Chapter 3: Starting as a Refugee, Led by a Pseudo-human
Without paying too much attention to the energy attributes that might involve mystical or supernatural powers, Lin An focused his gaze on the word "Poisoned" in his status.
Lin An wasn't too surprised that the Man-Faced Cat was toxic. After all, it wasn't hard to tell from the black wound on his calf, and the cashier at the supermarket had mentioned that their boss had been hospitalized for half a month.
If it were just a simple scratch, it shouldn't have been so exaggerated as to require half a month of hospitalization.
Of course, it was also possible that the boss had already died, and the matter had simply been covered up.
Thinking of this, Lin An shook his head slightly.
Blue Star was clearly becoming strange, and this Ruins Game was definitely a rare opportunity that he had to seize!
Otherwise, even if his memories were deleted and he returned to reality, he might not be able to live a peaceful life as he had before.
If nothing else, if he encountered another Level 2 monster like the Man-Faced Cat, it would likely be a life-or-death struggle given his current strength.
With a thought, he opened his backpack.
There were five slots in the backpack, and to Lin An's surprise, one of them already contained something.
[Man-Faced Cat Gift Pack
Introduction: Killing monsters on Blue Star has a 100% chance to drop treasure chests, from which rare items may be obtained.
Evaluation: You soloed a monster before even becoming a player. Although there was some luck involved, your performance is still commendable.]
A treasure chest!
And it was a chest obtained from the previous kill. Lin An didn't hesitate and opened it immediately!
[Congratulations on obtaining — primary recovery potion * 3]
[Congratulations on obtaining — cat face mask * 1]
As the gift pack opened, the two items appeared out of thin air in Lin An's hands.
Looking at the two items, the corresponding information immediately floated before his eyes.
primary recovery potion: A single bottle can cure 99.9% of a mortal's injuries and diseases.
[cat face mask
Realm: First Revolution (Levels 1-10 are First Revolution)
Quality: Excellent! (Quality is divided into Common, Good, Excellent, Superior, and Perfect)
Effect 1 - Passive: After putting on the mask, the player's Agility +3
Effect 2 - Active: Hallucination. After use, it can trap an enemy in an illusion. The greater the difference between the target's Spirit and the player's own, and the more their emotions fluctuate, the more realistic the Illusory Realm becomes.
The effect disappears when the enemy realizes they are in an illusion. (No cooldown, can only be used on one person at a time)]
"No wonder that Man-Faced Cat made the scene so eerie; it turns out it wanted to manipulate people's emotions."
Seeing the mask's effect, Lin An had a moment of realization.
But in the next second, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. Your skill is very useful, but now, it's mine!
Of course, the priority now was to treat his injuries.
With that in mind, Lin An picked up a bottle of primary recovery potion and drank it in one gulp.
The injury on his leg was rapidly repaired at that moment, returning to its original state, and even that unknown toxin was cleared away in just a short while!
[Current Status: Healthy!]
At this moment, Lin An felt comfortable all over. The primary recovery potion not only cleared the injury and toxin but also resolved other minor issues within his body, truly bringing him from his previous sub-health state to perfect health!
"I wonder if terminal illnesses like cancer can be cured. If so, just this bottle of primary recovery potion would likely sell for an astronomical price on Blue Star."
Lin An pondered, then shook his head in his heart.
Before the situation became clear, his identity as a player absolutely could not be easily exposed, let alone selling such a life-saving item for money.
However, just a moment ago, he was a graduate worrying about finding a job, and now with the primary recovery potion and cat face mask, he could already be called wealthy or even supernatural. The dividends brought by this era of change were truly exaggerated to the point of being dreamlike.
"Everyone, come out and gather to continue our journey!"
A powerful and vigorous voice suddenly sounded nearby, and then Lin An saw many emaciated people walking out of the nearby straw huts one after another.
Lin An noticed that the clothing of those people outside was not much different from his own, so after hesitating for two and a half seconds, he followed them out.
Silently blending into the crowd, Lin An began to observe his surroundings with the corner of his eye as he walked along the flagstone road with them.
This place looked somewhat similar to an ancient village, except the houses were all damaged, looking as if they had been looted.
While Lin An was deep in thought, a complaining voice suddenly came from nearby.
"I didn't expect Bamboo Village to evacuate and flee too. I don't know when these days as a Refugee will ever end."
"In these times, being able to survive a disaster is already very good."
Another man who looked slightly older shook his head upon hearing this and said, "Besides, Little Stone Pool Village, which is guarded by Supernaturals, isn't that far from here. There might still be hope if we go there."
Refugee, Little Stone Pool Village.
If he guessed correctly, this should be his initial identity and the name of the Novice Village he was heading to next.
As for Bamboo Village, it was likely the location of the straw huts from earlier, except it had now been relocated or rather, destroyed.
"This game is truly full of calamities."
Following the crowd onto a small forest path, Lin An realized that this group of Refugees only consisted of about thirty people, and at the very front, a man with a sturdy build was leading the way.
[Pseudo-human - Lu Cheng
Level: 3
Essence (constitution): 10
Qi (pseudo-energy): 4
Spirit (Spirit): 8
Talent: Camouflage]
Lin An: "???"
Seeing the words "Pseudo-human," Lin An couldn't help but mentally type out three question marks.
A Pseudo-human leading the way, is this damn start really this sinister?
And at only Level 3, the monster's constitution was already twice as high as his own. Furthermore, what exactly was pseudo-energy?
Lin An's pupils trembled slightly. Realizing something was wrong, he quickly scanned the information of the surrounding NPCs.
Fortunately, Lu Cheng was the only Pseudo-human in the group for now.
The bad news was that everyone else except the Pseudo-human were level-one weaklings, and most of them even had a lower constitution than his own!
"Everyone, we should still be dozens of kilometers away from Little Stone Pool Town!"
The Pseudo-human Lu Cheng looked at the crowd and shouted loudly, "There are no relay stations or rest areas on the road ahead. In other words, we must reach the town before dark, or we won't survive tonight's Night Invasion!"
"So, full speed ahead!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Cheng took the lead and walked forward quickly.
The other Refugees couldn't help but panic upon seeing this. After all, the only Level 3 cultivator was leaving; if they didn't keep up, they would likely only be left to die!
Lin An's brow twitched as he watched.
If he wasn't mistaken, this Pseudo-human probably wanted to use this to exhaust everyone's physical strength so he could pick them off one by one later.
After all, although the opponent's stats were high, he probably wasn't at the level where he could take on thirty people alone.
Even if the Refugees weren't very united and couldn't join forces to deal with the Pseudo-human, it would be impossible for him to catch all of them if they scattered and ran.
Thinking of this, Lin An couldn't help but feel some hesitation.
"Should I look for an opportunity to leave the group, or find another way?"
"The problem is, if I leave the group, how will I get to the Novice Village? And if I don't go to the Novice Village, how will I survive this night?"
After all, whether from the game prompts or the Refugees' reactions just now, there were definitely great horrors in the nights of the Ruins World, and the longer one stayed in the darkness, the more dangerous it would likely be.
At this thought, Lin An's eyes turned cold as he looked at the silhouette of the Pseudo-human in the distance.
Perhaps, killing him was the only true way to survive!