Jiang Song is a twenty-four-year-old office worker living in the suburbs of North City. Her life is defined by grueling two-hour commutes and meager savings, leaving her exhausted and financially strained. On a sweltering midsummer evening, while riding a crowded public bus home from work, she falls asleep. Upon waking, she finds the bus driver has vanished, the vehicle is moving autonomously through pitch-black darkness, and she is the sole passenger. A mechanical voice announces her binding to the Space-Time Bus, a supernatural system that has recruited over one hundred fifty million players globally. Jiang Song is forced to accept her role as a player in deadly games to survive.
She is granted initial equipment, including a Stand-in doll that can absorb one fatal blow, and an Attraction Card that compels an NPC to obey her. After purchasing repair fluid with her starting points, the bus arrives at her first destination: JingDu Academy during a zombie apocalypse in the year 2042. Her mission is to reach a capital shelter within thirty days. Jiang Song immediately adopts a pragmatic survival strategy, stocking up on food and water while maintaining emotional distance from her roommate, Lin Shengsheng, and another dormmate, Shen Jia. When the virus erupts, turning students into aggressive infected, Jiang Song secures their dormitory and survives the initial chaos.
The core conflict intensifies when a message from the game-identity mother claims that a relative, Shen Tingsi, is coming to rescue them. However, Jiang Song receives an anonymous warning that the school dean has turned into a zombie. Her suspicions are confirmed when the dean arrives at their door, revealing he is no longer human. Jiang Song, Lin Shengsheng, and Shen Jia escape the dormitory, but Shen Jia betrays them by opening the door in a moment of panic before Jiang Song can stop her. During the escape, Shen Jia abandons Jiang Song and Lin Shengsheng to save herself. Jiang Song is rescued by Shen Tingsi, who reveals he is the cousin-uncle mentioned in the messages. He is a skilled and ruthless fighter who neutralizes the infected dean.
Jiang Song and Shen Tingsi join a group of survivors in the school canteen, but the human threat proves as dangerous as the zombies. When a survivor attempts to steal their supplies and attack Lin Shengsheng, Shen Tingsi brutally disables the attacker, establishing his dominance. Jiang Song realizes Shen Tingsi is unpredictable and potentially dangerous, so she chooses to separate from him when a broadcast announces a rescue bus. She and Lin Shengsheng escape the school in a stolen car, leaving Shen Tingsi behind. They learn from radio broadcasts that a government shelter exists at No. 2 Xuri South Street. As they drive toward the city center, they are chased by reckless survivors who attract hordes of zombies. Running out of fuel after a narrow escape through a tight alley, Jiang Song and Lin Shengsheng are forced to seek refuge in a nearby building, where they are greeted by a mysterious boy signaling from a window.
