On the 37th Day of the Apocalypse, I Picked Up a Monster That Bowed Only to Me - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I stared at it for a full ten seconds.

The stairwell reeked of blood.

Half of its shoulder armor was cracked, black slime oozing down the steps. A row of fresh bone spurs protruded from its spine, looking as if they had been violently ripped out of the flesh by some unseen hand.

Any normal person’s first instinct upon seeing such a thing would be to slam the door, run for their life, and pray it didn’t pounce.

But I didn’t move.

Because a line of text suddenly popped up in my mind.

[Monster Rearing Manual activated.]

[Special Infected detected: Qin Jichuan.]

[Status: Severely injured, starving, on the verge of berserk state.]

[Sanity Value: 23%.]

[Prompt: This target has issued an invitation to rejoin the squad.]

My throat went dry.

Qin Jichuan.

I knew that name.

On the day the Black Rain broke out, South City Stadium served as a temporary shelter. He was the Captain in charge of escorting survivors. He was tall, cold, and a man of few words, with shoulders as broad as a wall. Later, when the infected swarmed the place, he led the last squad to block the entrance and never returned.

Everyone said he was dead.

But now, he was crouching at my doorstep, looking like a dog that had crawled back from hell.

I slowly knelt down and tentatively reached out my hand.

His entire body tensed. A low, threatening growl vibrated in his throat, and sharp claws snapped out like blades.

My heart turned cold.

But in the next second, as if afraid of scaring me, he slowly retracted his claws.

The movement was almost comically clumsy.

I suddenly remembered the first day of the Black Rain. Outside the gymnasium, I had handed half a loaf of bread to a man covered in blood.

He had just returned from the outside then; his lips were pale, and his hands were still shaking.

I asked him, “Can you hold on?”

He said, “I have to, whether I can or not.”

Then, I stuffed the bread into his hand.

Now, this monster stared at my palm, its nostrils twitching slightly as if it could still smell the lingering scent from that day.

Steeling my resolve, I moved my hand a little closer.

“Qin Jichuan.”

I called his name softly.

“If you still recognize me, don’t bite.”

He stared at me fixedly, his eyes a terrifying shade of red.

After a few seconds, he lowered his head with a hint of hesitation. The tip of his cold, rough tongue lightly brushed against my finger.

It felt like a confirmation.

And like an acknowledgment of a master.

My nose suddenly stung with tears.

This world had gone to rot. Living people would stab you for half a bottle of water, yet a monster on the brink of madness chose to retract its claws the moment it saw me.

I opened the door wide.

“Come in.”

“I’ll take care of you.”