Novels like The Empty City
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as The Empty City, best match first.
- 1 The Revelation of Dead Silence 死寂启示 No rebirth, no System, no superpowers This story is all about keeping it real. Qin Ning is a young wage earner. One day, by chance, he came across a report about a biting incident while scrolling online. At first, Qin Ning didn't think much of it. But as time passed, more and more strange things happened around him. He realized that, amid his ordinary days, something he knew nothing about was quietly brewing. What he didn't know was that this would change his life, and the lives of everyone else —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 2 A New Beginning in the Age of Doomsday Destruction 末日毁灭纪元新生 (No System, no System, no System, okay?) 1. Wang Qiang is an ordinary man. When the apocalypse arrives, he courageously overcomes his fear, picks up a weapon, and faces the oncoming tide of zombies, resolutely setting out on the road home. 2. Inspired by Wang Qiang’s courage, tenacity, and determination, the group that gathers around him establishes a base. They then expand their living space, reclaim lost territory, fight off zombie hordes, and research meteorites and the virus. 3. On the quest 19Reads—Score—Shelves
- 3 The Dawn of Nature 自然的黎明 [Apocalypse] [Ultra-Realistic] [No System] [No Superpowers] [Hardcore] [Pure Apocalypse Survival] [This is humanity's end, but nature's dawn] No System, an ordinary person from the start, no leveling up by fighting monsters, just a real Apocalypse! At an ordinary university, student Li Yu's life is suddenly torn apart by an unknown virus, turning the campus into a world of zombies. The infectious disease sweeps across the land, plunging humanity into a hopeless apocalypse. Li Yu and a group of s —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 4 Reborn in the Apocalypse: The Zombies Climb Only One Floor a Day 末世重生，丧尸每天只爬一层楼 Apocalypse + zombies + reborn + stockpiling supplies + keeping a low profile + storage space + revenge + ruthless decisiveness The apocalypse arrives, and zombies climb the buildings. The human survivors all take refuge in high-rises! In his previous life, Chu Tian was blinded by love and ended up being killed by the goddess he admired. Reborn one month before the apocalypse, Chu Tian awakens a spatial ability and stockpiles supplies as he prepares to take revenge! Zombies climb the building —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 5 I Control Life and Death, and Every Woman Around Me Is a Goddess 我掌控了生与死，身边全是女神 Post-apocalypse + natural disasters + superpowers + a crowd of beauties + clear lines between good and evil + decisive and ruthless This book is quite different from most post-apocalyptic stories out there. The protagonist knows how to protect himself, can tell right from wrong, and values loyalty! He's not some twisted, gloomy character whose morals are shattered from the start! Those with twisted minds, read at your own risk! There is both the light and darkness of human nature. There is moral 30Reads—Score—Shelves
- 6 Back to Late Ming: The City Is Under Siege by Zombies! 回到明末：丧尸围城了！ After an accident, he transmigrates into the body of the Prince of Ding in the final years of the Ming dynasty. Outside, the Jianzhou Jurchens are watching like hungry wolves; inside, rebel armies are rising across the land. His situation is already a living hell from the start, but then terrifying zombies appear as well. Is this a man-made disaster or a calamity from heaven? 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 7 Beneath the Zombies 丧尸之下 Also known as: In the Apocalypse, Fighting Zombies with My Friends [No supernatural abilities + 1v1 romance] An escape room turns into a zombie crisis! With no food, water, or toilet, the group works together and struggles to survive while trapped. Wait... Wasn't this supposed to be an extreme survival challenge? A wooden stick and a scalpel are one thing, but what's with this whole row of hooked spears? As a successor of socialism, I say: “Sure enough, only by following the Party can we greet t 8Reads—Score—Shelves
- 8 Apocalypse: From Fighting My Way Through the School Building to Rebuilding Home 末世：从杀穿教学楼到重建家园 [No supernatural powers + realistic survival + one heroine + a small ensemble cast] The zombie outbreak began thirteen days before the college entrance exams. Lin Mubai, a high school student, had just finished his cleaning duty when he heard the first scream. Then the whole world began to plunge into the abyss, and he led the surviving students to the rooftop. With no way out, he took up a weapon and fought his way through the entire school building. Lin Mubai always thought this was just an or —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 9 Redemption in the New World 新世界救赎 Keywords: zombies, apocalypse, no System, no supernatural abilities, survival, plot When a real zombie crisis strikes, you won't have various systems and supernatural abilities like the characters in other books, and you certainly won't get the chance to be reborn. When people die, their souls vanish. They may become mindless undead, wandering the streets and attacking those who were once their kind, or turn to a pile of dust, living on only in the memories of others. As the apocalypse descends, —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 10 Doomsday Runaway 末日亡命徒 No System! No rebirth! No saintly protagonist! The zombie virus breaks out, and the world ends. Social order collapses, and human nature’s darkest side is magnified without limit. If you want to stay alive, you have to risk your life. This is a road of survival and escape. 11Reads—Score—Shelves
- 11 The Apocalypse Overlord's Path 末世枭途 [No System] [No Superpowers] [Readers who prefer saintly characters or timid protagonists, beware] The ultimate feast of violent aesthetics; The bloodline of ancient creatures awakens; A song of ice and fire, where moral convictions clash with humanity’s distortions! Zombies arrive, order collapses, and civilization falls. As all kinds of factions rise in the apocalypse, will Su Xu struggle to survive at any cost while fleeing, or will he rise step by step, become a powerful overlord, seize th 14Reads—Score—Shelves
- 12 Please Survive: An Ordinary Person's Zombie Apocalypse 《请活下来：普通人的末日丧尸》 Please Survive: An Ordinary Person’s Zombie Apocalypse 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 13 The Corpse Road Home 归途尸途 The Corpse Road Home 3Reads—Score—Shelves
- 14 A Survival Journal from the Apocalypse 末日幸存者求生日记 [Slow-Burn + No Superpowers + No System + Relatively Hard-Core] This story leans toward realism and may not suit readers looking for wish fulfillment, so please steer clear if that’s not your thing. I’m a new author, and I welcome any advice on areas where my writing could use improvement. Chen Ren was just a carefree, laid-back college student. After the apocalypse broke out, he set out to survive in this chaotic, lawless world and find an ending of his own. Qi 6 Si 8 Wu 3 Liu Si 0 —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 15 A True Account of Escaping the Apocalypse: Just Living an Ordinary Life 末日逃生实录：平凡的活着 Evolution-focused A realistic survival story with comedic elements A young man and woman, both 20, set out to find their parents. Along the way, they are gradually drawn into an unfathomably deep mystery... No rebirth. No saintly heroine. No System-focused plot. Not a brainless story about killing without batting an eye, nor a wish-fulfillment tale about a loser making it big and acting like a big shot. Anyway, it really does feel like a real-life escape story. P.S. Please be patient and read th 4Reads—Score—Shelves
- 16 The Apocalypse: A Dead End 末日穷途 One day, Qi Lin awoke from a dream and suddenly discovered that the entire world had fallen into the apocalypse. By chance, he also discovered what made him different. And so began a journey of pressing on and fighting to survive amid despair. 3Reads—Score—Shelves
- 17 Lost in the Doomsday Mystery, Starting with the Neighbor Next Door 末日谜途，从女邻居开始 [No Spatial Storage] [No System] [No Superpowers] [No Harem] [Not Reborn] Focused on realism and logic. An ordinary person's struggle to survive the apocalypse: killing, fleeing, building a base, stockpiling supplies, expanding their influence... What unknown horrors and cruelties will they face? With a slight focus on military affairs and technology. 751Reads8.2Score—Shelves
- 18 Emberbound Journey: Chronicles of a Lone City's Father 余烬征途：孤城父本纪 The flames of international conflict ignite a bioweapon hell, turning bustling cities into zombie hunting grounds. Xiao Yuanzheng, an ordinary middle-class man caught between office politics in the system and the aftermath of a divorce, witnesses the complete collapse of the world of rules at the moment the apocalypse begins. The scheming of office politics, the pressure of mortgage and car payments, his distant yet unbroken bond with his ex-wife Lin Yue, and his deep but unspoken guilt toward h 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 19 I Transmigrated to Ancient Times Overrun by Zombies and Stay Connected to the Heavenly Dao 穿越丧尸古代，我与天道保持联系 [Pseudo-ensemble cast + unconventional zombie story + ancient setting + no special powers + countless types of zombies + zombie animals and plants + danger at every turn] This is an age in which humanity is on the verge of extinction. Bitter cold, zombies, famine... Everything is driving civilization toward the abyss of destruction. In this desperate world, a young man suddenly appears. Step by step, he grows. Bit by bit, he moves forward. And quietly, he begins to change everything... —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 20 Three Hundred Tang Corpse Strikes 唐尸三百手 Li Qing opened his eyes to find himself transmigrated to the height of the Kaiyuan era, in the body of Li Qing, the Tang Emperor Xuanzong's eighteenth son. He thought he was about to start an overpowered life in the Tang dynasty, but then a secret letter suddenly arrived from beyond the frontier: people at the border were devouring one another like beasts, and blood had flowed for three thousand miles. The Tang dynasty... was in danger! 41Reads8.0Score—Shelves
- 21 Perilous Journey Through the Apocalypse 末世险途 An unprecedented disaster has struck, and humanity is facing annihilation. In a world crawling with the walking dead, what will the remaining survivors do? Join forces and help one another, or scheme against each other? And where should the survivors who escape the city go? 16Reads6.8Score—Shelves
- 22 Civilization at the End of the World 末日的文明 [Zombies + Apocalypse + Survival + No System + No Superpowers + No Harem] The zombies erupted without warning. No one had the slightest hint of what was coming. Yu Shuo was an utterly ordinary university student, but the sudden zombie outbreak completely shattered his once-peaceful campus life. Food, water, electricity, medicine, shelter, and all the other necessities that should have been easy to obtain became the rarest things in the world. The law of the jungle and the survival of the fittest 5Reads—Score—Shelves
- 23 The Struggle to Survive 挣命之争 Two protagonists + no System + an original story + zombies + parasites + Cthulhu. A decaying world, a tormented protagonist; mutated monsters, eerie pillars of flesh. What brought all this about? Countless zombies, parasites, and mutants have overrun the world. A sudden catastrophe has left everyone without a glimmer of hope. The world lies in darkness, and life struggles to survive within it. Yet in this strange, chaotic world, some refuse to give up searching for the brightest light in the dar —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 24 Zombie Horde Incoming: A Survival Guide to the Apocalypse on Campus 丧尸潮来袭，末日校园生存指南 [Apocalypse + Easygoing Daily Life + Sweet Romance + Growing Heroine + Gloomy, Contrasting Male Lead] Sunny high school girl He Tiantian x base’s young master Bai Yuli A catastrophe forced a high school girl, who had once lived a peaceful life, to grow up. Terrifying zombies and brutal tests of human nature. The polite upperclassman turned out to be the heir to a powerful organization; The taciturn, poker-faced upperclassman was actually a rather useless young Taoist priest; All kinds of sec 44Reads—Score—Shelves
- 25 Apocalypse Campus: Realm of the Dead 末日校园：尸界 [No System, all zombie-chasing, bleak, fast-paced, first-person POV] The story of a student who suffers bullying at school and goes through revenge, awakening, and corruption during a zombie apocalypse. He witnesses firsthand the distortion and loss of humanity. This disaster has changed us all. How do we accept who we’ve become, and how do we face who we used to be? There’s no turning back… 558Reads—Score—Shelves
- 26 Apocalypse: After the Zombie Outbreak 末世：丧尸爆发之后 [Post-apocalyptic + zombies + survival + no hiding or playing dirty + modern/near future] Chen Sheng works as a programmer at a small-to-medium-sized company. He’s good at his job, but has a short temper and often snaps back at his boss. As the May Day holiday approaches, he stands up for a coworker and gives his boss another piece of his mind. But this time, in addition to confronting his boss, he witnesses something horrifying… After a massive zombie outbreak, Chen Sheng and his coworkers are 14Reads—Score—Shelves
- 27 It’s Almost Vacation, and Now There Are Zombies? 要放假了，丧尸来了？ [Apocalypse + hellish start + no System + no superpowers + team survival + ensemble cast + moral choices] No cheat System, no special abilities, just a bunch of shut-ins forced to fight tooth and nail to survive Playing co-op against zombies during advanced math class? The next second, the game becomes reality! Who would have thought that Zhou Gong, Fatty, and Old Liu, kicked out of the classroom for gaming, would become the first “survivors” at their school to realize the apocalypse had begun? 73Reads5.4Score—Shelves
- 28 Apocalypse Challenge: Time to Give Up and Coast 末世挑战，开始摆烂 Apocalypse + System + Zombies + Superpowers + Paranormal Challenges Two female leads + a golden-fingered kitty + a main-character squad The apocalypse arrives without warning. Zombies run rampant, and a kitty shows up with her System. But the System actually makes the protagonists take on paranormal challenges in the underworld!!! The story doesn’t move at a particularly fast pace, and the protagonists grow gradually. The main draw is the wild imagination: while fighting zombies in the apocal 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 29 No Spring in the Northern Ridge 北岭无春 A zombie virus sweeps across the world. There is no rebirth, no golden finger, and no superpowers. Amid the snow and wind of a small city in Northeast China, one unyielding obsession endures, as its owner struggles to survive, besieged by both hordes of the undead and human nature. In the apocalypse, what keeps a home safe is never its walls, but the people inside. 1.2kReads—Score107Shelves
- 30 Zombies: Breaking Through the Encirclement 丧尸：突出重围 Synopsis They say there are too many people, so the population needs to be controlled. So someone pretended to be God and began to punish humanity. But do they have the right to do that? 38Reads—Score—Shelves
- 31 The Doomsday Funeral Master 末日葬师 In the parallel world of 2035, humanity successfully fends off the impact of an extinction-level asteroid, and the whole world celebrates. But victory comes at an unknown cost. Radioactive dust from the nuclear blasts and alien viruses carried by the meteorite descend upon the earth with a global acid rain. A terrifying plague far deadlier than the flu quietly breaks out, rapidly turning the infected into bloodthirsty, feral "living corpses": zombies. Civilization collapses within days. In Q Cit 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 32 Apocalypse Rebirth: I Built an Invincible Shelter 末世重生：我打造了无敌避难所 [Apocalypse + Rebirth + Pocket Dimension + Zombies + Supernatural Powers + Semi-Digitized World + Ancient Ruins] Chu Jie, a veteran who fought through the apocalypse for 25 years, survived several stages, including the Cataclysm Era, the Evolutionary Boom, and the Frontier Expansion Period. After being ambushed and killed by a mutant species, he unexpectedly returned reborn. After his rebirth, Chu Jie inherited a prehistoric ruin, gathered every survivor, and built an invincible shelter. Awake, —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 33 I Rob, Kill, and Pillage in the Apocalypse 我在末世烧杀抢掠 [Apocalypse survival, zombies, laid-back pacing, fighting over supplies, territory, and people, building a base, no supernatural powers, no System, no goody-two-shoes, decisive and ruthless, no dragging things out] The hero, Li Bin, returns to the day before the apocalypse. This time, he will find his parents and lead the people around him to survive. He leads his people in fighting for supplies and territory and building a base. See how Li Bin burns and slaughters zombies, and raids for supplie 21Reads—Score—Shelves
- 34 Doomsday Travelogue 末日游记 [Apocalypse + Zombies + No Evolution, No Superpowers] The apocalypse arrives, and zombies overrun the world. A motorhome sets out from Hebei on a journey to Tibet to search for family. I’m just an ordinary nobody. All I want is to survive these chaotic times, find a peaceful place, and live a happy life with my wife and children. But circumstances keep pushing me onward. My concern for friends and family, along with clues that might reveal what happened to my parents, leaves me no choice but to 143Reads8.0Score—Shelves
- 35 Wandering Among the Dead 散丧而行 [Apocalypse + escape + zombies + suspense + strong male and female leads] Terrifying news stories about people biting one another kept appearing one after another. I escaped disaster because I overheard some gossip. When the zombie horde erupted, I accidentally got caught up in a conspiracy. Luckily, I met a group of friends, and together we began stockpiling supplies and fleeing for our lives... (No System + no cultivation + character growth; a great escape entangled in a conspiracy) 177Reads—Score—Shelves
- 36 Midnight Entry: Clear the Dungeons to Survive (Season 5) 午夜入场，副本通关才能活下去(第五季) Midnight Entry: Clear the Instance to Survive (Season Five) —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 37 Midnight Entry: Clear the Dungeons to Survive (Season 6) 午夜入场，副本通关才能活下去(第六季) Midnight Entry: Clear the Instance to Survive (Season Six) 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 38 The Visitor in the Basement 地下室的访客 The Basement Visitor 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 39 Apocalypse Crisis: Infinite Plunder 末世危机之无限掠夺 [Apocalypse crisis + ruthless + no heroine + zombies + supernatural powers + all races!] Jiang Chen awakens the power to plunder without realizing it, then dies a tragic death and unexpectedly is reborn before the apocalypse. This time, he is determined to change his fate and rise above millions. The apocalypse: a game created by beings who call themselves gods! But give those gods health bars, and he'll kill them all the same. The Shadow King, the Earth Guardian, the Poison Doctor Queen, and th 29Reads—Score—Shelves
- 40 Apocalypse: The Female War God Is Pregnant. Who Did This? 末世：女战神怀孕了，这是谁干的 [Apocalypse + Hoarding + More Children, More Blessings] The base assigns him a wife, and Lin Chuang, a reborn man, unexpectedly awakens a reproduction-type Sequence ability. As long as he spends food, he can strengthen his descendants! In the end, he leads a host of descendants with Sequence abilities to dominate the apocalypse! 1.2kReads—Score171Shelves
- 41 Chronicles of the Dead Tide: The Day of the Arrival 尸潮往生录：降临之日 [No System + Story-Driven + Apocalyptic Survival + Mystery and Twists] [Ensemble cast, multiple protagonists, told in arcs that advance the story in turn] [But every storyline will have a proper beginning and end] The earth split apart, and a raging tide of corpses surged forth. Civilization’s last spark flickered precariously, with nowhere left to turn. I, a survivor beneath the horde, decided to fight back and save humanity’s fate... Wait a second, zombies can talk? They even have a neural net 29Reads7.5Score—Shelves
- 42 Thirty Days at the Convenience Store 便利店30天 The most realistic story of surviving the apocalypse: how can ordinary people make it through the end of the world? No golden finger, no conventional tropes. Follow Xiao Cheng, a convenience store clerk, and experience the apocalypse from a fresh perspective. Xiao Cheng, Uncle Qin, Wu Zhe, and the others are trapped in a tiny convenience store, short on food and clothing and beset by troubles within and dangers without. Can they rely on their own strength to escape alive? 104Reads6.4Score—Shelves
- 43 Biochemical Apocalypse: Six Survivors' Desperate Fight to Live 生化末世，六人众绝路求生 [Ensemble cast, biohazard apocalypse, no one reborn, no golden finger, no System, no supernatural powers] An intensely realistic apocalypse novel, all about the thrill! A graduate, a prisoner, a doctor, an amnesiac girl, a crack shot, and a special forces soldier. Six strangers from different backgrounds who have never met share one goal in the apocalypse: to survive. Through an ensemble-cast perspective, this book takes you along on six protagonists' different journeys to survive the apocalypse 88Reads6.6Score—Shelves
- 44 The Tide of Ashes 灰烬之潮 [Mutation] [Saintly Female Lead] [No System] [Zombies] [Horror] [Emotion] [Reverse Approach] With death and despair all around, the journey through the apocalypse is bound to be anything but easy. One day, a mysterious organization launches the [Apocalypse Arrival Plan]. None of the people involved have superpowers, and there’s no System either. So how can they survive the clutches of monstrous zombies? And with a saintly protagonist, even the hope of survival seems to vanish. Will they be assim —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 45 Apocalypse: Reborn in the Realm of Space and Time 末世：重生之时空领域 Zhao Tuo was betrayed and killed by a heartless, hypocritical campus beauty. He was reborn alongside the disfigured captain of a women's squad. When he found her again, he discovered that she was a rare beauty. Before the apocalypse returned, they stockpiled supplies, built a shelter, and assembled their own forces. Determined not to hold Zhao Tuo back in this life, Yan Qingmeng resolutely gave up staying by his side in the comfortable, safe shelter and set out with a small team to retrace the p 1Reads—Score—Shelves
- 46 Apocalypse Rebirth: I Rise to the Top with My Pocket Dimension 末世重生：我靠空间卷成女王 This is a new writer's first book. Please forgive any rough spots. Here's the synopsis: In her previous life, Su Wanwan was murdered by her best friend and boyfriend working together. When she opened her eyes again, she had been reborn three months before the apocalypse. She dumped the scumbag and used her memories of the future and her awakened Spirit Spring Space to frantically stockpile tens of billions' worth of supplies. This time, she would no longer be a doddering vine relying on others. —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 47 The Apocalypse: The Road to Survival 末世，生存之路 The world isn't simply black and white. Where the two meet, there is gray. Perhaps those of us living in the gray are the ones who can truly survive. This is an apocalypse novel about zombies. There is no transmigration, no System, no superpowers, and no plot armor. Its focus is on creating a realistic environment for surviving the end of the world. The male lead, Jing Ming, is a college senior about to graduate. Now let's see how he leads his “family” through the apocalypse and keeps them aliv 9Reads—Score—Shelves
- 48 An Ordinary Person's Survival in the Zombie Apocalypse 平民末日丧尸求生 The apocalypse arrives without warning. Protagonist Chen Liang and his best friend happen to have stocked up on supplies. With such an incredible start, how will things turn out? No special abilities, no golden finger, and a slight focus on farming. Please check out this new book! 566Reads—Score100Shelves
- 49 Do Ordinary People Really Have to Die in the Apocalypse? 普通人末世就不活了吗？ [Apocalypse + zombies + no romance + personal growth + ensemble cast + no golden finger] At midnight, Ji Lin had just finished working overtime at the hospital. Her exhausted body had barely sunk into sleep when she was jolted awake by horrifying screams and the thunderous sound of zombies pounding on the door! With no golden finger to help her, the girl faces a world turned upside down and the ugliness of twisted human nature. She escapes death again and again, struggling to find a way to sur 283Reads—Score—Shelves
- 50 The Night Shift Company 夜班公司 The Night Shift Company 1Reads—Score—Shelves
