"What's wrong, Bin-ge?"

Seeing Yang Bin's expression, Chen Hao looked at him in confusion.

"Haozi, go invisible for me."

"........"

"You feeling okay, Bin-ge? If I could go invisible, why would I ever bother getting a girlfriend? I'd just camp out in the girls' showers every day. Wouldn't that be the life?" Chen Hao said flatly.

"I'm telling you-you can do it. Focus your mind and silently repeat 'Invisibility' to yourself." Yang Bin's tone was dead serious.

Seeing that expression, Chen Hao thought it was absurd-but he did it anyway.

Soon, Chen Hao's body began to fade. Within moments, he vanished completely.

"Bin... Bin-ge, I think... I actually turned invisible!?" Chen Hao's excited voice echoed across the rooftop, but there was no trace of him anywhere.

Yang Bin stared at the empty space where Chen Hao had been, genuine surprise on his face. He really could see other people's abilities.

He concentrated again, focusing on the spot where Chen Hao had disappeared. Chen Hao's figure materialized before his eyes-arms outstretched, turning his hands over and back, grinning like an idiot.

"Haha! I can turn invisible! This is amazing! The girls' showers will never keep me out again!" Chen Hao was practically vibrating with excitement.

"......."

"Can you aim a little higher in life!?" Yang Bin rolled his eyes.

"Higher than what? What's more real than watching hot girls shower?"

"......"

"It's the apocalypse now. There are no hot girls in the showers anymore-just zombies looking to rip your throat out. Want to go peek?"

"Uh... I'll pass." Chen Hao coughed awkwardly.

"But Bin-ge, what's actually going on? Why can I suddenly turn invisible? Is this a superpower?"

"Yeah, basically." Yang Bin nodded.

"But why do I suddenly have one?"

"Probably triggered by whatever caused the apocalypse. No idea if it's a good thing or bad. But either way-since we have Special Abilities, we've got better odds of staying alive. That's what matters." Yang Bin said.

"Wait, Bin-ge-you're saying you have one too?"

"Obviously. How else would I know you could go invisible?"

"Then what's yours?" Chen Hao asked, curiosity burning.

Yang Bin thought for a moment. "I can see things other people can't."

"Like...?"

"Like your Invisibility."

"......."

"The hell? You're literally my hard counter?" Chen Hao's face went blank. "So I'm never getting one over on you. Ever. For the rest of my life."

"What-you want me to call you 'ge' instead?" Yang Bin smirked.

"Uh, nope. Nope nope." Chen Hao waved his hands frantically.

"But Bin-ge-since we both have Special Abilities, think we could do something big in this apocalypse?" His eyes lit up again.

"Way too early for that. Let's figure out how to not die first. Neither of our abilities is built for combat. Surviving in a world full of zombies isn't going to be easy." Yang Bin shook his head.

"True. But I can go invisible-I can steal food. At least we won't starve."

"Don't get cocky. From what I've observed, these zombies have extremely sharp hearing. If you can't move in complete silence, Invisibility won't do much against them."

"Wait-then my ability is useless?" Chen Hao's eyes went wide.

"Of course not. Half the world would kill for what you've got. But you need to train. Practice moving without making a single sound. Later, we'll find a zombie and test whether it can detect you."

"Uh... you sure 'test' won't turn into 'rest in peace'?"

"It won't. Believe in yourself."

"...Alright."

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Just as they were about to start practicing, the iron door to the rooftop shook under a barrage of frantic pounding.

"Who's in there!? Open up!"

"Open the door! There are zombies!"

Panicked voices. The hammering grew more desperate.

Both of them flinched.

"Bin-ge, what do we do? Open it?" Chen Hao's brow furrowed.

Yang Bin locked his gaze on the iron door-and looked straight through it.

Three men stood on the other side, faces white with terror.

One was slamming his fists against the door. The other two were fighting-one swinging an 80-centimeter steel pipe, the other bashing at two pursuing zombies with a tall stool.

The stairwell gave them the high ground. Every time a zombie lunged up, they beat it back down.

Yang Bin frowned. "Open it. If they keep banging like that, they'll draw every zombie in the building. And I'm not sure this wooden ladder will hold if a crowd piles up."

He paused.

"But stay sharp. Three of them, and one's got a steel pipe. We need to be careful. They're classmates, sure-but in the apocalypse, human hearts are hard to predict."

"Got it, Bin-ge. I know." Chen Hao nodded.

"I'll move the ladder. You open the door. The second they're through, slam it shut."

"Got it!"

Yang Bin checked through the door one more time. The moment the two fighters knocked the zombies back down the stairs, he shoved the ladder aside. Chen Hao yanked the door open.

The three men burst through like their lives depended on it-because they did. The door slammed shut behind them.

Yang Bin jammed the ladder back into place immediately.

Seconds later, impacts thudded against the other side. The zombies had reached the top. But two of them didn't have the strength to force open a door braced by the ladder.

"Haaah..."

The three survivors collapsed to the ground, chests heaving, drenched in sweat. They looked like they'd aged ten years in five minutes.

It took a while before any of them looked up at Yang Bin and Chen Hao.

The thin one spoke first, voice still shaking with lingering fear. "Scared me half to death. Why'd you take so long to open up? We almost got eaten alive."

"The hell kind of attitude is that?" Chen Hao snapped. "We just saved your asses. No 'thank you'-and you're blaming us?"

"The rooftop's a public space. Anyone can come up here. You blocking the door like that-isn't that kind of messed up?" The tall one with the steel pipe crossed his arms.

"Exactly!" The dark-skinned one in the middle chimed in. "Our dorm door got smashed in by zombies. We came up here to take shelter, and you had the door barricaded. We nearly died because of you. How is that not screwing people over?"

Chen Hao opened his mouth to fire back, but Yang Bin held up a hand.

"You're right. We shouldn't have blocked the door." Yang Bin's face was perfectly earnest. He reached for the ladder.

"Wait-don't! Bro, let's talk! Let's talk about this! Don't move it!"

"Yeah, bro-no need for that! No need, okay?"

"Bro, you were right! Blocking it was good! Blocking it was brilliant!"

The three broke into cold sweat the instant Yang Bin's hands touched the ladder. Two hungry zombies were right outside that door. If they got in, it was over.

"Didn't you just say blocking the door was immoral?" Yang Bin blinked, eyes wide and innocent.

"No-moral! Extremely moral!"

"Not screwing people over?"

"Not at all! Not even a little!"

"Oh. Good then."

Yang Bin nodded with childlike sincerity and slowly lifted his hand from the ladder.

The three started to exhale-

Yang Bin put his hand back.

"Actually, I think we should move it. What if someone else needs to get up here?"

Three half-released breaths caught in three throats simultaneously.

"No one's coming! We live on the seventh floor-every single dorm up there has their door shut tight. There are zombies roaming the hallway. Nobody's stepping outside." The tall one's voice cracked with urgency.

"Oh. Then I'm relieved."

Yang Bin nodded again. Then he gave the ladder a little shake and frowned. "Does this feel unstable to you?"

Three hearts that had barely settled lurched right back up.

"Then find something to wedge it! This isn't a joke!"

"Right."

Yang Bin looked down at the base of the ladder, then up at the steel pipe in the tall man's hand.

"Hey, brother-mind lending me that pipe? I want to see if it'll fit under the ladder foot. Looks like it might be the right size."

"Sure."

The tall man tossed it over without a second thought. He didn't care about anything except keeping those zombies out.

Yang Bin smiled. He caught the pipe, made a show of measuring it against the ladder base a few times, then clapped his hands.

"Done. Solid now."

The three finally let out a real breath of relief-completely unaware that their only weapon had just changed hands.