Chapter 2: Got Entangled by Something Filthy

Yun Mu watched the scene unfolding before her in terror, hurriedly retreating several steps back, while simultaneously and subconsciously reaching into her leather coat to grip a gray-black Gray Iron Knife.

This was a tool her predecessor used to cut open money pouches while Pickpocketing; in a critical moment, it could also be used for self-defense.

Almost at the same time, a line of familiar Chinese characters suddenly appeared in her mind.

【You have encountered an enemy—【Bloodline Living Corpse lv1 (Apprentice)】】

"Bloodline Living Corpse?"

The text that suddenly appeared in her mind made her freeze for a moment.

However, before she could even think about what these words were, a hoarse roar pulled her back to reality.

"Roar!"

Almost simultaneously, Yun Mu's vision blurred, and her entire body was tackled by a powerful force!

After tackling her, the Bloodline Living Corpse violently opened its large mouth, revealing a mouthful of foul-smelling, yellowed fangs, with some kind of viscous, transparent liquid dripping from the corners of its mouth, and it lowered its head to bite toward her neck!

Yun Mu finally reacted at this moment; enduring the suffocating stench from the Bloodline Living Corpse's mouth, she hurriedly raised her left hand, wanting to use the thick leather coat on her arm to block the damage.

However, what she did not expect was that the Bloodline Living Corpse's strength was extraordinarily powerful; the Inferior Leather Clothing she had placed high hopes on was bitten through in a single encounter!

Her arm felt as if it were being clamped tightly by a pair of giant iron pincers, unable to move.

For a moment, she felt as if the bones in her arm were about to be snapped!

【You have been attacked by 【Bloodline Living Corpse lv1 (Apprentice)】, you have been infected with the 【Scarlet Curse】!】

【【Scarlet】 points +2, Path 【Scarlet】 unlocked.】

The text in her mind appeared again, yet Yun Mu had no spare energy to look at it right now.

She could only endure the intense pain in her left arm while gripping the Gray Iron Knife with her right hand, struggling to stab it toward the Bloodline Living Corpse's neck!

Pfft!

Her predecessor had kept this tool of the trade well-maintained; the tip of the knife easily pierced the Bloodline Living Corpse's skin and stabbed fiercely into the flesh!

As expected, there was not a drop of blood flowing from within this body that had long since been sucked dry into a desiccated corpse.

Furthermore, after shrinking significantly in overall size, the diameter of its neck was far less than that of a normal person.

Yun Mu just twisted the knife handle hard, then pulled it violently, and the living corpse's head was severed!

After the head and body were separated, this corpse that had suddenly "come back to life" also gradually lost its strength and soon fell silent.

"Hiss!" Yun Mu gasped, enduring the intense pain to remove the head that was still biting her arm even in death, then threw it to the side and kicked the body pressing down on her away.

"It shouldn't be a fake death this time, right?" she thought, struggling to stand up from the ground, still feeling a lingering fear.

If she had reacted just a little slower earlier, and it hadn't been her arm that was bitten, but her neck...

She touched her smooth neck, and a wave of lingering fear could not help but well up in her heart.

"Thankfully, I still had the upper hand," she thought.

Come to think of it, what were those words that suddenly appeared in her mind just now...

"Didn't I get infected with some kind of Curse?" Yun Mu suddenly thought of something: "How can I view those words again?"

Just as she thought this, lines of pitch-black text, as if scorched by fire, refreshed in her mind like a waterfall.

【Player login detected, updating player panel!】

【Name: Yun Mu

Level: lv1 (Apprentice)

Race: Frost Person

Age: 15 years old

Max HP: 20

Attack Power: 3

Spell Strength: 1

Defense: 0

Resilience: 1

Dodge: 5

Speed: 5

Precision Correction: 10

Critical Hit: 0%

Equipment: Gray Iron Knife (Gray), Inferior Leather Clothing (Gray)

Traits: Cold Resistance (Cold Resistance +20%), Fleet-footed (Speed +10%)

Passive Skills: Pickpocketing lv3 (In a Dungeon, your loot yield +3%), Lockpicking lv2 (In a Dungeon, you can open some chests without a key)

Active Skill: Cutting lv1

Status: Scarlet Curse (Infection Period)

Path: Scarlet lv1 (2/10)】

【Dungeon Exploration】

"Why does this panel look so familiar..."

Looking at the panel appearing in her mind, Yun Mu thought to herself.

This familiar structure, these familiar attributes, there's no mistake; this is definitely the half-finished game she was working on before she transmigrated, the one she hadn't even thought of a name for yet!

Do not misunderstand, she was not some indie game developer before she transmigrated, just an artist who specialized in lewd art.

This game was originally just a pie-in-the-sky promise she made to her fans; she never expected it to transmigrate along with her.

"Could this be the legendary Golden Finger?" Yun Mu's mood could not help but become a bit excited, but soon, this excitement was suppressed by her.

"Now is not the time to be happy." She looked down at the decapitated desiccated corpse and decided to leave this place first, and wait until she reached a safe place to study the function of the Golden Finger.

However, before that, she still had one very important thing to do.

【Status: Scarlet Curse (Infection Period)

The power of Scarlet has already invaded your body; in two days, you will enter the 【Blood Thirst】 state.

Blood Thirst: You will sink into an obsession and craving for blood; your 【Attack Power】, 【Spell Strength】, 【Dodge】, 【Speed】, and 【Precision Correction】 will all decrease by 30%, and after five days, you will enter the 【Apoptosis】 state.

Apoptosis: Your blood will gradually dry up, a large number of red spots will appear on the surface of your body, and you will eventually undergo 【Transformation】 into a 【Bloodline Living Corpse】.

Note ①: Drinking fresh blood can briefly suppress the 【Blood Thirst】 state, but as the number of times you drink blood increases, the effect will gradually decrease, eventually turning you into a 【Blood-thirsty One】 amidst the craving and madness for blood.

Note ②: After drinking fresh blood, there is a small probability of being converted into a 【Bloodline】. A 【Bloodline (Race)】 will not enter the Apoptosis state, the effect of drinking fresh blood will not decrease, and after drinking fresh blood, all attributes +30%.

Note ③: After being attacked by a 【Bloodline (Race)】, there is a certain probability of being infected with the 【Scarlet Curse】.

Note ④: Only power at the 【Myth (lv171-lv200)】 level or above can clear the 【Scarlet Curse】!】

"What the hell is this!?"

After reading the description of the Scarlet Curse status, Yun Mu spoke up.

Not to mention the 【Blood Thirst】 and 【Apoptosis】 states, which looked incredibly troublesome at a glance, how could it be impossible to even clear it?

It would have been better if this Note ④ hadn't been written at all; where was she supposed to find a Myth-level existence to Purify the Curse for her?

If she doesn't drink blood, she'll turn into a living corpse; if she drinks blood, she'll become a Blood-thirsty One—so there's basically no way out, right!

"Unless, I can convert into a Bloodline."

Looking at the content written in Note ②, the woman with scarlet eyes couldn't help but appear in Yun Mu's mind.

Could she be a Bloodline?

And that living corpse that suddenly 'Resurrected'—why didn't the other dried corpses in the newspaper 'come back to life'?

Did the newspaper office hide something, or was it because those dried corpses weren't infected with the Scarlet Curse before they died?

Yun Mu leaned more toward the latter; she believed she had guessed the truth, but...

So many dried corpses weren't infected with the Scarlet Curse, so why was it that the one right beside her was?

That aside, why did she get infected with the Scarlet Curse just from being bitten once!?

Thinking of this, she clutched her head and squatted on the ground, a pained expression appearing on her face.

"Why am I so unlucky, ahhhhh—"

PS: I will talk about the inspiration for the Golden Finger in the next chapter; you can guess what it is. Hint: two games.

By the way, please keep up with the reading; keeping up with the reading during the new book period is really very important, as it concerns future recommendations and promotions.

(End of this chapter)