The wail of police sirens approached from the distance, quickly arriving downstairs. After the police arrived, Yin Zhen silently raised her hand and pointed to the security camera in the living room, a freebie from her internet plan. Following that, she didn’t say a word. Like a soulless puppet, she let them lock down the scene and take her away.
The case was simple: a terminally ill cancer patient had gotten drunk, forcibly broken into the home of a disabled girl living alone, and attempted to murder her, only to be killed by the girl in her desperate struggle to survive. The knife wound on Yin Zhen’s left shoulder, the slap mark on her face, and especially the entire process recorded by the security camera were irrefutable proof of self-defense. As for the Tiansheng Group’s orchestration behind the scenes, Yin Zhen didn’t mention it. There was a high probability they wouldn’t find anything anyway.
Injury assessments, statements... Once the procedures were completed, Yin Zhen, with the soft-spoken comfort and assistance of a female police officer, changed into clean clothes and sat back in her wheelchair. In front of her sat a boxed meal provided by the police station. A silent pity permeated the air; everyone’s gaze clung to her. Yin Zhen lowered her eyes. From the bottom of her heart, she loathed those looks.
She picked up her chopsticks and poked at the rice and dishes in the box. As the scent drifted into her nose, her stomach churned faintly, giving rise to an inexplicable wave of repulsion. It wasn’t that she wasn’t hungry—her empty stomach was twisting in pain. But facing this deluxe boxed meal, she couldn’t even muster the desire to force down a few bites. Her throat felt dry and itchy. Deep within her soul, a fierce craving was brewing for something else entirely—something crimson, thick, and sweet; something that could bring absolute euphoria to both her body and soul.
Even though the Character Card had been unequipped, the influence lingered. Yin Zhen set down her chopsticks, leaned against the backrest of her wheelchair, and closed her eyes to take a deep breath. Her Character Assimilation Degree had long since reset to zero.
"Equip the S717 Character Card," Yin Zhen silently commanded in her mind. As she felt that Strength return to her body and deliberately relaxed her tense nerves, a strange sense of expansion quietly spread outward from within her. It was as if her five senses had transformed into invisible threads, slowly reaching out to weave a massive web. The scent of disinfectant on her clothes, the damp odor of the freshly mopped floor, and the faint aroma of coffee in the distance instantly became multi-dimensional and distinct. Countless minute sounds magnified and converged by her ears—the SCRATCH of a pen nib gliding across paper, the CREAK of a shifting chair, the hushed voices of a conversation in the next room...
"Sigh, this poor girl. The case of the car accident involving her and her mother caused a massive sensation, and now this happened. Misfortune really does strike the most vulnerable."
"Yeah, but she’s also incredibly brave. If she hadn’t fought back the whole time, I can’t even imagine the consequences. It’s just too tragic."
"The facts of her self-defense are clear. Once the procedures are done, they should be able to close the case pretty quickly, right?"
"It’s not that simple. We still need to investigate the deceased’s motive, Identity, background, and social connections. Besides that, we need to bring in a partner organization to conduct a psychological evaluation for the victim as supplementary evidence..."
Yin Zhen discovered that the Strength of the D-level Super Sensing amplified not only her hearing and smell but also her touch, sight, taste, and possibly even her sixth sense. While testing it out, Yin Zhen heard the conversation of two police officers outside, who mentioned something peculiar. Tonight, they had received a report: a girl had claimed she was about to time-travel, only to suddenly drop dead the very next second from an unknown cause.
Yin Zhen’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. She discreetly withdrew her perception. Like a receding tide, the cacophony of sounds and jumbled scents instantly faded, returning to a normal range.
Immediately after, she gathered all her remaining mental focus and forcefully directed her perception toward her legs. Still... numb and stiff. Yin Zhen’s hands, resting on her knees, quietly clenched into fists. If she could acquire some kind of self-healing Extraordinary Ability in the Red Corpse World, her legs would definitely recover. When that time came, she would kill that lunatic with her own two hands! Or perhaps, if she just drank enough blood plasma right now, would all her injuries and pain vanish in a mere few minutes, just like they did in the Red Corpse World? Using her rationality, Yin Zhen ruthlessly suppressed this urge. This was modern society; she had to be patient and plan things out carefully.
Yin Zhen checked her watch. It took ten minutes from equipping the Character Card for the Assimilation Degree to reach forty-nine percent. Unequipping the Character Card, she began calculating the time it would take for the Assimilation Degree to drop from forty-nine percent to zero. Yin Zhen picked up her chopsticks again, forcing herself to eat the boxed meal. She needed to live—to live on, healthy and strong! By the time she finally managed to finish the meal, Yin Zhen was drenched in sweat. Exhausted, she leaned back in her wheelchair, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. Suddenly, she remembered something she had forgotten. The mission!
At the same time, a frantic commotion erupted outside the room. It was so loud that Yin Zhen could hear it clearly without even using her Super Sensing Ability.
"Chen, hurry, hurry! Another homicide! A kid in the Happiness District suddenly went crazy and killed his parents, then fled the scene! Grab two guys and come with me, quick!"
"What the hell is going on tonight? This is the third homicide, isn’t it?"
"Fourth. Alright, enough talking. Let’s move!"
Yin Zhen’s heart tightened, her pupils trembling violently as she stared at her mission log.
[Current Round Public Mission: Hunt Down the Blood Clan Invaders (1/10)]
Suddenly, Yin Zhen understood what this so-called ’Invasion Game’ was all about. People from her world were invading the Red Corpse World, which meant the Blood Clan from the Red Corpse World would also invade theirs! In the Red Corpse World, the majority of the Dusk People lived in a state of extreme starvation, forced to survive on low-concentration or even contaminated artificial blood plasma. The Blood Clan nobles were also constantly searching for new blood sources, sparing no effort to capture the remaining human fugitives on the run. If Blood Clan members like that arrived in human society, wouldn’t it be like a starving rat falling into a rice bin? What would happen was self-evident! The mission was bound to have lucrative rewards, but... Yin Zhen let out a bitter laugh, leaning weakly back into her wheelchair. As Yin Zhen, she couldn’t do a single thing.
...
Waiting in the police station all night, the procedures were finally completed the next morning. She was allowed to leave temporarily while she waited for further notice. Unfortunately, she couldn’t return home yet, as they still needed another day to collect evidence. Accompanied by the female officer, Yin Zhen went back to grab her laptop, a change of clothes, and other daily necessities before checking into a hotel across from her residential district.
"By the way, Yin, we’ve arranged some psychological counseling for you. A therapist will come to see you sometime today. She’s a female doctor. Just meet with her and have a chat, okay?"
The female officer brought this up before leaving, and she also left her own phone number, telling Yin Zhen to call her anytime if she had any issues.
Inside the hotel room, Yin Zhen dug out her phone. The screen was cracked but still functional, so she made do with it for now. Yin Zhen wasn’t in a rush to go online and search for information. Instead, she tried her best to operate within the logic of an ordinary person. Living in this society, every action left a trace. Digital footprints, in particular, would expose many flaws under the scrutiny of big data analysis, so she had to be extremely cautious. Opening her laptop, Yin Zhen first searched for information regarding self-defense and civil lawsuits, including topics related to psychological counseling. Then, she casually browsed through various news feeds, acting just as she would during a normal web-surfing session. It wasn’t until she ’accidentally’ stumbled upon what she was looking for during this process that she clicked on it out of ’curiosity.’ Someone had posted a thread on a mainstream platform using the written language of the Red Corpse World.
[If you can read this content, it serves as an Explanation that you already possess a certain understanding of that world. Contact me. Only by uniting can we survive.]