Apocalypse Mode: My Cheat Code Virtual Boyfriend - Chapter 4

Bai Xun spent the entire morning browsing through social news but couldn’t find any solid evidence of the impending apocalypse. Without an official announcement, it would be nearly impossible to convince the two elders at home to believe that the end of the world was coming.

A game interface only he could see and a 404 post that merely mentioned the apocalypse without any details held no persuasive power whatsoever.

By lunchtime, he still hadn’t figured out how to broach the subject. But with their house and ample food supplies, there was no need to worry too much for now, at least in terms of food reserves, their family could hold out for several more months.

Today’s lunch at the Bai household was hotpot.

The milky-white bone broth was Mrs. Bai Guifang’s secret recipe. She would buy large marrow bones from the market, clean and blanch them, stir-fry them in hot oil, then add boiling water and simmer over low heat for two hours before serving.

On a cold, stormy day like this, nothing beat a steaming hotpot! Fatty beef slices, enoki mushrooms, beef balls, white radish, and ginger slices bubbled and swirled in the pot. Chopsticks danced like a whirlwind, and cabbage leaves and beef balls twirled gracefully in dipping sauce bowls.

A full stomach brings drowsiness. After the satisfying meal, everyone felt the post-meal lethargy set in. Bai Xun volunteered to wash the dishes.

The three generations of women in the Bai family went upstairs for a lovely nap, leaving only Bai Xun bustling around diligently on the first floor.

Half an hour later, the sound of running water in the kitchen stopped. Bai Xun, clutching two plastic lunchboxes, sneaked back to his room.

On the large bed in the room, a big cat lay sprawled on its back, fast asleep. Hearing the door open, the snow leopard with a white base and black spots stretched lazily, its pink paw pads flexing in the air as if kneading milk. It landed lightly and sauntered over to Bai Xun, rubbing its massive feline head against him.

Bai Xun suppressed the urge to make kissing sounds. The cat’s head seemed to have a magnetic pull, and his hand involuntarily gravitated toward Cheng Wei’s furry ears. With just a light touch, Cheng Wei began to purr.

“Ahem. I brought you some food. You must be hungry, eat first.” His hand suddenly paused. He felt like a creep, petting a cat was fine, but how could he pet a person?

“Hmm?” Cheng Wei had just lifted his head, ready for cuddles and kisses, his purrs prepped in advance. But Bai Xun had called it quits. His big eyes were filled with even bigger confusion. “No more ear scratches? My fur is super soft.”

“Oh, how could I possibly!” Bai Xun’s eyes sparkled as he verbally refused, but his hands were utterly honest.

Hehehe, big kitty, smooch, smooch, smooch! Such an adorable big cat was born to be kissed to death by me!

Bai Xun started by pinching the cheeks. The long whiskers were a bit prickly, and each poke elicited a warm breath. The fine fur on the cheekbones was soft and fluffy. The ears were ticklish, if rubbed too long, they’d twitch and flap as if shooing away tiny bugs.

The fur on the back was also incredibly soft. Bai Xun rubbed it against the grain, revealing the pink, tender skin underneath. This highly human-savvy big cat simply wrapped Bai Xun in a leopard donut and purred softly by his ear.

It was just too adorable, practically against the rules!

Bai Xun remembered that Cheng Wei was still hungry, so he didn’t pet the snow leopard for too long. After smoothing the fur on its back, he patted its shoulder and elbow. “Hurry up and turn back into human form to eat. The food’s going to get cold.”

Cheng Wei stood up and shook his fur, the fluffy strands flying up like a spiky sea urchin.

He transformed back into human form and took the lunchbox from Bai Xun’s hands, starting to eat.

Outside the window, the rain showed no signs of stopping. Raindrops the size of glass beads pattered against the windowpane, slow and peaceful. In a corner unseen by the Bai family, a fully developed shadow began to bare its fangs.

After two in the afternoon, the Bai family members gradually woke up. Bai Xun also left his room and headed to the living room, where the TV was on. Grandma Bai was engrossed in a rural romance drama.

Bai Xun plopped down next to Bai Yu. Before he could say anything, she handed him her phone with an expression that said she had made a major discovery.

Whenever Bai Yu handed him her phone these past two days, it was never good news. He decisively refused. “I’m not looking.”

Bai Yu insisted, “Come on, take a look! This time it’s really big news, a major discovery. It won’t hurt to watch. If you don’t, I’ll read it out loud to you!”

She was fully capable of doing just that. Bai Xun raised his hands in surrender and took the phone. It was a video compilation.

The title was quite provocative: “Compilation of Sudden Superpower Mutations Across the Globe.”

Seeing the title, Bai Xun’s expression shifted slightly, but he calmly pressed the fast-forward button.

At the 13-second mark, a little girl summoned clusters of translucent, jelly-like slimes. The comments were filled with laughter, calling it special effects or marveling at the impressive modeling. But what Bai Xun thought of was the sudden appearance and binding of his “Star” game system.

He watched the entire video in silence.

The superpowers in the video had almost all appeared after this heavy rain. Some involved elemental attributes like fire and water, others summoned slimes, some transformed into animals, and there were even stranger ones, like turning nearby objects into chocolate with a touch.

When he handed the phone back to Bai Yu, she gave him a strange look. “Hey, what’s wrong with you? Have you lost your mind? You don’t actually believe this, do you? Why that expression? You used to say it was all fake and not to believe it.”

A cause for celebration, her older brother had finally lost his marbles. Now she had risen to become the intellectual peak of the family. How wonderful!

Bai Xun had no idea what nonsense was going through her mind. He wanted to argue but held back forcefully. Pulling up one thing would lead to another, and he hadn’t yet figured out how to explain this series of events.

After casually brushing her off, Bai Yu angrily punched his shoulder twice. He began piecing together the strange occurrences of the past few days in his mind.

First, there was the unusually hot weather at the end of autumn. Then came the deleted doomsday prediction posts. Next, the heavy rain fell, and Cheng Wei, a character with no real-world counterpart, suddenly appeared in his bed. Finally, the “Star” game system bound itself to him.

Everything was interconnected, and all the anomalies had signs from the beginning.

What would happen next? No one knew.

Before he could figure it out, the doorbell suddenly rang. Since he was closest to the door, he got up to answer it.

The doorbell was installed outside the three-story self-built house. He had once complained about the design, the large iron gate of the courtyard was the first line of defense. Why install the doorbell on the house door? Would someone have to climb over the wall just to ring it?

Just as Bai Xun’s hand was about to touch the doorknob, he suddenly remembered the somewhat impractical and awkwardly designed doorbell in their home, a feature that only ever got used when the main gate was left wide open.

So, the question arose: he distinctly remembered using a heavy iron padlock to securely lock the courtyard gate before yesterday’s rain. Who could be knocking now?

Bai Xun abruptly halted his hand from opening the door, his eyes quickly scanning the security chain and deadbolt. Thankfully, both were locked.

The person outside continued to ring the doorbell, the incessant ding-dong echoing through the living room. Bai Guifang poked her head out from the kitchen. “Someone go answer the door! What is everyone doing? That doorbell ringing nonstop is driving me crazy!”

At that moment, the person outside stopped ringing the doorbell and instead knocked three times on their security door. A young girl’s voice called out from outside, “Is anyone home?”

It was a human voice.

Bai Yu asked, “Who on earth is it? Which neighbor’s kid is it around here?”

But Bai Xun still didn’t dare let his guard down. He quietly peeked through the peephole, only to find not a single soul outside.

“I can’t see anything through the peephole. There’s no one outside. And didn’t we lock the courtyard gate? This is really creepy,” he said after checking, deciding to give his family a heads-up. Having said this much, if anyone ever knocked on their door again in the future, they’d be more cautious.

Bai Xun’s words were heard not only by those inside the house but also by the thing outside.

Its intelligence wasn’t high, so it simply gave up pretending. After a moment of silence, it suddenly began pounding on the door.

The long-hidden crisis erupted with terrifying speed at that very moment!

Separated only by the door, Bai Xun felt his eardrums ache from the sudden, violent pounding. The thing outside had immense strength, the doorframe embedded in the wall began to shake, dust falling in small showers. If it kept pounding like this, the door might actually be torn off its hinges.

Bai Guifang rushed out of the kitchen, a cleaver in each hand, her expression alert as she glared toward the door. “Which bastard dares to cause trouble on my turf? Tired of living, aren’t they?”

Bai Yu frantically pulled up the outdoor surveillance feed on her phone, a new system they’d installed just this September. Who would have thought it would come in handy now?

“A snake! It’s that snake! Mom, brother, it’s the snake we saw last night!” she exclaimed, her phone slipping from her hands and landing on her thigh. Overwhelmed by terror, her pupils dilated, unable to believe what she was seeing.

The snake’s head was pressed tightly against the peephole, its upper body upright, its thick tail repeatedly slamming against the security door. It even continued to mimic the sound of knocking. If it managed to break in, it would undoubtedly swallow all four of them whole.

With the situation urgent and his family behind him, the courage surging in Bai Xun’s heart temporarily suppressed his fear of the mutated creature.

Without overthinking it, he decided that instead of waiting helplessly, they should fight back head-on. “Sis, go upstairs and find our beekeeping suit. Mom, listen for my command, when I count to three, you chop off the snake’s head. Grandma, go back to your room and stay there. Come down only after we’ve dealt with this.”

Bai Yu raced upstairs with the same intensity she once used for her 800-meter runs, quickly digging out the super-thick beekeeping suit from the pile of clutter and even remembering to grab a helmet for her brother.

As she rushed back downstairs, she was so frantic she almost considered jumping from the second floor. In her haste, she didn’t notice the doorknob to her brother’s room quietly turning.

“Sis, you’ll be in charge of opening the door later. Once it’s open, hide behind it and don’t come out.” Bai Xun swiftly put on his bee suit, pulled on the helmet, and immediately began gesturing.

After exchanging a glance to confirm all three were ready, Bai Yu pulled the safety pin and flung the door open!