Chapter 1: Do You Believe in Doomsday Prophecies?

"Do you believe in apocalypse prophecies?"

Su Miao opened the first page of an ancient book, and fear instantly seized her.

It was rare for her to muster the courage to arrive at this restaurant half an hour before the usual meal time, just to enjoy a plate of dry-fried chicken rice. But unexpectedly, the book she casually pulled from the shelf contained content about the end of the world.

This was far more terrifying than being suddenly approached by a classmate.

Her meal would take a little longer to prepare.

With trembling hands, Su Miao turned to the second page.

"I knew you wouldn't believe it, so please follow this gesture and read these words aloud: [Starlight Bloom]."

Beneath the text was a hand gesture made with the right thumb and index finger forming a heart.

Was that really a heart gesture, not a sign for money?

Su Miao tilted her head in confusion.

Her long hair slipped off her shoulders.

She hesitated, glanced around to ensure no one was watching, and decided to try.

"Starlight Bloom," she whispered, forming the heart gesture with her right hand.

In an instant, a dreamy, ethereal starlight floated upwards from before her eyes, silently bursting and scattering a myriad of dazzling stars across the air, leaving her utterly astonished.

What?

The sparkling lights faded after about eight seconds, and Su Miao snapped back to reality.

This must be magic, right? Not some prank by the restaurant?

She looked around; the place had no special lighting equipment.

With her mind swirling in surprise, confusion, and fear, Su Miao turned to the third page.

"I know you still don't believe, so please open your right hand and read these words aloud: [Little Fireball Spell]. To dispel the magic, say [Disappear]. Similarly, you can learn the Little Waterball Spell."

Su Miao opened her right hand and said, "Little Fireball Spell."

Boom!

A fireball, the size of a ping-pong ball, appeared five centimeters above her palm.

Is this fake?

She saw a napkin on the table, carefully tore off a small corner with her left hand, and brought it near the fireball. The paper instantly caught fire.

Ah! Ah! Ah!

It really burned!

Su Miao stared at the burning fireball in her palm, utterly terrified.

Magic?

Is this really magic? How could she get rid of it?

"Disappear."

In her panic, Su Miao remembered the control command and immediately spoke.

The fireball vanished from her palm, as if everything that happened had been a hallucination—except for the remaining ashes of the napkin, proving it was no illusion.

"Wait, have I learned magic?"

Su Miao grew increasingly frightened. If magic was real, the apocalypse prophecy might be real as well.

"See, you've even learned magic. Now, do you believe in the apocalypse prophecy? If so, turn to the next page."

Su Miao did as instructed.

"September 1, 2123, at 8 AM, torrential rain will begin to fall worldwide, announcing the arrival of the apocalypse. The rain will last until December 1."

"December 1, 2123, at 6 PM, global snowfall begins; the snow will continue until May 1, 2124."

"May 1, 2124, at noon, the world enters a period of extreme heat, with temperatures reaching up to 75 degrees. This heat will last until December 1, 2124, followed by three months of unending blizzards..."

"......"

Hey, is this some kind of joke?

Staring at the pages filled with disaster predictions, Su Miao's mind trembled.

Her fear nearly rendered her unable to think.

This can't be real, can it?

She flipped through several pages, only to find more and more disaster forecasts.

The book also mentioned that insects, birds, beasts, and other animals would undergo mutations during the apocalypse, competing for territory and causing even greater disasters for humanity.

...

"You made it this far, that's remarkable. As a reward, I'll teach you a little spell: [Magic Space]. This spell grants you a storage space of 1,000,000,000 cubic meters. Good luck!"

As Su Miao memorized the [Magic Space] spell, the text on the page began to morph into unstable gibberish.

Even more bizarre, the words seemed to take flight, one by one detaching from the pages and dissolving into the air.

No.

She hadn't finished reading yet.

Su Miao quickly flipped backwards, but the text vanished even faster.

In the blink of an eye, every word in the book disappeared.

Could this be real?

She must be hallucinating, right?

Staring at the blank book before her, Su Miao felt utterly unsettled.

[Little Waterball Spell]

She opened her hand; a sparkling, translucent waterball appeared in her palm, proving that everything she had just witnessed was real.

Which meant the apocalypse recorded in the book was highly likely to be true.

After all, if magic was possible, then an apocalypse seemed almost normal.

Either she had lost her mind, or the world had.

Su Miao tried out [Magic Space] again—the blank book disappeared from the table, only to reappear in the blink of an eye.

"Miss, your dry-fried chicken rice, meow!"

A sweet, melodious girl's voice rang out.

Su Miao looked up to see a blue-haired girl with twin ponytails, dressed in an outfit resembling an idol's stage costume, smiling adorably.

Being stared at by such a cute girl made Su Miao even more nervous.

She must have seen Su Miao use magic to make the book disappear and reappear, right?

"Thank you..." Su Miao replied in a trembling voice.

She really wasn't good at talking to strangers, even though she longed to make new friends.

"Miss, please enjoy your meal." The blue twin-tailed girl formed a heart gesture. "You must have used magic just now—you're amazing, meow!"

What?

She really saw it?

Su Miao's body trembled harder.

It further proved that the magic she used wasn't a hallucination—it was real. Which meant the apocalypse prophecy she just saw was about to happen.

September 1, 2123, at 8 AM, the apocalypse begins.

Now it was August 5, 2123—just twenty-six days left before the end of the world. What should she do?

Eating her delicious dry-fried chicken rice, Su Miao quickly calmed herself.

Though she wasn't great at real-life socializing, she was very familiar with all kinds of apps.

Su Miao opened Zhihu, determined to ask the all-knowing netizens.

[There are twenty-six days left before the apocalypse begins—what preparations should I make?]

She finished editing the title, then wrote down the timeline for the prophecy: torrential rain and floods, blizzards and extreme cold, periods of high heat, and the mutations of flora and fauna.

Unfortunately, she'd only managed to remember this much—the later disasters had all been quickly flipped past, so she hadn't memorized any details.

This dry-fried chicken rice was really delicious.

Su Miao finished editing her post, eating as she refreshed the page to wait for replies.

Three minutes later, she received a notification that someone had responded, and excitedly refreshed to see what wisdom the netizens would offer.

"What? The apocalypse is coming? That's fantastic!"

"Thanks for the invite. Million-dollar annual salary, just got off the plane. This apocalypse setting you've come up with is pretty good—it sounds like fun. Are you planning to write a doomsday novel? Let me know when you do, and I'll support you as a Golden Patron!"

"......"