Plague (4): Being taken advantage of

As night fell, Tan Xiao took some vegetables from his fridge and prepared a light meal, which the two of them shared.

Since Dr. Wen had suffered a serious injury to his hand, Tan Xiao also took the opportunity to wash the dishes.

Although he intended to share a bed with Wen Yi, Tan Xiao really had no ulterior motives today. With Wen Yi injured like this, there wasn’t much they could do together.

He wasn’t the kind of beast with a mind full of lewd thoughts; he came to accompany Wen Yi today out of genuine concern for him.

After all, Wen Yi had been frightened and injured. Although the medical staff had treated him and given her anti-inflammatory medication, it was very likely he would have a fever in the middle of the night.

With such a smart face and having worked hard to earn a medical doctorate, it would be a pity if he burned his brain out for some scumbag who was just trying to get back at society.

Wen Yi’s room only had the ceiling light, so he brought over the small night light he had bought, leaving a soft orange-yellow glow.

He came over after taking a shower in his own house, wearing a bathrobe, and set the bedroom air conditioning to 28 degrees: “If you need to get up at night and it’s inconvenient, just call me. If you’re not feeling well, just say something. Don’t tough it out on your own.”

After saying this, Tan Xiao, who had worked hard all day, lay down.

He was very relaxed and didn’t experience any nervousness or restlessness about sleeping next to his crush.

Tan Xiao lay on the pillow, pulled the thin goose down comforter over himself, and fell asleep successfully in five seconds.

The carefree soon-to-be college student always had good sleep quality; after all, during high school, he never got enough sleep, which developed his excellent skill of falling asleep in seconds.

While Tan Xiao was in a deep sleep, he didn’t notice that as the night grew deeper, Dr. Wen beside him opened his eyes. Those eyes were not black but a bright red.

The young and successful Dr. Wen looked out the window. The curtains moved by themselves without wind, revealing the night view of the bustling city: from the master bedroom of Room 02, opening the window would show the building belonging to Huaxi Hospital not far away.

Huaxi Hospital was one of the local landmark buildings. The tallest building in the hospital was a full twenty stories high, and under the night sky, the hospital’s sign glowed a glaring red.

This vast hospital was enveloped in dense black mist, resembling an incredibly large black cocoon.

At this moment in Huaxi Hospital, two pale-faced nurses were pushing a person covered with a white cloth into the morgue located underground.

The wind blowing from the cold storage lifted the corner of the bed, revealing a familiar face lying on the bed, seemingly in a conversation.

A nose like a drunkard’s, eyes like a dead fish, hair that hadn’t been washed for days, and a denim jacket stained with oil and blood.

That’s right, he  was the murderer who went on a rampage today. By day, he was lively and active, but by night, he had turned into a cold, lifeless corpse.

The murderer’s body was carelessly left in an empty morgue. This place was already underground and kept cold year-round, but suddenly, the murderer’s body moved, and the movement grew stronger and stronger, causing the white cloth covering his face to be pushed off.

Of course, it didn’t mean he came back to life. If someone were present, they would see the killer’s rough skin sprouting red bumps, like little pimples that gradually grew larger and larger, even becoming as big as a fist.

The pus-filled bumps were stretched thin, the skin pulled to near transparency, and the red blood inside seemed to be boiling, causing these blood-filled bumps to contract up and down.

Just now, it was these constantly swelling pus-filled blisters that pushed down the white cloth. Once they grew to a certain size, the thin layer of skin could no longer withstand such drastic changes, and with a bang, they burst open, turning into a pool of fresh blood.

Blood splattered everywhere, and the bed that originally held the corpse was left with only a charred human-shaped mark.

The virus concentration in the air was already high, and after the rapid evaporation of that blood, the virus concentration surged even more.

“Cough cough cough…”

Suddenly, in thousands of households across this city, there were many more coughing sounds.

Some people felt particularly uncomfortable in their throats, and after coughing hard, they even exaggeratedly coughed up blood. Others found small red spots on their bodies, felt itchy all over, and when they scratched with their fingers, several swollen bumps appeared.

They looked a bit like mosquito bites, but after applying some mosquito repellent or other anti-itch medication, the itching sensation quickly disappeared.

In summer, there were more mosquitoes, and the residents of this city complained a bit but didn’t pay much attention to the few inconspicuous little red bumps.

The blackout curtains were automatically drawn, and Wen Yi looked at the person lying quietly beside him. He raised his uninjured left hand and couldn’t help but gently poke the cheek of Tan Xiao, creating a cute little dimple.

The beautiful young man who had just come out of the bathroom was so tender he seemed almost to be dripping with water. At eighteen, his skin was flawless, his cheeks clean and smooth, and the areas touched by his fingertips were delicate and fine, holding a terrifying allure for him.

When his cheek was poked, Tan Xiao’s eyelashes fluttered, as if there was a chance he might wake up. Wen Yi quickly withdrew his hand and quietly lay back on the pillow.

The shower gel Tan Xiao used had a lemongrass and mint scent, just like the cup of lemonade he gave him when he was discharged from the hospital. It emitted a faint lemon fragrance, refreshing and pleasant.

Although it was a light scent, it dispersed the strong smell of blood and disinfectant that always lingered around Wen Yi’s nostrils. Just before he fell into a drowsy sleep, Wen Yi thought: “Tomorrow, I’ll ask Tan Xiao which brand of shower gel he uses. He wants to have the same scent on him.”

The clock hanging in the living room ticked away, and before anyone knew it, it was midnight. The entire bustling city seemed to have pressed the pause button.

“Click”

In this metropolis with tens of millions of residents, tens of thousands of people were awakened by a somewhat strange system sound.

[Welcome to the Otherworld Amusement Park: God Game!]

[I am System 001, you can also call me System-sama]

[Warning: Play your roles well, do not let anyone discover that you are outsiders. Those who violate this will fail the game and suffer brain death in the real world.]

[Friendly Reminder: Newbies have a one-time chance to avoid death in their first dungeon. If you fail the newbie mission, you will return to reality, where you can choose whether to exit the game. There is only one chance to exit the game, and once you do, you will never be able to regain your player identity. If you choose to re-enter the game and fail the mission, you will die completely in reality.]

[Game World: Plague Infection]

[Main Mission: Survive! Successfully survive for 30 days in the game, and upon completing the main mission, you will be transported back to reality]

[Side Mission 1: Find the origin of the plague]

[Side Mission2: Solve the plague’s transmission routes]

[Side Mission are optional missions. Completing them can yield high rewards, but it’s recommended to proceed within your capabilities.]

[Enjoy your game!]

People from another world opened their eyes in unfamiliar bodies, many of them touching themselves all over, some rushing into the bathroom, or picking up their phones to look at the face in the mirror.

Due to the large and random number, not all players could become natives similar to their original identities. Some men became women, some women became men, some returned to their youth, while others aged by several decades.

In reality, after a large-scale meteor shower, a highly corrosive mist enveloped the world, causing all residents who couldn’t escape in time to disappear. The life and food within the mist were rapidly corroded.

Resources drastically decreased, and some people had already gone several days without food in reality before entering the game.

Smart people quickly realized that this so-called god game was a crisis, but it could very well be a unique opportunity!

Each player had an independent player panel, no player communication forum, no system shop, no initial funds, and the system backpack was empty, with fixed and limited capacity. Newbies had nothing; the initial funds they could use depended on the identity they randomly replaced.

The quiet night gave new players time to adapt, and some brainless, impulsive, and irritable fools would be eliminated at the first opportunity.

After all, the system was not joking. Once they attempted to communicate with the outside world and reveal the existence of the game, their consciousness would be directly erased by the game, and the originally dormant natives would awaken again.

While the players were exploring the rules and preparing to gather resources to cope with the impending plague, the sleeping Tan Xiao had a rather strange dream.

In the dream, his childhood self appeared in his grandmother’s living room, the electric fan whirring, and he was intently watching an old black-and-white television.

The TV was originally playing his favorite childhood cartoon “Little Rascal,” but within a few minutes, suddenly the snowy screen appeared.

A somewhat strange voice came from the snowy screen: “Welcome… zzzz… detecting unknown energy… Bug… intrusion… Bug.”

The voice was very sharp and thin, sounding just like when the TV was broken and the sound changed along with it.

Tan Xiao, impatient, walked over to the TV, lifted the lace TV cover knitted by his mother, patted the screen, and then gave its big rear a hard slap. The TV’s rear was overheating; no wonder it malfunctioned again.

Sure enough, after a few practiced slaps, the snowy screen disappeared, and Tan Xiao happily watched a cartoon. He slept soundly that night without any dreams.

In reality, Wen Yi had already fallen asleep, but then Tan Xiao suddenly lifted the blanket off him and leaned in closer.

The boy’s refreshing aura was quite intrusive, and he whispered, “What’s wrong?”

In the soft light of the night lamp, Tan Xiao still had his eyes closed, clearly not fully awake.

“What’s broken again?”

One of Tan Xiao’s hands naturally rested on Wen Yi’s body, purposefully sliding down the back of the other person (the TV).

Wen Yi’s whole body stiffened, feeling as if that hand was electrified, making him tingle all over and unable to move. His body temperature shot up, causing the other person to mumble, “Sure enough, you’re burning up.”

Until Tan Xiao’s hand reached his buttocks and then gave it a hard slap, the boy who had been peacefully asleep couldn’t help but show a satisfied, radiant smile: “Alright!”

Tan Xiao withdrew his hand, wrapped the blanket tightly again, and continued to sleep contentedly. Left awake and flustered by the teasing, Wen Yi was both embarrassed and angry, his cheeks burning bright red!