Chapter 146: New Instance, Dark Apocalypse

Chapter 146: Chapter 146: New Instance, Dark Apocalypse

The group chat, for once, was buzzing with activity:

["Sigh, in this day and age, Players don’t have to hide anymore. Has anyone joined the official factions? Tell us, are there any benefits to working for them?"]

["Benefits? Haven’t seen any yet, just endless work! Building Walls, clearing snow, patrolling, escorting supplies... I’m dog-tired, and all I get are two meals a day that barely fill my stomach."]

["Since we’re all Players here, I won’t beat around the bush. I’ve got something from the last instance I’d like to trade for something more practical. Anyone interested?"]

["What is it? Tell us more."]

["It’s a flashlight! Looks ordinary, right? But anything it shines on gets shrunk instantly! The Effect is a reduction of one to ten times, depending on the target’s own Energy and size."]

["A shrink ray flashlight??? That Ability sounds pretty unique, but in the current situation... it doesn’t seem very useful! Are you supposed to use it to shrink snowdrifts for easier clearing? Or maybe make monsters smaller so they’re easier to deal with? Doesn’t seem practical, and you can’t even change the shrunken items back..."]

The discussion in the group centered on this seemingly unique but ultimately impractical item, reflecting the Players’ most realistic needs in the apocalypse: to survive, and to acquire resources that directly increased their chances of survival.

Watching the messages pop up one after another, Seraphina Sullivan just lurked quietly, her fingertips unconsciously swiping across the screen.

She noticed some people discussing the latest prices for supplies, others sharing survival tips, and a few complaining about the abnormal weather.

Behind these ordinary conversations, there was a faint sense of the calm before the storm.

Inside her Scavenger’s Space, however, it was a different scene entirely.

The Clucker she had caught earlier was strutting leisurely in its special coop, its feathers glossy and its demeanor serene.

It had just laid a warm egg in a corner filled with dry hay. The shell had a faint pinkish tint, glimmering softly in the gentle light of the Space.

The hydroponic lettuce next to it was growing splendidly. Its emerald-green leaves were unfurled, its stalks plump and straight; you could almost see the water flowing through its fibers.

Everything was orderly and full of life, as if this small world had successfully sealed itself off from the slowly collapsing world outside.

The peaceful time passed, right up until the system’s voice arrived.

A system notification boomed in her mind—

[DING! Seven-day preparation period has ended.]

[DING! The Disaster Game is about to begin.]

[DING! Please select one of the following instances to enter.]

The cold, mechanical voice spoke one line after another, leaving no room for doubt.

As the final notification faded, two hovering halos of light materialized before Seraphina’s eyes.

Within the light, words slowly twisted into shape, exuding a strange and mysterious Aura.

On the left were two deep purple words: [Aberrant Radiation]. The edges of the letters seemed to writhe with a viscous liquid, and staring at them for too long induced a slight dizziness.

On the right, in a somber, pitch-black script, was [Dark Apocalypse]. Merely looking at it sent a bone-deep chill crawling up the spine.

"These two choices again," Seraphina murmured, her brow furrowing slightly.

Last time, it was because that idiot Dexter Luther had recklessly used a bound item, causing her to be swept into the [Petrification Apocalypse] before she could even make a choice.

’I can’t believe that after all that, these two instance options have appeared before me once again.’

She didn’t hesitate for long.

She had leaned toward the [Dark Apocalypse] last time, and for this one, she had prepared well in advance.

Supplies, weapons, mental fortitude... She glanced at the thriving lettuce and the fresh egg in her Space, then took a deep breath.

"I’ll still choose the [Dark Apocalypse]."

Her voice was soft, yet it carried an unshakable resolve.

At almost the same moment, Sean Chandler looked at the identical options before him and, without any hesitation, gave a firm nod.

Though he and Seraphina Sullivan had not communicated, it was as if they shared an unspoken understanding.

Both of their fingertips simultaneously touched the somber, pitch-black option—

[Dark Apocalypse].

In that instant, time seemed to stretch infinitely, then freeze.

Seraphina Sullivan and Sean Chandler’s figures, along with every other Player in the world who made the same choice, were erased by an invisible force at the same moment, vanishing completely from where they stood.

The last image that remained before their eyes was a thick, impenetrable darkness that devoured everything.

...

Seraphina’s consciousness pulled free from a brief spell of dizziness, and she came to her senses.

She found herself standing in a spacious but dilapidated room.

The air was thick with the smell of heavy dust mixed with mold. Beneath her feet were cracked floor tiles that made a faint crunching sound as she stepped on them.

In the faint, almost negligible light, she could just make out that this seemed to be a long-abandoned living room. Furniture was strewn about, covered in a thick layer of grime, and the mottled walls revealed the gray-black bricks beneath.

The most unsettling part was what lay outside the window.

There was no moonlight, no starlight, not even the distant lights of a city.

There was only a pure, absolute darkness, so thick it seemed tangible, as if the entire world had been swallowed by a giant piece of black velvet.

She instinctively hugged her arms, only to discover something unexpected...

"It’s not cold?"

The temperature hadn’t plummeted as she had expected.

The air was merely cool, far from freezing. This realization made her thoughts race.

’Could it be that this so-called Dark Apocalypse is just the sunlight being completely blocked, rather than the sun itself disappearing?’ Seraphina quickly made a preliminary assessment.

If the sun had vanished, it would have brought lethal cold and a total collapse of the ecosystem.

But now, with only the light gone, it meant the instance’s rules likely leaned more toward an "eternal night" environment. The difficulty and direction of survival would be completely different.

As her thoughts raced, she immediately activated the Night Vision Mode on her Analysis Glasses.

Instantly, the scene before her eyes became clear.

It transformed into a sharp, gray-green world.

In Night Vision Mode, the details of the room were magnified: the spiderwebs in the corners, the dried, unidentifiable stains on the floor, and even the tiny dust motes floating in the air were faintly visible.

She quickly scanned her surroundings, her gaze finally landing on the only other person there—Sean Chandler.

He too had just recovered from the discomfort of the teleportation and was warily surveying the environment.

He had used his Beastification Talent, and his pupils had instantly transformed into a cat’s, adapting to the darkness.

Besides him, there was no one else.

"Looks like the Players were scattered randomly," Seraphina murmured, a sense of relief washing over her.

’This is for the best. If a large number of Players appeared in the same place, a fight over limited resources and quests would probably break out instantly.’

’For now, at least, it’s safe.’