Time flew by, and before Nova knew it, it was already 8 p.m. The temperature had done nothing but rise with the fall of night. What should have been a slight cooling was replaced by an oppressive heat that added an extra 10 degrees, making each breath feel like inhaling fire. Already on edge from the suffocating air, Nova distracted himself by scrolling through trade listings and browsing the local chat, trying to kill time.
Then something outside his window caught his attention. "Is someone out there?" Nova muttered, his curiosity piqued. He moved quickly to the window, lifting the curtain just enough to peek out. In the dim glow of the streetlights, a group of people emerged from his building, their hands gripping candle holders and makeshift torches.
"Hurry up, stop dawdling! It's way too hot out here!" one of them shouted.
"Li-ge, are we really going to find food? It's even hotter outside than in here! My throat feels like it's on fire."
"We've got no choice but to try. If we don't go, we'll starve. This damn heat… I can't believe it's not cooling down at all tonight!" another voice responded.
Nova recognized the voices of several men in work clothes, complaining loudly as they walked. From his vantage point, he saw open windows across various floors of the building, each window housing a pair of curious eyes watching the group.
"Li-ge?" Nova thought. Isn't that the guy who knocked on my door earlier today? He recognized the group but didn't know much about them. Nova wasn't particularly close with his neighbors, preferring to keep to himself and focus on his own things.
"Damn, I'm thirsty. I remember there are a few shops down this street. Let's check them out," one of the men grumbled.
"We've got the tools, right? We don't want to come back empty-handed like last night."
"Li-ge, we've got everything. By the way, can we trade some of this for ice water later? I heard it's really good."
"Ice water? Hah, it's too expensive, not worth it. We'll just grab some regular water," came the reply.
As the men chatted, Nova noticed many of them were armed with improvised weapons—rebar, kitchen knives, and even homemade bows and arrows.
"Damn, in this heat, the real danger isn't the temperature—it's other people," Nova muttered under his breath, growing more alert. "They're going to raid the shops, aren't they?" The extreme heat had shifted the environment into something dangerous, but it hadn't erased humanity's darker instincts. People were still the biggest threat to one another. With cities in chaos and resources running low, it wouldn't take much for survival instincts to take over. The less people adhered to old norms, the more they thrived.
It wasn't long before Nova heard the horrifying, blood-curdling cries of a woman:
"Mercy! Mercy… Ahhh!"
"Help! What have you done to my husband?!"
"Murder! Someone help, they're killing him!"
The screams shattered the silence of the night, followed by desperate cries from a man and a woman, their voices mingling with the wails of children. Tension hung in the air, and Nova could sense that, although unseen, every neighbor was listening intently, focused on the direction of the chaos.
An hour later, Li-ge and his group returned, carrying bags of supplies. They were chatting and laughing, their voices loud and carefree.
"Bro, why didn't you let me have a go at that woman? She was looking pretty good."
"Are you stupid? We need to conserve our energy. In this heat, you want to risk dehydration? You're lucky to be alive after that."
"Too bad, I only got to touch her, but man, the feeling was amazing, haha!"
"Alright, now we've got food! Let's make a few more trips tonight. Don't let anyone else grab it."
As they spoke, Nova noticed several of them were stained with fresh blood. Their weapons were still marked with red smears.
"These guys are definitely dangerous," Nova thought, his eyes narrowing. He silently congratulated himself for not opening the door earlier; had he done so, they would have definitely raided his freezer. "This group is already adapting to the new world's rules. If I don't keep my distance, sooner or later, they'll come for me."
The realization hit him hard. While they hadn't broken into his apartment yet, it was only a matter of time. Once people discarded their moral boundaries, there was no telling what they'd do. It was likely they would start breaking into apartments to loot supplies.
"I need to strengthen my shelter's defenses. I need to be prepared," Nova muttered, shutting the curtain and sinking into the shadows. His mind was racing as he contemplated his next move.
He quickly reopened the trade platform and listed four bottles of ice water for trade—specifically seeking self-defense tools to fortify his shelter. Whether weapons, equipment, or anything else that could improve his security, Nova was ready to trade. He even added, "If the price isn't fair, feel free to leave a message and negotiate." As long as the items were useful, he was willing to trade multiple bottles of ice water. After all, by tomorrow afternoon, his freezer would produce another ten bottles, making the trade essentially risk-free.
"Ice Water Guy's back! A new batch of ice water has appeared! Four bottles all at once! This has to be the same guy!"
"I'll check the listings… Wow, Ice Water Guy is thinking ahead, looking for defensive tools. This guy knows what's up."
"Ice Water Guy isn't struggling for food or drink anymore; he's thinking about protecting his shelter. With that, he's set for the end of the world."
"Dammit, I'm dying of thirst here, and Ice Water Guy is already thinking about fortifying his shelter."
In the chat, people were commenting on the new ice water listings, but many were still desperately calling for help or claiming they could save others. The initial novelty of the apocalypse had worn off by the second night. The end of the world was no longer an abstract idea—it had become a horrifying, terrifying reality. Resources were becoming scarcer by the hour, the heat was unbearable, and everyone had to face the grim truth: this was a global catastrophe, and it was real. The scarcity made Nova's ice water especially valuable, and his new listings quickly caught the attention of many surviving shelters. Responses flooded in, and Nova sifted through them carefully, looking for what he truly needed.
After about an hour, he selected a set of small composite crossbows, 30 professional steel arrows, and the necessary maintenance tools and spare parts. In peaceful times, this would have been considered highly regulated, but now, it was just another survival tool. He completed the exchange, trading three bottles of ice water for the crossbow, and used the last bottle to trade for a heat-resistant suit.
"These guys are too stingy; they're all so shrewd. Ice water is precious, but it can only buy so much." Nova exhaled deeply, feeling a little more secure now that he had a weapon. He glanced over at the tightly secured door and placed the crossbow next to his pillow, making sure it was within reach if anything happened during the night. The heat-resistant suit didn't do much to alleviate the oppressive heat, but it was better than nothing.
"Now I've got food, water, and a weapon. What I really need now is medical supplies," Nova thought, lying down on his bed and running through his survival plan. "Tomorrow's ice water—hopefully I can trade it for some medicine, maybe something like Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui." He paused, thinking ahead. "I wonder what the reward will be tomorrow. Now that I have the basics, will it be more food and water, or something new?"
As Nova pondered these thoughts, he finally drifted into a restless sleep.
"Bang!!"
"Ah! Don't come any closer, I'll call the police!"
"Help! Someone! They're killing him!"
The piercing scream of a woman jolted Nova awake. He sprang from the bed, grabbed the crossbow, and cautiously eyed the door. It was still intact, and there was no one else in the room. After a quick check, Nova listened carefully. The sounds of fighting were coming from above—shouting men, the woman's screams, and the crash of furniture being thrown around.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to kill someone?"
"Don't come closer! I have a weapon… Ahh!"
Another scream echoed, likely from someone trying to intervene. Nova's eyes narrowed as he listened, his thoughts racing. "Is that Li-ge's group?" Based on everything that had happened in the last two days, only Li-ge's group seemed to have the combat skills to cause this kind of chaos. But whether it was them or not, Nova knew one thing for sure: someone in this building had begun searching for resources. The worst-case scenario of the apocalypse was unfolding—people were losing their sense of order and turning violent.