They huddled inside the villa and watched the entire battle for the airdropped cure play out.
Multiple gangs had swarmed the area. After ten or so brutal minutes, only seven or eight men were left standing—all young, strong, and clearly on the same team.
The man leading them was by far the most powerful. Chu Yian watched on the surveillance screen as he took on several opponents at once—decisive, ruthless, and overwhelmingly skilled. His combat ability was simply off the charts.
The most shocking part was the state of his body: red rashes covered his skin, and though he'd made an effort to clean up, yellow pus still oozed from the wounds. It was obvious—he was seriously ill.
And yet… he was terrifyingly strong. Compared to him, Chu Yian felt like a squishy little side character.
Outside the villa, the surviving gang members were inspecting the supply crate. Inside were hundreds of neatly arranged syringes. One of them couldn't hold back his excitement.
"Bro Jie, we struck gold!"
The leader—Jie Yan—turned around, grabbed a syringe, and plunged it into his arm.
"Everyone, take one shot. Then pack the rest. We're taking all of it."
As he spoke, his eyes drifted to the car parked outside the villa.
He recognized it instantly.
It was his car.
He'd been framed, infected, and collapsed while out searching for fever meds. His memory was hazy, but he vaguely recalled someone moving his body.
That person had likely tried to steal his car—but instead, they'd left him two whole boxes of fever meds.
Jie Yan knew just how rare and valuable those meds were. That stranger had, without a doubt, saved his life.
"Bro Jie, should we go check out the villa?"
One of the guys noticed Jie Yan staring at the sealed building and made the suggestion. He was curious too—what kind of place had such heavy security?
Jie Yan didn't answer.
Instead, he lifted a syringe, held it up in front of a visible security camera, then quietly tucked it into the grass nearby.
The others didn't get it. But Jie Yan didn't explain. He just waved his hand and walked toward his car.
"Get in. We're leaving."
"Why did he leave a syringe there?" Chu Yian asked, staring at the screen.
She hadn't recognized Jie Yan as the same half-dead, pus-covered man she'd encountered before. It didn't even cross her mind.
Lu Qingyuan had never seen him either.
"No idea. Stay alert," he replied.
And so, they stayed alert. On edge. Waiting.
Four long hours passed.
Finally—
A chime sounded in Chu Yian's ears.
Game Over.
She found herself once again inside her cramped, two-cubic-meter living unit.
"Ughhh—"
She let out a long breath and collapsed onto her couch. A game notification appeared in front of her.
[Congratulations! You are the 21st player to complete the game. Reward: 200 points.]
[Player: Chu Yian]
[ID: 3210]
[Gender: Female]
[Satiety: 70%]
[Cleanliness: 70%]
[Health: 100%]
[Potential: 8 (Max: 10)]
[Points: 298 (No Limit)]
She'd actually earned 200 points!
Chu Yian checked her stats. Her satiety, cleanliness, and health were back to their starting levels. The only thing that had changed was her potential, which had gone up from 5 to 8.
As for what "potential" actually did… still unclear.
Meanwhile, the forums were on fire.
The World Channel was updating at a pace of tens of millions of messages per second. Chu Yian only managed to scroll for a few minutes before giving up and switching to the Nearby Channel.
[Nearby2908976]: Holy shit, I actually cleared it!
[Nearby618237092]: Me too, bro! Can't believe I managed to grab a cure during that insane brawl. How'd you do it?
[Nearby2908976]: I followed this badass—real big bro energy. Led us to hijack a train. We got the cure… but he didn't make it. RIP.
[Nearby2991876542]: Seems like a lot of people cleared the game this time. Y'all are amazing. I died on Day 14 from infection.
[Nearby382817281]: I had stocked up on masks and meds, but someone attacked me. Got bashed in the head with a steel pipe. That kind of death... it was horrifying.
[Nearby11920983]: I didn't make it either.
[Nearby39392380]: Yo, those of you who cleared—how many points did you get?
[Nearby2908976]: Just 5.
[Nearby618237092]: Same. But I'm satisfied. By the way, don't we have a bigshot in this group?
[Nearby62718738]: Right, the player with the five-digit ID.
[Nearby1289381]: Yeah, big bro with the five-digit number.
The chat flooded with people tagging the legendary five-digit player.
Eventually, the "big bro" responded.
[Nearby20109]: Only got 5 points this round. Nothing worth bragging about.
[Nearby1289381]: "Only" 5 points… Man, I'm jealous.
[Nearby2908976]: You've got 55 points total. That's insane. I admit it—I'm officially jealous.
[Nearby371838128]: I envy you guys with points. I've got zero. And now I'm worried sick about my satiety and cleanliness stats…
He wasn't the only one. Tons of players were starting to panic over what would happen the next day.
In the real world, the next day:
Chu Yian's satiety had dropped to 60%, cleanliness to 60%, and her health had taken a small dip too—now at 90%. She could now physically feel the light hunger everyone had been talking about.
Most players who hadn't bought food or hygiene kits were even worse off—their satiety and cleanliness were both sitting at 50%.
[Nearby371838128]: Holy crap. Satiety at 50% feels awful. I'm so hungry I'm seeing stars.
[Nearby2908976]: Same here. My health dropped by 10%. No one explained this system—what happens if it hits 0? Do we die?!
[Nearby331933938]: Wait, aren't you the guy with some points? Just buy a food kit.
[Nearby2908976]: I've only got 5 points. I'm saving them for when I literally can't take it anymore.
And it wasn't just the nearby channels.
The World Channel was drowning in complaints and desperate cries.
[World3782381939]: I starved in the game, and now I'm starving in real life too. What the hell.
[World3391381]: How did any of you clear that game? I couldn't even make it a month on 2,000 yuan in real life. Are you immortals or what? No food, no water—just vibes?
[World6372738]: Wait… you were broke too? I thought I was the only one barely scraping by…