In Honkai with Tom Cat

Li Huan was suddenly shaken awake, feeling a bit disoriented.

Tom, however, was relieved to see his master wake up, as if he had found a lifeline. He quickly hid behind Li Huan, peeking out towards the door while trembling.

Seeing Tom's unusual behavior, Li Huan quickly snapped to attention and asked, "Tom, what's wrong?"

Tom gestured with his paws, trying to explain what had happened. After a few minutes of trying to understand, Li Huan finally got it.

"You're saying there's a zombie outside? Are you serious?"

Tom nodded.

Li Huan was incredulous. "How? I was just asleep for a while, and this happens? You sure you're not mistaken, Tom? Maybe you had a nightmare?"

Li Huan looked at Tom skeptically, but Tom seriously raised a paw as if taking an oath, assuring that he wasn't mistaken—there was definitely a zombie outside.

Seeing Tom's serious demeanor, Li Huan quickly got up and dressed.

Just then, there was a sudden knocking at the door.

"Hey, system," Li Huan said as he put on his shoes. "What's going on? Why are there zombies all of a sudden?"

[Why don't you look for yourself first?]

At this crucial moment, the system decided to play coy.

"Why be a riddler now? Can't you just tell me straight? What is this, some kind of mystery game?"

[I'm not playing games. I just want to see if you can recognize where you are.]

Annoyed, Li Huan clicked his tongue and started searching the sports warehouse for weapons.

Fortunately, they were in a sports equipment storage room, filled with items that could be used as weapons. He quickly found two metal bats, one for himself and one for Tom.

Holding the heavy bats, both Li Huan and Tom felt a bit more confident. They approached the door cautiously, ready for action.

Li Huan swallowed nervously and said, "Tom, I'll open the door, and we'll hit whatever's out there."

Tom nodded, gripping the bat with both paws, his expression deadly serious. Once he saw that Tom was ready, Li Huan took a deep breath and slowly unlatched the chain.

He flung the door open, ready to strike—but before he could react, a dark figure lunged at him, knocking him to the ground.

Li Huan had made a grave mistake. Based on Tom's description, he had assumed the zombie was slow-moving, but this one was far from it. The zombie was much faster and stronger than an average person. Tom had only managed to avoid it earlier because he was Tom.

The zombie was now on top of Li Huan, its jaws wide open, ready to bite down!

*Clang~*

The sound of teeth hitting metal echoed as the zombie bit down on Li Huan's bat instead of his flesh. Li Huan struggled to hold the bat in place, using all his strength to keep the zombie at bay.

Despite his efforts, the zombie was overpowering him. If it weren't for Tom, Li Huan might have been done for. But Tom, seeing his master in danger, didn't hesitate. He swung his bat hard, hitting the zombie on the head.

*Duang~~~*

A comical sound accompanied a large, pointy bump that suddenly appeared on the zombie's head. It rolled its eyes and fainted, collapsing on top of Li Huan.

Li Huan quickly pushed the body off and stood up, raising his bat to strike the zombie repeatedly.

"Tom, hurry! Hit it hard!"

Tom joined in, and as they both struck, a puff of white smoke suddenly enveloped them along with the zombie, filling the air with the sound of their bats hitting the undead creature and their furious shouts.

After a while, they stopped, panting as they leaned on their bats. The zombie's body was completely deformed, covered in wounds from the beating. It looked beyond pitiful—but that didn't matter, considering it was just a corpse.

After catching his breath, Li Huan wiped sweat from his brow. "Damn, that scared the hell out of me..."

*Boom!*

Before he could finish his sentence, a thunderous clap of lightning illuminated the dark night sky, revealing the playground outside. There, dozens of zombies in various outfits were wandering aimlessly.

But then they all simultaneously turned towards Li Huan and Tom, their lifeless eyes locking onto them.

A chill ran down Li Huan's spine as he took in the terrifying scene. As for Tom, his entire body, starting from the tip of his tail, turned white with fear before he fainted on the spot.

Feeling the lifeless, emotionless stares of the zombies, Li Huan instinctively hid his bat behind his back, forcing a nervous smile. Trying to lighten the situation, he cautiously asked, "Sorry?"

*Roar~~~!!!*

One of the zombies let out a terrifying roar, prompting all the others to rush towards them. Judging by their speed, they'd reach them in just a few minutes, ready to overwhelm them.

Li Huan, just an ordinary person, had never witnessed anything like this. He was paralyzed with fear, despair washing over him.

This is it. I'm done for, he thought.

But at that critical moment, Tom sprang into action. The cat, who had just fainted from fear, suddenly woke up. Seeing the approaching horde, Tom leaped into the air, kicked the beaten zombie towards the horde, and something miraculous happened.

As the flying zombie collided with the horde, all the zombies tumbled over, creating a tangled mess of bodies unable to get back on their feet.

Seizing the opportunity, Tom grabbed the back of Li Huan's shirt and dragged him into the sports warehouse.

After slamming the door shut, Tom rushed to reinforce it. He nailed wooden planks over the entrance, welded iron plates in place, and stacked heavy objects against the door, completely barricading it.

Finally, Tom collapsed on the ground, panting in exhaustion.

The next moment, the door shook violently from the impact of the zombies, but the reinforced door didn't budge.

As the banging continued, Li Huan finally snapped out of his daze. He looked at Tom, then at the barricaded door, and realized what had just happened.

He slumped to the ground, the relief of having narrowly escaped death washing over him.

Looking up at the ceiling, he shouted in frustration, "This script is all wrong! How did this suddenly turn into a horror movie?!"