Novels like I Have a Garden on the Rooftop
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as I Have a Garden on the Rooftop, best match first.
- 1 Zombie Outbreak! How Long Can a Nobody Like Me Survive? 丧尸爆发！看我一屌丝能活多久 [One Female Lead] [No System] [An Utterly Ordinary Nobody for a Protagonist] Money and fame have become worthless. When social order collapses and the law can no longer restrain the evil in people's hearts, how low can the moral bar be set? How long can Gao Xiaofeng survive in a world where human hearts are ten thousand times more sinister than zombies? Can he hold on to his principles and morality? Will he choose to scrape by, or become a selfish, decisive, self-serving man who lives safely thr —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 2 The Cold of the Apocalypse 末日之寒 A zombie-apocalypse survival story about teamwork. No rebirth, no special powers, no evolution, no cheats, no harem, no self-sacrificing saint. Everyone is smart and capable. Pure-love warriors! A sweet romance and realistic survival. My name is Han Feng, and I'm a third-year college student. One ordinary day, a terrifying zombie crisis erupted all around me. My teammates and I fought on, for survival and for the light of humanity! 7Reads—Score—Shelves
- 3 Apocalypse: The Road of the Dead 末世：尸途之路 [Realistic Zombie Fiction + Zombies + Apocalypse + No Superpowers + No System + No Golden Finger + The Protagonist Isn't All-Powerful + He Gets Hurt Too + He Won't Die + Don't Be Fooled by the Title + Please, I'll Get on My Knees if You Don't Read It + Realistic, Walking Dead-like Style + Best Savored Slowly + Slow-Paced] Don't fall for the superpower cliches! The real apocalypse doesn't pull its punches. No System, no superpowers, just zombies tearing into people and struggles over human nature 13Reads—Score—Shelves
- 4 Infection: Survival Diary 感染：求生日记 (Apocalypse + zombies + survival + no special abilities + no System) A once-peaceful life was suddenly shattered by chaos. The people around him were infected and turned into mindless, bloodthirsty monsters that devoured human flesh. Lin Yun had no choice but to survive in a zombie-infested world with his younger sister. In a world without order, the danger came not only from zombies, but also from the darkness in people's hearts... From then on, his only belief was to keep his sister alive. 2.6kReads8.7Score155Shelves
- 5 An Office Worker's Doomsday Survival Log 打工人末日求生日志 [Strong Female Lead + Zombies + Apocalypse Survival + No Superpowers + Not a Power Fantasy + Survival Against the Odds] When zombies break out and the apocalypse descends, how long does it take to go from struggling to survive to holding up the sky? Yun Wei was just an ordinary office worker, until one day, zombies appeared in the office building where she worked... 4Reads—Score—Shelves
- 6 Zombie Apocalypse Survival Handbook 末日丧尸生存手册 (Also known as A Zombie Survival Handbook, an award-winning entry in the Lenghu writing contest) The apocalypse arrives, and a little zombie gradually carves out a place for itself through ruthless decisiveness. But danger is always just around the corner. Human organizations trying to launch a counterattack, powerful mutant beasts, and mysterious little gray men. Behind the apocalypse’s secret realms, there may be an unseen hand pulling the strings. 45Reads—Score—Shelves
- 7 Zombie Apocalypse: I Grow into a King 丧尸末世，我成长为王 No System + no characters acting stupidly + no special abilities + sci-fi + zombie apocalypse. This novel tells the story of Wang Jie, a first-year student at a university in Xia State, and how he gradually grows into a leader. The United States of America discovered a mysterious virus beneath the frozen permafrost of the Arctic and brought it back to a laboratory for study. Eighteen years later, the virus triggered the end of the world. Huge numbers of people were infected and turned into zombi 270Reads8.0Score—Shelves
- 8 The Tainted: Guardians of the Dawn 污核之众：曙光守护 [Apocalypse + zombies + no rebirth + no superpowers + no System + traditional realism + no mindless wish fulfillment] After completing a year as an intern, Xu Yi is hired as a police officer at the municipal bureau. He is immediately assigned to mentor a new intern, Liu Wanxing. Just as Xu Yi is worrying about whether he can handle training a newcomer, an even bigger problem quietly emerges. An unusual riot breaks out at the airport in Linhai City's Linnan District. Xu Yi, a police officer with 38Reads—Score—Shelves
- 9 The Living Corpse Research Manual 活尸研究手册 The only thing humanity has done in this world without reversing the course of history is establish the Joint Arbitration Council (CA). In its ten years of existence, the CA has launched numerous initiatives, such as closing off energy sources to encourage humanity to pool its resources and explore the unknown. Extremely high productivity has brought tremendous progress. This era can be called a time when humanity's greatest stars shine. Some cancers have been conquered and are now curable, peop 16Reads—Score—Shelves
- 10 Doomsday: Survivors of the Zombie World 末日：丧尸世界幸存者们 [No rebirth, no System, story-focused, no harem] There is a mysterious organization in the world: the Zero Organization. They have lost all humanity, purged the globe, and unleashed a zombie virus, hoping to create a world governed by an order that belongs to them alone. Not a single country on the planet has escaped unscathed. The story takes place in S City, Huaguo, and follows Qin Fan, an ordinary former soldier. Through countless hardships, he meets many people he has never encountered befor 101Reads—Score—Shelves
- 11 The Filthcore Crowd 污核之众 [No rebirth + no superpowers + no awakening + no System + no cheats + no brainless decisions + human nature true to each character’s circumstances] After the Great Union wantonly discharged nuclear wastewater, a new virus emerged: the “Nuclear Waste Virus,” a rabies virus mutated by radiation from the wastewater. It sparked a global zombie crisis. In this apocalypse, where the Nuclear Waste Virus has unleashed hordes of zombies, survivors in cities across the country must protect themselves am 47Reads8.0Score—Shelves
- 12 The Apocalypse’s Enigma 末世迷焉 Zombies, radioactive rain, dense fog, blizzards, mutated creatures. A string of disasters has descended upon Earth. Where can humanity find a way out? What secrets is the military hiding? What's beyond the ice wall? Are there worlds beyond our own?! Do strange and legendary creatures walk side by side?! Join the protagonist in uncovering the truth beneath this rotting world. Can they find a path to salvation through the layers of fog? Is there no way back, or are we trapped here by our own doing 5Reads—Score—Shelves
- 13 Song Corpses 宋尸 Also known as A True Record of Song Dynasty Zombies Have you ever wondered what it would look like if the virus from Resident Evil broke out in ancient times? What sparks would fly when a million soldiers clashed with a virus from Resident Evil? Could five thousand years of Chinese history really be wiped out by this Western virus? Settle in and read carefully. Zhang He, a transmigrator, will tell you the ultimate answer. Welcome to the Great Song dynasty. 4.1kReads6.7Score477Shelves
- 14 Survival in the Zombie Apocalypse! 丧尸末日下的生存！ The zombie apocalypse breaks out. There’s no System, and Liu Tian is an ordinary person. How will he survive? What does an ordinary person have to do to make it through the apocalypse? His boss still expects him to go to work? He wakes up to find the world changed, but there’s no System like in the novels. How can he protect his family and keep them alive… I hope each of us can be the protagonist of our own life. An apocalyptic novel that feels incredibly close to real life. 259Reads6.2Score—Shelves
- 15 Zombies: My Apocalypse Survivor Base 丧尸：我的末世幸存者基地 [No System] + [No supernatural abilities] + [Not reborn] The zombies break out, and the apocalypse arrives. There are zombies right outside the door, and Wang Kai is stunned. No System, no powers, not reborn. Is this really a proper zombie novel? It's 2024 already. Surely there aren't still zombie novels without a System, right? Right? How is anyone supposed to handle this from the start? Looking at the pretty girl hiding in the room, he decides: Whatever, life and death are in fate. If they won 946Reads8.0Score—Shelves
- 16 Apocalypse Rebirth: A Powerful Big Shot Who's Far Too Cautious 末世重生：大佬超强却过分谨慎 [Reborn + no supernatural abilities or pocket dimension + male lead, short romance with a fast pace + growing female lead + team missions together in the middle and later stages + nonstop killing] [Special Forces captain x college student] When the zombie virus hit, Jiang Ru spent a year in the apocalypse saving countless people, but still couldn't escape Qingtian City. In the end, she was betrayed by her teammates and met a horrible fate. When she opens her eyes again, she's back two hours befo 47Reads8.5Score—Shelves
- 17 The Apocalypse Arrives, Red Underwear from the Start 末日来临，开局红裤衩 This isn’t a wish-fulfillment story, so read at your own discretion. No female lead, no special powers, no System. Zombies and nuclear war, an ordinary person’s struggle to survive the apocalypse. When several college students escaped the blood-soaked university district and thought they had grasped a glimmer of hope, a sickly white flash pierced the night. It wasn’t dawn. It was the death knell of civilization, as nuclear weapons tore open the sky above the city! In an instant, a dazzling fireb 447Reads8.1Score—Shelves
- 18 The Walking Dead: TWD 行尸走肉TWD [No golden finger + an ordinary person gradually growing stronger + a crossover of zombie shows and games + slow-paced development and base-building + gritty realism + multiple women + making up for regrets, no tragedy] (Includes a little fanfiction. Everything is in service of the plot, so don't read if that's not your thing. This time, The Walking Dead will be different.) Opening: The Walking Dead TV series Main storyline: The Walking Dead main series + some spin-offs Elements: The Walking Dea 28Reads8.6Score—Shelves
- 19 Dust of the Plague-Worn Land 疫土遗尘 [Zombies + apocalypse + ensemble cast + realistic + no special abilities + Western characters + shared human destiny] This is not a power fantasy. The writing style leans toward traditional literary fiction. Told from multiple perspectives and across different timelines, this story follows the zombie pandemic from beginning to end: how it spreads from isolated outbreaks to cover the entire globe. It describes how different countries respond to the crisis, as well as the pandemic's historical ori 291Reads8.3Score—Shelves
- 20 The Laws of the Apocalypse: Live by Embracing Death 末世法则：向死而生 [Post-apocalypse + zombies + sweet romance + strong heroine + scheming + slaughter] Four college students encounter zombies in their dorm room. They band together, hide out, and try to outwit the zombies, facing betrayal and death along the way before discovering that the zombie virus is actually the result of a human conspiracy... As emotions and society collapse around them, the heroine, the second-oldest girl, gradually sees the world differently. The second heroine, A Lai, is strong-willed, 5Reads8.1Score—Shelves
- 21 The Walking Dead Are Everywhere 行尸遍野 The apocalypse arrives, zombies run rampant, and survival becomes the biggest challenge. If you want to stay alive, and live well, getting stronger is the only way. 563Reads7.1Score—Shelves
- 22 Zombie Apocalypse: A Women's Dorm Survival Diary 末世丧尸：女寝求生日记 [Zombies + friends fleeing together, with the campus, countryside, and safe zone maps now unlocked] Screams ring out in the dead of night, and the campus becomes a slaughterhouse. The zombies spread without end, and the chances of rescue look bleak. A college student carries only a screwdriver. Together with her friends, she sets out to escape. (P.S. There is a romance storyline. The entire story is told from the heroine's perspective.) Sorry, two chapters in the campus arc drift from the hero 333Reads8.8Score—Shelves
- 23 A Record of the Zombie Apocalypse 末日丧尸纪实 (The rating is low because it was just released and started out with a low score. Check the detailed reviews; they’re mostly positive!) Synopsis: [Traditional Apocalypse]+ [Military]+ [War between humans and zombies] In 2025, a flu spread across the globe, and everyone seemed to take it in stride… Then the Apocalypse suddenly broke out, and zombies began appearing. How would humanity survive…? After the Apocalypse broke out, Zhao Leng escaped death and joined the army, beginning a war between hu 560Reads7.2Score—Shelves
- 24 Journey Through a Mountain of Corpses: The Real Apocalypse 尸山行，真实末世 This is an old-school zombie apocalypse novel with no pocket dimension, no supernatural abilities, and a focus on realism. Think The Walking Dead: a lone wolf at first, then a fight for supremacy! Xu Du and Yan Xi wrote the names of all their friends and family on a sheet of white paper, then stuck it to the wall. A sacrificial table stood right in front of it, laden with food and red candies. It was both an offering and a wedding feast. Kneeling before the table, the two worshipped, then bowed 1.2kReads8.1Score107Shelves
- 25 The Apocalypse Rules: The Seven-Day Transformation 末世规则之七日之变 A zombie Doomsday story with no superpowers, a focus on logic, and a realistic feel. It may touch on pets, so read with care. “A novice author's novel, pure beginner writing. Please be patient and bear with me.” The male lead is an ordinary man who, through a twist of fate, brings a mutated rabies virus back to China. It wasn't intentional, but it leads to a catastrophic disaster. On his journey to find his daughter, he faces all kinds of hardships and dangers. Only belatedly realizing what he h 805Reads8.1Score—Shelves
- 26 Apocalypse Survival Master 末日生存大师 Suppose that starting today, the Earth you know transforms into something else. Sandstorms, dust storms, and all kinds of alien creatures destroy every system and law. How will you survive? The apocalypse I’m going through may well become your future... 570Reads6.3Score—Shelves
- 27 True Story: A Doomsday Survival Journal 真实：末世求生日记 If all of humanity turned into zombies and you were just an ordinary person, how would you face the apocalypse? If the power grid went down, cars wouldn’t start, and there were no guns or cannons, how would you survive? 817Reads6.2Score—Shelves
- 28 Apocalypse Fortress: Stay Alive 末世堡垒，活下去 Synopsis: An ordinary person + reborn without overlapping timelines + survival + the apocalypse + zombies + mutations + sci-fi. No System, no golden finger. Mutated creatures never seen before. All sorts of unexpected coincidences. Experiences that were impossible to understand or see through at first gradually unfold over time. Layer by layer, the clues are unraveled. Everything slowly becomes clear. Is this a shocking conspiracy, or a journey toward the very source of the world? This is a slow 165Reads7.7Score—Shelves
- 29 Dawn of the Living Dead 活死人的黎明 Apocalypse + zombies + ensemble cast + realistic survival from the perspective of ordinary people. No supernatural powers, no golden fingers, no stockpiling, no rebirth. 2028, the fifth year since Japan began dumping nuclear wastewater into the ocean. As the marine environment became polluted, an unknown virus entered human society through seafood products. It started with what people ate. Pain and diarrhea soon followed, and hospitals were overwhelmed. But something even more terrifying began t 1.6kReads8.7Score103Shelves
- 30 Land of the Living Dead 活死人之地 [A word of caution] No System, no golden finger, not reborn, no stockpiling supplies, and no collecting crystal cores. A first-person zombie-apocalypse survival story. What would you do if you woke up one day and found that the world around you had changed beyond recognition? When disaster struck, I was just a college student slacking off at school. Faced with the sudden upheaval, the authorities activated the S-rank Red Emergency Plan and moved some survivors into underground shelters. With zo 242Reads6.0Score—Shelves
- 31 Apocalypse: Breaking Through the Dawn 末世，冲出破晓 [Zombie apocalypse + disastrous start + no golden finger + road escape + limited enhancements] You wake up in a rented apartment, and the zombie apocalypse begins! Watch as I lead a team across China, make it through the darkness, and welcome the dawn! 1.6kReads8.5Score100Shelves
- 32 Zombies on the First Day of School? Are You Kidding Me? 刚开学就闹丧尸？玩呢？ [Zombies] [No special abilities] [No System] [Not reborn] [No pocket dimension] [No harem] [Small-group survival] [Students] On the first day of registration at the start of the school year, the zombie outbreak began just after they had finished entering their personal information. Nanda University became a slaughterhouse. Faced with zombies that felt no pain, never tired, and attacked fiercely, how could ordinary college students survive? After the small group led by Li He and Wang Hao finally 2.3kReads8.5Score210Shelves
- 33 Rebuilding Civilization in the Apocalypse 我在末日重建文明 Zombies + Survival + Hard-hitting + Apocalypse + Escort + Big-picture scope + Ruthless and decisive. The author has worked hard to create a realistic apocalyptic world. The male protagonist is a medical student. His greatest enemy is the loneliness that seeps from deep in his bones. In this desolate apocalypse caused by a fungus, walking away might be the only path to happiness, because living is more painful than dying. The Chinese version of The Last of Us. An excerpt from the book: What does 158Reads8.2Score—Shelves
- 34 The Endless Road of Corpses 无尽尸路 (Published title: Return to Dawn) The Ebola virus continues to rage, three Malaysia Airlines passenger planes crash one after another, and oil prices suddenly plummet... After a series of bizarre upheavals, the zombie crisis erupts without warning. The protagonist and his companions must not only evade the immediate threat of zombies and struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where modern civilization has collapsed, but also keep searching for the source of the undead. Is it the greates 59Reads8.5Score—Shelves
- 35 Blood Calamity: The Dead Rise on Campus 血灾：尸起校园 [Zombies]+ [Apocalypse]+ [Team]+ [Survival]+ [BL]+ [School]+ [Military]+ [Hardcore (the war follows the worldbuilding of Arena Breakout)]+ [Guangdong]+ [Hong Kong Island]. An ordinary student from the start, with no System, special abilities, or rebirth. A realistic Apocalypse seen through an ordinary student's eyes. Starting in Volume Two, the story follows survival in the military. The Bible once said: "One day, the waters of the Nile will turn to blood, and God will punish the world." The Eb 3Reads8.3Score—Shelves
- 36 Deadly Poison Zombies 绝命毒尸 The night gave me a pair of black eyes, but I use them to search for girls in the darkness! Stopping the apocalypse is my conviction; keeping them warm is my responsibility. I am Xia Buer, the one who stands against the apocalypse… 126Reads8.3Score—Shelves
- 37 Doomsday: The Saintess Terminator 末日之圣母终结者 Have you ever imagined that one day, the zombie scenes from movies might spill into reality? When the world has been utterly devastated, will you have the courage to face it? When the apocalypse really comes, what will this world have to offer? No supernatural powers, no spiritual qi revival, and no high-level martial arts. All that remains for humanity are hordes of the walking dead, mutated beasts and birds of prey, extreme weather, and one forbidden zone after another left behind by nuclear w 242Reads6.6Score—Shelves
- 38 When the Zombies Came: Surviving Alongside My Classmates 丧尸来临：与校友并肩求生 ☞Zombies + team escape☜ [Note: A realistic apocalypse survival story. No rebirth, no stockpiling, no System, no superpowers, and no goody-two-shoes heroine.] A zombie outbreak hits a university, and the campus is surrounded. How can a group of ordinary college students save themselves and survive? As zombies spread across the globe, a small team led by Su Yi fights its way out of the campus, struggling to survive as they search for the legendary survivor camp. Hang on. The light will shine again 1.3kReads8.5Score110Shelves
- 39 Abaddon 2 亚巴顿2 The zombie outbreak has begun. How can Guan Bei escape alive from his university dorm? In this cannibalistic apocalypse, surviving takes cold-bloodedness, ruthlessness, violence, and slaughter. Maybe it takes a little ridiculous kindness, too? Humanity is twisted, morality has collapsed, zombies roam everywhere, and the world lies in ruins. Run! Escape the jaws of the undead! [“Ordinary people.” I believe those three words are enough.] 13.5kReads8.7Score1.3kShelves
- 40 Apocalypse: Red-Eye Project 末世：红眼计划 This time, it's the Chinese people's turn to save the world! A realistic survival story set in the apocalypse: no System, no supernatural abilities, no golden finger, and no being reborn. I wake up to find the world has changed beyond recognition. Humanity has been divided into two groups: normal people and red-eyed people. The red-eyed people are like zombies, devoid of emotion and vitality. And my wife is one of them. What made them this w 111Reads8.7Score—Shelves
- 41 Dead City: Seventy-Seven Days 死城，七十七天 A quiet life is shattered by an unknown virus. The living are turning into infected who eat people. Trapped in a high-rise with no power, no internet, and barely any food, how can you rely on the courage to risk your life and the clearheaded resolve to survive against all odds to save yourself and others from the infected surrounding you...? 1.1kReads8.3Score123Shelves
- 42 The Zombie Apocalypse at School: The Happy Ending 校园丧尸末日：幸福终点站 A pure zombie apocalypse story, with no System and no special abilities. A realistic school-set zombie survival novel told largely through an ensemble cast. Every character is equally important, each with their own personality, and all are grounded in everyday life. Nobody is unrealistically powerful. It's the story of a group of ordinary students with different personalities, repeatedly escaping death as they make their way to a refugee camp. The settings are down-to-earth, and it's a straightf 438Reads—Score—Shelves
- 43 Apocalypse: Starting by Slaughtering a Hundred Classmates 末世：从坑杀百位同学开始 [Apocalypse + Dark Tone + Gritty + No Superpowers + No Female Lead + Decisive and Ruthless] After more than a decade of struggling through the apocalypse, he is reborn. Zhou Qiu no longer trusts anyone. Classmates? Lure them all to their deaths to help me escape! Close friends? Force them to toughen up. They live if they make it, and die if they don’t! There’s no such thing as friendship, and no such thing as enemies or villains. There’s only absolute self-interest! 8kReads8.0Score516Shelves
- 44 Doomsday Rebirth: Frenetically Stockpiling Billions in Supplies 末日重生：疯狂囤货亿万物资 [Apocalypse + rebirth + stockpiling supplies + weapons + spatial storage + special abilities + ruthless protagonist] No saintly do-gooder!!! As extreme heat engulfs the globe and the apocalypse begins, Lin Hao starts out alone, a pathetic simp! By the end, Lin Hao commands a million troops and faces the Great Sun Tathagata head-on! 350Reads5.1Score—Shelves
- 45 Her and Their Glimmer of Light 她和他们的微光 The third cataclysm completely destroyed what little order remained. The last few survivors huddle in their respective corners, barely clinging to life. What is the point of struggling to survive? Jing Lin doesn't know. She's done everything she can, but she truly doesn't know how to keep herself alive, or save the few companions she has left. This is my first work. Please be kind. A little angst? Absolutely ✓ 13Reads—Score—Shelves
- 46 Apocalyptic Calamity 末日灾劫 Apocalypse + Zombies + Mutant Beasts + Low-Profile Growth. Li Shaoqing returns from reincarnation and uses his memories of his previous life to build a safe shelter well before the apocalypse arrives in this life. After the apocalyptic disaster strikes, zombies and mutant beasts roam everywhere. The world beyond the shelter becomes perilous, and human survivors become food for the zombies and mutant beasts. In an apocalypse riddled with danger, humanity struggles to survive. Does humanity still 82Reads5.2Score—Shelves
- 47 The Quagmire 泥沼地 Also known as: “I Miss Home Amid a Mountain of Corpses” [Apocalypse + zombies + strong female and male leads + no supernatural abilities or golden fingers + ensemble cast + romance, but not much of it] The apocalypse arrives, and zombies run rampant. The dark hand of disaster has reached Liyang No. 1 High School on the outskirts of the city. A piercing announcement over the school PA wakes all the students on their lunch break. When they open their eyes again, they no longer see their teacher wa 1.4kReads8.9Score187Shelves
- 48 My Struggles in the Apocalypse 我在末世摸爬滚打的日子 When a zombie virus spreads through the tap water, Su Yi, an ordinary water-treatment plant worker, travels across the ruined apocalypse with his long-legged female neighbor. Along the way, he also meets a female bureau chief, a beautiful police officer, a female manager, and more... (The first 200 chapters follow ordinary people struggling to survive the apocalypse. Superpowers appear after that, because the zombie virus evolves, and the main cast would be useless without abilities. As for what 160Reads—Score—Shelves
- 49 Shh, I'm the Devil's Son 嘘，我是恶魔的儿子 [Apocalypse] [Madness plague] [Blood Cross] [Revenge] [Psychological horror] [Human nature] [Ensemble cast] [No System] They say the apocalypse has come, and the world has gone mad. But I've lived with madness since childhood. My father was a serial killer who terrified countless families. My childhood was filled with blood, lies, and... professional cleanup techniques. Now, madmen laugh wildly outside while survivors wail among the ruins. I'm the only one who doesn't fit in, calmly walking thro 37.1kReads9.3Score5.8kShelves
- 50 Project Zomboid: Apocalypse 僵尸毁灭工程：启示录 Project Zomboid, a zombie survival game set during the apocalypse. How do you survive in Kentucky, USA? That's the question. How will Lin Xin struggle to survive in the world of Project Zomboid? 3.4kReads9.0Score329Shelves
