn, but not to before the apocalypse—he’d come back to the extreme heat period.

But for some reason, his experiences in this life were completely different from his previous one.

In fact, it was much worse than before…

In his last life, he and his cousin had always teamed up with An Nan, relying on her portable storage space to escape danger again and again.

Although the apocalypse was tough, they’d managed to survive for many years.

Until the extreme cold period, when he and his cousin, in order to seize the space bracelet, tortured An Nan to death—and everything changed.

After An Nan died, they got the bracelet, but couldn’t access the space at all.

It was as if the space had disappeared with An Nan’s death.

He and Qian Ying’er regretted it bitterly.

But it was too late for regrets.

Luckily, food was easy to preserve during the extreme cold. They squeezed every last bit of value from An Nan, surviving for a long time on her flesh and blood.

But without An Nan and the protection of her space, they eventually died at the hands of brutal thugs.

But now…

Bai Wenbin slapped his own face in excitement.

He’d actually been reborn again!

Since heaven had given him another chance, it must mean he was the chosen one!

The destined protagonist!

Sure enough, the heavens wouldn’t have given him such a handsome face and superior intelligence for nothing.

For over twenty years, he’d always believed he was the rightful main character.

He’d even been annoyed that such a great cheat as the storage space had gone to An Nan, a supporting female character in his harem—and one he’d never managed to win over.

Now, his story was finally about to begin!

This time, he would stir up the winds and clouds, and become the most powerful boss of the apocalypse!

After a while, Bai Wenbin’s excitement finally calmed down.

He licked his cracked lips, wanting to pour himself a glass of water first.

But he realized he was so weak he couldn’t even get out of bed.

He frowned and tried to recall this body’s memories.

……

How did he end up so pathetic in this life?!

It had only been a little over four months since the disaster began, and he… died?!

And not just died—he’d been cooked alive!

In his last life, he’d survived over five years in the apocalypse!

But in this life, he hadn’t even made it to the fifth month?

And he’d even been… by a group of men…

He dry-heaved a few times, feeling nauseous.

Bai Wenbin frowned, searching his memories, trying to figure out what had caused such a drastic change.

He discovered the biggest variable was An Nan.

She hadn’t teamed up with him like in his previous life. In fact, before the disaster even started, she’d suddenly changed her attitude and blocked both him and his cousin.

Could it be that she…

Bai Wenbin recalled the armored door on the 14th floor, the roaring chainsaw, the bloodletting bayonet…

None of those things had existed in his last life!

His eyes widened as he realized: An Nan had been reborn too!!

And judging by when she blocked him—she’d come back even earlier, before the apocalypse?!

Damn it…

He’d just finished telling himself he was the chosen one, and now fate was playing such a cruel joke on him.

An Nan was someone he’d killed—she was his enemy!

How could she have been reborn too?

And at an even better time than him.

After a moment of frustration, he consoled himself: It’s fine, that’s how it is for protagonists. Before achieving greatness, fate always arranges a powerful rival.

An Nan was probably that powerful antagonist.

Right now, this body was too weak. Once he recovered, he’d make a long-term plan. He’d definitely find a way to deal with her!

For now, the most important thing was to get some water.

Although his rebirth had brought this body back to life, the heatstroke remained.

If he didn’t rehydrate and cool down soon, he’d be in real danger…

He didn’t want to go down in history as the fastest-dying reborn protagonist!

As he was racking his brains for a solution, he suddenly heard an unbearably off-key singing coming from outside.

“Today is a good day,

All your wishes will come true.

Today is a good day,

Open your door and welcome the spring breeze…”"