120: Chapter 120 Two Worlds Inside and Outside the Door

Su Jie looked at Li Taiping's near-collapsing state, her heart aching and filled with anxiety.

In her memory, over these past few days, Li Taiping's condition had become increasingly abnormal.

He always lay stiffly on the bed like a corpse, staring vacantly at the ceiling.

His parched lips would part and close, constantly muttering hair-raising nonsense.

Things like the Abyssal Sea Region, the Many Children, Many Blessings ship, Excellent Grade Talent advancement, and that name he repeatedly chewed over with endless longing—Su Mei.

Su Jie couldn't understand a single word.

She only assumed her husband had finally been driven mad by the immense pressure of survival in this broken world.

She had even secretly flipped through the epidemic prevention manual issued by the community late at night, wondering if Li Taiping had been infected with that terrifying virus codenamed "004."

However, that blood-stained booklet stated clearly:

Those infected with the 004 virus would have dilated and bloodshot pupils, their skin would rapidly turn gray and decayed, and within three hours, they would completely lose their sanity and become Infecteds who only knew how to crazily devour the flesh and blood of the living.

But her husband, aside from weakness and babbling, showed no signs of zombification.

"Husband, what on earth happened to you..."

Su Jie's eyes reddened, her voice carrying a suppressed sob.

Meanwhile, Li Taiping was clenching his back teeth tightly, a faint metallic taste of blood spreading in his mouth.

The intense pain finally allowed him to tear a shred of reason from his initial extreme panic.

He gasped for air in large gulps, his chest heaving violently.

Those eyes, which should have been filled with despair, now flickered with a fierce, beast-like light.

He stared fixedly at the Su Jie before him.

This face, this voice, the slight upward curve of her eyes when she frowned, even that tiny bit of lazy nasality in her tone when she spoke.

Perfect.

It was a perfect one-to-one replica of Su Mei, without a single flaw to be found.

Li Taiping abruptly turned his stiff neck, his gaze scraping across every corner of the room like a knife.

Familiar, it was too damn familiar!

Deep in his memory, this was the rental apartment where he lived with Su Mei before he transmigrated to the Survival World!

That cramped space that witnessed him and Su Mei tasting the forbidden fruit for the first time!

Even the dust motes floating in the air appeared so real under the refraction of the sunlight.

"Something's wrong... something is absolutely wrong."

Li Taiping roared frantically in his heart.

His brain was like an overloaded computer, frantically checking for logical loopholes in front of him.

If this was reality, then what was that time at sea?

Those days and nights fighting monsters in the deep sea, those calculations made by any means necessary for survival, and Lin Qingxue, Lin Weiyu, Xia Zhi... were they all just fictional characters he had imagined?

Bullshit!

The pain of tearing flesh, the explosive power brought by the peak of Excellent Grade, that sense of reality from controlling everything—how could it be fake!

"Husband~ is the pressure too much? Do you want it..."

Just as Li Taiping's CPU was about to burn out, the Su Jie in front of him suddenly moved.

She pressed against him, her body seemingly boneless.

Those soul-snatching peach blossom eyes rippled like water, and every curve of her brow and eyes transformed into an airtight net of passion.

Since her husband was mentally deranged due to the despair of the apocalypse, wouldn't it be better to release this pent-up fire and let him fully relax?

Thinking this, Su Jie's soft, delicate body had already squeezed tightly into Li Taiping's embrace.

Li Taiping's entire body stiffened.

He was too familiar with this look.

In the captain's quarters of the Many Children, Many Blessings ship, every time Su Mei wanted to drain him dry, she had this look—thirty percent provocative, seventy percent demanding.

Even the pressure of her fingertips sliding across his chest was exactly the same.

That terrifying thought began to grow wildly in his mind again.

Could it be... Su Mei isn't actually named Su Mei, but is really called Su Jie?

Could my nautical survival, my Many Children, Many Blessings ship, and that entire ship of The girls really just be an absurd dream I had to escape reality in this desperate zombie apocalypse?

A momentary look of confusion appeared in Li Taiping's eyes.

Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!

At this critical juncture.

An extremely heavy knocking sound suddenly echoed through the silent room!

Following that, a slightly anxious and concerned voice penetrated from outside the door.

That voice was actually identical to Su Mei's and the Su Jie's in front of him!

"Taiping! Don't believe her! The one inside isn't me! Whatever you do, don't believe her!"

Buzz—!

Li Taiping felt as if his brain had been struck hard, his eardrums ringing.

His heart almost stopped beating at that moment.

His entire being felt as if it had been drenched in ice water, frozen in place.

A layer of fine cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead, sliding down his cheeks frantically.

What's the situation?!

The system panel was gone, the character panel was gone, and the storage space was sealed shut.

He was now just an ordinary person with no strength to truss a chicken.

He had clearly entered by crushing an Instance Card!

Where were the mission prompts for the instance?

Where was that damn 24-hour countdown?

What kind of hellish start was this?!

Who was outside the door?

If the one outside was real, then who was the Su Jie who was currently hugging him tightly and even rubbing her chest against him?!

"Get off!"

A flash of extreme ferocity crossed Li Taiping's eyes. He suddenly exerted force and pushed the Su Jie in his arms away.

His strengthless body felt a bit floaty; the push wasn't very heavy, but Su Jie acted as if she had been greatly frightened, stumbling and hitting the edge of the bed.

Li Taiping didn't even look at her, turning around to open the door.

No matter what kind of monsters or ghosts were outside, as long as he broke this enclosed space, he would find the clue to break the situation!

"Husband! No!"

Su Jie let out a terrified scream.

She scrambled up and lunged forward, death-gripping Li Taiping's leg.

That originally enchanting face was now filled with terror and twisted pleading.

"The one outside is fake! Are you confused from a nightmare? There are zombies and Ghouls everywhere outside now! The 004 virus has fully broken out! Opening the door is just seeking death!"

Li Taiping's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

Zombies?

Ghouls?

004 virus?

He lowered his head and glanced again at his empty left wrist.

No survival manual, no diamond-shaped metal terminal representing his player status.

What dimension of a world... was this?

"Don't be foolish, husband!"

Seeing him hesitate, Su Jie hurriedly pressed against him again, hugging him tightly with her warm, soft body.

"You must be under too much pressure and your mind isn't clear. Come, let's just release it, and you'll be clear-headed after!"

"We'll stay right here, together forever, okay?"

Her voice became softer and softer, carrying a hypnotic magic that made one drowsy.

Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!

The knocking outside became more violent, like a death-summoning drumbeat, pounding one after another on Li Taiping's tensed nerves.

The voice outside now carried a desperate sob, sounding terrified, as if she were suffering some extremely horrific torture.

"No! Taiping! Don't touch her! The one inside isn't me!

She's a monster! She'll suck you dry!"

"Captain Brother! The one inside isn't me!"

Boom—!

Li Taiping's pupils suddenly contracted.

What did he just hear?

Captain? Captain Brother?!

Only The girls on the Many Children, Many Blessings ship would call him that!

If this were truly the modern apocalypse before his transmigration, this term would absolutely never appear!

Fake!

It's all fucking fake!

He violently broke free from Su Jie's embrace and strode toward the door.

A fake Su Jie. Real pain. A bizarre outside.

He was going to tear off this hypocritical mask and see what kind of tricks this instance was playing!

However.

At the very moment his palm was about to touch that cold, rusted metal doorknob.

Buzz—

An extremely intense feeling of palpitation originating from the depths of his soul, like ten thousand steel needles piercing his brain simultaneously, instantly spread through his entire body!

Every hair on his body stood on end.

Every muscle was convulsing wildly.

Danger!

Extreme danger!

His intuition, honed through countless life-and-death battles and bordering on the abnormal, let out a piercing alarm at this moment!

It felt as if the moment he pressed down on this doorknob, the moment this door opened even a crack.

What awaited him would be eternal damnation, ten thousand times more terrifying than being crushed to pieces!

...