Working as a Civil Servant in the Apocalypse [Infinite]

Zhang Xiangyi is a first-year computer science student at Jiangcheng University who works part-time at a milk tea shop to support her studies. She is quiet, socially anxious, and pragmatic, having survived on a strict budget since childhood. During a busy afternoon, a global announcement declares the start of a survival game, immediately followed by a zombie outbreak. Zhang Xiangyi reacts with calm efficiency, barricading herself in her shop storage room, gathering supplies, and fighting her way back to her apartment. Along the route, she encounters Xiao Xingzhi, a third-year student from her major who is known on campus as a cold, aloof heartthrob. In reality, Xiao Xingzhi is talkative, shameless, and deeply afraid of the dark. Despite her initial reluctance, Zhang Xiangyi allows him into her apartment after verifying he has not been bitten. Shortly after, both players are transported into a beginner instance titled Apartment 44. They awaken in a furnished version of their apartment, now part of a seven-story residential building. A system voice identifies them as players and assigns them the task of investigating why someone jumped from the building. The instance is marked as a puzzle type with a difficulty rating of one star, yet it is labeled hard. Zhang Xiangyi chooses the nickname Rich, while Xiao Xingzhi selects Tall, Rich, and Handsome. They quickly discover that the game requires them to maintain their roles as a couple to avoid penalties for out-of-character behavior. The two gather with four other players from different units: a cross-dressing streamer named Zhong Ziqian, a calm doctor named Xi Zirui, and a quiet girl from unit 4-2 who behaves strangely. The group explores the apartment building, finding that the residents are not normal. They encounter a monstrous entity with long white hair that attacks them in the stairwell. Zhang Xiangyi and Xiao Xingzhi fight it off, with Zhang Xiangyi delivering a decisive kick that severs the creature's head. They later discover that the first floor is interconnected and serves as a hideout for the monsters. Inside unit 1-1, they find a tenant list showing that all previous residents have been crossed out, indicating they were killed or taken. The only active tenants are the five players and the mysterious girl from unit 4-2, whose unit has never been rented out in the building's history. As night falls, the players realize the time flow in the instance is distorted. They form a temporary alliance to investigate the building's secrets. Zhang Xiangyi uses her phone to call a fire safety hotline, reporting the building for safety violations, which triggers a system response promising an inspection. Meanwhile, Xiao Xingzhi tends to Zhang Xiangyi's wounds after she is injured fighting the long-haired monster. He reveals a caring side beneath his noisy exterior, while Zhang Xiangyi maintains her focus on survival and logic. The group deduces that unit 4-2 is a central hub for the monsters, used to abduct tenants through hidden passages. The story ends with the players preparing for the next phase of the instance, aware that the true nature of the apartment and its inhabitants is far more dangerous than a simple puzzle.