Chapter 1 Decryption

There were two pieces of paper in the drawer, obviously clues to the puzzle given by the system. Feng Bujue unfolded the first piece of paper, which had three lines of hints written in a hasty scrawl. The first line was jmmjAod, the second line was 14f, and the third line was 34f.

Feng Bujue glanced at it and clicked his tongue in disdain.

The second piece of paper was more informative. It was a printed document with neat text describing the virus in detail.

First, the virus's code name was indeed "z." Since the description of the Blood Wolf Zombies at the beginning of the scenario also mentioned this name, it seemed that the monsters on the road and the people infected in this research institute were infected with the same virus. But why they turned into different kinds of zombies was unknown.

Second, the virus only gave players less than three hours to find a cure after infection. The document stated that within three hours of infection, flu-like symptoms would appear, followed by a high fever, and severe dementia in the later stages. This explained why Feng Bujue was covered in cold sweat and felt weak. Obviously, the system could not allow players to experience "severe dementia," so when the virus began to affect the brain, players would be judged as dead and leave the scenario.

Next came a detailed description of the infected's mutation, such as disseminated cell necrosis causing localized gangrene, red blood cells increasing their oxygen storage capacity, slowing blood flow, and increasing muscle endurance and strength, severe cognitive impairment leading to attempts to ingest living human flesh, and so on. Of course, there was also a final note: extremely strong craniocerebral trauma is required to suppress fully infected individuals.

After reading this, Feng Bujue couldn't help but say, "Isn't this Resident Evil 008... But... this scenario is set to have an antitoxin serum." As he said this, his gaze had already fallen on the last paragraph about the serum.

The paper read: "Experiments have shown that the antitoxin serum is not effective for everyone. Through 390 experiments on different genders, ages, blood types, and races, a total of 154 people were immune or had the effects of the virus eliminated after injecting the serum. The probability of the serum working is slightly less than 40%. Currently, no clear pattern has been found as to whether the serum will be effective."

After reading this document, Feng Bujue gradually felt uneasy. Given his luck, the probability of failing to detoxify was self-evident... Even if he found the serum, he would only have about a 40% chance of removing the [Disease] status. Otherwise... he would only have two hours to use, and it would probably be impossible to clear the scenario in that time. The most he could contribute would be to find the serum and give it to his teammates.

Speaking of teammates... when he heard the news of Atobe-shonen and Xiao Ming's deaths in the corridor more than ten minutes ago, he understood that this scenario was far from as simple as it seemed. The deaths of those two were very puzzling. They didn't seem like the type to leave the gun shop on their own to look for trouble. So, their successive deaths in such a short period of time most likely meant that they encountered some very powerful monster directly at the entrance of the gun shop.

But how could there be such a monster in a part of the city unrelated to the main quest? Even if the Blood Wolf Zombies were strengthened at night and swarmed in, they shouldn't be able to kill two players holding submachine guns at the same time in a matter of seconds.

In addition, Pan Feng and Hua Xiong, who were with Wang Tanzhi, also made Feng Bujue feel a little strange. Judging from the current situation, after the two of them led Xiao Tan into the building, they did not come to this underground research institute but went somewhere else. Why was that? There was such a large sign in the lobby on the first floor, and the main quest clearly stated that they had to save a "Doctor." The other floors were labeled with all sorts of miscellaneous departments or simply "Office Area." How could anyone still go upstairs to look?

There were too many abnormal circumstances, and there was no evidence to support them for the time being, so Feng Bujue did not continue to think too deeply. He turned and walked toward the metal gate, bending down to look at the combination lock on the gate.

"As expected, it's six digits..." He looked at the password input panel with a "just as I expected" expression and directly entered 312928. Unexpectedly, the word "accept" actually popped up on it after he finished entering.

Feng Bujue understood the meaning of this puzzle when he saw the piece of paper. The first line, jmmjAod, represented the first letters of January, March, May, July, August, October, and December, respectively. All of these months have 31 days. The f in the second and third lines represented February. Only February starts with an f. 14 represented the 29 days of February in a leap year, and 34 naturally represented 28. These types of puzzles were indeed not difficult for him. He himself was someone who often had to devise puzzles. If the clues were written on paper for him, as long as the knowledge required to solve the puzzle did not exceed his capabilities, he could usually figure it out quickly.

After unlocking it, Feng Bujue grabbed the handwheel on the gate, turned it a few times, and opened the door. Inside was a relatively small room. Three walls were filled with transparent cabinets, and the cabinets were filled with test tubes containing liquids. Each row was labeled with a number.

Picking up a test tube would reveal the item description:

[Name: Antitoxin Serum]

[Type: Scenario Related]

[Quality: Normal]

[Function: Has a 39.48% probability of allowing the user to eliminate and become immune to the z virus]

[Can be brought out of this scenario: No]

[Note: Can be injected or ingested, ineffective against monsters and fully zombified players]

Judging from the numbers, these serums were manufactured in batches, and the ingredients might also be different. Feng Bujue couldn't help but wonder if this z virus was not developed by the Ailebu Company but was discovered and controlled by them, and they were trying to develop a method of detoxification.

Feng Bujue didn't have time to delve into the company's position for the time being. He didn't know which batch of these serums was more effective than the other, so he just randomly took one from the cabinet, drew a tube with the syringe he had just found, and gave himself a shot.

When this shot went in, his Medical Specialization was unlocked, becoming F-grade, and the system prompt rang: [Congratulations, you have unlocked all the Specializations in the beta stage]

"Beta stage?" Feng Bujue thought, "Does that mean new Specializations will be opened in the future?" He opened the game menu and saw that the Specialization column was fully opened, which was a good thing, but... the [Disease] status next to his Survival Value had not disappeared.

"Did I fail after all..." he muttered with some disappointment. "Should I try another shot with a different one? I wonder if there will be any side effects..."

Just as he was hesitating, the word Disease in the menu disappeared, and the abnormal status next to the Survival Value returned to: [None].

Fortunately, he didn't close the menu immediately; otherwise, he might have overlooked this slightly delayed change, leading to him inexplicably taking another shot. Feng Bujue immediately laughed three times, instantly feeling a sense of resurrection.

He took a test tube rack from the freezer, which had two rows of eight antitoxin serums. He carefully put them into his inventory. At this moment, his inventory was exactly full, with ten slots filled with: Mario's Pipe Wrench, Eyes of Hatred, Western Kitchen Knife, Baseball Bat, Flashlight, M1911A1 Pistol, Echo Armor, Winchester Shotgun, Antitoxin Serum *8, and a Bag of Garlic.

Jazz Dance was equipped on his feet, so it was unlikely to return to his inventory unless it was replaced. Of course, if necessary, Feng Bujue could free up space in his inventory by taking out the Eyes of Hatred and equipping it, and then taking another weapon in his hand.

Now that the serum had taken effect, Feng Bujue no longer needed to continue exploring the research institute. He had originally come down to find his teammates and had not expected to be hit as soon as the elevator doors opened. When he was first infected, he didn't know the specific mutation time, so he could only search for the serum as quickly as possible.

Now that he would no longer die due to the time factor, he felt that it was better to go back upstairs and find his teammates. Considering that he had obtained the serum, it might trigger some flag, and further exploration might lead to encountering a mini-boss. As someone who was already immune to the virus, it wasn't worth the risk at this time.

Just as he was thinking this, a system prompt rang: [Current quest completed, main quest has been updated]

"What?" Feng Bujue was very surprised. "Could it be that Dr. Ashford really isn't underground? The three of them went upstairs and made the right choice, and they've successfully rescued the Doctor?"

He quickly opened the menu to see what the quest had been updated to after rescuing the Doctor, but the quest was: [Defeat Ashford's Mutated Form]