Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

At this very moment, people all over the country were waiting for news of the fog dissipating. Many families hadn’t eaten all day.

It wasn’t that they had no food, but that they had no appetite—just like Xu Yin’s parents.

Although soaring prices had prevented most people from hoarding on a large scale, many had still done some minor stocking up to fill their refrigerators. It wasn’t so dire that they lacked food for a few days.

But they were destined for disappointment. Although the news continued to provide real-time updates, none of it was good.

Watching made them more anxious, yet not watching made them feel uneasy.

Tang Mo couldn’t be bothered to watch TV. After eating and drinking her fill, she lay down on her bed and went to sleep.

Perhaps because she had been so mentally exhausted before, sleeping more than ten hours a day was now no problem at all.

The soft bed made Tang Mo feel as if this wasn’t the apocalypse, but heaven.

When Tang Mo woke up the next day, she wasn’t in a hurry to leave her room. Instead, she lay in bed scrolling through her phone. The internet was flooded with all sorts of information, mostly real-time updates.

People who had been joking around yesterday had a noticeably different attitude today. While it hadn’t escalated to panic, a sense of uncertainty had taken root in everyone.

No one had ever seen such a terrifying fog. What was even more terrifying was that no one had ever seen a fog last so long without dissipating.

Everyone speculated about when the fog would finally dissipate, some even placing bets on it.

Aside from that, no one seemed to be complaining about starving from a lack of food, so it appeared every household still had some provisions to spare.

Tang Mo contemplated the timing of this apocalypse. ’It feels strangely... perfect.’

’If this lasted any longer, almost everyone would be trapped and die in their homes. But if it were any shorter, people’s physical limits and remaining food supplies could sustain them through this period.’

’This world’s apocalypse seems to be a culling.’

’Culling the physically weak, those with poor immune systems, and even those who are helpless or lack a sense of foresight...’

’In short, the vulnerable.’

’Once she framed it as a culling, she compared it to the other apocalypses Tang Mo had experienced. After thinking it over, wasn’t every apocalypse just a great reshuffling of humanity?’

’No apocalypse ever completely closes off all paths to survival; none are meant to drive humanity to utter extinction.’

’Come to think of it, maybe it’s because humanity has lacked natural predators for so many years. Life became too comfortable, too unrestrained. People grew arrogant and made so many mistakes.’

’Perhaps the apocalypse is humanity’s punishment, just a slightly merciful one. Its intended result isn’t total extinction, but to force humanity to re-examine its place on Earth, to start thinking and reflecting.’

’And only those who pass the trial can successfully move on to the next stage.’

’Natural selection, survival of the fittest.’

’That saying is probably true for all eternity.’

Tang Mo lay in bed, her mind wandering through all sorts of things. After a while, she figured, ’What’s the use of thinking so much? It’s action that really counts.’

So, she turned on her tablet and started watching a TV show...

’What’s the use of being anxious now? It’s too late for that, okay? Doing something to relieve that anxiety is the most productive course of action.’

Even though Tang Mo wasn’t the least bit anxious, she had still found the perfect justification for binge-watching TV shows to her heart’s content.

Before the apocalypse, this world had been identical to Tang Mo’s original world. They probably diverged and became parallel worlds only after the end times began.

So, Tang Mo was familiar with many of this world’s celebrities, gossip, TV shows, and movies. It was just that back when she was in school, between studying to maintain her scholarship and going home to help her mom at the shop, she simply never had the time.

Because of poverty, Tang Mo’s youth had actually been quite barren. She’d mostly only heard about all the things young people did, but she never had the time to experience them herself.

But things were different now. She had all the time in the world.

Xu Yin’s tablet was incredibly clean—it didn’t even have a single video app. It was clearly the device of a career woman who had no time for entertainment and used her tablet exclusively for work.

Tang Mo took the tablet, downloaded all the major video streaming apps on the market, and then started clicking on recommendations from the trending charts, watching with relish.

’Lying tucked under the covers, hugging a tablet, with snacks and drinks on the side—what life could possibly be more comfortable than this?’

And while Tang Mo was enjoying life to the fullest, Xu Jinsan and his wife were still fraught with worry.

"Xiao Yin hasn’t come out of her room all day. She hasn’t even eaten. Do you think something’s wrong?"

Staring at her daughter’s tightly closed door, Xu Yin’s mother asked her husband with concern.

Xu Yin had always had a mind of her own and tended to get lost in her thoughts. Generally, Xu Jinsan and his wife rarely disturbed her unless it was important, giving her ample personal space.

"She’s probably fine. You know our daughter—she thinks about things deeply. With the situation like it is outside, how could she not be worried? She probably just doesn’t have an appetite. Just save her a plate; she’ll come out to eat when she gets hungry."

Knowing his daughter disliked being disturbed, Xu Jinsan advised his wife.

The couple had been worried about the situation outside, but seeing their daughter hole up in her room for a whole day, they no longer had the capacity to worry about the outside world. All their concern was now focused on her.

In the couple’s imagination, their daughter was surely sitting silently by the window, gazing at the scene outside with a furrowed brow, not uttering a word as a storm of thoughts raged within her.

But in reality...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This crosstalk is hilarious! How did I never know it could be this entertaining?"

Tang Mo’s mouth was stuffed full, her eyes glued to the screen.

She, who always maintained a cold demeanor in front of others, had now transformed into a complete fangirl, doing nothing but laugh and laugh.

Luckily, the room was large and well soundproofed. Otherwise, if Xu Jinsan and his wife heard their daughter laughing so happily while the world was in its current state, they would have become even more worried.

’It’s over, it’s over. She must have gone mad.’

Tang Mo knew the barrier she had set would prevent Xu Jinsan and his wife from leaving, so she had the situation under control.

As for why she hadn’t gone out to eat, it was entirely because the TV dramas, variety shows, and crosstalk were just too good. ’I’ve basically been missing out on a whole world!’

Besides, she had been snacking nonstop and hadn’t felt hungry, so going out to eat had completely slipped her mind.

’Besides, Xu Jinsan and his wife weren’t her parents, after all. Her only mission was to ensure her targets survived. Their inner feelings weren’t something Tang Mo could—or needed to—pay attention to every moment.’

Because the crosstalk was just too good...

She really didn’t have the time.