Chapter 18: People Upstairs, Come Down for Nucleic Acid Testing!
The real world, inside a rental apartment.
Lin An sat by the table, took a deep breath, and looked calmly at the talisman paper in front of him.
After confirming he was in good condition, Lin An did not hesitate. He quickly gathered Meta-power at his fingertips and began drawing the talisman according to what he had learned from the substitute talisman manual.
"Heaven is round, the Earth is square, by the nine chapters of the law; the five elements combine and transform, the substitute is consecrated."
Using his fingertip as a pen and essence blood as ink.
Lin An murmured incantations. Although it was his first time drawing a talisman, his strokes were naturally fluid.
Every bit of Meta-power was precisely injected into the key nodes of the runes, merging into the talisman paper along with his own essence blood. Soon, a complex blood-red pattern quickly took shape on the paper!
"Swiftly as commanded, Substitute!"
As the final line of the incantation fell, the talisman in front of him suddenly emitted a bright light. Lin An could feel that his first attempt at talisman-making was a smooth success!
[Substitute Talisman
Realm: First Revolution
Quality: Excellent!
Effect 1 - Passive: When encountering a fatal blow, the talisman activates automatically, turning into a substitute to block the attack.
Effect 2 - Active: After active use, space can be swapped with the Substitute Talisman. (Limit distance is total attributes * 1km; only two Substitute Talismans can exist at the same time.)
Remark: This talisman is made from Lin An's essence blood and can only be used by Lin An.]
"If I help others draw talismans later, I could probably earn quite a few resources."
Exhaling slowly, Lin An looked at the Substitute Talisman and couldn't help but think this, feeling as though he had found another way to make a fortune.
However, essence blood was very important to every cultivator. Not only would one enter a weakened state for a significant amount of time after it was extracted, but it was also a great hidden danger if it fell into the hands of others or the eldritch.
After all, the eldritch methods in the Ruins World were countless, especially curse-type skills, which could be said to be the best at using special mediums like essence blood to launch eldritch attacks.
So, although this Substitute Talisman had a powerful life-saving effect, opening a market for it in the early stages might not be easy; after all, it was easy to be seen as a scammer with ill intentions.
Lin An shook his head slightly, not feeling in a hurry about it. If he really wanted to sell talismans, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
While the feeling of drawing talismans was still fresh, Lin An pressed on and quickly drew a second Substitute Talisman.
"Could it be that I'm actually a genius of the Talisman Dao?"
With only a fifty percent success rate, he had successfully completed the drawing twice in a row. Lin An couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth curl up slightly.
Just then, a loud broadcast suddenly came from downstairs.
"People upstairs, come down for nucleic acid testing! Listen for the announcement, wear a mask, and bring your ID card!"
The broadcast played repeatedly. Lin An looked out the window and noticed a group of medical staff in white had arrived outside the residential complex at some point.
Besides the medical staff, many police officers had also arrived, and there seemed to be many crew-cut young men in plain clothes.
"Have the military and police both been deployed?"
Realizing the authorities were screening for infected individuals, Lin An nodded slightly.
Taking action was a good thing; otherwise, if an infected person stayed at home and completed their final mutation in secret, everyone around them would likely suffer.
Like the residential complex Tiger went to this morning; the residents there were actually quite lucky.
They happened to encounter a descending Demonic Evil that fought with a Mutated Being and held out until Tiger arrived. Otherwise, the number of casualties and infections would likely have been much higher!
Having two disasters arrive at once and fight each other was, in a way, a case of two negatives making a positive.
Leaving one Substitute Talisman at home to make it easier for him to teleport and escape at any time, Lin An put on a mask, took his ID card, and hurried to the complex entrance.
There were already many people in the elevator, and familiar neighbors began chatting after greeting each other.
"I didn't expect another outbreak so soon. It feels like the COVID-19 pandemic didn't end that long ago."
"Yeah, the world is becoming more and more unstable."
"I've heard about several people passing away unexpectedly recently. My cousin, who works at the crematorium, told me he's been much busier lately."
...Lin An listened silently without speaking.
Signs of troubled times, or rather, the apocalypse, had already begun to appear. Many people could actually vaguely sense that something was wrong.
However, until things truly happened right in front of them, it was indeed difficult for people to believe.
Lin An felt that if he hadn't actually encountered the Man-Faced Cat and entered the Ruins Game as a Closed Beta Player, he would probably still be busy looking for a job right now, with no mind to investigate those rumors.
Moreover, the power of ordinary people in the face of the apocalypse was quite limited; the most they could do was probably hoard some supplies.
The elevator doors opened slowly, and everyone filed out, quickly forming a long queue within the complex.
Everyone was quite familiar with the process of nucleic acid testing, so the whole procedure was orderly and efficient.
When it was almost Lin An's turn, he noticed a man in a black trench coat wearing special headphones not far away, speaking softly into the microphone.
His voice wasn't loud, but with his current constitution being more than twice that of an ordinary person, Lin An could hear him quite clearly.
"The sanitation activities must be carried out faster. Every place must be screened thoroughly!"
"Nearly one-tenth of the people in Dongcheng District have already become infected. We must focus on those whose viral infections have reached the middle and late stages, as well as those who haven't undergone nucleic acid testing."
"How much Antibiotic Diluent is left? Has there been any new progress from the research institute?"
"Traces of the cat and tiger have completely disappeared... Never mind, this matter can be put aside for now."
..."Player? Someone from the Supernatural Ability Administration Bureau?"
Hearing this, Lin An made a judgment in his heart.
Players are unable to inspect each other unless the other party is willing to share their information.
Furthermore, given that everyone is currently at a low level, it would likely be difficult to know a player was right next to you even if you brushed past them.
Especially considering that many players are currently still at Level 1 without any improvements, their strength is basically no different from a mortal's.
Listening to the man in the black trench coat's conversation, he soon reached the front of the line.
"Ah~ open your mouth."
As the cotton swab moved up and down in his mouth, Lin An successfully completed his Nucleic Acid Test.
Just then, a notification suddenly popped up on his panel.
[Game Countdown: 30:00]
"Is the game finally about to start?"
Seeing the familiar text, Lin An's heart stirred, but his expression didn't change at all.
At the same time, the man in black's expression shifted slightly, and he then left in a hurry as if he had urgent business.
"He really is a player."
Having confirmed his suspicion, Lin An walked back to his rental apartment.
First, he put away the Substitute Talisman, then he quickly checked his items.
After confirming everything was correct, Lin An thought for a moment and decided to start eating.
Since things had come to this, he might as well eat a full meal first.
As for Tiger, who was still on patrol, Lin An dismissed it from the spot with a thought.
The talisman's cooldown time had ended, so he could summon it again whenever he needed.
On the contrary, if he brought Tiger with him to Little Stone Pool Village, he didn't know if it would attract the attention of those high-level NPCs and lead to unknown consequences.
[Game Countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0]
[Game Start!]