Chapter 1

I was reborn and sent back to three weeks before the zombie virus outbreak.

In my previous life, a zombie virus suddenly broke out in my city on Christmas Eve. The entire city collapsed within two days.

I was an orphan. My parents had died in a car accident, and I used their compensation money to open a supermarket.

Before the zombie virus spread completely, I built a makeshift shelter inside my supermarket. I took in Victoria Blake, a young woman I admired, out of kindness, but she ended up betraying me.

In my previous life, Victoria secretly told Tristan Cole about the shelter. Tristan was a wealthy heir who was close to her.

Before long, Tristan showed up with a group of his men and took over my shelter. I ended up at the bottom of the very place I had built myself. They ordered me around every single day and treated me like I was nothing.

Later, when supplies ran low, Victoria suggested throwing me out of the shelter.

Tristan sat back in his chair with his legs crossed, as if he were enjoying the show. "There's no need to be so heartless. After all, this is his place."

Victoria snuggled into his arms, smiling sweetly. "Adrian is just a dog I kept around. It's no big deal if he dies."

Tristan's men grabbed me and shoved me out the door. I was overwhelmed by a wave of zombies almost instantly. The zombies tore into every inch of my body. The agony was unbearable, and I blacked out within seconds.

Then a cold, mechanical voice sounded in my ears. "Attention. The system has been activated. Your first task is to make Victoria fall for you. The reward for completing this task is a basic energy shield that blocks zombie attacks. Every dollar you spend on Victoria will be returned to you tenfold."

I snapped awake in an instant, and the agony of being torn apart was gone. Fate was kind enough to give me a second chance.

I quickly checked the time. There were 20 days left until Christmas. I vaguely remembered that in my past life, the outbreak had happened on Christmas Eve.

At first, everyone assumed it was nothing serious. None of them cared and kept snapping up holiday supplies.

I thought about the timeline and went over what the system had just told me. Any money spent on Victoria would be returned tenfold—this was basically a system designed for people like me.

In my past life, I was a total simp who followed Victoria's every word. I covered everything for her, from rent to her phone bill, yet I couldn't even share a meal with her.

To test this ability, I topped up Victoria's phone with one hundred dollars. As expected, the moment the payment went through, one thousand dollars was credited to my bank account.

The most pressing thing now was to complete the task, then build a safe house.

I found Victoria's number in my contacts and called her, but she hung up within two seconds. I had no choice but to message her on WhatsApp, saying I wanted to take her out for dinner.

Her reply came back quickly. "Who do you think you are?"

I clicked my tongue. If it weren't for the money, I'd have no interest in seeing her again. Now, it seemed like I had to go find her in person.

I knew where Victoria lived because I had rented the place for her. To pursue her, I had gone out of my way to get her an apartment in the busiest part of downtown, with a monthly rent of four hundred thousand dollars.

I had done many things for her, yet she got me killed in my past life. I had truly been a fool back then.

I knocked on the door a few times. The door was answered by her best friend, Isabella Hart. Isabella called out into the apartment. "Vicky, your simp is here."

All of Victoria's friends knew I was her simp, and I had gotten used to being called that.