Lin Qi

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Lin Qi lost his parents at a young age. He describes himself as capable when alone but often at a loss for words around strangers 16.

Before their betrayal, Li Xing was his best friend and Huang Li had been his girlfriend for two and a half years. Huang Li became involved with Li Xing, and the two conspired to kill him 1 8.

When the apocalypse had been underway for roughly a week, Lin Qi was an ordinary survivor following a convoy between supply points. Li Xing’s attempt to leave him trapped with a chef horror led to his first encounter with the advertisement system 1 2 3.

Appearance

• Young man: Described as a young man and repeatedly addressed as “handsome” by other survivors 1 9 16.
• Clothing after the mirror encounter: Receives a tracksuit from Wang Feng after escaping the black-haired woman with extensive scrapes 36 37.

Personality

Lin Qi is intensely protective of his life and supplies. After Li Xing’s betrayal, he becomes reluctant to accept teammates and conceals his abilities to avoid being controlled or eliminated by stronger survivors. His refusal to team up also protects the secrecy of his system 7 13 16.

He is calculating and vindictive toward enemies. He first tries to turn the supermarket’s dangers and other survivors against Li Xing, then kills him personally before they can return to the convoy’s protection. Against multiple attackers, he recognizes the limits of his single-target control and attempts to separate them rather than fight everyone at once 5 6 7 24.

His suspicion does not prevent him from repaying help. He sincerely thanks Wang Feng for rescuing him and insists on giving Niu Wudi half the Ghost Well proceeds because he dislikes owing others. His treatment of Yi Xue remains brusque even after rescuing her: he makes her repayment a matter of chores rather than offering an unrestricted place in his vehicle 25 43 48.

Abilities & Skills

Advertisement System

Lin Qi accesses a virtual interface that advertises extraordinary abilities and unusual products for purchase with Ghost Cash 1 2 11.

• Daily refresh: Advertisements refresh at midnight 4.
• Purchase options: The interface offers Buy, Save, and Exit options 2.
• Favorites: Can add three products to Favorites each month; he uses one slot for Leibi 29.
• Initial protection: The first advertisement prevents the chef horror’s attack from reaching him. Lin Qi compares the effect to “invincibility frames” 1 2.
• Beginner assistance: Receives a beginner’s gift pack and obtains an additional two thousand Ghost Cash through the system’s deduction-voucher arrangement 2.
• Secrecy: Keeps the system hidden and uses his visible lightning powers to explain his status as an Extraordinary 16 49.

Bro, Give Me Face!

A rule-type control ability that temporarily immobilizes a target while it waits for Lin Qi to offer payment 2 4.

• Negotiated escape: Pays the chef horror one thousand Ghost Cash, causing it to retreat to its kitchen 2.
• Unpaid control window: Can exploit the initial freeze without completing the payoff, as when stealing cigarettes from the old woman anomaly 4.
• Combat openings: Immobilizes human opponents long enough to stab them or allow allies to attack 6 24 25.
• Single-target limit: Cannot control several attackers simultaneously 24.
• Resource cost: Repeated activations consume Ghost Cash; clearing Li Xiang’s group costs approximately one thousand 43.
• Spoken activation: Can be interrupted by preventing him from speaking. The school principal stops a second activation by filling his mouth with black mist 19.
• Not universally effective: Fails to stop the woman approaching through his vehicle’s reflection; Lin Qi suspects their separation into different spaces may be responsible 36.

I Fine You 800 Yuan!

A rule-type ability activated by shouting its name. It steals Ghost Cash from a target but generates intense hostility 2.

• Normal amount: Takes eight hundred Ghost Cash when the target has sufficient funds 2.
• Insufficient funds: Obtains only one hundred from Li Xing 7.
• Valid targets: Works on humans and supernatural entities, including the chef horror and the old woman anomaly 3 4 7.
• Daily limits: Six uses per day, with no more than one use against the same target each day 2.
• Activation cost: No Ghost Cash consumption 2.
• Additional use: Uses the fine to silence a Radio Wraith attempting to lure Xiao Wu outside 32.

Lightning Manipulation

Lin Qi first develops electricity through Leibi, then later obtains much stronger Ghost Cash-powered lightning attacks 16 45 46.

• Weapon enhancement: Coats his machete in electrical arcs 16.
• Contact attacks: Conceals electricity in a slap against the old woman survivor 25.
• Lightning spear: Spends one hundred Ghost Cash to form and throw a forearm-length spear 46.
• Vehicle-wide attacks: Sends lightning through overturned vehicles, killing the occupants 46.
• Variable expenditure: Calls out amounts such as “two hundred thunderbolts” and “three hundred thunderbolts”; these refer to Ghost Cash spent, not separate ability names 46.
• Self-protection: Is unaffected by his own vehicle-conducted lightning and can handle his lightning-infused ammunition 46 49.
• Early limitations: His first sparks cause little direct damage, and he initially does not know whether his electrified machete can injure supernatural entities 16.
• Collateral damage: His newly strengthened lightning is difficult to control precisely and burns supplies inside the vehicles he attacks 46.

Survival and Tactical Judgment

• Rule observation: Avoids prohibited red packages while scavenging the supermarket 5.
• Escape planning: Notices that the Corpse Tide pauses to consume survivors and leads nearby vehicles onto a side road 33.
• Feigning death: Lies among the corpses rather than fighting them; the surrounding bodies pass without attacking him 34 35.
• Improvisation: Builds a roadside stove from bricks and wood scraps, using a sanitary pad as kindling 8.
• Practical gaps: Cannot start abandoned vehicles without keys, initially struggles with first-aid supplies, and has no real firearms experience before obtaining his revolver 3 37 49.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• SUV — Takes Li Xing’s keys and backpacks after fatally stabbing him. Uses the vehicle for travel, storage, cooking supplies, and rest 7 8.
• Machete — His principal close-range weapon; also serves as a conductor for his early lightning power 15 16 24.
• Energy-Devouring Gun — A revolver purchased for 999 Ghost Cash. Generates six bullets daily without conventional ammunition replenishment and accepts elemental energy. Lin Qi charges all six bullets with lightning and removes five to test whether ammunition can be stockpiled; the result is not yet established 49.
• Leibi — A 500-milliliter drink costing 99 Ghost Cash. Initially appears ineffective, but later purchases reveal its lightning-granting property 11 16.
• Good luck tires — Four pink replacement tires that sing loudly when the SUV starts. Pays another one thousand Ghost Cash to silence them 40.
• Walkie-talkie — Initially a gift from Wang Feng for sharing information; later receives the Transcendent Squad’s internal channel 16 50.
• Ghost Cash — Funds his purchases, control ability, payments to supernatural entities, and stronger lightning attacks 2 23 46.

Relationships

• Li Xing — Former best friend and attempted murderer. Lin Qi retaliates by immobilizing and stabbing him, taking his belongings, and leaving him to a supermarket entity 1 6 7.
• Huang Li — Former girlfriend who conspired with Li Xing. Lin Qi rejects her attempts to reassert control over him and remains unmoved when Wang Feng reports her subsequent abuse 8 50.
• Wang Feng — Persistent recruiter who becomes a practical ally. Helps defeat Lin Qi’s ambushers, recover his SUV, and supply clothing and first aid after the mirror encounter 13 25 37.
• Xiao Wu — Member of Wang Feng’s group who exchanges information with Lin Qi and temporarily drives for him. Survives the black-haired woman’s attack after the Red-Clothed Opera Performer intervenes 16 30 37.
• Yi Xue — Initially trades chocolate for sanitary pads, later treats his injuries and washes his clothes. Lin Qi rescues her from Li Xiang’s group but insists that she repay the expense through work 9 13 38 42 43.
• Green Radish — Convoy healer who promises protection after borrowing one thousand Ghost Cash. Lin Qi remains suspicious of her eagerness to heal him and refuses treatment for nonfatal injuries 20 22 38 41.
• Niu Wudi — Extraordinary who helps him obtain money from the Ghost Well and explains its restrictions. Lin Qi insists on sharing half the proceeds with him 48.
• Red-Clothed Opera Performer — Accepts five thousand Ghost Cash as a betrothal deposit and calls him her husband. Both a lethal obligation and a protector: she curses him over the bride price but destroys the black-haired woman attacking him 23 27 36 37.
• Convoy captain — Recognizes his lightning powers and grants access to internal communications, while still treating him as an outsider 50.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Betrayal and Revenge

• Survives Li Xing’s snack-shop trap by purchasing his first two abilities and paying off the chef horror 1 2.
• Tracks Li Xing to the supermarket, attempts indirect retaliation, and ultimately kills him before he can return to the convoy 3 5 6 7.
• Returns in the SUV and breaks with Huang Li after confirming her involvement 7 8.

Liu Family Village and the Unwanted Engagement

• Accompanies Wang Feng’s group to a school stocked with donated food, but becomes suspicious of their easy access 17.
• Finds that the principal can interrupt his spoken control ability 19.
• Diverts the Red-Clothed Opera Performer from Green Radish and Niu Wudi with Ghost Cash, inadvertently entering a supernatural betrothal 23.
• Learns through Green Radish that failure to provide the bride price will kill him 27.

Downpour and Mirror Attack

• Identifies the Radio Wraith’s deception and helps nearby survivors escape the Corpse Tide 32 33.
• Survives the moving corpses by lying still among them 34 35.
• Smashes his mirrors before learning that watching the reflected woman is what holds her back. Her subsequent attack forces him out of the SUV 36.
• Is saved by the Red-Clothed Opera Performer. After witnessing her strength, abandons his immediate hope of overpowering her and prioritizes gathering betrothal gifts 37.

Bus Rescue and Convoy Violence

• Discovers Yi Xue and other captives injured inside the bus, kills Li Xiang’s attackers, and carries her out 42.
• Uses the resulting fear—and the absence of punishment—to discourage further harassment from newcomers 43.
• Defeats Scarface’s men with powerful lightning, though the attacks destroy much of their loot 45 46.

Ghost Well and Independent Status

• Returns from the Ghost Well with a large haul and shares it with Niu Wudi 48.
• Purchases the Energy-Devouring Gun and begins testing lightning-infused ammunition 49.
• Reveals his electrical power to the captain but chooses independent Extraordinary status rather than full membership in the Transcendent Squad 50.

Notable Quotes

“Trust really is the cheapest thing in the apocalypse.” 7

“You're not allowed to die until you've paid it all back.” — To Yi Xue after rescuing her 43