Chapter 1 Transmigration 2025-12-10 Author: I Have Seven Cats
Chapter 1 Transmigration
"Brother, brother, wake up quickly. There seems to be something outside my bedroom window."
Qin Ziwen, exhausted from moving house all day, was rudely woken up, his anger instantly flaring. "You're a one-eighty-seven-centimeter sports major, what the hell are you scared of!"
"It looks like a bat, such a huge bat."
"A single bat scared you into this cowardly mess!"
Qin Ziwen reached out his hand toward the bedside table to press the light switch.
"Click, click."
He pressed the switch several times, but the room remained pitch black.
"Brother, it looks like the residential community has a power outage. I couldn't turn on the lights just now."
Sitting up from the bed, relying on the moonlight filtering through the window to glance at his younger brother sitting beside the bed, Qin Ziwen muttered curses as he got up. "I'm going to see just how badass this bat that scared you into a coward really is. Watch me beat it into dried bat jerky and hang it by your bed every day."
Arriving at the second bedroom, he asked, "Where's the bat? Why did you paste such a huge poster on your window?"
"That's not a poster, I didn't paste anything on my window." Qin Ziwu's voice trembled slightly.
Qin Ziwen:?
He stared at the window at the pitch-black, writhing thing that took up almost the entire pane of glass.
The 1.2 by 1.8 meter glass was almost completely jammed full.
Moonlight shone in from outside the window, faintly revealing its silhouette. It looked somewhat like a bat, and a huge question mark flashed through his mind: "This is a bat?"
But that wasn't the main point. The main point was how the apartment he had just bought in the city center not long ago had turned into a wilderness forest home, with a meandering river flowing not far away.
He pointed outside the window. "Where did my massive city center go?"
"Holy shit! Big brother, your house is worthless now." Qin Ziwu finally reacted. Just then, his attention had been entirely focused on this creature, and he hadn't had time to observe the outside.
"Thud!"
A heavy vibration came from the glass. The noise of the two talking had attracted its attention, and its claws began scratching at the window.
Qin Ziwen took a step back and hooked his left hand around the door handle. "Go to the kitchen and get a knife, quickly."
Qin Ziwu hurried to the kitchen and grabbed two kitchen knives.
Taking a knife from his younger brother's hand, feeling the weapon in his grasp, Qin Ziwen felt a little more at ease.
After a moment of a standoff, the bat perched on the window suddenly spread its wings, its size instantly expanding two to three times, and fluttered its wings toward the forest behind.
Even through the window, he could hear the "cloth bag" sound of its strong and powerful wings flapping.
It wasn't until the bat flew far away that Qin Ziwen's tense body relaxed slightly, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
He returned to the bedroom, picked up his mobile phone from beside the pillow, and unlocked the screen. The signal in the upper right corner was zero.
When he first saw the scenery outside the window, although he had been mentally prepared, as the reality drew closer to the truth, he still felt dazed for a split second.
So, my residential community really transmigrated?
"Swish--"
He pulled open the master bedroom curtain.
Illuminated by the night sky, the residential buildings bathed in the cold moonlight. Outside the community, in every direction, lay vast, endless stretches of black forests.
"Chirp, chirp~"
On the trees on both sides, birds--colorful and looking nothing like native Earth species--curiously watched this group of uninvited guests beneath the trees.
On the open ground not far below Building 8, many residents had gathered together in a depressed atmosphere.
A middle-aged man wearing a suit said in a deep voice, "I've tried many times. The calls won't go through, there's no signal at all, even if I go to the rooftop. Besides, I observed the surroundings from the rooftop, and it's all forest."
An older woman said with deep worry, "Will the government come to save us?"
A younger woman nearby pointed at the two suns in the sky. "I think it's a bit doubtful. It's questionable whether we're even still on Earth."
A teenager in a gray tracksuit angrily accused his companion, "It's all your fault for insisting we come to your place to play. Now look, we've all transmigrated! How am I supposed to go back? My mom must be worried to death!"
His companion was slightly taller. Facing the accusation, his expression looked rather ugly as well. "How the hell would I know? Are you the only one with a mom? How could I anticipate something like this? Instead of blaming me, you'd better figure out how to survive."
Qin Ziwen and his younger brother Qin Ziwu stood to one side, exchanging glances.
Qin Ziwu whispered, "Brother, it's a good thing we transmigrated at night, and your house is still here. If we transmigrated during the day, not only would your house be gone, but you'd still have to pay the mortgage."
Qin Ziwen gave his brother a sideways glance. "Do you think you're being humorous?"
Qin Ziwu squeezed out an ugly smile. "Things are already like this, might as well be optimistic. It couldn't possibly get any worse anyway."
After waking up in the middle of the night, the two brothers hadn't dared to sleep the entire night, and they had accepted the reality of transmigration. As morning broke, the residents in the community successively noticed the anomalies, and some even began knocking on doors door-to-door.
Their Yujing Jiangcheng residential community had a total of 10 buildings, mostly small high-rise residential properties. The scope of the transmigration precisely encompassed the entire community, including the outer walls, the south gate, the east side gate, and a large iron gate on the north side that was usually closed and locked.
At the same time, the basement level minus one garage remained intact, with the garage entrance and exit located near the east side gate.
Coupled with the fact that the transmigration happened at night when residents were mostly at home, a rough estimate indicated there were at least one to two thousand people.
In the center of the crowd, the middle-aged man in a suit looked around at everyone. "Our water, electricity, and gas are all cut off, and yours should be the same. After the power outage, the food in our home refrigerators won't last long before spoiling. If we want to survive, I think we should unite and find a stable food source nearby."
A bald-headed uncle wearing a short jacket diagonally across from him suddenly interrupted, "The forest is right next to us, can we lack food? I think you're just trying to seize power while taking advantage of this situation. I've seen plenty of people like you."
The middle-aged man in the suit kept his expression unchanged. "I'm merely making a suggestion, not forcing anyone. I'm looking for like-minded friends. Those willing to cooperate can strive to survive together.
My name is Huang Tao, I live in Building 7. I've studied free combat for a few years, love mountaineering and camping, and have a bit of experience with pitching tents and making fires."
Outside the crowd, Granny Li, who lived on the second floor of Building 8, clapped her hands. "Oh dear, the power is out, so the meat in the fridge is going to go bad. I need to hurry up and smoke it."
After saying that, Granny Li turned around and left in a hurry.
Many onlookers were reminded and immediately rushed home.
Others didn't know how to handle it and hurriedly consulted neighbors who knew. Many people only knew that smoking meat meant placing it on a fire to be roasted and cured with smoke, but they had no clue about the exact duration, how high to hang the meat, whether to apply salt, or if they should just dry-roast it directly.
Qin Ziwen gently nudged his younger brother with his elbow. "Let's go take a look."
Qin Ziwu was shocked. "Brother, we usually order takeout. There's not a single speck of meat in our house."
Qin Ziwen: "Just because there isn't now doesn't mean there won't be later."
Granny Li was very enthusiastic. When people came to consult her, she answered each of them patiently, and later simply invited the others into her home for a live demonstration of how to cure meat.
"This cured meat actually has simple techniques. Just remember: salt, smoke, and store. In the past, we always used coarse salt to rub it inside and out several times, then used stones to press the blood out of the meat, and then used smoke to cure it. Remember not to roast it directly with fire; you have to use wet wood or sawdust--things that produce smoke without a fire--to slowly simmer and smoke it. Hang the meat above to slowly dry it out. When the meat turns deep red, feels firm when pinched, and feels light when weighed, it's considered cured."
"No salt? Smoking it directly works too. Cut the meat thin, don't leave large chunks, cut it into fine strips, hang it up, and slowly smoke it with smoke. That way it can be preserved for a slightly longer time, but without salt, it still won't last very long."
Granny Li's husband sat in a wheelchair, washed some fruit at the sink, and handed it to the neighbors who had entered the room.
Accepting the fruit, some people ate it directly, while others stuffed it into their pockets.
"Thank you." Qin Ziwen took the apple with both hands.
The old man smiled kindly at Qin Ziwen, then handed another apple to Qin Ziwu, who hurriedly accepted it.
After curing the meat, Granny Li taught the neighbors many tips and tricks for preserving food.
She used to live in the countryside, but later her husband broke his leg, making rural life inconvenient. After her son got a divorce, he simply brought the elderly couple up to live with him and take care of them.
"Where is your son?" someone asked.
Granny Li said with a smile, "He was on night shift yesterday, so he's not at home."
Many people in the room felt a chill in their hearts, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to undergo a subtle change.
Qin Ziwen took his younger brother and left.
"Crunch."
On the stairs, Qin Ziwu took a large bite, smacked his lips in aftertaste, and said with some regret, "This apple is really sweet. We probably won't get to eat anything like this easily from now on."
Back home, Qin Ziwen began taking inventory of the items in the house.
Actually, he had already tidied up once last night.
Home appliances were basically useless ornaments now; tables and chairs were usable for the time being. There wasn't much food--just a box of small bread rolls delivered by courier the day before yesterday and a box of White Oak Buldak Ramen. There was also half a can of protein powder in the cabinet and half a bucket of water under the water dispenser.
In the drawers were a bottle of unfinished glue, two large buckets, a solid wood clothes pole, several bundles of clothes, bedding, and ropes, two kitchen knives, a fruit knife, and a pair of scissors.
"Some of them have gone out." His younger brother, standing by the window, pointed outside.
Outside the community courtyard wall, more than a dozen adults were cautiously exploring outward.
The surrounding trees were somewhat sparse, stretching about a few dozen paces away.
"Ah!"
An exclamation rang out from the crowd below.
Someone pointed ahead.
Faintly, Qin Ziwen heard: "A snake." "Such a huge snake."
Not far from that group of people, the grass churned violently as a dark green giant snake thicker than a drainage pipe fled in fright.
From the perspective of the upper floor, that snake was at least five or six meters long.
Qin Ziwu's brows twitched. "Brother, this snake could probably swallow a person whole."
Qin Ziwen's expression was grave. "A snake this long can definitely eat people. I have a hunch that the animals around here are not small in size. We need to be careful."
The group of people downstairs fell into a standstill after encountering the giant snake, and a cluster of people in the team were discussing something.
A moment later, the team dispersed, and three of them turned around to return to the residential community.
Qin Ziwen removed the blade from the fruit knife, then used a kitchen knife to sharpen and split a groove at the top of the clothes pole, wedging the blade into it.
He wrapped the joint tightly with rope, dripped glue into the gaps, and after letting the glue air dry, wrapped another layer of rope on the outside.
Thus, a makeshift spear was created. He tested it several times to confirm it wouldn't easily come loose.
"Put this on." Qin Ziwen tossed a thick, long-sleeved winter coat to his brother. He and his brother were roughly the same height and build, so their clothes were basically interchangeable.
Before leaving, Qin Ziwen deliberately put on winter high-top thickened Martens boots, leather jacket pants on the outside, and tucked his thermal leggings tightly into thick cotton socks, securing them firmly.
After heading downstairs, the two of them went straight to the south gate.
On the open space in front of the south gate, the crowd was scattered in small groups, mostly organized by family units, somewhat like a team-matching channel in a game. Those groups with sturdy adult males were much more popular.
"Hey, Xiao Qin, come over here." A woman not far away waved at Qin Ziwen.
"Sister Wang?" Qin Ziwen hadn't expected to run into his department supervisor, Wang Juan, here.
Beside Wang Juan was her husband, whom Qin Ziwen had seen a few times, and a younger woman wearing glasses who was secretly sizing up Qin Ziwu.
"Xiao Qin, what on earth is going on? The company still has a project progress meeting to hold today, and now it's all delayed!" Wang Juan sighed.
Qin Ziwu glanced at her, feeling somewhat displeased. Who do you think you are, opening your mouth and calling my brother Xiao Qin, Xiao Qin?
The woman wearing glasses said, "Anyway, there aren't two suns on Earth. We probably won't be able to go back."
Wang Juan smiled and said, "You, and your younger brother--perfect. You can team up with my husband. More people makes it safer, and you young men have good stamina, so you'll be responsible for scouting and defense."
She continued, "My younger sister is a nurse, she knows first aid and can handle logistics. We're just lacking two strong laborers, so you guys can act along with us. It'll be more efficient."
Qin Ziwen's mouth twitched. He was so angry he laughed, and said indifferently, "We have our own arrangements. We won't trouble Elder Sister Wang."
With that, he turned around and left.
"Hey, wait! How can young people have no team awareness at all? What time is it now? Going it alone won't get you anywhere. There are three of us, and two of you."
Qin Ziwen didn't reply anymore. Running into such a bizarre person early in the morning was just bad luck.
Did she still think she was at the company?
Wang Juan's husband looked at their backs and frowned with dissatisfaction. "Why is your subordinate so disobedient? Not a single shred of the big picture in mind."
After walking some distance away, Qin Ziwu muttered, "Brother, your supervisor... does she still think she's at the company?"
"Maybe some people are just too used to being in charge."
Descending a short flight of stairs to the main south gate, Qin Ziwen paused. Entering his field of vision, the visual impact was immense.
One side of the glass double doors of the gate was broken, and the other was wide open. Inside the door was smooth flooring, while outside the door lay an overgrown wilderness.
Knee-high weeds grew wildly and messily in large patches, and further away lay vast, lush forests. In the sky, a few birds swept past.
(End of chapter)