Ye Zhao snapped out of the strange vision. Virus carriers? Zombies? They were going to seal off X City?
This was bad.
Ye Zhao took out her wallet. Inside were a bank card, her ID, and a little over two hundred yuan in cash. She also had a thousand yuan in X-Messenger. After asking a classmate for directions, she headed straight off campus. She put on a mask and hailed a taxi on her phone.
She planned to leave City X before the virus broke out.
The suburbs were safer than the city.
She ran toward the school gate. Along the way, she saw several uniformed security guards rushing onto campus. A few steps later, several police cars drove in, too. Ye Zhao could clearly feel the air thick with tension. She made it through the school gate just before they sealed it!
Sure enough, the guards got the message and locked down the gate, allowing people in but not out.
Word also spread like wildfire that someone on X University's campus could shoot fireballs. A few videos were uploaded online, stirring up plenty of discussion, but they were quickly suppressed. The university's official website soon came out to debunk the rumors, and the whole thing was dismissed as "a joke made to grab attention."
When Ye Zhao reached the school gate, her taxi still hadn't arrived. There was a supermarket and a pharmacy nearby, so just in case, she walked along the supermarket aisles and scanned everything: bread, dried meat, canned food, biscuits, alcohol, cooking oil, and grain. She also grabbed a few bags of biscuits and bread and several bottles of cola to avoid attracting attention. She even got lucky and bought a city map.
As she was paying, she ran into two more Players.
In Ye Zhao's eyes, Players were walking treasure troves—plump sheep ripe for the taking!
"This is so annoying. I wish I'd drawn Storage Space. How am I supposed to carry all this stuff?" a girl complained nearby. Ye Zhao didn't turn to look. She silently edged closer to her.
"Quit complaining. Hurry up and buy food you can eat right away! Get more canned food and water!" the man said.
The woman pouted and grabbed a few bags of biscuits. The man continued, "I just checked online. A new type of flu has been spreading around the world lately. Most of the people who catch it run a high fever that won't go down, so I think it's an epidemic virus. Hurry up. Let's go buy some medicine next door!"
Ye Zhao had noticed that most people passing by were wearing masks, and every so often someone would cough loudly. She adjusted her mask and moved closer to the two.
The woman said, "All right... Wow, this world has Dove chocolate, too! Let's grab a few boxes. I wonder if it tastes the same?"
"Everything in this world feels so real. It's like it actually exists..."
What a shame. Ye Zhao hadn't managed to scan any game items on them.
After paying, she quickly left the supermarket with her shopping bags and hurried into the pharmacy next door. She walked around the shelves, scanning everything. Once she was done, she still bought some medicine for wounds, fever reducers, anti-inflammatory drugs, and antibiotics. As she left the pharmacy, she ran into the two Players again. They gave her a suspicious, probing look, but Ye Zhao walked past without glancing their way.
Just then, the taxi driver called. She quickly got in and scanned the taxi, too.
[Scan successful: Create Taxi*1, Cost: 1 Creation Point.]
"Driver, I'm in a hurry. Please step on it! I'll pay extra!"
She hadn't bought much, and the total came to less than five hundred yuan. After putting the bags on the back seat, she quietly stashed some of the things in Storage Space, then pretended to stuff the rest into her backpack. In the end, she left only a bottle of mineral water out to avoid drawing attention.
But not long after the taxi pulled out, an SUV in the right lane suddenly changed lanes and slammed into the car ahead. The crash rang out with a tremendous bang. "Damn it!" The taxi driver's face changed, and he cursed. He slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. With a loud crash, they plowed into the car in front, too!
Ye Zhao had been focused on searching online for news about the virus. The impact left her dazed and seeing stars. Before she could recover, the taxi she was in was hit again, and the car behind them slammed into their rear!
Ye Zhao: ...
Lord Ghost Messenger, help!
The airbag deployed. Clutching his aching chest and head, the taxi driver asked, "Miss, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." The crash hadn't been too bad. Ye Zhao clutched her head as she got out, afraid that if it happened again, she'd be done for.
"Good. Get out and hide on the roadside for a bit." The taxi driver got out and strode toward the two cars ahead, cursing under his breath.
The taxi driver kept knocking on the SUV's window, but no one opened the door. Someone wanted to break the window and check on the people inside, but just then, the car door was shoved open. A man with a twisted expression stumbled out and lunged at the taxi driver, who was closest to him. He opened his mouth and bit down. A scream rang out as he tore a huge chunk of flesh from the driver's face!
Ye Zhao shuddered in terror. Her groggy mind cleared in an instant!
"Ah! What's wrong with you?"
"Shit, is he having a rabies attack?"
"That's terrifying! Call the police!"
"Where are the police?"
As the first scream rang out, it was as if it had been a harbinger. Several more deafening booms followed in quick succession. Explosions and cries mingled together, and the orderly roadway descended into chaos. Cars crashed into one another in every direction, bringing traffic to a complete standstill. People ran from their cars in panic. "Help!"
"It's eating people!"
"Zombies! They're zombies!"
"My son's been eaten! Please, save my child—"
"Help! Somebody help me!"
Seeing the chaos all around her, Ye Zhao snapped out of her shock. The virus had broken out so quickly! She didn't dare hesitate and sprinted away with her backpack on.
Everything was in chaos now. People on the road were either suddenly going berserk and eating others, screaming as they fled, or lying on the ground, crying nonstop. Everywhere Ye Zhao looked, there was chaos and bloodshed. Screams and pleas for help filled her ears.
She forced herself to run despite her fear. Along the way, she even rescued a passerby who had been knocked to the ground by a zombie and was crying in despair. She kicked the zombie away, but had no time to see whether the person on the ground could get up. After scanning a shared bike parked by the roadside, she raced toward the outskirts of the city.
She didn't dare look around, or let herself feel too much sympathy. All she wanted was to get out of City X as soon as possible.
But the chaos was so bad that even a bicycle couldn't get her through without obstruction. From time to time, a few zombies charged at her without warning. In the end, she had no choice but to abandon the bike and run as fast as her legs could carry her.
The zombies chased after her, but she soon left them behind. Losing track of her, they wandered off in every direction, following the sounds around them.
Human stamina was limited, after all. Ye Zhao soon grew breathless, her clothes soaked with sweat. The situation around her was growing ever more chaotic. Several times, she saw police officers trying to maintain order get knocked down by zombies. The scene was horrifying, and the terrified, anguished screams around her pushed her nerves to the breaking point.
She looked around. Chaos was everywhere. There was hardly a safe place in sight...