My older sister, Scarlet Dawson, is an absolute saint with a savior complex.

When the apocalyptic heatwave hits us, she gives out water to our neighbors, food to strangers, and even invites her boyfriend's entire family to live with us.

When our supplies are finally depleted, Scarlet actually considers selling me off to a perverted old man in exchange for supplies to look after her boyfriend, Marcus Crosby.

I promptly pull out my stun gun and knock her unconscious. Then, I hand her straight to the perverted old man instead.

I go back to my villa, where the temperature is constantly kept at 60°F, and enjoy a tub of Ben & Jerry's ice cream under the air conditioning.

Not only that, but my villa is stocked with enough supplies to last me for the next few decades!

It was June, early summer, yet the heat was already sweltering, the sun beating down and baking the earth beneath us.

There wasn't even a slight breeze in the air, and the stifling heat felt like we were all living in an oven.

"Apologize to him, Vi."

My older sister, Scarlet Dawson, yanked hard on my injured arm, causing a sharp, stabbing pain to shoot through my entire arm.

I clenched my fists and felt extremely frustrated.

"Why should I? I was riding my bike on the road when he bumped into me all of a sudden! He hit me first!" I protested.

Scarlet frowned, and her voice turned harsh. "How many times have I told you, Violet Dawson, that you must always be a good person and be kind to other people, no matter what?

"It doesn't matter who was at fault. You must apologize to this man first!"

Scarlet had always been like this since we were children.

It didn't matter whether I was right or wrong; she would always make me apologize first. She thought that this was the only way to show that we were virtuous people.

I took a deep breath, not wanting to argue with her any longer.

"I'm not going to make it in time for the exam. I'm leaving now."

I then broke free from her grasp and stood by the roadside for a long time before finally managing to flag down a cab.

I was finally going to be done with all my examinations after a final math paper that day.

When I opened the door, I saw a couple of other students inside the car who were also about to be late for their exams. I had, after all, accidentally flagged down a ride-sharing cab.

Just as I was about to hop in, Scarlet shoved me aside and helped the injured man who bumped into me earlier into the cab instead.

"Excuse me, sir, but can you send this man to the hospital after you've sent these students to school?"

The cab driver was a little hesitant. "The exams will be starting very soon, and she's going to be late if she doesn't go now. Shouldn't I be sending her along first?"

Scarlet shook her head and spoke in a kind, gentle voice once more. "It's fine. I'll just get another cab for her."

"It's too hot today. I don't think there'll be any other people on the road willing to stop and take her there," the cab driver said.

"It's fine. She's terrible at her studies anyway, so it doesn't matter whether she misses this paper or not," Scarlet replied. She smiled brightly at the driver, despite her words being harsh and unpleasant.

I bit my lower lip, suppressing the sudden tears welling in my eyes.

The cab driver felt sorry for me and tried to reason with Scarlet, but she kept refusing his attempts to help me. In the end, the other students in the car urged him to hurry up, or they would all be late.

It was just as those comments that suddenly popped up on screen said. Scarlet would rather help a stranger than care about her own younger sister.

I closed my eyes, fighting the stinging sensation in my eyes, and finally made my decision.

When I opened my eyes again, I felt nothing. I took out my phone and made a call.

A short while later, another cab appeared right before me.

I got into the cab decisively, leaving Scarlet behind in the sweltering heat.

I stepped out of the exam hall as soon as my final math paper ended. Finally, it was all over.

I didn't go home straight away. Instead, I headed to the villa where my uncle, Adrian Dawson, and his family lived.

It was around 5:00 pm, but the sun was still high in the sky, scorching the earth as if the heat would never go away. It took a toll on everyone on the streets, since they couldn't even walk two steps out of the door without breaking into a sweat almost immediately.

The relentless heat was unusual, but so far, no one else seemed to have noticed.

Everyone thought this was just a normal heatwave that would be over once a rain shower washed over the earth, and the temperature would drop once more.

However, I knew that this heatwave would last a very long time, as the temperature kept rising day by day.

In the future, the rivers would eventually dry up, the fields would turn bare, power systems would break down, and all industries would eventually cease to exist, plunging humanity into a brief period of disorder.

The heatwave would only get worse then, killing off more than 90% of the global population. The few lucky survivors would eventually move north toward the Northern Pole, building the world's only human base there to ensure everyone's survival.

I knew all of this because of the screen that suddenly popped up before me.

This screen had suddenly appeared before me just recently, glowing a faint yellow color. Many lines of comments kept appearing on the screen. I could read the words, but I simply couldn't quite understand what was going on.

It took me quite a while to finally get the hang of things and grasp the situation.

As it turned out, I was living in a post-apocalyptic movie titled "Hell on Earth", and Scarlet was its main protagonist.

Scarlet was an absolute saint with a savior complex.

When I was eight years old, Mom and Dad were killed in a road accident. However, Scarlet never sought compensation from the parties involved. Instead, she visited them at the hospital every day.

After handling our parents' funeral arrangements, a number of our relatives offered to take us in, but Scarlet politely declined everyone and brought me to an orphanage instead.

Whenever I was relentlessly bullied by the other kids and told her about it, she would scold me for being petty and drag me to my bullies, forcing me to apologize.

I could predict what would happen that day by reading the comments that kept appearing on the screen. They said that Scarlet would hold me back for a stranger's sake, making me miss the final paper of my SAT.

That was the reason why I had a backup plan. The comments had given me enough time to prepare, and I had secretly arranged for a cab to pick me up if all else failed.

While exploring the screen, I discovered that I had a 4,000-square-foot storage space, free from the constraints of time. I could put things in or take them out at will.

This spatial storage would thus significantly increase my chances of survival in the apocalypse.

Since I was now finally done with my SATs, I had to start preparing for the upcoming apocalypse. The first step was to stockpile as many supplies as I could.

However, I was just a high school student, and I didn't have much money on me.

I had to go to Uncle Adrian's place first to retrieve what once belonged to Mom and Dad, but had been seized by them.

A cool blast of air greeted me as soon as I stepped into the villa.

Uncle Adrian was the one who opened the door for me. He smiled kindly at me and asked, "Vi? What are you doing here?"

His wife, Katie Windsor, appeared right behind him and greeted me, too. She held my hand and welcomed me into the villa, pulling me toward the dining room and handing me a plate.

There was a massive roast dinner laid out on the table, along with many side dishes. It was basically a huge feast.

"Hazel has just finished her SATs today, and we were planning to celebrate it with her," Aunt Katie said as she began to carve the meat for me. "You can eat first, Vi. There's no need to wait for Hazel."

I happened to be hungry then, so I did as I was told and ate first without waiting for my cousin, Hazel Dawson.

"Mom! Dad! How could you all start dinner without me?"

I suddenly heard a sweet voice complaining loudly at the door. It was none other than Hazel.

Uncle Adrian and Aunt Katie immediately greeted her at the door, looking worried about her. "How could you have come back on your own with the heat so unbearable outside? Didn't we tell you that your dad would be coming to drive you home?"

"How did you do in the exams? I believe that you did the best you could, didn't you?"

I watched the loving family before my eyes and suddenly felt my appetite disappear.

"Uncle Adrian, I'm actually here to discuss something with you. I want to reclaim this villa."

The smile on his face vanished at once. "Are you joking with me, Vi?"

"My parents had left me this villa, though the property deed was still in their names. After their passing, I should be the rightful heir.

"I'm already being generous by not charging you rent after all these years of living here for free. However, I'll need you to move out in three days, along with the rest of your belongings."

Uncle Adrian's face turned serious at once. Aunt Katie also looked furious. "Lettie told us that she was giving this villa to us! And we've already lived here for more than a decade! How could you kick us out? Why should we even move out?"

I sneered coldly. Back then, Uncle Adrian had helped with Mom and Dad's funeral, and Scarlet had promised to give them this villa in return.

But she was still young at the time, and she never got around to changing the names on the property deed.

"If you refuse to move out, I'll report you to the police and tell them you've been illegally trespassing and squatting in my house," I said, smiling. I let out a soft chuckle before adding, "If you end up in jail, Uncle Adrian, I'm sure that Hazel's future would be ruined as well."

Uncle Adrian's face darkened, thunder rolling across his expression.

"You…"

Hazel was taken aback by the sudden wickedness in my expression. Her voice shook as she said, "Dad, you can't go to jail. I'll never be able to hold my head up in front of my classmates again after that."

I said, "It's fine if you don't want to move out. You can purchase this villa instead. Based on the current market value, this villa should be worth about ten million dollars."

Aunt Katie immediately flew into a rage. "Ten million dollars? Why don't you just go rob a bank instead?" she exclaimed.

I grinned and said, "Don't be hasty, Aunt Katie. Since we're family, I'll give you a 50% discount and sell it to you for just five million dollars.

"You can transfer the amount to this bank card. If I don't see five million dollars before 8:00 pm tomorrow, I'll go to the police station to make a report then."

It was just five million dollars. Given Uncle Adrian's current financial situation, he could definitely afford it.

As soon as I stepped out of the cool and comfortable air-conditioned villa, I immediately felt the heat engulf me like a thermal blanket I could never get rid of.

The sweat that had just dried quickly returned, drenching my skin, clinging to my clothes, and leaving me feeling sticky and uncomfortable.

I decisively walked into a hair salon and asked the hairdresser, Tony Green, to shave all of my hair off.

Tony immediately had a look of understanding on his face as he tried to gently talk me out of it. "Miss, there are plenty of fish in the sea. You don't have to do this to yourself just because of a man. It's not worth it."

I chuckled and told him the truth. "I can’t help feeling that my long hair is adding to the heat. It's going to be very inconvenient during the apocalypse."

Tony just assumed that I was talking nonsense. Ultimately, he sighed in exasperation before shaving my hair off and giving me a buzz cut.

When I got home, Scarlet was nearly shocked to see that all my hair was gone.

"Vi! What did you do to your hair? Why is it now a buzz cut?"

"It's more convenient that way," I said.

The comments suddenly popped up on the screen.

"As expected of the main character's sister. She's a step ahead of everyone else."

"Exactly! Who would want to waste precious water to wash hair instead of drinking it?"

"Everyone's going to get a buzz cut next time, regardless of their gender!"

After a few days of observation, I realized that I could only see these comments if I was near Scarlet. I guess she really was the movie's main protagonist after all.

Scarlet recovered from her shock and began speaking like a saint once more.

"It's so hot today, and Mrs. Thompson will be staying with us tonight since her house doesn't have air conditioning. Vi, you're cooking for her tonight."

I turned my gaze and saw a dirty old woman suddenly appearing before me, smiling at me with her gaping, unkempt teeth.

Scarlet had a habit of bringing any Tom, Dick, or Harry home with her—including those who couldn't afford food or had no place to stay for the night.

However, this old woman, Betty Gray, or Mrs. Thompson as we all called her, had food and lodging at home and loved freeloading off other people whenever she could.

I had already told Scarlet about it many times, but she refused to listen and instead chided me for being disrespectful to the elderly.

"I don't know how to cook," I replied simply.

Scarlet frowned again. "You've always been the one doing the cooking. How can you say you don't know how? Don't be stubborn, Vi."

I almost couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes at her.

It was one thing for her to be a saint, but another to expect me to be the one doing the brunt of the work.

In the past, I used to feel sorry for her because she worked hard to support my education, and I would automatically assume the household chores as a way to show my gratitude. But after what happened that day, I couldn't find it in myself to pity her anymore.

"You brought her back, so you can cook for her by yourself," I said. "Aren't you the kindest person on earth? Why can't you even cook for Mrs. Thompson then?"

I sneered lightly at Scarlet, and Betty immediately pursed her lips together in a pitiful manner.

"It's fine, Lettie. I know that I'm an old woman, and there aren't many people who like me anymore. Since I can't even get a meal here, I think I'll just leave now."

Despite saying that, she didn't look like she was trying to leave at all.

Still, Scarlet never noticed it and quickly went over to comfort her.

"How could that possibly be, Mrs. Thompson? It's just dinner. I'll cook for you instead.

Scarlet then glared at me before turning to walk toward the kitchen.

I grinned when I heard the pots banging.