Translation review

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This is a work of fiction set in a post-apocalyptic world featuring rebirth and a system. I’ve done my best to keep the setting logically consistent, but some aspects may prioritize pacing and enjoyment over strict logical efficiency. If you notice any obvious plot holes or contradictions, please let me know. I’ll read your feedback carefully and do my best to fix them. After all, this story is for all of you—and readers have the keenest eyes.

After

This is a work of fiction set in a post-apocalyptic world featuring rebirth and a system. I’ve done my best to keep the setting logically consistent, though some aspects may prioritize pacing and enjoyment over strict logical efficiency. If you notice any obvious plot holes or contradictions, please let me know. I’ll read your feedback carefully and do my best to fix them. After all, this story is for all of you—and readers have the keenest eyes.

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The back of his head was pressed against the concrete floor. A chill slid down his neck, stopping between his shoulder blades, then sending a shiver through him.

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The back of his head was pressed against the concrete floor. A chill slid down his neck, stopped between his shoulder blades, and sent a shiver through him.

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His mouth was full of dust and a metallic taste—like when he’d bitten through his lip as a kid after a fall that broke a tooth.

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His mouth was full of dust and a metallic taste, like the one he’d had as a child after falling hard enough to break a tooth and biting through his lip.

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The wooden door shuddered under heavy impacts. The hinges sounded as if they might give way any second.

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The wooden door shuddered under heavy impacts. Its hinges sounded as if they might give way at any moment.

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Outside, the scratching was as dense as beans being sifted. Fingernails scraped against the wood, setting his teeth on edge.

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Outside, the scratching was as dense as beans rattling through a sieve. Fingernails scraped against the wood, setting his teeth on edge.

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He wanted to curse, but his mouth opened soundlessly.

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He wanted to curse, but his mouth opened without a sound.

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Scenes flashed through his mind. A second ago, he’d been a regimental commander of the Dragon Country. On the scorched border, shrapnel whizzed past his ears. As he covered his comrades’ retreat, a booby trap had exploded underfoot in a blinding white light. He remembered dying with his rifle still clutched in his hands.

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Scenes flashed through his mind. A second ago, he had been a regimental commander of the Dragon Country. On the scorched border, shrapnel had whizzed past his ears. As he covered his comrades’ retreat, a booby trap exploded beneath his feet in a blinding flash of white light. He remembered dying with his rifle still clutched in his hands.

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An office that smelled of disinfectant. Screaming erupted outside the window. A low-level clerk he saw every day convulsed and lunged at a colleague. The clerk’s skin was ashen gray, veins bulging, eyes cloudy white.

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An office that smelled of disinfectant. Screaming erupted outside the window. A low-level clerk he saw every day convulsed and lunged at a colleague. The clerk’s skin was ashen gray, his veins bulging, his eyes cloudy white.

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His memories felt scattered, like shards randomly pieced together. Pick up one: border dirt. Pick up another: office tea stains.

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His memories felt scattered, like shards pieced together at random. One fragment held the dirt of the border. Another held tea stains in an office.

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He pushed himself up from the ground. His fingertips brushed a crushed aluminum pill case.

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He pushed himself up from the ground. His fingertips brushed against a crushed aluminum pill case.

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An emergency kit sat right by his foot, unopened. The original owner had been terrified.

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An emergency kit sat right by his foot, unopened. The original owner must have been terrified.

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The virus had broken out only an hour ago. A civilian official who’d spent years behind a desk—his heart gave out first.

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The virus had broken out only an hour ago. A civilian official who had spent years behind a desk had suffered heart failure first.

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Three crooked shadows blocked the corridor. All wore the standard-issue shirts of the Emergency Management Bureau. Their skin was ashen gray, arms and legs twisted at unnatural angles, joints bent backward.

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Three crooked shadows blocked the corridor. All three wore the standard-issue shirts of the Emergency Management Bureau. Their skin was ashen gray, their arms and legs twisted at unnatural angles, their joints bent backward.

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One had a string of dark brown saliva hanging from its mouth, stretching and dripping. Its claws kept scratching at the door—nails split, wood shavings stuck in the splintered edges.

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One had a strand of dark brown saliva hanging from its mouth, stretching as it dripped. Its claws kept scratching at the door. The nails were split, and wood shavings clung to the splintered edges.

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His fingertips touched scorched, melted plastic. The radio’s casing was warped, the circuit board fused into a lump of black char.

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His fingertips touched scorched, melted plastic. The radio’s casing was warped, its circuit board fused into a lump of black char.

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Fragments in his memory told him that ten minutes into the outbreak, a global particle storm had swept the ground. Anything with a chip was fried—phones, radios, surveillance cameras. All useless.

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Fragments of his memory told him that ten minutes into the outbreak, a global particle storm had swept across the world. Anything containing a chip had been fried—phones, radios, surveillance cameras. All useless.

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In the corner stood an olive-drab tin box. Four white characters on the side read: “Emergency Breaching.”

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An olive-drab tin box stood in the corner. Four white characters on its side read: “Emergency Breaching.”

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The original owner had been scared out of his wits and had completely forgotten about it.

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The original owner had been scared out of his wits and completely forgotten about it.

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Shen Weizhen moved over and hooked his fingers under the latch. The rusted lock core snapped under his twist.

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Shen Weizhen moved over and hooked his fingers under the latch. The rusted lock core snapped when he twisted it.

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Inside, a military knife lay in a foam slot—its edge cold and gleaming. On the other side was a crowbar.

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Inside, a military knife lay in a foam slot, its edge cold and gleaming. A crowbar rested on the other side.

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He gripped the military knife in a reverse hold, pressed one knee to the floor, hooked his left hand on the door frame, and pushed the door open a crack.

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He gripped the military knife in a reverse hold, pressed one knee to the floor, hooked his left hand around the door frame, and pushed the door open a crack.

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The military knife sank into the bony crevice of the temple, buried to the hilt.

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The military knife sank into the bony crevice of the temple and buried itself to the hilt.

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Gurgling breaths escaped the thing’s throat—then it went limp.

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Gurgling breaths escaped the thing’s throat. Then it went limp.

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Black blood splattered on the door. A few gray specks landed on his pant leg.

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Black blood splattered across the door. A few gray specks landed on his pant leg.

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He pulled the knife out and stepped back half a pace. His hands trembled slightly.

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He pulled out the knife and stepped back half a pace. His hands trembled slightly.

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He wasn’t sure if it was because this body hadn’t moved in so long, or because he himself hadn’t fully come back from that blinding white light of the booby trap.

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He wasn’t sure whether it was because this body hadn’t moved in so long or because he himself hadn’t fully returned from the booby trap’s blinding white light.

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The dull thud of the corpse collapsing had barely faded when a voice rang in his mind—faint static, like an old radio.

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The dull thud of the corpse collapsing had barely faded when a voice rang out in his mind, accompanied by faint static like an old radio.

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The most prominent feature was a two-dimensional map. The entire building was densely packed with red heat-source dots. Only on the west side flickered two faint green dots.

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The most prominent feature was a two-dimensional map. The entire building was densely packed with red heat-source dots. Only on the west side did two faint green dots flicker.

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The words “Army Conscript” on the summoning tab were lit. Five points each—ten points exactly enough for two.

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The words “Army Conscript” on the summoning tab were lit. At five points each, his ten points were exactly enough for two.

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But he didn’t rush to use it.

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But he didn’t rush to use them.

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He hadn’t figured this thing out yet. How long would a summoned unit take to arrive? Where would it appear? Would it make noise and draw every zombie on the floor? He didn’t know.

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He hadn’t figured this thing out yet. How long would it take a summoned unit to arrive? Where would it appear? Would it make noise and draw every zombie on the floor? He didn’t know.

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First, deal with the two outside.

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First, he had to deal with the two outside.

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He didn’t close the interface in his mind. He left it open, his peripheral vision catching the lit summoning tab.

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He didn’t close the interface in his mind. He left it open, the lit summoning tab visible in his peripheral vision.

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He gripped the military knife and crouched back by the door.

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He gripped the military knife and crouched back beside the door.

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The corpse he’d just dropped lay beside it, black blood slowly spreading on the floor.

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The corpse he had just dropped lay beside it, black blood slowly spreading across the floor.