RHWHEG – Chapter 4 Clearing the Residential Complex

Maybe his luck wasn’t too good—Yu Qunqing had exhausted all his stamina and only managed to clear up to Stage 40, adding just one more hexagram.

After resting for a while, he decided to head outside to look for supplies. His home was indeed safe, but it was running out of food.

He also needed to figure out the terrain changes nearby, where resources might be stored, and the concentration of higher-level natural disasters…

It would be a very heavy exploration mission.

Outside, the sun was blazing and the temperature was mild. Still, Yu Qunqing wrapped himself up tightly—gloves, scarf, and a large hood. After all, out there you never knew when corrosive gases might drift past. His clothes fit well, unlike in his previous life when he scavenged pants that turned into cropped trousers the moment he put them on. Clothes of his own were always better.

On his back was a travel bag containing a flashlight, a multi-functional folding knife, and a large-capacity water bottle. In his past life, when he was preparing to flee with the crowd, he had rushed to buy whatever emergency supplies he could find. He had even gotten scratched while fighting over them. As for water, back then he only managed to grab a few bottles; later, he had to rely on makeshift filtering methods to drink water. At first, he had felt uneasy about it, but eventually he came to see that having water at all was a blessing. This time, thanks to Mediterranean Butler Match-3, his home still had electricity and running water, and with an electric kettle he could finally drink boiled, relatively clean water.

If he remembered correctly, that year-long drought and heatwave had started around November?

Yu Qunqing couldn’t help but worry about the future. Under such disasters, humanity was so insignificant. To live was simply to survive; survival itself was an act of endurance against reality.

But excessive worry was useless—living well in the present was the real principle. Yu Qunqing circled his home and set his eyes on the clothes rack in his bedroom. He had already dismantled one steel pole from it last night.

Might as well take another one down… It was heavy enough, the length was just right, and it made for a handy weapon. Weighing the makeshift weapon in his hand, Yu Qunqing glanced at the mess in his study and felt like a husky tearing apart a house.

In the apocalypse, having just a handy weapon wasn’t enough—it needed to be “sharpened.”

Yu Qunqing picked up a crystal-clear red disaster stone and rubbed it against the steel rod. Instantly, the point of contact between stone and metal gave off intense heat, leaving behind a shimmering, iridescent trace. After cooling, a new chemical coating had formed, faintly resembling the wing patterns of the fire-moth butterfly. A few more rubs, and the whole rod grew searing hot—Yu Qunqing had already wrapped it with cloth to hold it safely. His hands were steady, carefully sharpening the weapon without the slightest sloppiness.

The principle of “sharpening” came from the hypothesis that disaster stones were the embryonic forms of calamities.

In order to protect their embryonic bodies during incubation, disaster creatures produced many harmful substances to ward off enemies. Thus, coating weapons with them made fighting other disasters more effective. But the chemical coating from sharpening wouldn’t last long—in other words, the sharpened effect only had limited uses.

Different disaster stones produced slightly different sharpening effects, and even stones of the same type varied in quality, which could be judged by the glow refracted during sharpening. It was said that a stone from a Level 1 disaster could sharpen a weapon into something like a luminous pearl. Such knowledge was passed down from mouth to mouth among apocalypse survivors.

Similarly, since disaster stones were embryonic forms, they also contained many nutrients. Without further processing, disaster stones themselves became the best fertilizer for land in the apocalypse.

Weapons and travel gear—everything was ready. Yu Qunqing even played another round of match-3, not wasting a drop of stamina, and only afterward set out.

The corridor was lit by the soft glow of Yuxi Team’s gentle lights, while the elevator display showed “Error 001.” This residential building, though still powered, had many damaged sections.

He lived on the 22nd floor and decided to take the emergency stairwell, sweeping out hidden dangers along the way.

Each floor had two units. Yu Qunqing forcibly electrified open each apartment door. Many homes were empty, furnished with only a few pitiful pieces—either unsold, or purchased but never lived in, leaving no signs of habitation.

One household was more useful: it had left behind a pile of snacks. In contrast, most others had simply abandoned their pets. One tank was filled with dead fish, a cage held bones emitting a foul stench, and ordinary insects had built new nests inside, buzzing with life. Yu Qunqing let them be. Humanity was never the true master of Earth—bugs had always been its most numerous inhabitants.

At last, he reached the 4th floor. Here, instead of residents, there was a small garden with children’s play equipment. This level connected to the other three residential buildings in the complex.

“Dingdong—Large Area: Residential. Exploration progress 100%.” The system suddenly prompted:
“Compiling and uploading data… Calculation successful. New version generated. Beginning version upgrade. During the upgrade, all system games will be unavailable. After successful upgrade, players will be compensated accordingly. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience!”

Yu Qunqing understood—this was a server maintenance update.

If the system upgraded just from him exploring, what would it evolve into if he explored even more areas?

The system gave no response, and Yu Qunqing kept walking.

On the 4th floor, the small garden came into view—half the plants had withered, yellowing leaves piled up thickly on the ground. Green moss and weeds had taken over as the new masters here. In the little pool, bullfrogs had moved in at some point, their deafening croaks shaking the air. Broken bricks and scattered stones could be seen everywhere, turning the place into a haven for animals. In the middle of the garden hung a huge, upside-down beehive, with black bees buzzing all around it. With no humans here and far from natural disasters, it was no wonder they had chosen this place as their paradise.

The 3rd floor was a swimming pool—according to the game, the crocodiles’ new home.

The 2nd floor housed a gym and a massage center. The equipment was intact, not damaged.

Yu Qunqing climbed down along the pipes from the 2nd floor—after all, he had already nailed shut the 1st floor exit with planks.

But he had overestimated his own physical fitness. He hit the ground rolling in an emergency tumble before slowly getting back up, luckily without breaking a leg.

He took a deep breath—thankfully, no one had seen his less-than-graceful landing.

Then, gripping his weapon tightly, he carefully listened for any surrounding noises.

This residential complex only had four apartment buildings, linked by rooftop gardens into a U-shape, enclosing an art park that covered more than ten thousand square meters. The park’s winding corridors offered both exquisite little sights worth lingering at, and wide open spots facing the river breeze. The most eye-catching feature back then had been the community’s costly musical fountain, designed in the shape of a crocodile standing atop a planet. Now it had long since cracked.

Yu Qunqing picked up a stone and tossed it into the empty fountain pool. The stone bounced and echoed crisply against the walls. Then he immediately hid beside the sculpture and waited.

After a while, a Split-Mouth Hound crept forward, belly low to the ground, sniffing cautiously. Just as its nose poked out from the shadows, a steel rod came crashing down from above.

Yu Qunqing didn’t use his ability—he relied purely on strength. If he didn’t train his body now, he would have to make up for it later anyway. So he simply combined combat and training into one.

His strikes were precise, and even when the beast’s hard bones sent shocks numbing through his wrist, he ignored the pain. Sharpened weapons made it easier to take the lives of calamities. After two or three heavy blows, the Split-Mouth Hound lay still.

Yu Qunqing pulled out a dagger and drove it into the hound’s brain, stirring it around. Experience had taught him never to assume victory until the brain was turned into mush. As expected, the hound convulsed violently. Yu Qunqing pinned it with the steel rod while delivering the fatal strike with his knife.

Suddenly, the lumps on the hound’s body swelled, forming transparent sacs that burst open. But memories from his previous life had already carved deep into his instincts—he instinctively stepped back in advance, dodging the poisonous fluid. After that last dying counterattack, the hound truly breathed its last.

Suddenly, he rolled across the ground again, wedging the steel rod into the jaws of another lunging Split-Mouth Hound, then swung it sideways to smash into yet another one that had tried to ambush him. With his current strength, handling two at once was difficult. So, after pushing his body enough, his left hand sparked with lightning—combining his physical strikes with ability, he finished both hounds off.

He waited a bit longer. The complex seemed to have no more calamities.

Though the city center was said to be the hardest place to explore, that didn’t mean it was swarming with calamities. At the time of the first eclipse, the city center had been evacuated the fastest, most residents cramming into the third and fourth ring districts. That’s why, after the eclipse, huge numbers of calamities gathered there, with only the strongest surviving. With such a natural barrier, the city center rarely saw explorers coming in.

Still, Yu Qunqing remained cautious: “So few calamities in this complex… that should be normal, right?”

He recalled the surrounding terrain. This residential area sat in a prime location, right next to bustling commercial centers. The apocalypse had come too suddenly, many people hadn’t had time to clear out the shops. But with those malls having exploded or collapsed, who knew how many useful supplies might be left. He’d wait until he grew stronger before going there.

Closer by, and more likely to still have supplies, was the Tufu Chain Supermarket just outside the complex.

Yu Qunqing walked a few steps, then turned back to a small pavilion and pulled out a shared bicycle. There was no helping it—this community was so large that residents needed shared bikes to get around and admire the scenery.

The two wheels spun merrily, and Yu Qunqing made up for the homeowner perks he’d never enjoyed. Only, when leaving the community, he had to hoist the bicycle over the security barrier.

Outside the complex, Yu Qunqing felt a little disoriented. In his memory, the area had been filled with skyscrapers, swarming with hundreds of thousands of people daily. Now, it was as if someone had taken a bite out of the skyline—buildings had collapsed or tilted, exposing a vast open sky.

Tree roots had burst through the asphalt, making his bike bounce and jolt as he rode. The creatures that had once lived in the sewers before the apocalypse now rampaged wildly across the streets.

“Tufu Chain Supermarket—exclusive perks for all members.”

A torn promotional banner caught his eye. The supermarket he had been longing for had sunken halfway into the ground.

As he got closer, he saw it was probably due to an underground pipe explosion. A massive sinkhole yawned open, revealing a tangled maze of giant pipes below. Beneath that should be the subway tunnels. The supermarket now stood half on solid ground and half dangling over the pit, as if it might collapse at any moment.

Such a massive supermarket… it should be fine carrying just one person’s weight, right?

Yu Qunqing smashed the glass door and entered, only to be greeted by the choking stench of rotting seafood.

Looking around, he saw the household goods section first, then the rotting vegetables, the foul cooked food section, the moldy bread… but then—the staple food section!

Bags of rice and flour, left behind because they were too heavy to carry away, still sat stacked on the shelves. Seasonings of all kinds lined the side aisles. Farther in, rows of instant noodles—including the notoriously awful black truffle flavor…

In his previous life, food in the shelters had been desperately scarce. Everyone tightened their belts to get by. And for those with abilities who had to go on missions outside, hunger was a constant—stomachs like bottomless pits, even dreaming of banquets. Being weak from hunger was manageable; worse was when the mind grew faint from starvation. The smallest whiff of food could make eyes shine like predators’. That terrifying hunger could devour everything alive.

Yu Qunqing feared hunger too. He had once bitten his own hand in desperation, subduing rampaging ability users with sheer iron will when they went berserk from starvation.

Now, suddenly rich after poverty, he was giddy with delight. It felt like he had entered paradise!