This is a piece of fan fiction, originating from the 'vi Group' within the Blood God Hall, written by the Director. …… Lin Xuerui watched the small room’s doorway, listening to a man’s footsteps fade into the distance down the dim corridor.

He won’t be coming back, will he? With a touch of apprehension, she finally drew her gaze back to the nightstand just outside the small room. There, resting upon it, was a white crystal core.

Ignoring the awkwardness of her exposed body in the air, she jumped down, stepping over the scattered clothes on the floor, and reached out to grip the thumb-sized object in her hand. After all, if the manager making rounds or the 'mother' who brought her into this line of work saw it, this extra little fee would fall into someone else’s hands for nothing. Thinking of this, she glanced at the man's discarded clothes and couldn't help but curve her lips slightly. At least this one was gentler; he hadn't torn her outer garment straight away, but at least took the time to unfasten it.

The manager knocked dryly at the doorframe. Lin Xuerui knew he was urging her to hurry. The manager wasn't old, looking to be around thirty, and notably, he showed a rare gentleness toward girls like her who were new to this profession. It seemed he had a good impression of her, or else he wouldn't be summoning her for service every day.

Hurriedly pulling on the short qipao—her work uniform—she tucked the crystal core deep into the cleavage she had once been so proud of. Exiting the room, she met the manager’s lingering gaze. He curved his lips into a faint smile. "This newly arrived Major General... is he a virgin, perhaps?"

"...Probably," Lin Xuerui replied instinctively. The manager nodded, scribbling something with a pen in his hand.

"Mm... counting up, he’s your tenth client. Congratulations." This was the second time the manager had offered her such a congratulatory remark; the first time was after her initiation. She smiled, then immediately remembered she hadn't been in this line of work for even ten days.

The dull ache in her lower body made her steps slightly unsteady, though it was certainly better than the unbearable pain previous clients had inflicted. The texture and icy chill of the crystal core nestled between her two small breasts unexpectedly rekindled a faint sense of hope for her life. In her mind, words her father had spoken during their last time together surfaced.

Back then, she had come to Beijing alone for her university entrance exams. The art aptitude tests always fell during the coldest part of February in the capital. The biting wind scraped against her skin; as a girl from the south, it was the first time she truly understood why there was an idiom: 'the cold wind pierces the bone.'

"Take this for now." Accepting the envelope from her father’s hand, the feel of it told her that the thickness of those two fingers likely held ten thousand yuan.

"Do I really need this much, Dad?" she wanted to refuse, her reason flimsy—she simply didn't want her family to sacrifice too much for her.

"Do you know who wrote, 'A lonely sojourner in a foreign land'?" her father asked at the time.

"Isn't it Wang Wei?"

"Do you know why he wrote that?"

"...Perhaps loneliness?"

"Loneliness is one aspect, but the most crucial part is that he lacked a sense of security."

"...Security?"

"Do you know what brings security?" Her father patted the envelope in his daughter’s hand. "This can bring you some security. When you are alone in a strange place, with no relatives to turn to, at least you have money."

Recalling her father's words, she used to think such feelings were exclusive to people who had lived through the decade of turmoil that her generation had only heard about. Yet now, that very feeling resonated within her.

At least I still have the crystal core, don't I?

"How was it?" Little Hong rushed to ask as she returned to the backstage lounge. Little Hong was her professional name; in reality, she wasn't little at all, and she was Lin Xuerui’s mentor.

"Much better than the previous few times," she replied with a smile, acknowledging her teacher's concern.

"That's good, practice makes perfect, hahahaha." It was clear that Little Hong was a woman of generous spirit. Thinking this, she walked over to the vanity mirror and wrote beneath the calendar pinned there: October 1st, 2013. National Day. Client: 1.

Three months ago, she was a graduate of the 2008 Performance Department at the Film Academy, having just signed a three-year contract with Bowan Media to release records and star in television dramas. Having landed a small role as a nurse in the blockbuster The Founding of a Great Army during her junior year, Lin Xuerui felt she was one step closer to the grand stage of performance art she longed for.

But now, her identity was Technician No. 312 at the Sea Dragon Palace Entertainment City in the Beijing Base City. According to the 'mother' who inducted her, if it weren't for her looks, figure, and perhaps her innate talent for acting, a technician with a three-digit number like hers would be blessed to earn ten crystal cores in a month.

Due to the onset of the apocalypse and the generals’ increasing fervor for such needs, their month-long training period mandated by the Peace Era was compressed into just three days. She had to learn and master providing a full range of services to clients within those three days. Her initiation night was with a Great General who supposedly gifted the entertainment city one blue crystal core, but subsequent visits were priced at five white crystal cores each. Lin Xuerui had seen ten clients in total, and only three had given her extra crystal cores as tips. She currently possessed 11 times the base physical constitution; the ten times enhancement was provided by the entertainment city. With the virus worsening, spreading, and evolving, she had to upgrade her basic constitution monthly, or she too would become an infected, mutate, and be eliminated by the Base City. That single extra point of constitution was earned entirely through the tips she saved up.

Hastily wiping off the soiled makeup, she reapplied a layer of light foundation. She had grown accustomed to the inferior concealer powder; yes, she had to get used to it—this was the way of survival in the new world.

When you have nothing left, at least you still have the crystal cores.

"Welcome, General. This entertainment city is currently running a promotion: recharge a thousand white crystal cores and get a thousand white crystal cores free. Are you interested in signing up?"

From the window, the shouts of the young masters from the entertainment city’s exterior could faintly be heard below.

Regarding Past Events Beyond Time - Part One Apocalypse Calendar, New Era Year Zero, March 1st.