Mutation Cards

Lin Ye entered the tunnel again.

This time, he did not need to go too far. He could reach his destination in half an hour.

Lin Ye made his way through the tunnel with a feverish look on his face. That fervor spread through his body like a virus, raising his overall body temperature by 2°C.

The high fever set his reason ablaze, burning away what little remained. Crazed thoughts occupied his mind. If he had not still had a mission to finish, he would have wanted to cut off his own head right then to see what it felt like.

Finally, Lin Ye stepped into the darkness. This time, he did not leave. Instead, he took out the Abyssal Egg and raised it above his head.

At the same time, in the darkness on the other side, another Lin Ye likewise raised an incomplete Abyssal Egg above his head.

In the other two loops, the incomplete Abyssal Eggs grew in the darkness, gradually taking shape.

The ritual began. The Abyss connected to the tunnel, and the entire tunnel fell into the Abyss.

Lin Ye also wanted to fall into that void, plunging downward without end. But the anomaly had disappeared, and the mission was complete. Some force dragged him back to the surface.

He walked out of the tunnel, and everything was over.

[Simulation ended]

[Remaining simulations: 8]

[Obtained random items that appeared in this event ×8]

[Obtained Time Rule Fragment ×1]

[Title obtained: Fall into the Abyss]

[Abyss residue detected in the Shelter. Processing...]

[Processing complete. Obtained Gate to the Abyss]

Lin Ye woke up in bed. He was not fully awake yet. It felt as though he had had a very long dream, and for a moment, he could not tell where he was.

The red cat jumped onto Lin Ye's lap and rubbed its head against his belly.

I'm in... the Shelter. The mission is over.

It took another half a minute for Lin Ye to grasp the situation. Recalling the memories from the simulation, he shuddered involuntarily.

To him, that feeling of being completely out of control was terrifying. If the Shelter had not been absolutely safe, he would probably still have been in that state.

"Forget it. No point thinking about it. What's done is done. Let's see what I got first."

Lin Ye glanced at the additional pitch-black door in his room's wall and pretended it did not exist.

His luck had been good this time. It had been hard to die in the tunnel, leaving him with eight remaining simulations and a total of eight items.

All eight items were laid out on the floor: a fully loaded handgun, a basic meal pack, a basic medical kit, four somewhat familiar-looking Mutation Organs, and a pitch-black, egg-shaped object the size of a quail egg.

Lin Ye opened the system and submitted the four Mutation Organs he had produced himself to the Shelter upgrade mission. The mission progress changed to (5/10).

Lin Ye sorted the other items by category and placed them in the corner of the room with the items he had obtained before.

He put the Abyssal Egg outside the sliding door. Although it was no longer dangerous, he still did not want to share a room with the thing.

There were three notifications on the system panel: the Time Rule Fragment, the Gate to the Abyss, and Lin Ye's new title.

Lin Ye checked them one by one:

[Time Rule Fragment]

[Can be incorporated into your innate ability to add a new effect]

[Note: A precious fragment with a special function. Highly compatible with your innate ability]

[Incorporate the Time Rule Fragment into your innate ability?]

"Yes."

Lin Ye checked his personal information again and found that his innate ability had changed.

[Personal information]

[Name: Lin Ye]

[Sex: Male]

[Age: 24]

[Innate ability: D-Class Personnel Simulator]

[Note: Savior, one who fell into the Abyss]

[D-Class Personnel Simulator]

[Each day, you can simulate one randomly selected member of Class-D Personnel on a mission]

[Rewind time after death to perform one real-world simulation (1/1)]

[Note: Why would anyone want to seek death?]

"Holy... shit!"

Lin Ye felt that happiness had come far too suddenly. The new effect added by the Time Rule Fragment was even more powerful than the innate ability itself. Although he could only use it once, that was enough for him.

This was a safeguard. Even if he died, as long as he was not in a situation where death was inevitable, Lin Ye could return alive through a simulation.

And if he found more Time Rule Fragments, perhaps he could increase the number of uses for this ability.

Lin Ye opened the new title as well.

[Fall into the Abyss]

[You once fell into the Abyss, then escaped it with the help of an external force]

[Note: You have drawn the attention of certain beings in the Abyss]

Lin Ye: "..."

[Gate to the Abyss]

[A passage connected to the Abyss. Open the Gate to the Abyss to invite certain Abyss Dwellers to visit your Shelter]

[Note: If you can prepare something that interests them, they will give you a satisfactory reward]

Lin Ye looked at the pitch-black door and decided not to touch it for now.

The Shelter was indeed absolutely safe, but what if those so-called Abyss Dwellers refused to leave?

After all, absolute safety only lasted seven days. Once those seven days were over, Lin Ye would be the one suffering.

Lin Ye checked the time. This simulation had only taken a few hours. It was not even noon yet.

It was still foggy outside the window, and he could not see anything clearly. There were occasional noises outside the door, but he could see nothing through the peephole.

Lin Ye took out an Energy Bar and a bottle of mineral water, opened the communications interface, and began eating lunch.

The moment he opened the communications interface, Lin Ye saw a flood of messages with pictures attached. At first, he thought they were pornographic images, but a closer look revealed that they were all pictures of mutated body parts.

"What do you think of this mighty arm of mine? I feel like I could blow a Blood Corpse apart with one punch now. (Arm photo)"

"Adamantine legs are still stronger. I kicked two zombies to death in one go. (Leg photo)"

"Any of you big shots have spare Mutation Cards? I'll trade food for them!"

"Looking for an arm card! Offering a leg card in exchange!"

"Who has red liquid? Paying top price!"

"Where's Goose Leg Bro? Have you mutated? Got a mutation guide?"

"My internal organs mutated. What's the use of that? (Abdomen photo)"

"Shit! A rare card! Though I don't know what it's good for either."

"You could cut yourself open and take a look."

"Guys, I'm a student. Please give me a Mutation Card, preferably one for limb mutation."

"Did the guy above mutate his brain?"

"Why isn't it dark yet? My adamantine legs are already itching for action."

The group was full of messages about Mutation Cards. Lin Ye scrolled up and soon found the reason.

One survivor had accidentally used one of those dark red cards, and the card had mutated his right arm. Terrified, he had asked the group for help, only to spark a mutation craze instead.

Mutation Cards were very easy to use. All someone had to do was press a card against their skin. A few minutes later, the card would merge into their skin, and the mutation would happen automatically.

Mutation Cards had different patterns, and cards with different patterns mutated different body parts. The most popular ones at present were arm and leg Mutation Cards, which also happened to be the most common.

However, mutation consumed a large amount of matter and energy. That survivor had eaten everything edible in his Shelter to no avail. In the end, he had only completed the mutation after drinking a bottle of red liquid.