"Mmm...!"
Lin Mo groaned and opened his eyes.
The familiar ceiling greeted him first.
The dorm ceiling with its slightly yellowed paint and a small water stain in the corner.
Beneath him was the hard wooden bed, covered with a mattress that he had used for three years and had long since lost its springiness.
The air carried a faint scent of instant noodles and a familiar... musty smell.
He was back.
He looked around the room, and the dorm was still the same dorm.
Three empty beds, right. Those three guys went to the internet cafe to pull an all-nighter gaming last night, so they probably hadn't returned yet.
The floor was littered with snack bags and drink bottles, and the computer screen was still on, paused on the scene of the new anime he had watched last night.
The chirping of early birds drifted from outside the window, and morning light spilled in through the cracks of the dirty curtains.
Eight o'clock in the morning sharp.
Lin Mo looked down at himself.
He was wearing the "Don't rush, I'm lying down" otaku T-shirt and sweatpants he had worn before falling asleep.
He raised his right hand.
On the back of his hand, the pale golden Destiny Mark still existed, but it was fading at a speed visible to the naked eye, like ink blurring and dissipating in water.
Just over a dozen seconds later, the mark completely vanished, his skin returned to smoothness, and no traces remained.
"It hidden..." Lin Mo touched the back of his hand.
He tried to concentrate his mind, thinking "View status".
The next second, the light blue light screen actually unfolded before his eyes!
Although it was blurrier than in the game world, as if separated by a layer of frosted glass, he could indeed see:
[Name: Lin Mo]
[Race: Human Race]
[Level: 3 (40/300)]
[Class: Lord (Legendary)]
[Status: Healthy]
[HP: 200/200]
[Attributes: Strength 21, Agility 21, Constitution 21, Spirit 26, Charisma 21]
[Talent: Infinite Clone (Unique)]
[Class Skills: Lord's Majesty, Territory Construction, Troop Recruitment, Resource Command, Lord's Eye, Law Analysis]
[Legendary Exclusive Skills: Territory Sanctuary, Heart's Desire]
[Real World Status: Normal]
"I can check it in the real world too..." Lin Mo thought thoughtfully.
"Essence blood has also been fully replenished." Lin Mo noticed the status bar. "The essence blood consumed in the game recovers automatically in the real world?"
He closed the light screen and rolled out of bed.
When his feet hit the ground, that feeling of "the body being too light" struck again.
It wasn't the kind of lightness of weakness, but rather the lightness of having cast off a heavy load.
He instinctively did a deep squat, feeling as effortless as if he weren't using any strength.
He tried jumping again, and his head almost hit the upper bunk's bed board.
"Attributes... really were brought back!" Lin Mo's eyes lit up.
Tier 3 attributes, with all attributes at 20 points, which was estimated to be double that of a normal adult male!
This improvement in physical fitness was solid and real!
"I've struck it rich..." Lin Mo grinned.
But he quickly restrained his smile.
Because his stomach sent a fierce protest.
"Rumble..."
Hungry.
Unprecedentedly hungry.
It was the kind of hunger one felt from not eating for three days.
"Eat first! Or I'm going to starve to death!"
He rushed into the bathroom, brushing his teeth and washing his face at top speed.
The person in the mirror had a complexion slightly rosier than usual and sharper eyes, which was the effect of the Spirit attribute enhancement.
Aside from that, he still looked like that slightly lazy Art Department college student with messy hair.
While changing clothes, Lin Mo noticed that his muscle lines were more pronounced.
While not turning him into a bodybuilder, the soft flab caused by long-term otaku habits had tightened considerably, and a faint outline was visible on his arms and abdomen.
"Good thing the change isn't obvious." Lin Mo breathed a sigh of relief.
If he suddenly turned into a muscular hunk, it would be rather hard to explain.
"Is this... a perk of the game?" He patted his belly, very satisfied.
At eight-fifteen, Lin Mo rushed out of the dorm building and headed straight for the cafeteria.
The morning campus had already awakened.
Students out for a morning jog ran past him while panting, couples walked leisurely hand-in-hand, and people carrying backpacks rushing to early classes hurried along.
Everything was just like usual.
Yet Lin Mo knew this world had already changed.
At least for those ten thousand Internal Test Players, everything had changed.
The cafeteria was quite crowded.
Lin Mo ordered four meat buns, two fried dough sticks, a bowl of soy milk, and a small dish of pickled vegetables, then found a corner to sit and began to wolf down his food.
The flavor of the food exploded in his mouth, and a sense of happiness welled up naturally.
"It's great to be alive..." he muttered emotionally while eating.
Just as he was eating, the discussion of several students at the next table reached his ears:
"Did you hear? A huge deal happened last night!"
"What huge deal? Which celebrity had another scandal?"
"Much more serious than that! My uncle works at the hospital, and he said that in the middle of last night, a dozen unconscious patients were suddenly rushed in! Their symptoms were all the same: sudden loss of consciousness, normal breathing and heartbeat, but they just couldn't wake up!"
Lin Mo's chewing slowed down.
He pricked up his ears.
"Then what?" another student asked.
"Then things got even weirder!" The first student lowered his voice, yet couldn't hide his excitement. "Around three or four in the morning, a few of them suddenly... became brain dead! The doctors couldn't figure out the cause! The hospital has locked down all the news now!"
"Really or not? Don't spread rumors!"
"If I'm lying to you, I'm a dog! My uncle said it himself! And it's not just our city; people online are saying that similar cases have appeared in several major cities across the country! It seems there are a few famous people too!"
"Famous people? Who?"
"Wang Zhenhai, chairman of Hongtu Group—you surely know him, right? He suddenly fell into a coma in the middle of the night, and this morning they straight up announced he was brain dead!"
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