"Time survived: [76 days, 10 hours, 21 minutes, and 18 seconds]."
Ryan was sitting by the window, engrossed in a book. After checking his survival time, he resumed reading.
The torrential rain outside had become background music for his reading, failing to affect his state of mind in the least.
Aside from meditation, reading had become Ryan's primary pastime for the past half-month.
In college, Ryan hadn't read many books, not even those from his own major. He had just aimed for passing grades in exams.
After starting work, he had even less time, barely enough to scroll through his phone. How could he find the leisure to read?
But here, with nothing else to do, he has lost interest in games, TV, and movies.
Ryan could only divert his attention to reading during the time he had left after meditation each day.
He had taken over a dozen books from Aileen's room and found nearly a hundred more in the top-floor office of this building.
However, these books, neatly placed on the luxurious bookshelves against the wall, were almost brand new, having been barely touched.
Ryan understood very well that these books were used for decoration, to show that the owner of the office was knowledgeable and tasteful.
However, these books had been carefully selected. Just by flipping through a few randomly, Ryan could tell they were classics in their respective fields.
Ryan knew that professionals picked the books for the shelves of important people. Only books by famous scholars from home and abroad got on those shelves.
In the past 17 days, Ryan had spent most of his time reading and exercising to strengthen his physique.
Reading at an average of three books per day, he had read nearly 50 books in total.
Without any external distractions and with meditation enhancing his focus, he easily immersed himself in reading, and his reading speed had improved significantly.
Apart from the books from Aileen's room, Ryan had also taken books on finance, history, psychology, and other subjects that interested him from the top-floor office.
In just over half a month, Ryan had read more books than he had in his entire four years of university.
Moreover, his physical strength had steadily increased, at least doubling from what it was before he entered this place.
Ryan inexplicably felt that he had been fulfilled in the past half month, which was much better than playing games, watching dramas, or scrolling through short videos in real life.
He believed that if no dangers arose, he could continue reading here for years.
However, this was obviously impossible. Although Ryan had overcome his panic, the natural disasters outside had not ceased but were intensifying daily.
By the 76th day, the floodwaters had reached the 35th floor of the building, around 200 meters high in Regent Business Tower.
It was only a few dozen meters from the Aurea Hotel where Ryan was staying.
Following this trend, the area would be submerged in at most five days.
Ryan knew that he had to take action and moved all the things to the top floor.
Although there was no electricity there, at least it was safe from being submerged in the short term.
Ryan quickly began moving his stored supplies to the 400-meter-high top-floor office.
Time flew by, and five days passed quickly. He had moved most of his supplies to the top-floor office.
At this point, as Ryan had predicted, the water had reached a height of 250 meters, and the entire world was a vast ocean.
After the Aurea Hotel was submerged, Ryan lost access to electricity. He would have been plunged into complete darkness if he hadn't prepared dozens of power banks in advance.
"Only nine days left."
Ryan glanced at his survival time, knowing that the moment of departure was near.
But it went without saying that these last few days would be extremely challengingRyan was unusually calm at this time. He had come this far already, so what was there to be afraid of? Instead, he became more determined to believe that he could return.
Ryan actively began to prepare for the arrival of the final moment.
After the Aurea Hotel was submerged, Ryan didn't wait to die in that comfortable office but returned to the 250-meter floor and jumped into the water to practice swimming.
As a child, Ryan had learned to swim but hadn't swum much in recent years.
He planned to use the submerged parts of the building as a swimming pool while the floodwaters hadn't risen too high.
By the 88th day, only two days were left before he could return.
Ryan hadn't read any books during this period. Apart from his regular four hours of meditation each day, he had been practicing in the water.
After a week, he could swim longer in the water and hold his breath underwater for up to three or four minutes.
At this moment, the floodwaters had submerged the 65th floor, leaving only one meter away from the 66th floor, where the top offices were located.
According to this situation, the Regent Business Tower would be destroyed in just one day.
Ryan immediately began preparing again. He packed enough food and water for a week into a waterproof bag.
Tied the bag tightly to himself, along with a pair of swim trunks he had put on after taking off his clothes.
Feeling prepared, Ryan stayed awake all night, wearing a lifebuoy, and waited for the floodwaters to rise.
In the past, Ryan might not have had the patience to wait this long.
But at this moment, he calmly leaned back in a spacious executive chair, waiting without any signs of panic or irritation.
Just wait quietly for time to pass, waiting for that moment to come.
When it was deep into the night, the water finally reached the top-floor office.
Ryan quickly stood up and ran to the emergency exit. He walked through the corridor and climbed to the top floor of Regent Business Tower, where a door led to the rooftop.
However, the door was locked, and there was no way to open it without a key.
Ryan had been here before and knew this a long time ago.
Without hesitation, he took out a grenade and threw it towards the door before turning and running back to the stairs.
Boom!
As an explosion sounded, Ryan heard the sound of rocks flying above, followed by a howling, strong wind.
He didn't need to look to know that the door had been blown open. Without delay, he ran straight up.
When Ryan reached the rooftop, he found the door indeed blown open, with wind and rain pouring in.
Braving the strong winds, he clung to the wall and managed to reach the rooftop.
The entire world was pitch-black, with only towering waves in sight, giving Ryan the feeling of being adrift in a vast ocean.