Madness: The Mortal World at the End of Days

On March 17, 2027, the Madness Plague broke out. The infected laughed hysterically and thirsted for blood and human flesh, yet retained the cunning they’d had in life. The government responded swiftly, and the situation seemed to come under control.

Duan Ran, 38, a former major in the Langya Special Forces Brigade, was forced to leave the military after being saddled with 1.5 million yuan in debt to cover someone else’s mess. Whether or not the apocalypse came, all he wanted was to hunker down at home.

Until a girl named Qin Yuanyuan hacked into his account, took out a 300,000-yuan instant loan, and showed him a video

In it, she kissed him while he slept, called him “husband,” bragged that they had enough supplies to last three years, and gave their exact address. She even added, “Thanks, my wonderful hubby~”

“It’s AI-generated. If my little lobster doesn’t hear from me within an hour, it’ll post the video everywhere.” She shook her phone, grinning like a cat that had just stolen a fish.

Duan Ran stared at the Tang sword in his hand, sharp enough to cut through rebar. For the first time, he wanted to kill someone and couldn’t.

[The Escort’s Journey]

A mountain of corpses and a sea of blood: people are more terrifying than monsters.

They encountered a “human farm,” where a former internet celebrity had been turned into French-style lamb chops, while the cannibal Mo Lingcang elegantly explained the history of cannibalism during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

They built a “no-conscience cannon,” using homemade explosives to blast through a gang and shatter the apocalypse’s filthy rules.

…

She went from threatening him with AI to fighting alongside him to carve a path through bloodshed, from “Hurry up, mister” to “Duan Ran, don’t die.”

He went from wanting to stab her to protecting her with his life, from a debt-ridden scapegoat to a one-man, one-sword bulwark against the apocalypse.

[Reading Guide]

A gritty apocalypse story with decisive action and no saintly do-gooders.

A daily draw System where good items are incredibly, incredibly, incredibly hard to get: the ultimate battle between the unlucky and the lucky.

A 38-year-old special forces soldier × a 22-year-old hacker, from a clash of technical prowess to entrusting each other with their lives.