What happened to Zhao Yao was happening everywhere else as well.
It had been fourteen days since entering the game.
It was still raining.
It felt as though everything, or perhaps nothing, had happened at all.
Life in the villa for Ye Shu and her group had been unnervingly peaceful—so much so, she sometimes felt as if she were on vacation.
"Shushu… look what I found online."
The moment Su Bai draped herself over Ye Shu, the two people seated on the sofa shot her unfriendly looks. Unfazed, Su Bai pointed at a post on her tablet and continued, "Shushu… Turns out, there's no way we can go outside at all!"
It was a post seeking help online.
[User1357: Help, please! I caught my family eating raw meat while gaming late at night—what should I do? Lately, my parents have been acting so strange. They usually care for me, but since yesterday, they haven't even glanced at me. It's like we're strangers!]
Attached was a blurry, covert photograph.
Though the lighting was dim, it was still possible to make out someone eating something from their hands.
[Hai Kuo Tian Kong: It's just some meat. Don't make a fuss. Maybe they have pica.]
[Tian Ruo You Qing: Just cook it for them next time. Last time I had low blood sugar, I collapsed face-first into a dry toilet.]
[Wo Chao Qiang De: Hahaha… do tell more, I'd love to hear.]
A chilling premonition curled inside Ye Shu.
Raw meat… could it be that they’d become zombies?
Before transmigrating into this story, she’d watched her share of Resident Evil films. Those infected first developed severe fevers, then, once the infection took hold, became zombies—or awoke to strange powers.
"Shushu! Look, I enhanced the image for you."
With that, Su Bai enlarged the picture and shoved it in Ye Shu’s face.
The scene was still shrouded in shadow.
But Ye Shu could now clearly see the face hidden in the gloom… Despite the sullen expression, it looked almost normal.
No—something was wrong.
There was no white in that person’s eyes.
Instead, the sockets were filled with inky black.
Mutation. No doubt.
What in the world was it?
Su Bai spoke first, her face more serious than Ye Shu had ever seen, "A mutant? With the rain falling everywhere, it’s probably ended up in the planet’s water supply. It won’t be long before we’re caught in a war ourselves!"
Ye Shu had to agree with Su Bai’s assessment.
"When the time comes, Shushu, you’ll have to protect me!"
Su Bai squeezed even closer into Ye Shu’s arms, shooting a defiant look at the two on the couch.
Sisters were hers; no mere man was going to steal them away! Not even Fu Jingchuan, and especially not that greenhorn, Lin Qing!
Su Bai’s combat ability left much to be desired, but her intuition was spot on.
Even though Lin Qing had saved Ye Shu before, Su Bai still couldn’t stand him.
Fu Jingchuan, for his part, pretended not to notice Su Bai’s antics—he sipped his tea and quietly returned to his documents.
Lin Qing paid no attention at all to Su Bai’s childish provocations.
……
The fifteenth day inside the game.
At last, the rain stopped.
Ye Shu gazed in disbelief as droplets slid from the treetops.
Just like that… it ended so easily?
This didn’t fit the logic of a survival game at all!
Apart from the number of colds and cases of influenza increasing, nothing seemed out of place.
Su Bai, arms full of chips, crunched noisily and seemed to catch Ye Shu’s somber mood. “Shushu, isn’t it good the rain stopped? …Why do you look so glum? Don’t tell me you wish it would keep raining?”
"Yes and no."
"Isn’t this whole game just… off?"
Su Bai took another bite, eyeing Ye Shu with suspicion. “What’s so strange about it?”
"Don’t you think it’s too easy? This is day fifteen, and we’ve done nothing but hole up in the villa…"
In every previous round, she’d skirted death at every turn. This time was suspiciously—dangerously—calm.
When things are this off, something must be lurking beneath.
"Easy? This is easy?"
"If we hadn’t known to avoid the white mist, we’d have probably turned into monsters too, and you’re saying it’s too easy?!"
Su Bai almost laughed in disbelief.
She’d love nothing more than for this survival game to let up—or better yet, disappear entirely.
It was baffling enough to get dragged unwilling into a killing game—for the formerly timid, always-clinging Ye Shu to start worrying the game was ‘too easy’ was unthinkable.
Boom.
A heavy thud seized everyone’s attention.
Pang Pangzi was the first to lose composure, glancing nervously at his teammates. "Who’s there?" he muttered.
He’d rented this house. The surrounding homes were mostly empty—no honest person came calling at this hour.
The monitor at the door showed it was the landlord.
"Xiao Pang, I need to reclaim the house now. The price was too low last time. Open up—I forgot my key."
Ye Shu narrowed her eyes, watching the landlord’s affable face on the screen. "Don’t open the door," she said grimly.
The man looked normal enough.
His eyes were clear—each iris stark against its white.
Outwardly, there was no sign of infection.
"Hero Ye, I had no intention of opening it…"
Pang Tong was awkward. Having the landlord show up now, when he’d only rented the place, was more than a little unsettling.
"Uncle Li, we agreed on a price. That can’t change now."
Bang—
The moment his refusal landed, the landlord’s face twisted into a grotesque snarl, pounding furiously at the door.
"Master, don’t open it. That person smells foul," the merman murmured, his blue-green face pulled into an ugly grimace.
After this long together, Pang Pangzi trusted the merman’s nose—he panicked, shouting: “If you’re not happy… then… I’ll pay more!”
Harshest words, pettiest plea.
Ye Shu couldn’t help but go silent.
Pang Pangzi hadn’t changed a bit.
No more rain or mist outside, she thought, I don’t need to cower inside anymore.
The merman read the look on Ye Shu’s face and, pinching his nose, muttered, “Master, it’s okay to go out. Just avoid the rainwater.”
"That’s the answer I was waiting for."
“Wait—”
Fu Jingchuan meant to say something more, but Lin Qing stopped him. “Let Sister Ye handle it herself. She’s no hot-house flower.”
Fu Jingchuan hesitated, then gave no protest.
Perhaps he’d worried too much.
Lin Qing stood still, his gaze flicking to the monitor—the man’s roving eyes glinted with something sinister.
He almost wished Ye Xiaoshu were a little more fragile.
But if she were… they’d never have even met.
If Ye Shu had been that weak, she would have died long ago, killed by his own hand in this cruel game.
The pounding at the door thundered.
Ye Shu, patience gone, wrenched open the door and sidestepped. The landlord, caught off-guard, stumbled and crashed to the floor.
"What’s the meaning of this?"
He glared up at Ye Shu, trying to recover some dignity.
"I’m not renting you this house anymore. Get out."
Ye Shu ignored him and called the merman over. "Does he smell like the white mist?" she asked, indicating the flustered landlord.
"Yes."
The merman snorted, so disgusted he couldn’t be bothered with more words.
Before the man could finish speaking, Ye Shu drove her sword clean through him. Instantly he shuddered—
"Heh… heh…"
Where the blade pierced flesh, his face split into three jagged sections, peeling apart.
Ye Shu spun the sword and smashed the face to pieces.
Nearby, Lin Qing shivered for no reason—
He too once had his heart run through by that wooden sword…
"Is that one of those things? An alien?"
"Tough skin, I’ll give it that." Ye Shu slid her peachwood sword free, pulling a tissue from somewhere to wipe the blood clean.