Chapter 40: Virus Lockdown 1
At 8:00 AM sharp, Chu Yun was teleported to a virtual white space. The familiar system voice rang out.
[Welcome to the Virus Lockdown game instance. Players this round: 1,000. NPCs: 100,000.]
[Clear Condition: Survive for 25 days without contracting any infectious diseases.]
[Game Background: You are a broke 20-year-old student from out of town who came to City A for a vacation. The first case of an infectious disease broke out just as you arrived. Soon after, the epidemic spread rapidly. To ensure effective prevention and control, sever transmission routes, and curb the spread of the virus, the government decided to implement a city-wide shutdown of transit, markets, and businesses. Except for essential workers, everyone must isolate at home and is strictly forbidden from going outside.]
[This is the third month of home isolation after the lockdown. Penniless and unable to afford even your cheap rent, you have been kicked out onto the streets by your landlord…]
[Note: For this round, the game forum, items, and the farm are frozen.]
[Game Rewards are as follows: Clear with a “Special Excellence” rating: Reward of 1 Free Instance Travel Card + 100,000 gold coins; Clear with an “Excellent” rating: Reward of 1 Land Item Card + 50,000 gold coins; Clear with a “Good” rating: Reward of 10,000 gold coins; Clear with a “Normal” rating: Reward of 1,000 gold coins.]
A new item card had appeared. Taking it literally, did it mean she could choose any game instance she wanted? It sounded like an incredibly useful item, and Chu Yun was determined to get it, though she didn’t know what criteria the system used to determine a “Special Excellence” rating.
While Chu Yun was still pondering this, a heavily bundled-up, plump woman poked her several times in quick succession with a long bamboo pole.
“Go on, get out of here! Trying to stay at an inn without any money? I heard young girls like you are the easiest to get infected. Hurry up and get lost! What bad luck!”
If she hadn’t been wearing several layers of face masks, the plump woman would have spat on the ground a few times to wash her hands of it.
The government had said that the larger the crowd, the easier it was to get infected. She had wanted to kick out the traveling guests long ago, but they had paid double the room rate, so she couldn’t find a valid excuse. Finally, she had caught a pauper she could drive away.
The guests watching the commotion from the second and third floors muttered among themselves, “Sigh, that’s so unethical. The government says no one is allowed outside. Where is she supposed to live if you kick her out?”
“Are you going to pay her rent then?” the plump woman roared at the top of her lungs. The onlookers upstairs instantly hid behind their curtains, their gazes drifting toward the sky guiltily.
Chu Yun quickly adapted to the system’s setup. Aside from the backpack on her shoulders, she was indeed dirt poor. Her personal interface was frozen, she didn’t know where her teammates were, and she had no resource supplies from her farm. All in all, it felt just like her very first time entering a game instance—poverty-stricken to the extreme.
She lifted her eyelids slightly, gave the plump woman a casual glance, then decisively turned around and walked down the alleyway.
The plump woman felt a wave of pressure. It wasn’t until Chu Yun’s figure vanished at the end of the alley that she comforted herself with tough words: “Just putting on a show!”
She took out some rubbing alcohol and sprayed it all over herself until the air was thick with the sharp scent of disinfectant. Only then did she bustle back inside, her rolls of fat jiggling, and slam the door shut.
Just as the system had described, Chu Yun was poor, so the lodging she had chosen was in a remote area. She didn’t run into a single worker along the way. During the first month after the outbreak, everyone had relied on their own stockpiles to survive. Then the government stepped in with relief supplies for the second month. This was now the third month.
She rummaged through her backpack. There were only two bottles of water, two pieces of bread, and a wallet. Inside the wallet was an ID card with her face on it, but not a single cent. The supplies she had prepared in advance from the community convenience store had vanished into thin air, and her self-defense weapons were gone too. It was a brutally miserable start.
Chu Yun almost went faint. This was not a good sign. From the information she gathered, the government’s relief supplies had begun to dwindle over the past few days. Coupled with the infectious disease that had been raging for two months, the situation was truly bleak. She fell silent, but suddenly her eyes lit up as an idea struck her.
Chu Yun approached a community service station and called out from a safe distance. She was wearing a thick mask, leaving only a pair of bright, lively eyes exposed.
“Hello, excuse me, do you need any volunteers here?”
“Why would you want to be a volunteer? Volunteers have a high risk of infection. You’re still so young, child. Leave this kind of work to us old folks. Even if an old man like me catches it, my life isn’t worth that much anyway!” An elderly grandfather tried to dissuade the young girl.
“Grandpa, every life is equally precious; there’s no comparison. Besides, I have nowhere else to go. I just want to be a volunteer so I can get a few bites of food to eat,” Chu Yun said pitifully.
Her role was an undergraduate student who hadn’t graduated yet. When her expression softened, she looked like a very endearing young girl. Seeing her all alone with a deflated backpack, the old man sitting in the station couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy. “Oh, you poor thing. We don’t need anyone here right now, but I heard from my nephew that the street just ahead is hiring. Go quickly, or you’ll be too late.”
“Okay, thank you, Grandpa!” Chu Yun bowed and hurried forward.
The old man’s voice echoed from behind: “Little girl, you must be careful! Make sure you protect yourself!”
Chu Yun looked back. The elderly man had leaned halfway out of the window, his bright red armband exceptionally eye-catching. She couldn’t help but stare for an extra moment before silently waving goodbye.
Just as the old man said, the next neighborhood service station was indeed recruiting volunteers. A notice was posted at the entrance: Recruiting 2 community grocery delivery couriers, males preferred. One spot had already been taken by a young man, leaving only one vacancy, but another young man arrived at the exact same time as her.
Their eyes locked, and sparks instantly flew. Their intentions were obvious. The supervisor only cared about getting the job done; he wasn’t about to hand out charity for no reason like the old man. Since the job required strength and good stamina, he leaned toward hiring the guy. But because Chu Yun insisted, he decided to hold a fair trial of strength to make her back down on her own.
Hearing this, the young man had a look of absolute certainty on his face, confident of the outcome.
However, reality delivered a swift slap to the face. Chu Yun effortlessly lifted a 15-liter water jug with one hand. With a quick jerk of her arm, the jug landed steadily on her slender shoulder. Her other hand repeated the exact same motion. Just like that, she carried two massive jugs of water, walking back and forth in front of the station as if she were walking on air.
The supervisor clicked his tongue in amazement and cheered repeatedly. The young man stood jaw-dropped before fleeing in embarrassment. From afar, his faint grumbling could still be heard: “What kind of sh*tty game is this? Even an NPC is this overpowered. How the hell am I supposed to survive?”
Chu Yun raised an eyebrow. What a coincidence. He was a fellow player, and judging by his reaction, he probably had the same broke-student setup as her!
With the table turned, Chu Yun secured the job. Satisfied, she handed over her ID card. The supervisor pulled out some alcohol, gave the card a thorough spray, and took it with two fingers. He placed the ID on the scanner, and after a beep, a row of green health passes displayed on the computer screen. He nodded in satisfaction. Once the registration was successful, he handed Chu Yun a green vest and a red armband, which she quickly slipped on.
The neighborhood Chu Yun was responsible for had 1,000 households, but there were only two delivery couriers. Supplies were delivered once every two days, requiring them to work from morning till night.
Supposedly, the previous courier had collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Due to a momentary lapse in caution, he caught the virus, started foaming at the mouth right on the delivery route, and was rushed to the hospital by an ambulance. He was still in the ICU. His partner, as a close contact, was currently isolated at home, undergoing daily testing by medical staff.
Before her rebirth, Chu Yun had lived through a zombie apocalypse where a zombie virus had run rampant for a while, so she had plenty of experience with pandemic protection. Compared to her constantly anxious teammate, Chu Yun appeared exceptionally calm.
Her delivery partner was named Xiao Xin. Having witnessed Chu Yun’s effortless victory earlier, he was incredibly curious about this young female student. “Hey, new girl, aren’t you afraid at all?”
Chu Yun calmly replied, “I’m terrified.”
Xiao Xin: “…”
You really couldn’t tell at all. Still, he truly admired her courage. To have the guts to do such dangerous work, and with strength that put most guys to shame.
“I heard most of the infected sent to the hospital died. Even if they don’t die, they’re tortured to the brink by the pain. A friend of mine was in the first batch admitted. He’s one of the few who made it out of the ICU, and he’s still in so much pain right now that he can’t even speak. Sigh!” Xiao Xin let out a long sigh, his mood clearly heavy.
“Then why did you volunteer?” Chu Yun asked, puzzled. If he was that scared, why come out?
“My old man is a retired cop. Despite his age, he insisted on coming out to serve the people. And my mom is the director of the hospital’s emergency department; they can’t run the place without her. Since both of them are out here, how could I have the face to hide at home? Plus, wearing this red armband means I can walk the streets legally. If… if anything happens to my parents, at least I can be close by to help!”
Understanding dawned on Chu Yun, and her gaze toward Xiao Xin instantly filled with respect.
The only reason you can’t see the darkness is because countless brave souls are lighting it up for you.
In this city, there was a group of unsung heroes like them. In their ordinary positions, they maintained an order that was on the verge of collapsing and saved lives that were slipping away. They, too, were someone’s sons and daughters.
The two of them rode an electric tricycle to their first delivery point: a neighborhood of urban villages without elevators. Most of the residents here were working-class families who weren’t well-off, with large families packed into tiny one-bedroom apartments. There were also a few fresh graduates who had barely any savings. Now that residents were forbidden from leaving their homes or visiting neighbors, the two of them had to handle all the deliveries.
This building had nine floors. Climbing stairs with heavy loads was exhausting, especially when completely bundled up with two layers of specialized masks on their faces.
Most residents had memorized the delivery times and waited right by the door. As soon as the supplies arrived, they would immediately crack the door open and pull them inside.
There was a history behind this. Someone had previously reported to the community that the supply pack left at their door by the courier had been stolen. They suspected the elderly neighbor who took care of a child, but this dilapidated neighborhood had neither surveillance cameras nor witnesses. The community couldn’t just ransack someone’s home based on a mere suspicion. In the end, the victim had simply vented their frustrations in the group chat, and the matter was dropped.
“Thank you!” A young girl opened her door the moment she heard movement outside. With swift movements, she snatched her emergency supply pack and slammed the door shut with a loud thud. The entire process was seamless and took less than five seconds. From inside, the faint sound of a phone conversation could still be heard: “Boss, where else is there an issue? Okay, okay, I’ll modify it right away.”
Xiao Xin looked at Chu Yun awkwardly in front of the tightly closed door. “Haha, well, not everyone is like that!”
Chu Yun remained noncommittal, completely unbothered, focusing only on doing her job well.
“Why is it getting less and less?” a miserable-looking woman grumbled shrilly as she weighed the supply pack in her hand. “Did you guys pocket some for yourselves? Careful, or I’ll report you to the community!”
Chu Yun flashed a bright smile. “This is exactly how much is allocated. If you feel it’s incorrect, how about I take you back to the community service station to double-check the records?”
Though Chu Yun was smiling, the woman felt a distinct threat. Flustered, she tightly clutched her supply pack and put on a fake smile. “Ai, ai, ai, who said I didn’t want it? I want it, I want it. I was just joking.”
Before shutting the door, she intentionally or unintentionally raised her voice, making sure others could hear: “Such a fierce young girl. You’ll definitely never find a husband when you grow up!”
She slammed the door shut immediately after. Chu Yun was practically amused by the sheer shamelessness of the woman. Truly, as people got older, they refused to take even the slightest loss.
Xiao Xin followed her the whole way, learning a lot. Clearly, he was supposed to be the one looking after the girl, but throughout the entire shift, it felt like Chu Yun was leading him. Chu Yun acted decisively, wasted no words, and worked with extreme efficiency. The job that usually kept them busy until 7:00 PM was finished by 5:00 PM. After verifying the inventory with the supervisor, their work for the day was done.
The supervisor handed them their supplies for today and tomorrow: 4 cups of instant noodles, 4 bottles of mineral water, 4 slices of bread, two heads of cabbage, and 1 pack of ham sausages. It was more than what the regular residents received, including extra bread and vegetables.
Xiao Xin needed to prepare dinner for his parents. As soon as the supervisor said they could off-work, he said his goodbyes and headed home.
With nowhere else to go, Chu Yun negotiated with the supervisor to stay at the community service station, offering to guard the security of the supplies overnight. The supervisor readily agreed. The service station housed a certain amount of food and medical supplies, so having someone keep watch was a good thing. Ever since Chu Yun demonstrated her extraordinary strength, he had subconsciously forgotten she was just a fragile girl.
The space left for her to rest was a back room inside the service station. In a space of just a few square meters stood a cot. Next to the cot was a wooden cabinet, sparsely lined with some mechanical spare parts and basic medical equipment.
She put today’s allowance pack back into her backpack and walked out to keep watch in the outer room. The outer room had drinking water, a fan, a computer, and an electric health pot used for boiling water—perfect for blanching vegetables.
Chu Yun cooked a cup of instant noodles mixed with ham and cabbage. As she slurped down her noodles, her eyes quickly scanned the computer screen.
The death toll on the front-page headlines was staggering, yet a specific cure had still not been developed. Driven by the call for “freedom” from malicious media outlets, some residents who had been locked down for a long time began shouting clamorously for the city to resume operations.
City A was hit the hardest and was one of the few cities under complete lockdown. Other cities had stepped up to offer assistance. A neighboring major grain-producing province had dispatched several truckloads of rice; a land of milk and honey sent various fruits and vegetables; and a major manufacturing province worked overnight to produce protective gear to donate to City A for free, expected to arrive in a few days.
Expected to arrive in a few days?
Chu Yun stared at those words, pondering deeply. This was not a good omen.
