Ch 60: Apocalypse Star House Hoarding

Swallows, geese, wild ducks, herons… bird species that were rarely seen in the city were now flying overhead in dense flocks, as if forming dark clouds. They flew from south to north, quickly approaching the vicinity of the apartment. Because the building was tall and Yu Xi had good eyesight, she could clearly see the birds’ wings and eyes.

She had always had a natural fear of birds’ beady eyes and sharp beaks. Seeing so many birds at once gave her a creepy, uncomfortable feeling. This physiological discomfort was almost as bad as seeing the dense mass of black worms in the previous world.

Aside from the swallows, most of the birds were large species that were seldom seen in the city. A small flock of these birds flying low over the city might have made for a beautiful scene. But with so many birds packed closely together, it was more terrifying than picturesque, causing panic in everyone who saw them.

The apartment building’s floor-to-ceiling windows faced south, and the building was located at the southeast corner of the entire block. Most of the birds, encountering the tall building, either flew higher or to the side to avoid it, but some crashed straight into the windows, especially those that couldn’t turn in time.

The glass was repeatedly struck with loud bangs. Fortunately, the windows were all double-paned and thickened. The birds that hit the glass flapped frantically before flying higher or veering off to the side.

Yu Xi endured both psychological and physiological discomfort. Nearby, other residents must have been just as frightened by the sight, with low exclamations and the cries of early-rising children clinging to their parents in fear.

From the adjacent apartment came the terrified screams of the female occupant, accompanied by the frantic flapping of a bird’s wings. “Honey! Quick! Get it out—don’t let it in! Ah—it pecked my hand—honey!” Her screams grew more and more shrill.

Apparently, she had left a small window open, and a bird had gotten stuck trying to get through. In her fright, she tried to close the window, but ended up trapping the bird’s claw or wing. The bird struggled and pecked at her hand.

The male occupant, clearly just as bewildered, finally grabbed something to prod at the bird, making it squawk loudly. After a while, it seemed the bird was finally pushed out, and Yu Xi heard the man comforting his wife, saying the bird had fallen and it was all over.

However, the woman, likely injured, kept complaining of pain and asking if she needed a shot, as it was a wild bird she had never been so close to before. She sounded terrified and shaken.

Yu Xi pressed against the glass, unable to see into the neighbor’s apartment but spotting the bird that had been pushed out. It appeared to be a great egret, pure white with a long, thin black beak, larger than an ordinary egret. Perhaps its wing had been injured when it was trapped, as it tumbled down the glass facade without flying up again.

Watching the dense flock of birds, Yu Xi felt a growing sense of foreboding. Her fears were soon realized when several egrets dove from above, aiming for the neighbor’s windows. Thud, thud, thud! The neighbor woman screamed again in fright.

Egrets, unlike ducks and geese, had cold, lifeless black eyes and long, thin beaks that looked particularly menacing up close. Seeing several egrets repeatedly hitting and pecking at the glass was terrifying.

“Don’t—don’t be scared, don’t be scared! They—they can’t get in…” the male neighbor’s voice trembled as he tried to comfort his wife.

The egrets flapped and pecked at the glass for a full five minutes until the entire flock had passed overhead. The outer layer of the neighbor’s glass finally cracked before the egrets flew back up into the sky and left.

The neighbors next door were so terrified they couldn’t even make a sound.

That day, many early risers witnessed the same scene. The sky was darkened by flocks of birds flying overhead, so dense that they blocked out the sun. For residents on the lower floors, the distance to the sky meant they were mostly spared, apart from some bird feathers and droppings. But for those on higher floors, like Yu Xi’s neighbors, it was a close and frightening encounter, even resulting in injuries. After the birds left the skies over S City, her neighbors immediately went to the hospital.

Yu Feng and Fan Qi woke up late. Thanks to the double-glazed windows and thick blackout curtains, they missed the entire event. But even imagining the scene was terrifying.

That day, numerous cities across the country were flooded with videos of the same phenomenon. Many people, shocked by the sight, recorded videos and uploaded them online. The topic of large flocks of birds flying low over cities quickly trended on social media.

From the cities where the videos were uploaded, it was evident that the birds followed a route, landing in G City before flying straight north, passing through several cities, and eventually crossing the border.

Many high-rise buildings in S City had their windows cracked or even shattered by the birds. Some residents, having opened their windows in the early morning for fresh air, found birds flying straight into their homes, causing chaos as they tried to find an exit. Both people and birds ended up in a miserable state, with bird droppings and feathers scattered everywhere.

Those who merely had to clean up were the lucky ones. Many, like Yu Xi’s neighbors, had close encounters and injuries.

Yu Feng took the morning off from work. At noon, the family of three sat in front of the TV watching the local news, where every station was covering the story of the bird flocks. The TV stations had acquired the best and clearest footage from the public, including close-up shots of birds flapping and staring through windows.

Fan Qi felt the same as Yu Xi. Birds like herons might look elegant from a distance, but whether it was the black-beaked egrets, yellow-beaked herons, or the smaller cattle egrets, they all looked unsettling up close, especially in such large numbers.

After reporting on the incident, the news channel connected with bird experts. The experts explained that these were migratory birds, which normally fly south in November to overwinter, returning north in April. However, this time, the birds had flown in reverse, in large numbers, and without avoiding densely populated urban areas, which was highly unusual.

Typically, such large-scale abnormal behavior in birds and animals is related to natural disasters, such as birds and animals fleeing before an earthquake. However, no disasters had occurred in the areas the birds flew through, and their flight path was too long to be simply avoiding a disaster. The experts suggested it might be related to the recent warm spell.

This wasn’t the first unusual animal behavior recently, and even Fan Qi sighed, “The news keeps saying that the environment is improving, with cleaner air and water, but with winter temperatures almost like summer and animals behaving strangely, is this really a good thing?”

Yu Feng reassured her, “Don’t overthink it. As ordinary citizens, there’s not much we can do. The country has many talented experts. If there’s a real problem, they’ll know before us and come up with solutions.”

Yu Xi looked at Yu Feng seriously and asked, “But what if even the government can’t figure it out?”

“That’s unlikely,” Yu Feng said confidently. “Don’t underestimate the state machinery. In such a large country with so many people, there are plenty of smart and capable individuals whose talents are beyond our imagination.”

He glanced at his daughter and added, “If it really comes to that, as you say, then it’s even less in our hands. If the government can’t solve the problem, there’s not much we ordinary people can do. In the end, we’d just have to go with the flow…”

Yu Xi stared at her father without blinking.

“What?” Yu Feng asked, amused.

“Dad, I suddenly think you’re quite handsome.”

Yu Feng: …

In the afternoon, Yu Feng went to work. The bird feathers and droppings on the streets had already been cleaned up, but the air still had the lingering smell of bird droppings.

The workers that Yu Xi had called in the morning to install new glass windows arrived to take measurements. She planned to add an extra layer of tempered glass to all the windows in her parents’ duplex apartment. With recent events like the tornado and the low-flying bird incident, she felt that the large floor-to-ceiling windows didn’t offer much sense of security.

It would be more comfortable to stay in the apartment during the early stages of the apocalypse since it was spacious and bright. What once seemed like a beautiful feature—the enormous wall of floor-to-ceiling glass—now felt unsafe. Adding a layer of tempered glass would provide better insulation, soundproofing, and safety.

Fan Qi agreed with this idea and even praised her for it. The two workers were efficient. Since the tornado, their factory had been very busy with many orders for window repairs and installations, including double-glazed and bulletproof glass.

The apartment building had been constructed with double-glazed windows, so adding another layer of tempered glass would make it extremely secure. Yu Xi requested the work to be completed as quickly as possible and paid extra for expedited service. The workers promised to finish within three days since the large glass panels had to be custom-made at the factory.

At midnight, after ensuring her parents were in their rooms, Yu Xi teleported into the Star House and began her world traversal.

xxx

When Yu Xi regained consciousness, she found herself in a wooden cabin. There were many people around, moving in and out, carrying various filming equipment. Most of them had foreign hair colors and eye colors. Before she could fully process the scene, someone approached her.

“Promise me, this time you’ll focus and finish the job seriously, okay?” said a woman with shoulder-length hair and a neat outfit, about thirty years old.

Yu Xi looked at her, and information about the woman flashed in her mind. This was her agent, Ya Tong. She had been responsible for Yu Xi’s daily life and shooting work since she started modeling. Ya Tong was a serious and assertive agent.

The surroundings were noisy, so Yu Xi stood up and told Ya Tong that she wanted to go to the restroom.

To her surprise, Ya Tong grabbed her arm, looking suspicious. “You’re not thinking of bailing out on the shoot again, are you?”

“I really just need to go to the restroom. You can wait outside if you want,” Yu Xi said seriously, and Ya Tong finally let go of her arm.

The restroom on the first floor was occupied, so Yu Xi asked a staff member and went to the restroom on the second floor. She closed the stall door, leaned against the wall, and began to process the information in her mind.

She was eighteen years old, had lost her parents at a young age, and grew up with her older sister. Due to a lack of supervision, she became a rebellious teenager in middle school, with no interest in studying. Her sister, who had gone abroad for studies and returned, found out about her bad behavior at the boarding school, got angry and worried, and decided to transfer her to a school abroad to keep a closer eye on her.

This was their third year in the U.S. Yu Xi was now a freshman in college, still doing poorly in her studies, and had started modeling six months ago. Her sister, already working in a big company as a capable professional, always spoiled her. Despite Yu Xi’s poor attitude, her sister treated her well and even found her a modeling job through a friend’s company to support her.

The woman outside, Ya Tong, was her sister’s friend. Not only was she an agent, but she also had shares in the company and was a powerful, capable elite like her sister. However, Yu Xi had no fondness for her, seeing her as someone sent by her sister to monitor her.

She had never taken her modeling job seriously, only attracted to the glamorous clothes, makeup, and flashing lights, never putting effort into any shoot. Her constant pickiness annoyed the staff, and she would often slip away after causing enough trouble.

Yu Xi: …

No wonder Ya Tong didn’t believe her when she said she needed to use the restroom; she must have been fooled too many times.

As she digested the world background, Yu Xi couldn’t help but internally complain: “System, can’t you give me a normal character setting for once? Each one is more ridiculous than the last…”

There was a knock on the bathroom door, and Ya Tong’s voice came from outside, checking if she was still inside.

“I’ll be right out,” Yu Xi replied, pretending to flush the toilet and then went to wash her hands.

Looking into the mirror, she was at a loss for words.

That blonde hair!

The reflection was still her, resembling her eighteen-year-old self from the zombie world, but with a more radiant and pretty appearance due to the makeup. However, she couldn’t stand the bleached and dyed hair.

Yu Xi took a hair tie from her pocket (the Star House storage), quickly tied up her long, wavy blonde hair into a bun.

When she opened the door, Ya Tong was still outside, leaning on the staircase railing and on the phone.

“Is that my sister? I want to talk to her,” Yu Xi attempted to ask.

Ya Tong ignored her, finished her call quickly, and said, “Let’s go. Everyone is waiting for you to start shooting.”

There was no way Yu Xi was going to shoot. Although there were still forty-eight hours until the first meteor shower, according to her memory, her character’s sister was in another city.

She needed to get back before the meteor shower began.

With this in mind, she spoke to Ya Tong, “Ya Tong-jie, I need to return to L City. The [meteor shower] is coming soon!”

“What?” Ya Tong looked at her suspiciously.

Yu Xi: …

Of course, the keyword was blocked because the disaster hadn’t started yet.

Without a reasonable explanation, Ya Tong wouldn’t let her leave. They were currently in a remote town, right next to a desert, with inconvenient transportation.

As Yu Xi followed Ya Tong downstairs, her mind raced.

Moments later, without hesitation, she delivered a swift chop to the back of Ya Tong’s neck, knocking her out. She quickly moved forward to catch her as she fell.